In addition to having snatched four Santa Clara Valley Athletic League titles and an undefeated season, the Paly girls’ tennis team secured a spot in the second round of CCS team championships. The team’s strong lineup and strategy pulled a 4-3 victory over the Stevenson Pirates in its first round match on Tuesday.
The Vikings went into the match not knowing what to expect, never having played the Pirates (18-2), a team belonging to the Mission Trails Athletic League. However, according to head coach Andy Harader, the Stevenson match was a good challenge for the team.
“This was a tough match,” Harader said. “I’m glad we had this kind of match today because it toughened everybody up.”
Sophomore Lauren Mah also enjoyed the challenge of playing a new school.
“I guess since we we’re in the lower league this year there wasn’t too much competition,” Mah said.
And this “competition” is precisely what the Pirates’ dealt the Vikings.
Paly’s first point came from sophomore doubles team Sophie Biffar and Gracie Dulik. Biffar and Dulik snatched an easy victory, 6-0, 6-0, with consistent shots, forcing Stevenson senior Brandi Bluhm and junior Paige Schifferli to make many unforced errors. Biffar and Dulik also communicated and rotated well throughout their match, a tactic that the duo has much improved during the season.
The Khanna sisters, junior Vrinda and freshman Mira, however, were each unable to produce wins for Paly in their singles matches. M. Khanna struggled to produce winners against Stevenson junior Esther Daweke, while V. Khanna had also difficulty with keeping shots consistent, despite her strong serve.
“I could have played better,” V. Khanna said. “She [Daweke] had nice winners, but I got to ace her twice.”
The freshmen doubles team of Christine Koepnick and Mah coasted to an easy win over Stevenson sophomores Molly Warner and Hala Murphy, 6-0, 6-3.
“I thought my partner and I worked very well together, and we stayed optimistic,” Mah said. “If we missed a point or hit the ball out, then we just stayed positive.”
Paly’s next point came from the No. 1 singles player, freshman Janet Liu, who defeated her opponent senior Katharine Dicconson, 6-4, 6-2. Liu played long and flat rallies, outlasting Dicconson.
“My opponent hit really hard,” Liu said. “But I mixed up my strokes and it worked.”
Freshman Emma Marti produced a fourth win for Paly over Stevenson sophomore Logan Finnell, 6-2, 6-2. As Marti had done so throughout the season, her powerful serves and few errors allowed her to charge through the match.
In what was the Pirate’s third and final point, Paly juniors Lindsay Yang and Lisa Ke fought to win the second set tiebreaker, but were unable to overcome the strong defense of Stevenson seniors Lindsay Lee and Clara Posner in the closest individual match of the contest. Yang and Ke started out the match slowly, but quickly gained focus in time to grasp onto the second set. In the tiebreaker, Lee and Posner played consistent net play, and Yang and Ke struggled to return the drop shots with angled winners. The final score was 3-6, 7-6 (10-8), 8-10.
Although the Vikings struggled more than usual to claim a victory, the team impressed Stevenson coach Wendy Grover.
“Palo Alto has a very good team,” Grover said. “They were very patient and everybody had a good first serve.”
As a result of the Lady Vikes’ triumphant season, they will return to the De Anza Division next year.
Wednesday, the Vikings will face the number one seed, powerhouse Monta Vista Matadors, in an away match. The Matadors, who are the defending Northern California champions, have taken home the CCS championships three out of the last five years.
Following last week’s triumphs at the individual SCVAL tournament, number six seeds freshmen Marti and Liu will compete in individual CCS doubles tournament next Monday at Courtside Tennis Club in Los Gatos. This is quite an accomplishment; the last time Paly made CCS in individual play was in 2003.