The Paly girls’ tennis team lost its spot as the No. 1 team in the De Anza division and ended a 12-game winning streak after losing to Saratoga, 4-3, on Thursday.
“The result is disappointing, but I think we gave it a good shot,” head coach Andy Harader said.
Just like Paly, Saratoga entered the match with an undefeated league record. The teams appeared evenly matched, trading blow for blow as Saratoga showed greater singles ability while Paly fell back on a stronger doubles line-up. After more than two hours of play, the teams were tied at three matches apiece and all eyes fell on the deciding singles match. Paly’s No. 4 junior singles player Margot Gerould was unaccustomed to singles play, and consequently fell to her opponent 6-0, 6-2, giving Saratoga the win.
“It’s just goes how it goes,” Gerould said after the match. “Andy told me there was no pressure, and win or lose, I knew I was going to come out playing my hardest.”
The match began with a rocky start when sophomore No. 2 singles player Mira Khanna lost her match 6-0, 6-1. Normally positioned at the No. 4 singles spot, Khanna struggled throughout the match against her dominating Saratoga counterpart.
“I wasn’t playing very consistently the first set,” the younger Khanna said. “I calmed down a bit in the second, but she started coming into the net and putting away the points.”
Following Khanna’s loss however, Paly received an infusion of strength after snagging both the No. 2 doubles and No. 1 singles spots in quick succession. Paly juniors Sophie Biffar and Gracie Dulik took the No. 2 doubles spot after demonstrating solid volleys and serves throughout. The match was their first league test since their loss to Menlo on Sept. 17, and the duo was pleased with their performance.
“Sophie and I played really well,” Dulik said. “We just stayed pumped throughout the match. We know they’re a tough team, but we’ll be sure to bring it next time.”
Sophomore No. 1 singles player Janet Liu further established herself as the team’s top player after cruising by her opponent with a score of 6-0, 6-1. Liu extended her personal record to 12-0 after her win and is considered to be “the best player in the league,” according to Harader.
“She wasn’t the toughest competition I’ve had this season, but [my opponent] was a solid player,” Liu said. “I just played like I know I can and took care of business.”
Saratoga quickly fought back with another win at No. 3 singles. Paly senior No. 3 singles player Lisa Ke, normally a doubles player, was unaccustomed to the high level of competition and fell to her opponent in a debilitating 6-1, 6-2 loss.
“My opponent was really solid,” Ke said. “She hit a lot of good angle shots.”
Following Ke’s loss, juniors Lauren Mah and Christine Koepnick at No. 3 doubles lost 6-3, 6-3. Mah and Koepnick battled their opponents in one of the closest matches of the Paly-Saratoga face off, but eventually succumbed to their opponent’s strong offensive game. The pair was the only Paly doubles team to fall to Saratoga.
“We need to get more consistent,” Mah said. “My first serves would have helped us apply more pressure in our service games. The way we played, they were always dictating the points.”
Sophomore Emma Marti and senior Vrinda Khanna, at No. 2 doubles, demonstrated superior doubles strategy over their opponents, winning 6-4, 6-2. Marti, normally the No. 2 singles player and Khanna, normally the No. 3 singles player, cast their singles strategies aside in order to adapt to the different doubles mentality.
“I think I played pretty well and I actually think I might be a better doubles player than singles player,” Marti said. “It was different playing doubles given that I normally play singles, but I really enjoyed it.”
Saratoga, now 10-1 overall and 6-0 in league, is contending for the No. 2 spot in Northern California. Saratoga’s only loss so far this season was to Archbishop Mitty, a powerhouse team that Paly is scheduled to play later in the season. With their own match against Mitty at the back of their minds, the Vikings will focus on fixing their mistakes made against Saratoga in upcoming practices.
“I don’t know what we’re going to change next time we play them [Saratoga],” Harader said. “I’m going to look at the score sheet and see where we can improve the line-up. We need to work on the diversity of shots that our players make. We play them the last match of the season and we’ll probably play them again in CCS, so we have a lot of time to improve our game.”
The girls’ next match against Los Altos will be held at 3:30 p.m on Tuesday at Los Altos.