Francesca Hodges
In tennis love equals zero. Quite literally score wise, but also in the mentality of MC’s varsity players. With setbacks such as a loss of players and a tough Palomar League to face, MC’s tennis team has overcome them with a solid record of 5-3.
Sophomore Josh Churchill is a first year varsity player and was set up with a brand new partner for doubles.
“Duc [Lam] is new to high school tennis, so we had to learn how to work together and communicate,” Churchill said. “Duc learned new tennis terms and we’ve improved so much during the season and grown as partners.”
The varsity team has been dominating their division, but has had to step up their game for the PUSD schools.
“Rancho Bernardo was probably my hardest match so far,” Churchill said. “They were pretty equal level to us, so it was a challenge.”
However difficult, Churchill said that the team has been working hard in practice to hone in on their skills.
“Coach has us working on a lot of the hits we need to use against these harder teams,” Churchill said. “A lot of forehand backhand ground strokes and volleys at the net.”
Senior captain James Mori also agrees on the improvement of the team.
“We’ve been getting stronger as a team and we have a lot of wins under our belt to start the season,” Mori said.
In Mori’s mind, wins don’t mean that the team can stop working.
“We need to practice finishing out points faster and with coordination, so I think we’re in a good position going into playing these more difficult matches,” Mori said.
As he is rounding up on his last season of tennis at MC, Mori reflects on the last four years.
“I’m going to miss just hanging out with the team, especially at our weekly pasta dinners,” Mori said.
Mori and the rest of the varsity tennis team are equally determined to get some wins against their tough upcoming matches to complete a great season. Tennis’ next home game is against our rival Westview on April 7th.
