The Girls’ Varsity Tennis team triumphed over the Pirates at Paramount High on Thursday, October 21 and won their long-coveted spot at CIF.
Out of the two previous games that the ladies had played against the Pirates, they had won one and lost one. This last game would determine who would take second place in the San Gabriel Valley League and follow Warren to CIF.
“I noticed that everyone on the bus was pretty quiet, and I sensed some nerves amongst the girls,” alternate singles player Jennifer Cho said. “After all, losing to Paramount would mean that we would get third place in league and not qualify for CIF.”
After the first round of matches, the score was tied 3-3. Number one singles player Sandra Lee and number one doubles Katie Medina and Janette Rico both beat their opponents, and number two doubles Claudia Guzman and Rosanna Calderon scraped a win 7-5. The remaining two singles players, however, struggled in their sets. Third seed singles Caroline Tran narrowly lost 4-6 and second singles Irene Saavedra “bagelled” 0-6 against an incredibly consistent contender. Number three doubles Ale Roque and her partner were also defeated 6-7 after a close tiebreaker game.
Slowly, the Vikings managed to gain an upper hand on the Pirates. In the second round, Lee along with partners Medina and Rico and partners Guzman and Calderon once again dominated against their opponents, and Roque emerged victorious as well against the number one seed, bumping the score up to 7-5. However, the girls were still in dangerous waters.
In the last round against Paramount, Saavedra, Tran, and Roque all struggled and lost against their consistent opponents. With the three losses, the score was now a perilous 9-8, and the last remaining team of Guzman and Calderon seemed to be having difficulty beating their opponents.
“While I was watching Rosanna and Claudia’s game, it was very nerve-wracking,” Lee said. “If they lost, we would have to do a tie count, and we might have lost because we had a lot of 0-6s.”
After a long and arduous “deuce” showdown, the pair lost 4-6. Since the two teams had tied 9-9, the number of game points would have to be tallied to determine the winner, and the final score ended up 75-73. Thanks to a mere two points, CIF was theirs.
“I was really happy that we won especially since it was such a close game. It was tough, but all the girls didn’t give up and brought in wins,” Calderon said.
The lady Vikes did not let this hard-earned victory go to their heads. They continued to play their hardest and beat Gahr 15-3, with Tran winning all three of her matches for the first time. The Lynwood Knights were also easily taken out 16-2. For the last and final game of the season, the Vikes were determined to go out with a bang. Their opponents, however, were the Warren Bears, whom they had lost both previous games against, but the Vikings had an advantage this time. Warren’s professional singles player had taken sick leave, and with her gone, the Vikings now had a greater chance of beating the Bears. The Viking singles managed to win three more games than their last. Doubles also continued to perform, with doubles Medina and Rico winning all three sets. Finally, with Guzman and Calderon’s victory of 6-2, the girls won 70-66 after a 9-9 tie and got their sweet revenge against their rivals.
With all of the season’s games now out of the way, the ladies are now anticipating the commencement of the varsity tournament. There, they will have the opportunity to send some of their individual players into CIF as well and distinguish themselves as a force to be reckoned with throughout Southern California.