On Thursday afternoon, the boys tennis team faced off against Saratoga High School for their fifth game of the year. Going into this game Paly was 2-2 with their most recent game being a blowout win over Homestead High School.

The game against Saratoga, however, did not go as the Vikings would have hoped, barely losing four matches to three.

With two doubles wins from Nathan Ellisen (‘19) and Adam Love (‘19) as well as Vijay Sharma (‘18) and Andrew Shei (‘18) the Vikings had two of the four matches needed to obtain the win.

However, down the stretch, the only other Viking match that was won came in a singles game from Matthew Ho (‘21).

Winning these three matches ultimately couldn’t put the Vikings over the top as they lost the other four, bringing their record down to 2-3.

Despite losing the game, the doubles match from Ellisen (‘19) and Love (‘19) marked Ellisen’s fifth straight win of the season.

“It’s fun to watch one of your teammates start off the season as well as Nathan is doing.” said Love (‘19), Ellisen’s doubles partner.

Even after a loss that drops the team below .500, the boys still have high hopes to make the CCS playoffs, an experience that would be new to all of the players.

“I definitely think that it’s possible to make the playoffs this year,” Love said, “It would be cool to feel the atmosphere of a playoff setting.”