Varsity Boys Tennis defeated Lynbrook High School 6-1 on Tuesday, March 17. MVHS won three out of the four singles games and all three of the doubles games. Head Coach Gabriel Pimentel says this victory is pivotal for the team, as it is their first win of the season. Pimentel mentions that the team focused on the basics throughout the season, such as showing up to practice on time and with good energy, to foster a positive competitive environment.
“To have a good team, we need to have strong individuals,” Pimentel said. “Doing everything alone doesn’t make a great team. It takes a good environment to have a good team. We need good individuals. So everybody has to be doing their part, doing their simple things. If you do those things, you come together as a strong team for the season.”
Due to the high temperature and lack of shade on the court, senior Pranay Subramanian noted that MVHS’s endurance decreased as the games went on. Subramanian emphasizes the importance of positive mindsets and team dynamics during the game, which enabled them to carry through the hot weather conditions.
“I would definitely say sophomore Aditya Kumar has great, positive self-talk, even when he’s not playing well,” Subramanian said. “When he brings himself up, he brings his teammate up too. Sophomore Jonanthan Hom plays singles, and I’ve never seen the dude not smile, and that’s amazing. I don’t think a lot of us wanted to be here for too long, but he was there with a smile on his face the entire time.”
Pimentel notes that while this match boosted team morale, the players still have a lot of work to do during practice to ensure that the team consistently wins throughout the season. In particular, Pimentel wants to focus more on training players to compete against specific styles of play so that singles players can cover the court efficiently and doubles teams have strong teamwork. Pimentel says the players will practice against all members of the team to improve adaptability.
“We are tied with Cupertino, but we’re finishing another match only tomorrow, so if the team plays well, we’re gonna get that second win,” Pimentel said. “It was good for the team to come together and work on the details that we’ve been training on throughout the season. The team really performed better than in previous games and got us the win.”
Sophomore Jonathan Hom leans down to scoop the ball upwards before it touches the ground. Photo | Raj Thapliyal