The Los Altos High School varsity girls tennis team defeated the Los Gatos Wildcats 4–3 in their first league game on Tuesday, September 17. Due to injuries from sophomores Cory Mederios and Emily Wu, who play singles 2 and 3 respectively, the team did not play its usual lineup. Instead, they played as doubles 1 partners, while co-captains and usual doubles 1 partners senior Tyra Bogan and junior Carissa Lai moved to singles.

For Tyra, this was her first singles match in her four years of varsity tennis.

“There were some nerves going into it, but mostly excitement,” Tyra said. “My opponent had very controlled serves, excellent ground strokes, and consistent volleys, so it came down to my ability to battle back, especially when an opponent is much better than you are at singles tennis.” 

Los Gatos is known for strong singles players, but despite this, the captains came out on top. Tyra, playing singles 4, dominated her first set 6–3 and her second set 7–5, while Carissa won both her singles 3 sets 6–2 and 7–6.

However, things weren’t as smooth on the other end of the switch, with Cory and Emily falling short. 

“I don’t think we were playing bad or there were any big struggles,” Emily said. “I think our opponents were just the better team this match.” 

In the end, it came down to singles 2 player junior Pallavi Mallampati’s match to secure the Eagles’ overall win. 

“The highlight of the day was Pallavi winning,” Emily said. “Even though our whole lineup was a little messed up, she held out and won her match.”

Even though Pallavi usually plays singles 4 and was bumped up to the second spot for the adjusted lineup, she won both sets 7–5 to solidify the Eagle’s victory. 

“Pallavi won here, but lost to that same opponent in a tournament recently so it’s kind of sweet revenge,” Head Coach Hung Nguyen said. “It’s also the icing on the cake that her win helped us win the game overall as well.”

According to Nguyen, flipping the lineup gave the Cats another challenge when facing Los Altos. 

“We can become unpredictable and still have a very competitive team, which gives me great satisfaction,” Nguyen said. “The season is still young and we still have more games and tournaments to go to, but it’s definitely a good start.” 

The Eagles will face Cupertino High School at home on Tuesday, September 24, at 4 p.m. in their next league match.