Strategy brings limited success against Pali

The Samo girls’ varsity tennis team lost the second match of the pre-Ocean League season to Palisades Charter High School on Wednesday, Sept. 16, with a final score of 4-14.While the Vikings lost a majority of the doubles matches during the game, they were able to come out victorious in some of the singles matches. Vivian Cheng (’19) won her matches with scores of 7-5, 6-0, 6-1 in the three different matches she played in.“To help me win today, I feel like I hit high to my opponent’s backhand, because I could see her backhand wasn’t great,” Cheng said.Cheng’s movement and technique helped her win all of her singles matches. During her match, Cheng noticed her opponent’s weaknesses and quickly figured out how to use those weaknesses to her advantage. Another player that came out triumphant in her match was Mina Rivera (’17), who ended with a strong victory in her singles match with a final score of 6-0.“I worked on my consistency and moved my feet more,” Rivera said. “In general, I focused on hitting more topspin forehands and going up to the net.”The team would have liked to have had a comeback win from the first game against Harvard Westlake as Coach Wilston Poon was aiming to get a win before league begins, but now the team is looking forward to the upcoming game against league rival Beverly Hills High School to get that much-wanted first victory.“They need to improve on their match play and not being nervous in the match,” Poon said. “They should allow themselves to play the way they know.”According to team captain Cami Khalili (’16), the girls went into this game and the last game nervous and maybe even intimidated. Throughout the season so far, the girls haven’t been struggling with their skills per se, but it has been their mentality that has been the leading factor in their downfall early in this season.“I feel that if everyone works on specific things now it will all come together later,” Rivera said. “We just need to keep our composure and be focused on the positive things. We are great when we work together.”According to Poon, composure and teamwork is the main theme for the girls tennis team so far this year. Even if they haven’t won the two matches they have played so far, they are learning key information about the necessity of teamwork in the doubles matches. Consistency and composure are key for success this season, as the Vikings head into their upcoming game against Beverly Hills on Oct. 13.