Tennis Falls Short at CCS after Successful Season
The girl’s tennis team is stronger than ever before according to Aragon tennis coach Ed Schuler. Not only did the team place second in the Palo Alto tournament, it also finished with a record of 15-5, coming in second right behind Burlingame.
On Oct. 28, the girl’s tennis team defeated Carlmont 4-3 in the finals of PAL. It was a comeback victory as the Dons managed to pull ahead at the last minute. This is the first time the Aragon girl’s tennis team has won the PALs Ocean division title. Schuler says, “[There was one year Aragon] got third place in PALs. However, we have never won it before.”
The CCS tournament system this year was different from before. Instead of a traditional bracket styled competition, the team played a round robin. In a round robin system, every team will play every other team. Also, instead of four singles and three doubles, only three singles and three doubles teams attended CCS.
The team is especially strong this year due to the addition of one of the best players in the league, Kaede Ishikawa, and more experienced players. When asked why the team was so successful, Coach Dave Owdom answered, “We have some strong young players. We have three sophomores playing singles, and have experienced veterans holding down the doubles. The addition of Ishikawa has also helped out our team. We now have a stronger singles ladder, and have a greater chance of winning matches.”
Schuler agreed that, “the doubles are more experienced, and the singles are stronger than ever.” Notably, the doubles one pair, comprised of seniors Christina Hsu and Amy Jiang, were undefeated in league.
However, the team still has weaknesses. Schuler says, “We need to work on putting away matches. We’ve been ahead a couple of times, and then lost the match afterwards. We need to learn how to hold onto a lead. We have to finish out the matches strong.”
Another important aspect of tennis is strategy. Senior Ivana Wang says, “It’s important to analyze your opponent before the match. When you are warming up with them, you need to find their weaknesses, and attack them. For example, if they have a weak backhand, hit it there, or if they are slow, drops shot them and make them run. If you can’t outplay them, you can outsmart them.”
The girl’s tennis team is also highly respected around the league. After the match against Hillsdale, Hillsdale Coach Jackie Nachtigall said, “Aragon has very good sportsmanship. Even though we are rivals, we have a lot of respect for them.”
On Nov. 8, the girls played Leland at home for the first game of CCS. They lost a heartbreaker with final the score 8-10. They competed hard in the first round, tying Leland 3-3. However in the second round, Leland pulled to a 7-5 lead. The girls tried to mount a comeback in the last round, but ran out of gas and lost 8-10.
In regard to the loss, Coach Schuler said, “The doubles didn’t bring their A game today. They didn’t produce.”
Senior Jamie Ahn said, “I made too many unforced errors. I also couldn’t control my mental game.”
The loss to Leland ended the girls’ amazing run. They won the Palo Alto tournament, placed second in their division, won PALs, and almost won their CCS match. Reflecting on the season, Sophomore Victoria Sun said, “This season was amazing. It was my best year so far. I’m looking forward to the next season.”
Senior Stacy Ozorio said that, “It was a fun experience. It was nice meeting lots of different people.” Ahn also stated that, “This was a very impressive year. It was a great way to close out my senior year.”
