Scotty Bara
Aashli Budhiraja ('14) walks in a powerful forehand shot that sailed deep along the right side of the court, winning her the third game in her second set against Leland. Budhiraja, now ranked 48th in California for high-school girls' tennis, will play as No. 1 single against Saratoga today.
Palo Alto Girls’ Tennis qualified yesterday for the second round in the Central Coast Section Championship Tournament after beating Stephenson High School 14-2. Today, they play league rival Saratoga to determine who will advance to Friday’s match.
After failing to qualify for the CCS Tournament last year, head coach Andy Harader’s new plan for team flexibility and consistency seems to have paid off. The girls begin their CCS run without co-captain and No. 2 single Felicia Wang (’14) due to illness and No. 1 double Tiffany Nguyen (’13), forcing the team to adapt without two important players. Nguyen’s doubles partner, Julianne Le (’14), stepped up and played No. 3 single in the match against Stephenson. Co-captain Sammy Solomon (’13) also stepped up to play No. 1 single.