Paly freshman Karine Hsu placed first in the girls’ singles division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletics League on Saturday at Paly.
Hsu was not the only Paly athlete to place in SCVAL. Senior Young Hsu finished fifth in girls’ singles, while junior Ivan Zhou came in ninth in boys’ singles. Seniors Kevin Dai and Auster Chen placed seventh in boys’ doubles. Seniors doubles pairs Justin Hsi and Adam Hwung, Crystal Wang and Connie Yang, and Alyssa Burton and Kyle Clarke took ninth in boys’ doubles, girls’ doubles, and mixed doubles, respectively.
Coach Kara Prentice was pleased with the success that Paly had in the SCVAL tournament.
“We’ve had the most people getting this far in this tournament,” Prentice said.
Coach John Prentice agreed with Kara.
“We did about as well as we expected to do, maybe a little better,” John said. “Boys’ doubles did very well. Competition is pretty tough.”
Karine Hsu first faced Monta Vista’s Weina Dai in semifinals. In the first minutes, Hsu established a solid lead over Dai and maintained it with clears and drops. Hsu won the first game, 15-0. Her second game with Dai began in a similar fashion with Dai was unable to score against Hsu’s quick drives and was quickly defeated, 15-0. Hsu then moved on to finals, where she faced her national doubles partner, Homestead’s Sharon Ng.
Ng’s match into the finals was not as easy as Hsu’s. Ng faced Gunn’s sophomore Phoebe Lin, a finalist in the 2008 girls’ singles Central Coast Section. Both athletes started out with quick shots around the court, resulting in long rallies before one player scored a point. Neither Ng nor Lin established a substantial lead. After matching each other point for point towards the end of the first game, Lin won, 17-15. In the second game, Lin started off with a lead, but Ng eventually caught up as Lin tired. Although Lin’s movements grew slower, she maintained a strong swing and did not give up. Lin lost the game, 9-15. Her fatigue carried on into the third, where she lost 4-15.
According to Kara, the first game between Hsu and Ng was especially intense. Hsu gained an early lead, but Ng fought back steadily and tied with Hsu, 8-8. Hsu, however, did not allow Ng to score any more points and won the game, 15-8. Hsu trailed throughout the beginning of the second game, giving Ng an eight point lead. Hsu then fought back to tie the game at 14-14. After a series of what Kara called “crazy rallies,” Hsu won the game, 17-15.
Ng dropped to consolations, where she played Lin again. However, Lin was not as quick as she was in the previous game, and lost both games, 3-15 and 5-15. Ng won the consolation bracket of girls’ singles.
Because of the SCVAL rule that the winner of the consolation bracket plays the winner of the main games, Ng and Hsu faced off in a rematch. The first game saw Hsu behind Ng, but Hsu eventually caught up, tying the game at 8-8. From then on, both players fought hard to win a point, but Hsu eventually won, 17-16. At the start of the second game, Hsu and Ng refused to let the other score points, but Hsu came out on top and won the game, 15-3.
Hsu will advance to the Central Coast Section championships that will take place from May 26-28 at Monta Vista High School.