By SHIRIN AMINIAN and MONIQUE PATIL
Staff Writers
On Wednesday, October 15, the University High School (UHS) girls tennis team played a difficult match against Palos Verdes Peninsula High School (PVHS), the #1 ranked team in Southern California, and was defeated 4-14. The loss leaves the Trojans with an overall 12-1 season record and marks the end of their undefeated winning streak.
The match began with a rough start. Doubles partners Michelle Maddox (Jr.) and Kyara Sutton (Sr.) were defeated by their opponents 1-6. Partners Kayti Luu (Sr.) and Judy Kam (Jr.) fought a close battle with PVHS, but in the end lost with a score of 4-5. The third doubles team from UHS, consisting of Tiffany Madlambayan (Jr.) and Ashlyn Wang (So.), was defeated with a score of 0-5. Co-captain and singles player Yuki Asami (Sr.) lost 4-6 to PVHS’s #2 player and 1-6 to its #1 player but was able to secure a victory in her third match 6-0 over PVHS’s substitute.
Despite the overall loss to PVHS, Rithika Nair (So.) was still proud of the team and said, “The team is really amazing and they work hard to make it happen.”
Ramya Sreeramoju (Sr.) also remained optimistic and stepped up to say positive words about the team. Sreeramoju said, “We knew we would have to stay committed and work hard due to the loss of several key players last year.” Though UHS was defeated, the girls’ genuine dedication and talent has shown through their strong performance this season.
Asami said, “Peninsula has some of the toughest players out there, both singles and doubles. All three of their singles players are top ranked nationally…it was really tough for us but we just went out there and fought for every single point. They’re a great team, but we put up a pretty good fight.”
On Tuesday, October 14, one day before the match against PVHS, the UHS girls tennis team played an away match against Woodbridge High School and secured a victory 13-5.
The UHS team remains first place in league and is looking to improve over the remaining part of the season to secure its title at CIF.
The girls tennis team will play Beckman High School on Thursday, October 16.