Head Coach: Florin Marica

Last year’s record: 6-4

Recap: A solid regular season with a relatively young roster advanced the team to CCS, where they ultimately suffered a tough loss in the semi-finals to Cupertino.

Key Matchups: Cupertino and Monta Vista

Star Players: Kosei Ogata

Key losses to graduation: Ben Bray and Anthony Zhang

League: De Anza

Prognosis:

The boys’ tennis team is excited for their revamped roster despite the loss of seniors Ben Bray and Anthony Zhang to graduation. Most spring sports held tryouts the week of Jan. 30, but head coach Florin Marica postponed tryouts one week to grant players an extra week of preparation. 

The team hopes for the return of previous No. 1 singles player junior Kosei Ogata. Although he left the school for online homeschooling before the fall semester, he and Marica requested for special permissions to return and play for the team.

“We are very optimistic,” junior doubles player Samik Pattanayak said. “He will add a significant amount of firepower to the roster.”

In addition to the possibility of Kosei returning, his younger brother, freshman Somei Ogata, is set to join the roster. 

“We have a pretty deep roster this year,” Pattanayak said. “The Ogata duo could be great and even apart from them, the back half of the roster has also improved due to practicing in the off-season.”

In addition to the younger Ogata, freshman Nikhil Srivatsa is another strong newcomer to the team. Both freshmen regularly compete in tournaments all over the Bay Area. 

Senior captain Julian Berkowitz-Sklar, who is playing basketball in the winter season,  looks forward to seeing the influx of younger players and hopes to serve as a mentor whenever needed to maximize their growth on and off the court. The Falcons’ first match is scheduled for Feb. 28 against Gunn.

“My personal goal would be to make sure I’m there for my teammates,” Berkowitz-Sklar said. “If they need any help or have any questions, whether it’s about tennis or not, I want to make sure that I’m there for them.”