BC Tennis Wins Conference Championship, Coach Noel Dalton Wins Coach of the Year
Tuesday, April 7, 2026
The Bakersfield College Men’s Tennis Team is having one of the most successful seasons in team history. Recently, they captured the 2026 Western State Conference Championship and Coach Noel Dalton was awarded coach of the year.
Coach Dalton has been the Men’s Tennis coach at BC since 2018. We caught up with him before the team’s first state postseason match, and he was excited to talk about the successes that they have shared throughout the season. “Yes, our team won our conference championship, which is something we probably haven’t done since the 1970’s,” he said, “and we also just came back from the individuals’ championship where we swept the singles, and we won the doubles as well. It’s been an exciting season so far.”
When asked about when he knew this season would be special, he replied “I knew with the recruiting class and the players we had returning that we would be a pretty good team this year. We had some early success in the fall as well, with a singles player, Mateusz Lipczynski, finishing fourth nationally, and a doubles team finishing sixth nationally amongst community colleges.”
The team’s championship season led to Coach Dalton being awarded Coach of the Year for the Western State Conference. When asked about the award, he replied, “I look at coach of the year as more of a team or departmental honor. There is so much that goes on behind the scenes at the athletic department, we have strength and fitness guys, the office staff, the people that make sure that we have transportation to our next match, and so on. We can’t do it without those guys – and of course the team’s success on the courts plays a big part!”
The tennis team’s season continues with the state championships starting this week. BC welcomes Orange Coast College to their home courts for the first round of the team playoffs. If victorious, BC will move on to the next round which could be another home match, or they may have to travel to Riverside depending on results of other matches taking place throughout Southern California.
Congratulations to the BC Men’s Tennis team on your conference championship and to Coach Noel Dalton for being named the conference’s Coach of the Year. We wish you continued success in the playoffs and future seasons! Please visit the BC Athletics website for more information about upcoming tennis matches and other athletic events.
