In a highly anticipated non-league meeting of two of the top teams in the Central Coast Section, the Palo Alto boys’ tennis team (11-3) was dealt a disheartening 3-4 loss from the Menlo High School Knights (12-2) on Wednesday.
Hoping to rebound from a frustrating 3-4 defeat against league rival Saratoga High School on Tuesday, the Vikings entered the match buoyed by the fact that Menlo was missing its No. 2 singles player due to illness. But in spite of the Vikings’ enthusiasm and heart, the Knights were just too deep for Paly to handle, resulting in a painfully close loss with many individual matches pushed to three sets.
At No. 1 singles, senior Sam Wong faced Menlo senior Daniel Hoffman, ranked No. 2 in California. Despite battling valiantly, Wong was defeated, 6-1, 6-0. Hoffman’s tremendous serves pushed Wong off the court and caused Wong to push his returns back, allowing Hoffman easy overhead smashes. Coupling his devastating service game with powerful groundstrokes, Hoffman controlled the tempo of the game and never gave Wong a chance.
Sophomore Baramee Wongbanchai held the No. 2 singles position and battled to a tight 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 win over junior Patrick Chase. Holding long rallies, the duo traded scorching topspin shots. With pinpoint precision, Wongbanchai fired forehands to the corners, only to have Chase hunt them down to keep points alive. Chase pulled ahead in the first set, targeting Wongbanchai’s backhand which had been ineffective towards the start of the match. Wongbanchai’s frustration was evident at the end of the first set, but he found his serve in the next two and was able to pull out the win.
“I didn’t expect him [Chase] to play this well,” Wongbanchai said. “He improved a lot since I played him before. My serve was off in the first set and that caused me to lose but it was better in the second two. I tried to pressure him into missing and really tried to be consistent.”
Across the courts, freshman Nicky Hu played Menlo freshman Justin Chan at No. 3 singles and had little difficulty rolling to a 6-2, 6-4 victory. Hu finished off long rallies decisively, relying on a powerful forehand and a wicked one-handed backhand.
“I started out playing well; he [Chan] was pretty nervous,” Hu said. “I made my put away shots. In the second set, I started to cruise and lost two games but then I picked it up and played the last two really well.”
At No. 4 singles, senior Dan Schwartz fought gamely but was defeated, 3-6, 7-6 (7-3), 2-6, by sophomore Andrew Carlisle. Approaching the net often, Schwartz used his volleys to win several points but Carlisle managed to win a majority of the situations by either lobbing the ball over Schwartz or passing him with a quick shot.
Throughout the match Schwartz displayed poise in ignoring the heckling Menlo crowd. Just when the momentum shifted in Schwartz’s favor, he started cramping. Despite the best efforts of his teammates to alleviate the discomfort, he continued to cramp and played the third set without much mobility. Schwartz limped bravely on, but nonetheless struggled to chase after shots.
“It took a while to get into a rhythm,” Schwartz said. “By the beginning of the third I got a cramp in my left calf and then I lost four in a row. When the last game got around I had a cramp in my right thigh.”
Playing No.1 doubles, senior John Mitchell and junior Drew Pearson struggled against Menlo seniors Max Glenn and Ryan Duggal, eventually losing 3-6, 5-7. In spite of strong volleying by the Viking duo, Duggal and Glenn worked in synergy with powerful forehands and impressive poaches to close out the match.
“They [Glenn and Duggal] were a very good team,” Pearson said. “I needed to step up but I didn’t. We could have had it [victory]; we were close, but we couldn’t quite get it.”
The pair of senior Alan Chen and junior Peter Tseng represented Paly at No. 2 doubles, but fell, 4-6, 4-6, to sophomore Kyle Sum and freshman John Katzman. With powerful shots from Chen and impressive volleying by Tseng, the pair looked to be in good position despite losing the first set. The combination of power and finesse set up many easy points for the Viking tandem but Sum and Katzman never allowed them to take an outright advantage.
“We played alright but we didn’t get into a rhythm early,” Chen said. “We played well at the net though, when we took control of the net we won points.”
At No. 3 doubles, the junior tandem of Alex Freeman and Grant Audet played a nail biter against junior Brian Peltz and freshman Zac Chase and triumphed, 7-6 (7-2), 1-6, 7-6 (7-4). Displaying tremendous teamwork, Freeman and Audet rushed the net, relying on amazing volleys to close off points. Audet often hit several volleys in a row as the ball flew lightning fast between him and the opposing player at the net.
“We came out flat,” Freeman said. “We had trouble finding a rhythm and had to battle for it, but it worked out in the end.”
Although Menlo emerged victorious in the first clash of CCS title contenders, the Vikings look to challenge the Knights again in the future as they try to regainmomentum in the coming weeks.
“It was tough to come back after Spring Break,” head coach Andy Harader said. “We are always flat after Spring Break. It was like all our momentum peaked right before the vacation. But it was still a good match; most of them were very tight and it was definitely winnable today.”
Hoping to recover their strong midseason form, the Vikings look to avenge their losses this week with a big game against crosstown rival Gunn High School, on Thursday. Paly will also have another chance to take on Saratoga later this month and gather momentum before league and CCS championships.
Paly will face Gunn High School in an away match at 3:30 p.m. on April 2.
Editor’s Note: Dan Schwartz is an editor-in-chief of The Paly Voice.