It was May 9, day one of their CCS team tournament. One senior, one junior and eight sophomores played for the varsity boys’ tennis team and competed in seven events — four singles and three doubles entries against Los Gatos HS. Out of them, six emerged victorious, the remaining one falling short by one set.

Photos by Om Khandekar and Karen Ma.

Though sophomore Lenny Lin prevailed 6-2 his first set, his careless footwork and stomach cramp created trouble for him in the second set and would have caused more if it hadn’t been for his effective serves and drop shots; as a result, Lin ended up clinching a 7-5 win.

Disappointing performance also afflicted the undefeated doubles pair, sophomores Ryan Loke and Michael Wu, during their match. Though they didn’t play as well as they could have, they were able to secure an effortless win by serving their way out of trouble when under pressure.

“Looking toward our next match, I think that if we just focus a little bit better, and just work on trying to win every point, we’re going to be set,” Wu said.

Varsity coach Bruce Becker believes that losing focus, even after winning the first set, remains an issue amongst the team. But he’s confident that the players have the experience and ability to adjust their mentalities accordingly during each match. He knows that at their level, they stand a chance at beating even the most formidable schools in the competition, such as St. Ignatius College Preparatory, whom they would play in the second round of CCS.

“I hope to be competitive,” Becker said. “If they focus to be competitive, we won’t go away sad.”

The team played SICP in their second round on May 10 and lost the meet in straight matches, putting an end to the season.