by Clarissa Htay, staff writer
On April 6, the Baron boys tennis team faced a big loss against the only Division I school in the Sunset League and number one in Orange County, Los Alamitos, 12-6. The Barons played with a brilliant strategy but were unable to execute their game plan.
“I feel our team started off our matches playing very stiff because we were inexperienced playing against a team like Los Alamitos,” said no. 2 doubles player Vivek Savsani (‘19).
The Barons made a big change to their line up by switching two key singles players, Justin Nguyen (‘19) and Justin Pham (‘18), into doubles. Nguyen played with junior Eric Tadros as no. 1 doubles and beat Los Alamitos no. 1 and no. 3 doubles 6-2. Pham played with senior captain Jonathan Dang (‘17) as no. 3 doubles and beat Los Alamitos 6-3. Brandon Keller (‘18) and Savsani brought in a win for the Barons 6-1 against their no. 3.
“We were trying to stack up doubles to win nine points and get in a couple in singles to win the match.” said Dang. Unfortunately, the Barons were able to win only five out of those nine games they desperately needed.
In singles, doubles players Jason Tran (‘17) and Tommy Trinh (‘18) played no. 1 and no. 2 doubles. Trinh won in a tie breaker against Los Alamitos’ no. 3 singles player. Trinh worked very hard and put in a lot of effort to win the game. Macros Nguyen (‘18) also brought in a win for the Barons winning 6-2 against their no. 3.
Before playing the second half against the Sunset League teams, the team needs to work on their confidence and footwork.
“If we want to do well on these upcoming games, then we need to get faster on the courts. Our confidence is lacking, we put ourselves down too easily and give up too fast,” said J. Nguyen.
Next week the tennis team plays Newport Harbor and Marina.
“We should use this week to prepare for our match against Newport because it’s going to be tough. I feel we have a good chance to win against them if we play with a strong mindset,” said Savsani.
