The San Gabriel Valley League is experiencing game changes this year, especially for the tennis teams. The Vikes are now at 2-6 in the first round of competitions. The next two rounds are key for championship placement in the league and the boys hope to beat down their opponents, granting them at least to place 2nd in the SGVL.
The season has been tough since all of the schools have shown changes in their skill and there is no clear dominant team in the league.
Returning players felt that this season is not one of too much growth and that the Vikes expect to place in the same position as last year. The 2009-2010 season was non-competitive, with the top school being Paramount who defeated every school in the SGVL.
“Last year I knew we were a weak team, but we did great,” Head Coach Byung Park said, “ And this year I thought we were a good team but we’re not doing so well!”
Park had introduced new techniques, such as moving the singles players into doubles teams and vice versa. Motivational speeches and new conditioning forms have also been introduced.
“After being under the coaching of Mr. Park for four years, I feel that this year he has really focused on our mental status rather than our techniques and so on,” Number 1 singles player Tony Casano said.
Pre-season was very successful for the Vikes as their first two games were a win: 12-6 and 14-4 against Bosco and Long Beach Jordan.
As the season progressed, the first league game versus Gahr proved unsuccessful with a score of 7-11. The next three games were also losses: 6-12, 5-13, and 8-10.
“I know we can win it’s just our mental state is not there during games,” Number 3 Singles Player Jimmy Zigenbein said. “We don’t feel to motivated to continue.”
Though the team stands at 2-6 in the SGVL, they are still very hopeful of what is to come and they desire to place in either first or second place in league.