Last Tuesday, September 24, the Los Altos High School varsity girls tennis team swept the Cupertino High School Pioneers 7–0, claiming their third win of the league season. The Eagles scouted their opponent by talking with the other teams that have played them more recently.
“We knew going in that they had an excellent team and their singles players were where their depths lie,” Captain senior Tyra Bogan said. “But we had a good lineup, and we knew we just had to go out there and give it our 100 percent, and that worked out pretty well.”
During her freshman year, singles 4 player junior Pallavi Mallampati had a rough match against the same opponent she played on Tuesday. This year, Pallavi turned the tables and dominated both sets 6–0.
“It was closer freshman year, but I beat her more easily this year,” Pallavi said. “We knew they had really strong singles, so it feels good to win.”
Although they’re usually singles players, junior Jolie Lu and sophomore Ruhi Bhaskar were paired in this match as doubles 3 partners and shut down their opponents 6–0 both sets as well.
“My partner and I are really good friends and our energies match,” Ruhi said. “We actually won one set 40–love just by serves, which we hadn’t done before so we were super excited.”
Both Cupertino and Los Gatos, the Eagles’ last opponent, are known for being the toughest in the league. Los Altos’ back-to-back victories have brought them up to be third in the league.
“Beating them both really boosted our team morale,” Pallavi said. “Winning against them shows how we’re very prepared for the season and very motivated to win.”
This time around, the Eagles also had their full singles lineup with Bella and singles 2 player sophomore Cory Medeiros, who are ranked 12th and 26th in California respectively.
“I wasn’t worried about the game because when we bring out everyone, I think we have the strongest team in the league,” Tyra said. “To beat Cupertino and do it well is like saying, ‘We’re here, we’re in this league, and this is our title to go for.’”
The Eagles will travel to face Lynbrook High School next on Tuesday, October 8 at 4 p.m. for a league game.
