The boys tennis team took home an easy victory against San Mateo on April 13, defeating the Bearcats 6-1. With this win, the Dons’ finish the regular season with a 12-6 overall record and 8-3 record in Peninsula Athletic League Ocean Division.
Head coach Dave Owdom says, “This game against San Mateo was a close match. The doubles teams had really tough matches. However, the big picture is that it counts for points. We got a lot of points that will go toward our placement for playoffs and we needed that.”
Without the second singles player, sophomore Rithik Booreddy, all of the other Dons moved up one spot in the lineup, which shifted the rotation for the team. However, sophomore Daniel Li won 6-4, 6-1 and the second and third singles followed by winning both of their matches in 2 sets.
“Throughout the game, my opponent just kept getting the ball in and was really fast. I just got in my head,” says Chall.“Tennis is [a] very individual sport, even if you are on a team. That means that there is always a lot of competition within your team.”
The defeat of San Mateo continued with senior Kelvin Yang and sophomore Richard Tang’s 7-6, 6-1 win. Juniors Jason Zhao and Patrick Tse had an even tighter match, as they edged out their Bearcat opponents after three sets, 6-2, 4-6, 6-0. Finally, Aragon’s third doubles duo wrapped up the day by tallying one more win 3-6, 6-1, 6-3.
Junior third doubles player Nick Hudson says, “Playing with my partner is easy. We get along and we communicate on every single point. Our main focus is keeping an offensive mentality.”
The third-place Dons went into the match aware of the Bearcats’ seventh place ranking out of eight teams in the PAL Ocean Division, but, while Owdom was careful with his player rankings for the match, walking out with a win wasn’t his primary concern.
“It’s important to put the players in the right places. The starting lineup is two freshmen and a sophomore — there is just a lot of young talent,” he says. “[However], the goal is that everyone has fun. Even though it is a competitive environment, playing tennis is a lifetime sport and it should be fun.”
The tennis team also played against Carlmont in the PAL Team Playoffs on April 19, but this match was after the Outlook’s print deadline.
