The Paly girls’ varsity tennis team (10-6, 2-4) took to the heated courts against Castilleja in a non-league match and came out of the scorching sun victorious.
Coming into the match, the team felt confident after its close loss to the number one team in the state, Monta Vista.
“I think we’re all really confident after yesterday’s match,which we lost to the best team in the state by a tiebreak,” Aashli Budhiraja (’14) said after defeating Castilleja’s Paulette Wolak 6-2, 6-2 in the No. 1 singles match. Throughout the match, Budhiraja and Wolak engaged in long rallies which, under the hot sun, added to the fatigue of some of the players.
“I was pretty tired today, so I just did my best to keep the ball in,” Budhiraja said of her match.
Budhiraja held serve consistently in the first set and continued to outhit her opponent throughout the match. When necessary, Budhiraja used strong forehand winners down the line, as she did on match point.
No. 2 singles, Felicia Wang (’14) took on Castilleja’s No. 2 player April Chen. Wang struggled to get going as she dropped the first set, 4-6. However, Wang quickly reversed the tide of the match by taking an early lead of 3-0 in the second set. By then the team seemed to be on a steady path to victory.
After splitting sets, Wang closed out the tight three setter (4-6, 6-1, 6-2) to provide the team with another win. The duo of Tiffany Nguyen (’13) and Julianne Le (’14) closed out their opponents with a quick 6-3, 6-2 victory.
Coming off a solid performance against Monta Vista and a win over Castilleja, the team’s confidence is stronger.
“Tomorrow, I’m looking forward to another close match with Kalyani Narayen [the No. 1 singles player from Saratoga],” Budhiraja said. “I also have confidence that the team can definitely take Saratoga if we play our absolute hardest.”
Tomorrow’s match will be played at Saratoga starting at 3:30 p.m.
