With their victory over the Lynbrook High School Vikings on Tuesday, October 29, the Eagles pulled through and took first in the league, moving on to CCS.
During Head Coach Hung Nguyen’s tenure at LAHS, the varsity girls tennis team has never won the De Anza League. Last season, the team advanced to the CCS semi-finals, making history. This year, the team made it their goal to go even further and win it all. So far, their 9–1 league record makes that goal seem promising.
“As of now, I believe we’re right where we need to be,” Nguyen said. “If we win the rest of our games, we’ll have a good chance of winning leagues.”
Palo Alto High School is the only team that defeated the Eagles this year, and barely. Los Altos lost 3–4 while missing starters.
“Palo Alto was a wake-up call for everyone,” Tyra said. “We realized it’s important that we make sure we’re all showing up and playing our best.”
In their rematch against the Vikings, the Eagles swept Palo Alto 7–0.
“Now, I’m confident we’ll do fine,” Nguyen said. “We have such strong singles, and with our two captains anchoring the doubles, we don’t have many holes in the lineup. Our girls are great, and our bond as a team is strong.”
Nguyen credits the team’s camaraderie to the Eagles’ participation in tournaments, including the annual San Diego Point Loma Tennis Invitational in September.
“All of our team bonding off the courts has really brought the team together,” Tyra said. “We’ve been making sure everyone is coming to practice, being held accountable, and just playing their best every game and every day.”
In addition to training throughout the season, many players have been practicing all year long as well, improving Nguyen and Tyra’s confidence in its success.
“The thing about high school tennis is that you need depth and balance,” Nguyen said. “We’re always striving to get there, but we’ve already come a long way with this team.”
“I feel really good about this group,” Tyra said. “We’re going to achieve the big one. We’re ready to go out there and win the whole thing.”
