The girls varsity tennis team defeated Granite Bay, Mission San Jose, and Saratoga to win the CIF Nor Cal Championships.
After an upsetting loss against Saratoga in the final round of CCS, the girls varsity team proved to be the number one team among 600 teams in the CIF Nor Cal Championships. Their first round match was against Granite Bay High School on Fri Nov. 20. at Diamond Hills Sports Club in Oakley, CA.
Due to the rain, only one tennis court was available for each game. Number one singles junior Sylvia Li went on first and won both sets 6-1. Then the number one doubles freshmen Ruri Kobayakawa and Jody Law played who lost in a long three set match. The next match was number two singles junior Vynnie Kong, who won her match in two sets. After Kong’s match, number three singles senior Melissa Kobayakawa easily won her match her match in two sets.
In the decisive fourth match of number two doubles team of seniors Tara Nguyen and Annalisa Choy won the first set easily with a score of 6-2, but struggled in the second set. They were down 3-5 and at risk of playing a third set, but they managed to pull together and finished the second set off with a score of 7-6 (8-6). The team finished the first round with four impressive wins. 
On Sat Nov. 21, the second day of the tournament, the girls played against Mission San Jose and Saratoga—defeating them both. The team easily cruised past Mission San Jose with a 6-1 victory. Once again, the girls found themselves face to face against Saratoga, their rival from the CCS tournament. The girls quickly took advantage of the chance for a rematch as the number one singles player from Saratoga retired from her match as Li was beating her opponent 4-0. However, number four singles Nguyen could not pull out a win in the next match and lost in two sets. Then number one doubles freshman Ruri Kobayakawa and freshmen Wendi Kong won their match.
The score of the game was tied up at 2-2 after number three doubles senior Gizem Gures and junior Jackie Lim lost their doubles match. In the next match, number three singles Melissa Kobayakawa crushed her opponent 6-2, 6-2 after losing to the same player in the CCS finals.
After that momentum swing, number two doubles Choy and Law sealed the deal for the Matadors with a score of 7-6 (7-2) 6-1. Even though Vynnie Kong then lost her match against Saratoga’s number two singles player, Monta Vista tennis had still won the majority of the seven total matches, which was exactly what they needed to win. The final score between Monta Vista and Saratoga was 4-3.
"Being the underdogs in this match made us more determined," Choy said. "We stayed focused and concentrated on playing our game rather than the outcome." After a heart breaking loss at the CCS game, the girls varsity team redeemed themselves and deservingly took home the title as Nor Cal champions.
