Varsity Boys Tennis fell 7-0 to Lynbrook High School on Tuesday, April 29, in its final home match of the regular season. Although a few of the matches were close, hard-fought losses, the team struggled overall across both singles and doubles.
The team celebrated Senior Night, honoring their two senior players, singles -player Kaveen Goswami and doubles -player Naeyan Selva, with posters, cheers and a small ceremony following the matches. Despite the outcome, Goswami says he was proud of his performance in his singles game.
“I thought I played well,” Goswami said. “I think the first set I was a little bit down, I wasn’t too active and energetic, so I got beaten. But in my second set, I picked it up and I was getting a lot more hype, getting a lot more energy — I won that 6-3. And the tie-break, I was just gassed from the other two sets. but I think I played well overall.”
Goswami says that the turnout for Senior Night made the match more meaningful. Several of his friends showed up with posters for him, including one that read “Kaveen Goswami serves up a Tsunami.”
“I thought it was a lot of fun and I was really happy to see all of my friends show up and cheer for me,” Goswami said. “I think it made the match a lot more enjoyable and definitely put more on the line.”
Goswami, who played both singles and doubles this year, will continue playing with Selva in the upcoming postseason tournament. In addition, he hopes to join the Berkeley Club Tennis team as he enters his next four years in college.
Overall, Head Coach Gabriel Pimentel praises Goswami’s performance during the Senior Night match and highlights his improvement as a player over the past season. Pimentel bumped Goswami up to singles for a couple of matches from his original position in doubles last season.
“Kaveen played a very, very nice match,” Pimentel said. “I could see a lot of effort — he was pouring his heart out there, and I was really happy with the performance overall.”
Pimentel says there were many challenges this season, especially after losing the team’s top two players from last year and having to reorganize the team.
Although this marks the last regular season game that the seniors will play, the team still looks ahead to a league tournament and possible participation in the Central Coast Section (CCS).
“It’s been bumpy, because I understand that we are a school where most of the kids are super devoted to academics,” Pimentel said. “Sometimes it’s a little bit conflicting with practices. But I would say I’m happy with the amount of practice that we got and the improvement we got. I’m looking forward to getting more practice with the kids next season. I’m hoping for an even better season next year.”
