With a record of 11-1, the boys’ tennis team has won the De Anza League championship for the third consecutive year.
And now that the league season over, the boys have been preparing for CCS and SCVALS, the qualifying tournament that will be held during the week of April 25 for individual CCS playoffs. The boys will be looking forward to making the semis and possibly playing against their biggest rival Menlo, the CCS champions for the last seven years.
“At the beginning of the season, we set expectations to win the league and continue our streak of three consecutive CCS semifinals,” senior No. 1 singles player Karthik Padmanabhan said. “Despite having a weaker team compared to previous years, we managed to accomplish what we set out to do and now look to do well in CCS.”
The boys achieved a 6-1 victory against Cupertino on April 19 and secured the league championship title with the victory.
“We knew that we had to win this match in order to win league,” said senior No. 1 doubles player Naved Krishnamurthy. “We played and executed extremely well and were able to get the win.”
On April 14, the Falcons defeated Gunn 5-2. Although the boys prevailed, they struggled because they were missing key players, including senior No. 4 singles player Jihau Yu.
“We had to push everyone up a spot toward the end of the lineup, which made our teams weaker,” said Padmanabhan. “It puts a lot more pressure on singles to win, but luckily all four of of the players won, sealing the win.”
The Falcons defeated Palo Alto 6-1 on April 12, as players were able to minimize the number of mistakes they made against the Vikings.
Earlier, the Falcons pulled a win of 4-3 in the close match against Homestead on March 31. No. 2 singles junior Kailas Shekar, No. 3 singles sophomore Dean Stratakos, Yu, No. 3 doubles sophomore Tristan Xiao and freshman No. 3 doubles Derek Pinai all won their matches.
“We knew it was going to be a tough match coming in,” Padmanabhan said. “Not everyone played their best, but we were able to clutch up and finish the match off with a victory.”
The team beat Lynbrook 7-0 on March 29. The Falcons cruised to an easy victory, finishing all their individual matches within an hour.
After beating Monta Vista 6-1 on March 2, the boys lost 4-3 in their second match against the Matadors on March 24, resulting in a tie for first place in league with them. Going into the match, the boys knew that at least one doubles as well as No. 2, No. 3 and No. 4 singles had to win to guarantee victory.
“We needed one doubles to win the match, but unfortunately they slipped, resulting in a loss,” Krishnamurthy said. “They fought hard, but were overmatched and unable to get the job done.”
The Matadors lost to Homestead, opening the door for the Falcons to win out and claim the league championship yet again.
