Boys singles contributed half of the Eagles’ points, sweeping their opponents and winning in straight sets. Even though boys singles 1 captain senior Raymond Liu lost his match the first time Los Altos played Saratoga, he felt confident going in.

“Saratoga’s courts are divided into two gyms, so we had fewer people cheering us on,” Raymond said. “This time, more people were watching, and I felt a lot more prepared, not just mentally, but also tactically.” 

This tactical preparation came from studying footage from his match last time: Previously, his shots were too predictable.

“I’ve been practicing my footwork to get to different shorts quicker, and so it’s not as obvious where I’m hitting and what kind of shots I’m playing,” Raymond said. “I had a lot more variety in my shots this time, especially backcourt, since I was adding punch clears and giving myself more chances to attack.”

Raymond won both sets 21–14 and earned three points for the Eagles. Boys doubles 2 and 3 also won their matches and earned another three points for Los Altos. On the girls’ side, singles 3 player sophomore Naomi Ohye won her match in straight sets, but barely won her first set 23–21. 

“My opponent acted like she didn’t care, and it made me feel like I didn’t care about this game either,” Naomi said. “There was also some mental pressure because my parents and friends were watching, so I wasn’t super locked in.” 

Even though she won the first set, her struggles continued into the first half of her second set. It wasn’t until her mother gave her advice that she was able to refocus. 

“I looked at my mom and she said, ‘Get serious,’” Naomi said. “I started breathing deeply to calm my nerves, and I started playing my shots better. I also realized that my opponent’s mindset didn’t have to apply to me, so that really helped too.” 

Thanks to her improvement over her match, Naomi beat her opponent 21–8 in the second set and earned a point for the Eagles. It was a similar story for girls doubles 2 seniors Ayumi Terlizzi and Sandy Xu, who lost their first set, but turned things around afterward.

“I was really fired up because our coach was saying, ‘This is our senior match. If we win against Saratoga, it’s going to be really big,’” Sandy said. “He basically gave me the motivation to lock in and take the win. I felt like Saratoga was our big challenge for the year, and I wanted to prove that in my senior year, this is how good I am, and winning against a harder team would mean a lot.” 

Even though the team had positive attitudes going in and was ahead of the Falcons at first, some coaching in the middle of the match that told them to use a different strategy threw them off.

“I was struggling a bit because I just hadn’t run through that sequence well enough, and lifting their serves that got us different returns took some getting used to,” Sandy said. “I was definitely really frustrated at the end of the set because it felt like our mistakes were just our mistakes. They didn’t force anything.” 

Sandy and Ayumi lost their first set 10–21, but after getting a steady momentum going, they built up a lead and won their second set 21–16. With their new confidence in their strategy, they had more motivation going into the third set. 

“The first point of set three was a really long, tough rally,” Sandy said. “Both sides played well, but we just barely got the edge over them at the end and won the point. I could definitely see they were feeling very frustrated and lost motivation afterwards. We were more resilient and powered through our mistakes, our hard parts, and that’s why we were able to bring it back.” 

Thanks to Sandy and Ayumi’s improvement, they defeated their opponents 21–11 in their third set and contributed another 2 points for the Eagles. 

Even though girls doubles 1 and 3, boys doubles 1, girls singles 1 and 2, and all of mixed doubles lost their matches, many players expressed satisfaction with their improvement from their first 2–28 devastating loss against Saratoga earlier in the season, as well as with their 7–3 league record, another improvement from their 3–9 record last season.

“A lot of our losses were pretty close, and a lot of matches went to the third set at Saratoga as well,” Sandy said. “So it was tough, but it shows how much our team has grown. I’m really glad we were able to make a difference. I’m really proud of the team, and I’m really glad this is my senior year.”

“It’s a recurring theme that we always get the impression that when our seniors leave, our team is going to digress,” Raymond said. “But we’re actually playing better this year, and a big part of our improvement is because of the targeted practice and more time given to work on individualized drills. It’s great to see and feels really good.” 

The Eagles will travel to face Mountain View High School for a rematch on Thursday, April 24, at 5:15 p.m.