In Paly’s final home league match of the season, the Vikings came in expecting a revamped Gunn line-up in response to Paly’s 6-1 drubbing of the Titans earlier in the season.
In a senior night of sorts, the Viking’s fourth year players were competed against their cross-town rivals for the seventh and final time in their high school careers.
The Vikings (10-1, 18-3) jumped out to early leads in all seven matches, winning sic of the first seven sets. This trend, however, did not continue as multiple teams split sets.
First off the courts was the No. 1 doubles team of senior Alan Chen and junior Drew Pearson. The pair emerged victorious, 6-3, 6-2, one of only three teams that did not drop their second set.
“We didn’t play that well, but we didn’t really need to,” Chen said. “I personally wasn’t returning well and my ground strokes weren’t good but it ended up not mattering.”
Next off the court was star senior No. 2 singles player Samuel Wong. Wong, the only four-year varsity singles player on the team, played magnificently against Gunn senior Ishan Bhadkamkar. After dominating the first set, 6-2, with his consistent barrage of groundstrokes, Wong closed out the second set with a 6-4 victory.
“I played well in the beginning, and it got close in the end but I pulled it out,” Wong said. “Even though CCS [Central Coast Section] is coming up, this match was really important because a loss would have dropped us to second in league. It also would have really hurt our seeding.”
Head coach Andy Harader elected to play the junior duo of Peter Tseng and Grant Audet at No. 2 doubles although both players had been struggling with injuries. Gunn’s traditionally deep rotation had caused the Vikings problems in the past, so it was on Audet and Tseng to put the team’s agenda before their own.
“We were pretty injured,” Audet said. “In the first set we were fine because the wear and tear hadn’t really come in yet, but in the second set both of us really started hurting. We took some Advil during the break and then dominated during the third.”
The pair jumped out to a quick 6-1 first set win, but faltered in the second to the sound of a 6-7 loss. As the match was not decided yet, a third set proved necessary. Thanks to effective Advil and tremendous volleying, Tseng and Audet came out with a 6-1, 6-7, 6-1 final score.
“It was very satisfying to know that our win over Gunn essentially clinched the league title for our seniors,” Tseng said after the match. “This is a good stepping stone going into CCS.”
One player who will surely continue to shine for Paly throughout the CCS playoffs is freshman phenom and No. 3 singles player Nicky Hu. Hu faced Gunn senior Bharat Reddy and quickly won the first set, 6-0. With the match seemingly easily won, Hu lost focus in the second set, but managed to prevail, 6-4. Even though Hu is the youngest player on the team, he has taken on an extra leadership role with the absence of senior singles player Dan Schwartz.
“I’m really excited to play in CCS because it’s my first year and I really want to continue contributing to the team,” Hu said. “I like school tennis a lot better that tournaments because you know that you can depend on your teammates to perform and to cheer you on. I think we have a really good chance to make it to Norcals because we have a deep team and we’re all fighters until the very last point.”
With Paly up 3-0 in the match count, Harader needed one more win from the remaining four matches to clinch the match. All four of the remaining teams had won the first set but suffered a second set loss. Junior Chase Cooper and senior Cory McCroskey, however, quickly bounced back from their 4-6 second set loss to win 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 at No. 3 doubles.
“We had two six-game winning streaks, one in the first set, and one in the third,” Cooper said. “We always let if get out of hand and then we somehow come to our senses and shake it off.”
McCroskey and Cooper had been subject to unpredictable spots in the line-up as McCroskey had played at the No. 4 singles position in addition to No. 1, No. 2, and No. 3 doubles, all in the last two weeks. This was evident as the duo struggled early on with chemistry issues.
“Chase and I have been playing together for a while, so the match wasn’t really in doubt,” McCroskey said. “We knew that if it came down to it, we could win. And that’s exactly what we did.”
Sophomore No. 1 singles player Baramee Wongbongchai put the exclamation point on a terrific day when he chalked in the seventh and final win over Rajeev Herekar, 6-1, 2-6, 7-5.
“Last time we played I lost, so this time around I fought better than last time,” Wongbongchai. “I went after every ball and didn’t give up. Last time it was windy and I went crazy. This time I stayed composed and suck to the game plan.”
The Vikings, who have won five of seven encounters against the Titans in the last four years, are looking to make a deep run in the CCS playoffs with the eventual goal of making it to Norcals.
Their next match is away at Homestead at 3:30 on April 27 to close the regular season.