The girls varsity tennis team is showing a promising season after winning the third division of the Fresno Championships with a record of 5-0 last month. With a solid 10-4 record heading into the second half of the season, the team hopes to make CCS this year.

“[My expectation is that] we will make CCS so we have somewhat high expectations this year,” varsity Coach Hung Nguyen said. “Just making it itself will be a great achievement for the team.”

The singles players this year are led by number one singles junior Kacey Incerpi and include freshmen Carina Burdick, Lili Kobayashi and Juliette Martin. They are especially strong since they play in competitive tournaments hosted by the United States Tennis Association (USTA) year round and are all ranked Top 40 in the Northern California Division.

The doubles lineup is also composed of numerous experienced players. Many of them have been playing in varsity for multiple years, including seniors Sparsha Saxena and Katie Kouvelas.
“Both the singles and the doubles are looking better this year,” Kacey said. “We have more experienced players and there’s a lot more depth.”

The team aspires to be mentally well-prepared in order to stay positive and take on any match without stress. The team has done multiple group talks to strategize how to relieve anxiety during games and improve the overall chemistry of the team.

“You can always practice [well] but the pressure comes on when you play an actual match so the mentality has to get stronger,” Nguyen said. “The simulated matches should help them get stronger against pressure.”