By Anneliese Duong
The Barons’ girls’ varsity tennis team battled the Villa Park Spartans in a tear-jerking and unforgettable match. The Lady Barons reached CIF-SS Division 3 finals for the first time in Fountain Valley High School (FVHS) history.
The girls ultimately lost 4-14 but this last match perfectly wrapped up the season. The Spartans swept singles but the doubles lineup managed to snag a few sets. Doubles No.1 senior co-captain Kaylee Tran and junior Emily Tran claimed two sets with scores of 6-4 and 6-2 while doubles No. 2 senior Christy Chau and senior Paige Ngo and doubles No. 3 sophomore Iris Chau and senior Skylar Ngo took one set each. Their score was 6-0 and 6-3 respectively.
Despite the apparent loss the moment the second set ended, head coach Harshul Patel gathered the girls together to ensure they kept their heads held high.
“He said to leave our mark on the tennis court,” Christy Chau said. “It made us more motivated to keep going despite the downfall.”
Once the match ended and the two teams gathered on the courts to be awarded their plaque and medals or badges, the girls saw this achievement as a reflection of their ups and downs throughout season.
“I mean, look at our roster. We’ve made it to the finals with people who are UTR 8 and 7, not even having a player past a UTR 5 rating,” Kaylee Tran said. “For a group who has had most of their life tennis experience with this school to be the first to make finals in school history goes to show: with dedication, spirit, and motivation, you can do almost anything, even if it means surpass[ing] teams with some star talent.”
Becoming Surf Wave League Champions and CIF finalists with nearly the same lineup as the previous year is a remarkable feat, which Patel would like to thank the girls for.
“I’m really really proud of my team… We achieved the goals we had set up in front of us, which [is] incredible,” Patel said. “I’m gonna miss all the seniors. We have six seniors [leaving] and it’s gonna be one of the hardest things for me.”
The girls’ mark on the tennis courts will, without a doubt, open up doors for FVHS’s future girls’ varsity tennis team.
“Even if you start off in frosh, because most of the team started off in frosh, just work your hardest and commit a lot of time to tennis,” Skylar Ngo said. “Make sure you have good team chemistry because I honestly can say we would not have made it this far without the love in our team.”
I guess you could say the Lady Barons’ season was “huuuuuuuuuuuugggeee.”
