Aragon’s girls tennis team currently ranks fourth in the Peninsula Athletic League Bay Division. If the team can keep its standing entering the PAL Finals, they will face off against the top four teams from the Ocean Division on Oct. 25 and 26 in the PAL Team Tournament.
Last week, the team started off losing their second match against the Carlmont team, with a score of 1-6, on Oct. 9. However, on Oct. 11, the team finished with a victory when they defeated Woodside 5-2 for a second time.
Entering the season, the team was regarded as a strong championship contender. Despite significant change in the doubles lineup and a new head coach, the team has had a solid season with a 6-5 win-lose standing. On Sept. 6, Aragon won their match against Burlingame’s two-time champion team.
In response to last Tuesday’s loss, the team’s new coach, Linda Brown, says, “[The team] wants to win… They are competitive. But once the match is done, the match is done. I don’t think there are any hard feelings. After the team competitions, I’m going to see how far we [can] get in the individual competitions. Hopefully [we will] finish well there.”
Menlo-Atherton tennis coach Tom Sorenson says, “I think that Aragon is capable of winning any match, including matches against Carlmont, Menlo-Atherton, and Burlingame. We can’t afford to look past Aragon or Carlmont… [Aragon] is a well-disciplined team and dangerous team.”
After the Oct. 9 game, junior Kaede Ishikawa said, “[We could have played] a lot better.” A feeling that many of the team members share.
“I haven’t been playing well myself and that kind of repeated itself. Performance-wise, I could have done better,” said Ishikawa.
Junior Aislinn Oka, No. 3 singles, looked at the loss as a learning experience. Oka said, “I think I made a lot of errors. And my service game wasn’t very good. I had a really bad match. I know I could have done better and what to do next time. .”
Juniors Victoria Sun and Melissa Ma, the team’s No. 1 doubles, remain undefeated. Sun said, “It was alright… We just have to keep the ball in play and be more consistent. And also work on being more aggressive.”
“The team is very well rounded with a competitive mind set, high potential, and a strong commitment to the game… We want to try and return to CCS (Central Coast Section Conference) because [we] were there last year,” says Brown.
Ishikawa says, “[The team] is at a low point right now, so things can only get better. I’m being optimistic.”
