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The Student News Site of Palo Alto High School

The Paly Voice

The Student News Site of Palo Alto High School

The Paly Voice

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Girls’ tennis anticipates positive season

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Senior Mira Khanna practices her backhand stroke during Tuesday’s practice. – Marc HavlikThe Palo Alto High School girls’ tennis team is preparing for its first league match of the season against Lynbrook High School on Tuesday, Sept. 14, at Paly.

The team graduated four players last year, including top singles players and captains Sophie Biffar and Gracie Dulik. Nevertheless, the team is ready to meet new challenges under the leadership of seniors Sabrina Yeung and Mira Khanna.

“All [of the] girls have stuck with it in the off-season and improved a lot, to my surprise,” head coach Andy Harader said.

The team lineup has strong veteran talent with nine seniors, one junior, one sophomore and two freshman. The addition of freshmen Ashli Budhiraja and Felicia Wang will bolster the team’s talent with their ranked skill.

“They [Budhiraja and Wang] are both good,” Khanna said. “Both have a lot of potential.”

According to Khanna, despite the fact that last year at-the-time juniors Janet Liu and Emma Marti won the Central Coast Section Championship doubles title and the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League doubles, the team experienced a feeling of disappointment when the team finished fifth in the league. However, the Vikings are confident that this year, with the right amount of effort, they can be successful.

“Last season started out really well,” junior Amy Ke said. “We came out third or fourth down at the [California High School Tennis Classics] tournament in Fresno. Other than that it was an okay season. We weren’t as successful as we anticipated — we won some, and we lost some.”

According to Harader, his primary goal for this season is for the team to make CCS.

“I think it’s going to be a promising season,” Ke said. “Everyone has improved a lot, and we’re a much closer team this year. I’ve had a lot more fun so far.”

The team hopes that a consistent lineup and a new positive attitude will pay off in their first league match of the season against Lynbrook. Paly defeated Lynbrook, 6-1, last year, and the Vikings are looking for a solid victory to kick off the new season.

“It should be an up year,” Harader said. “We should win [against Lynbrook] easily.”

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