Despite missing several key players and forfeiting a match, the Palo Alto boys’ tennis team (14-3) rallied to an impressive 5-2 victory over the Monta Vista High School Matadors (10-9) on Thursday.
With senior team captain and No. 1 singles standout Sam Wong sidelined by injury, star sophomore Baramee Wongbanchai academically ineligible due to low grades, and seniors Alan Chen and Dan Schwartz visiting colleges, the bulk of the Vikings’ devastating singles lineup was absent.
Head coach Andy Harader was forced to rearrange his roster, moving freshman sensation Nicky Hu to the No. 1 position, senior John Mitchell to No. 2, junior Drew Pearson to No. 3, and senior Cory McCroskey to No. 4.
Entering the match, Harader expected a close contest, but the versatility and depth of the Paly roster proved too much for the Matadors to handle.
Moving up to No. 1 singles for the first time this season, Hu displayed his tremendous potential by cruising to a 6-4, 6-1 rout of sophomore Amreet Mohanty. Crushing forehands left and right, Hu attacked high balls and hit tough angle shots to frustrate his lanky opponent, sending him scrambling across the baseline. Relying on a huge service game to give him the advantage, Hu gave a clinic on drop shots, floating touch shots over the net.
“I played pretty bad in the first set because I was messing around,” Hu said, “but in the second set I played smarter. I hit a lot of drop shots and moved him around the court.”
At No. 2, Mitchell was in the midst of battling through a three-set match against freshman Nathan Law when he was forced to forfeit the match in order to catch a plane. The score before Mitchell left was 6-4, 4-6, 0-1. Throughout the match, Mitchell served well and approached the net, forcing Law to make mistakes. The back and forth nature of the match was evident as Law openly expressed his frustration in the first set while Mitchell became more vocal about his annoyance in the second. However, due to the pressing nature of his flight, Mitchell was forced to leave before he could mount a third set comeback.
Across the courts at No. 3, Pearson dominated sophomore Edwin Chang, 6-4, 6-2. Utilizing a medley of strong groundstrokes and a commanding serve, Pearson had little problem returning the shots of his counterpart. However, he had some difficulty settling into a rhythm and often hit shots just wide before he found his stroke.
“I started out slow,” Pearson said, “but I picked it up in the second set. In the first set, I had to battle — not my specialty — but in the second, I really played my game.”
Stepping up to play No. 4, McCroskey played consistent, clean tennis to defeat junior Thomas Chow, 6-4, 6-3. The pair was locked in countless rallies, trading deep topspin shots till one of them missed. With a reliable backhand and serve, McCroskey was able to overcome Chow’s big serve and come up with a big win.
“My backhands were working pretty well this match,” McCroskey said, “but the rest, my volleys and my forehands, not so much.”
Paly juniors Peter Tseng and Chase Cooper teamed up against juniors Jeff Ku and Sehas Shekar at No. 1 doubles. The Viking duo battled to a 6-0, 2-6, 6-2 victory filled with devastating overhead smashes and volley exchanges. With big serves from Cooper and amazing reaction volleys by both, the pair went for clean winners and forced Ku and Shekar to hit wide or long.
“We played well in the first and third sets,” Cooper said. “We lost focus in the second but our overheads came up big for us.”
At No. 2 doubles, Paly juniors Grant Audet and Alex Freeman crushed seniors Ben Lui and Daniel Peng, 6-2, 6-2. Audet and Freeman sped through their match and were the first to finish in a little under an hour. Displaying good teamwork with Audet’s strong volleying complimenting Freeman’s heavy groundstrokes, the pair went for the quick points, either passing their opponent or smashing it out of reach.
“Both of our serves were on,” Freeman said. “We were not very consistent but we put away our volleys so the points were short.”
The third doubles tandem of juniors Jujhaar Singh and Alex Taser fell to freshman Alan Nguyen and junior James Hansen, 4-6, 0-6. Despite Taser’s strong volleying and Singh’s big serve, the pair wasn’t able to overcome their unforced errors and strong play by their Monta Vista counterparts.
“The match didn’t go well,” Singh said. “We were playing mediocre and they were playing well.”
Even without the majority of its singles lineup, Palo Alto once again proved its formidable depth in this key warm-up before facing private school powerhouse Sacred Heart Preparatory and league nemesis Saratoga next week.
“The match was incredible,” Harader said. “I could not have predicted a 5-2 win. It is difficult this time of year when seniors are giving their attention to colleges. The Sacred Heart match will determine if we get either the second, third, or fourth seed in the Central Coast Section. For the Saratoga match we need a full roster, [so] it really depends on the players.”
The Vikings are gearing up for an intense week of tennis that should be a good indicator of their postseason success. With a high seed on the line and a chance to avenge two devastating 3-4 losses to Saratoga, Paly hopes to continue its recent string of victories on their way to a league crown.
Palo Alto will face Sacred Heart Prep in an away match at 3:30 p.m. on April 20 at Sacred Heart.