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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

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Girls’ tennis trounces Milpitas to stay undefeated

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Paly Varsity captain Meredith Cummings prepares for a volley  during a tough doubles match with senior partner Brin Elliott on Thursday against Milpitas High School. The girls’ tennis team went on to win the game, 7-0. Photo: Sid Sharma

The Palo Alto High School girls’ tennis team (7-0) routed Milpitas High School, 7-0, in an El Camino League match on Thursday at home.

The team’s second blowout win of the season against Milpitas helped Paly maintain its undefeated record and stay No. 1 in the league, despite the absence of a top singles player, senior Avanika Narayan, who was out due to a shoulder injury.

The Vikings expressed varying opinions on what they need to do to improve going forward.

“As the season progresses, we’re trying to play smarter and think more about shot placement and technique,” doubles player Alice Zhang said.

Senior Captain Meredith Cummings added some slightly differing views on what the team should improve on.

“I think we need to work on making sure each player has a safety serve to ensure an opportunity to play out the point, instead of giving the team easy points,” Cummings said. “We also need to be more confident and aggressive at the net.”

Girls’ tennis has continued to find success in its mental dominance.

“We succeed in our matches because we keep a positive mindset intact for most of the game and focus on smart shots,” Cummings said.

Despite the blowout result, the games did not come without difficulty. Both Brin Elliott and Cummings (doubles) and Mailinh Truong, who stepped in for Narayan, faced lengthy and close matches, according to Zhang.

The streak of wins gives legitimacy to early season sentiments of Coach Andy Harader, who stated that he is confident that the girls can win the league championship.

“The only thing keeping us from winning the championship will be ourselves this season,” Harader said in September — a day before the season started.

If the team continues on to win in the El Camino League, the girls will move back up to the De Anza League next year. The team’s poor record in that same league last year forced the Vikings to move down this year.

The next game will be Tuesday at Mountain View High School, which Paly beat, 5-2, in their last match.

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Siddarth Sharma, Author

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