Carlmont’s varsity boys tennis team defeated the Woodside Wildcats with a score of 6-1 at Carlmont High School on Thursday, March 26. The Scots showed great sportsmanship and athleticism throughout the match.
“I would say each player played really well. They were patient when they needed to be, and aggressive when they needed to be,” said varsity head coach Carlos Flores.
The Scots played four singles and three doubles matches against the Wildcats. The first matches to finish gave the Scots a boost, with their second singles player finishing first and all their doubles teams winning. Sophomore Aaron Zhang, Carlmont’s second singles player, won his first set 6-1, then his second 6-2.
“A shot that gave me the most trouble was when I gave Aaron high ties to his forehand. He was able to do lots of damage to me,” said Woodside player Jordan Lee.
Carlmont’s top players are sophomore Lucas Rowe and Zhang. According to Flores, they have the most reliable shot on the team and are best at controlling the points in matches.
“The players who have the strongest court awareness and strategy are Aaron and Lucas,” Flores said.
Carlmont senior Dmitry Ovesnov suffered a minor injury during his match and lost a close matchup to Lucas Kuo of Woodside. Ovesnov kept his composure and tried his best.
“After my injury, I felt more confident to get back at him, because I learned that I could use a different technique to get at him, and despite the fact that I lost both of the matches, it was still a greater effort,” Ovesnov said.
The Scots won, though there were a few bumps along the way. Rowe won his first set 6-1 and his second set 7-5. Woodside’s head coach, Kim Grant, acknowledged Rowe’s skills.
“I did some work with Owen Demas to do different types of tactics on Rowe, and had changed his mindset a little bit to be a bit more aggressive,” Grant said.
Flores saw many of his players evolve throughout the season and wants to continue seeing them grow individually and as a team.
“Rowan is a player who I’ve seen show a really good improvement this past season. It’s also nice to see some players, like him last year, really stepping up and becoming starters on the team this year,” Flores said.
