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By Julia Kotzian
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Jun. 5, 2008 |
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For 17 years the Cardinals stampeded over their opponents. This year, unfortunately, they got stomped into 3rd place.
On Wednesday, April 23 Lowell lost to Lincoln 3-4. Though the boys got their revenge the next day by creamingWashington 7-0 in the All-City semifinals, they suffered from the smashing blows of Balboa’s racquets on Thursday May 1, losing their matches 3-4.
With tears and frowns, the boys realized that the Cardinal force was not as strong as they thought. "We were too cocky and were beat easily because we were not prepared," sophomore singles and doubles player Dylan Tong said. Because of his shoulder injury, Tong, a vital member, sat out the season, but supported his team every step of the way. The team "went in too strong" and were not prepared for losses he said. “I am definitely going to play next year and am pretty much all good.”
Junior singles player Frank Lu also explained their loss as a result of an unprepared team. Some of the team’s key varsity players were missing because of the coaches last minute lineup, which proved to be a huge disadvantage. These players that were not able to star in their match against Balboa included junior Gary Podvalny, Lu and senior David Huberman. The last minute lineup proved to be a huge disadvantage.
After this hard lesson, the boys look forward to improving over the summer and becoming a more unified and supportive team next year. “Like a family,” Tong said.
Lu is also optimistic about next year. “We are losing seven seniors, who are the core of the team, but its a good thing,” he said. “We will be a fresh team with young players.”
Most Valuable Player
The Lowell picks senior singles player Calvin Lau for this year’s most valuable player. Lau a three year veteran has “always put enormous effort into this sport despite having the disadvantage of only learning how to play serious tennis half a year before tryouts,” senior Vietanh Phuong Tran said. Lau practiced every day on the court, and even “during team conditioning would exert himself so much that he fell into exhaustion several times,” Tran adds. “Even though he cannot win matches like the prodigies who can afford forty-dollar-per-hour coaches, he surpasses them in one very important area: spirit.”
Tran explained that a “great tennis player is not the one who wins trophies and medals, but the one who is determined to fight honorably to the very end.” And Lau is that player.
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