Head Coach: Florin Marica
Last year’s record: 9-3
Recap: Last year, the Falcons finished second in the lower El Camino league and did not qualify for CCS. At SCVAL, doubles partners junior Sasha Prasad and graduated senior Nancy Lei advanced to the semifinal round.
Key Matchups: Lynbrook, Gunn
Star Players: Juniors singles player Viki Toram, Mihika Singh and player Sasha Prasad
Key losses to graduation: Former team captain and doubles player Nancy Lei
League: El Camino
Prognosis:
Aspiring to rise into the upper De Anza division, the team placed second for a second straight year and remains in the lower El Camino division. They will have to overcome their toughest competitor, Gunn, in order to move up divisions. Going into this year, the team lost senior Nancy Lei to graduation, while juniors doubles player Lilly Nickerson and singles player Riya Rama are now both transferred to Los Gatos High, leaving behind openings for incoming players to join the team. Freshman Yaryar Chen, Vivian Li and Aishi Prashanth have all secured spots on the varsity squad.
Since more than half the team is composed of juniors, most of whom made the varsity team in their freshman year, senior captain Natalie Poon said the team members from last year know each other well. She hopes to build upon the sense of team unity as captain this year.
“Most of us have been together since the beginning,” Poon said. “Since then, we’ve lost and gained people, but overall we’re pretty close.”
As last year’s co-captain, Poon was able to work closely with former captain Lei and gain experience leading the team.
“Being able to watch the captain do things was pretty helpful because I kind of know what to follow with,” Poon said.
Early in the season, longtime coach Florin Marica believes that the players should be working on improving their serves. He wants players to focus on solidifying the moment where they have the most control over the ball’s outcome and can use the same rehearsed technique each time.
“Serving is the most important thing because it starts the point and you have to be the one in control, not the [opponent],” Marica said.
With their first match on Sept. 17, Poon believes in the team’s potential, chasing hopes of moving up to the next league. The team was close to advancing last year, but just barely missed the cutoff.
“I think I’m pretty optimistic,” Poon said. “I’m just working on trying to keep the energy up among players.”
