Rebounding from an early-season 4-3 loss to Gunn on Sept. 17, the members of the girls’ tennis team beat the Titans 6-1 on Halloween night on their home courts. The Falcons won all four singles matches and two of the doubles matches.
This time around, one key factor that helped the team gain an edge was Gunn’s loss of their singles No. 1 player, which shifted the entire lineup so that each Saratoga player faced a weaker opponent.
The team also held senior night celebrations for their captain and only senior, Natalie Poon. As the day coincided with Halloween, Poon dressed up as an explorer while the rest of the team dressed up as jungle animals and gave short speeches about their experience with Poon as captain.
Poon and Vasquez play doubles one.
After the regular season, the team sent their No. 1 and No. 2 — juniors Viki Toram and Mihika Singh — as well as the top two doubles team — Poon, juniors Kate Vasquez and Sasha Prasad and sophomore Aishi Prashanth to the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League (SCVAL) tournament at Milpitas High School, which determines which players will make CCS. In the two-day event, which ran from Nov. 5-6, they lost 8-3 in a pro set (where the first team to eight points wins).
Head coach Florin Marica celebrates the players after the matches against Gunn and thanks Captain Natalie Poon for her dedication throughout the years for the tennis team.
Poon felt the season was enjoyable. Although they suffered several demotivating losses to Gunn, Homestead and Fremont early in the season, the team bounced back and secured wins for nearly all of their remaining matchups, concluding with a record of 11-4 and finishing in second place in the El Camino League behind Homestead.
“We got second place, which is kind of funny because we’ve been getting second place for three years now, but I think it was still fun,” Poon said.
