Boys’ tennis: Team wins tournament and hopes for further success

Although the spring season has just begun, the boys’ tennis team has already proved that it will again be a strong competitor this year, despite a recent loss to Monta Vista.

On March 31, the team lost 6-1 due to missing key players No. 1 singles player senior Nikhil Jayashankar, who played at a different tournament and No. 3 singles player freshman Kial Kaiser, who had a back injury, forcing a different lineup to play. However, on March 19, the boys’ tennis team took first place at a tournament in Dana Hills, Calif., against eight other high schools.

“We prepared for the tournament by playing a lot of practice matches against each other and by doing many drills,” No. 4 singles player sophomore Andrew Lo said. “It felt good to win.”

The top seven players on the team traveled to Dana Hills to compete in the level B tournament that has a format of five singles matches and three doubles matches.

“I thought it’d be a good experience for the boys to travel down south and have the experience of playing both doubles and singles,” head coach Tom Uyehara said.

No. 3 singles player freshman Kial Kaiser felt happy with the result.

“We were pretty confident. We were the one seat, so we were expected to do well, and we lived up to
it,” he said.

Uyehara believes that the singles players are strong but the doubles teams still need some work, although both performed well at the tournament.

“I was impressed with the doubles since they haven’t practiced much together as a team, so it was a little rocky,” Uyehara said. “But using individual skill and talent alone, we were able to get it done.”

The trip to Dana Hills also allowed plenty of time for team bonding, and Uyehara hoped that the good spirit will propel the team into more successful wins this season.

Saratoga played against their longtime rival Menlo on April 6 at the Menlo campus. Uyehara hopes that the two teams will meet again later in the season, possibly in the CCS finals.

“I know that [Menlo’s] hungry to win, and they’re going to want to show that they’re the dominant team in northern California,” Uyehara said.

Due to printing deadlines, the result of the April 6 match could not be reported.

The team had a 4-2 record in the Santa Clara League as of March 31 after the Monta Vista loss and another one to Los Altos on March 28. The team has a 11-3 record overall, the other loss from playing Menlo in Fresno.

“I think we’re living up to expectations,” Uyehara said. “We’re beating up the teams that we need to beat.”