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By Cherry Manoonsilpa
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Oct. 17, 2008 |
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The girls’ varsity tennis team is on fire as they enter this year's regular season, winning matches left and right.
On Oct. 9, Lowell faced off at Dolores Park against International Studies Academy, whose players last year failed to all show up in athletic gear. This year ISA Cobras came with only six players on the team, and, to little surprise, the fierce Cardinal team of thirty destroyed them 7-0.
The victory follows a forfeit to the Balboa Bucaneers on Oct. 6. The Cardinals were up 6-0 and sophomore Karen Etin was playing the last match of the game. However, second year coach Jimmy Rosenheim left the game, and the Cardinals were forced to forfeit the match due to their coach’s absence. “We were a little annoyed by the forfeit at first, but then we realized it was only one match and hopefully wouldn’t affect our road to the (city) championships,” junior Amy Yee said. With this loss, the girls must win every match from now on to qualify for city championships.
However that hasn’t seemed to be too much of a challenge for the team. On Oct. 2, Lowell put Galileo to shame with a score of 7-0, dominated Lincoln High School on Sept. 30 with another 7-0 win, played an anti-climactic Battle of the Birds on Sept. 23, destroying Washington with an embarrassing score of 7-0, and on Sept. 19, emerged victorious against Westmoor High School with a score of 6-1.
“We’re not too concerned about the competition of the league,” coach Jimmy Rosenheim said. “The pre-season games were definitely more of a battle. It’s about how much skill is put into each match, and learning through experience as a team.”
Contrary to the girl’s AAA dominance, the team was manhandled 6-1 at the hands of Saint Ignatius High School on Sept. 16 in a pre-season game. “The Saint Ignatius team was really good,” junior Deanna Chang said. “But they have somewhat of an advantage with two coaches. Also a lot of the girls on our team don’t play tennis outside of school like they do.”
The team is also planning on participating in the Norcal tournaments being held in Fremont on Nov. 22. Here, the team can see where they stand among much stronger teams. In the past, the team has not gone far in Nor-Cal, but they are determined to leave the past behind. According to Rosenheim, the team made it to quarter finals last year and has a very good chance of doing well this time.
The team is also putting in efforts to raise money, which would pay for their other tournaments, such as the annual Peach Tree tournament in Fresno in September. The team sold baked goods and barbeque during the opening football game against Burton High School on Oct. 3. “The money goes to the girls tennis team to fund the tournaments,” Yee said. “The school doesn’t give the team that much money, so we fundraise ourselves.”
Lowell’s next game is today at 3:30 p.m. at Tamalpais High School.
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