The Paly girls’ tennis team finished up an extremely close match against strong league competitor Monta Vista with a heartbreaking 4-3 loss after falling to unforced errors in a third set, 7-2 tiebreaker in the No. 3 doubles match. According to the Mercury News, the Monta Vista Matadors have been Central Coast Section (CCS) champions five times over the last nine years. The Matadors have continued to dominate the tennis courts in the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League (SCVAL) this year with a 15-0 overall record.
Despite strong, three-set performances by Aashli Bushiraja (’14) (No. 1 singles; 6-4, 6-7, 10-3), Felicia Wang (’14) (No. 2 singles; 6-2, 6-1) and Tiffany Nguyen (’13) and Julianne Le (’14) (No. 1 doubles; 6-1, 4-6, 6-3), the Lady Vikes dropped both their No. 3 singles and No. 4 doubles matches 0-6, 0-6. The 0-6, 1-6 loss for No. 2 doubles Hollie Kool (’14) and Kelsey Wang (’16) turned the over two hour-long match in 90 degree sun into a fight to the finish.
No. 3 doubles Madeline Lee (’14) and Katy Abbott (’13) came back from a 2-6 deficit in set one to even out the match 6-3 in set two, but the tension only began there. After tying the score 4-4 in set three, the matched moved into deuce not once, but twice, and finally into a tiebreaker two hours in. But in the race to reach seven points first, Lee and Abbott fell behind with unforced errors, and their opponents Katherine Guo (’15) and Tiffany Liah (’13) quickly capitalized and finished with a decisive win, 7-2. This win marked Monta Vista’s eighth straight win this season, making its league record 8-0, dropping Paly’s record to 2-4.
Paly plays Castilleja at home tomorrow at 3:30 in another of its non-league matches; the Lady Vikes hope to bring up their overall record to 10-2.
