With a large turnout and impressive scores, the Cavs dominated Golden Sierra High School on March 16.
They competed in and won two doubles matches and two singles matches.
The doubles teams of sophomores Allison Zhang and Chardonnay Needler (10-2) and seniors Christian Van Vleck and Emil Erickson (10-1) easily won their matches. So did the singles players, sophomore Michaela Chen (6-1, 6-0) and junior Nico Burns (6-0, 6-0).
According to Erickson, his and Van Vleck’s win was due to their good serves and communication.
Zhang attributed her win similarly.
“We encouraged each other and gave each other pointers (in order to) improve,” Zhang said.
Zhang said that they had strong and accurate shots but struggled when returning serves.
“One (opponent) had really strong serves,” Zhang said.
Most of the time they went out, but we did lose a few points when they did go in.”
Zhang also said she prefers playing doubles, which may have factored into her high performance.
“There’s less court for each player to cover, so I can focus more on making shots while knowing that I have a partner to watch my back,” Zhang said.
Coach Jamie Nelson, however, attributed the team’s good scores to their opponents’ lack of experience.
“Our team is small but experienced in match play,” Nelson said.
“That can be a big advantage in facing less experienced players.”
Nelson also praised the team’s overall improvement.
“As a team I am pleased to see improvement, particularly in serving,” Nelson said.
“A good serve puts your opponent on the defensive and often results in an easy put-away of a weak return.”
Nelson said that the team will continue to work on its shot production and searching for opponents’ weaknesses in future practices.
Their next match is Thursday, March 23, against Forest Lake Christian School at Rio Del Oro at 3:30 p.m.
—By Anna Frankel
