Season Preview:
 |
L to R: Katya Brody, Lakiesha Ching, Ezra Baccar, Melissa Taketa, Chantelle Baclay, Nicole Aceret,
Coach Macario Pascual, Charvie Ann Duque, Jasmine Garde, Kailani Amine, Aja Toscano,
Paige Pasion, Miyana Wagner. Missing: Maile Amine, Valerie Duque, Makenna Stockham. |
All biases aside, these girls should be the favorite to
take the MIL this year. The girls’ team is talented . . . and deep. From last
year’s MIL runner-up team, they lost lone senior and MIL superstar/ champ (and
current Linfield College player) Kaila Nip to graduation. They also lost junior
Monet Mussa, who moved to Georgia.
Tauley Montez and Destinee Ramirez did not return. Despite these losses,
the team was blessed with a bunch of talented incoming freshman, super
sophomore Paige Pasion, who decided to play for the team this year, and the
return of senior Kailani Amine, who played her freshman year. The freshmen, led
by Chantelle Baclay, Nicole Aceret, Miyana Wagner, Valerie Duque and Katya
Brody are tournament-experienced.
Returning players Jasmine Garde, Melissa Taketa, Ezra Baccar, Aja Toscano,
Lakiesha Ching, Charvie Anne Duque, and Maile Amine are the returning veterans.
Makenna Stockham also joins the team. The coaches will have the enviable luxury
of being able to match up their girls with anyone else in the MIL.
 |
L to R: Alec Wagner, Vincent Magno, Gaylord Garcia, Max Linder,
Coach Macario Pascual, Kona Jus-Schreiber, McNeil Magdaong, Jordan Baclay, Hayden Bogar. |
On the other side of the court, the boys team has no depth. Everyone has to
play. There are some with little or no experience in the sport of tennis. So
this year, the coaches will have their work cut out for them to make the
postseason. Gone are 4-year players Stephen Adolfson, Britt Jackson and senior
James Heron. Returning are McNeil Magdaong, Jordan Baclay and Hayden Bogar.
Newcomers are Gaylord Garcia, Vincent Magno, Kaimalino “Kona” Jus-Schreiber and
freshman Max Linder. Only Max Linder has any tennis experience. The key returnee, however, is Alec Wagner.
One of the top junior players in the state of Hawaii, Alec played for the Lunas
his freshman year before foregoing high school team tennis and opting to go the
independent USTA route his sophomore and junior year. He decided to return to
the team his senior year. The Lunas will definitely need him to have any shot
at making the playoffs. Fortunately, you only need to win 3 of 5 matches (3
singles and 2 doubles) to win a team match. On the bright side, the Lunas won’t
have to default too many matches this year and give the opposition freebies.
 |
| Coaches Macario Pascual and Edwin Pascual |
 |
| Coaches Alton DeGama and Macario Pascual |
Head coach Macario Pascual returns for another year at the helm, assisted by brother Edwin Pascual. Ian Cohen, who assisted the past two years, accepted the head coaching position at Maui High. Good luck to Coach Ian (except against Lahainaluna, of course!). Assisting Mac this year will be Alton DeGama.
Photo Session
I normally hate taking posed shots or group shots, but shooting
the yearbook photos for the tennis team is getting to be quite fun. They have
warmed to me lurking around the courts during tennis season so I feel a lot
more comfortable ordering them around and getting them to pose or stand certain
ways. I’m still working at this team photo stuff, so hopefully I can get better
at it. I prefer to be the more candid, action shot / no posing kind of
photographer. More of a photojournalistic approach I guess.
Anyway, I came prepared this time with a 3-step ladder
and a second camera. I kept the Nikon D7000 with the 24-70mm lens while I had a
backup D300 with the 70-200 2.8 lens attached. My cousin/niece Nicole is on the
team as a freshman and her younger sister Joanna, an 8th grader, was
there as well. She is not shy - which is
a good thing because she wanted to take pictures, too. So I swapped out the
70-200 lens and put on the kit 18-105mm VR lens for her to use on the D300. I
figured I’d set it to “P” (No AUTO on the dummy dial) and hoped her pictures
came out properly exposed. The way I did it was to elevate myself on the ladder
so that I would be shooting down toward the players – try to eliminate shadows
in the eye sockets and any kind of double chin effect. Simultaneously, I had
Joanna down below, shooting from the sitting-on-the-ground level.
Feeling more in control this year than previous years, I
made sure I got the players’ attention and positioned them the way I wanted.
Unlike years past, I tried to make sure all heads were unobstructed and all
eyes on the camera. I forgot to also check that no tree or light post in the
background was coming out of a player’s head. I’ll make sure not to forget that
next year. So I shot the seniors first – Jasmine Garde, Kailani Amine, Alec
Wagner and McNeil Magdaoang. Then I shot the boys and girls separate, one
serious and one fun. Then the same with coaches added in. I forgot to do an entire group shot, but I
know that Mr. Fillazar didn’t need one. I also forgot to take one of the just
the captains, which this year are McNeil and Melissa Taketa, who also happen to
be dating each other. D’oh! I’ll make it a point throughout the season to try
to get photos of them together, doing their Captain thing.
The rest of the afternoon was spent trying to get action
shots of each individual player. Hopefully, Mr Fillazar can make use of some of
the pictures. For him, it’s a hectic time because the yearbook deadline is
around this time of year and many of the spring sports haven’t even officially
started. So in years past, the spring sports got spotty coverage in the
yearbook. So beginning last year, Mr. Fill had asked me to help him out by getting
photos for him.
 |
| Chantelle Baclay |
 |
| Miyana Wagner |
 |
| Paige Pasion and Ezra Baccar |
 |
| Nicole Aceret |
 |
| Melissa Taketa |
 |
| McNeil Magdaong |
 |
| Alec Wagner |
Having Joanna help me was a great idea. She was able to
get close-up candid shots of the players goofing around that I never would’ve
gotten because I am outside the circle –
and at least 22 years older than them. Hopefully she’ll help me throughout the
year.
 |
| Joanna doing her thang |
 |
| Lahainaluna Sport Shooter |
For more photos, click here.
No comments:
Post a Comment