The San Dimas High School boys’ tennis team recently finished their league season in third place. Throughout the season, the team worked hard and showed improvement in their matches, as highlighted by the coaches. With strong teamwork in doubles and smart hits, the players gave their best effort against extremely tough competition, like South Hills High School and Alta Loma High School. Although they got third in league, it shows their progress since preseason, as their record was previously 2-5.
Northview High School and Arroyo High School were two of the toughest challenges they overcame. San Dimas toughed it out, going through rallies, playing until they finally won several sets, closing the game against Northview with a close 10-8. Nonetheless, finishing third in league represents their insane improvement from their preseason 2-5 record. Coach Al mentioned how during the matches, he had to talk to the athletes, letting them know that they “needed to stay more consistent and play higher percentage tennis,” which means focusing on shots that have a higher chance of success and minimizing errors.
On the JV front, they had a completely new team from last year, as a majority of them are freshmen, with a few sophomores and one junior. Despite this, the JV boys played through, getting a high 5-3 record in preseason, and 3-5 during league, earning themselves third place too.
Coach Al understands what the players must’ve felt going against these tough competitions, as he says “the game of tennis can often frustrate players, but this year’s tennis team are mentally tough, which is another key component making out tennis team competitive.”
This month, they finished league prelims and are preparing for finals. The team traveled together to Claremont Club, where they played South Hills, Alta Loma, Los Altos, and Colony. Although they put up a tough fight, only three people made it to league semi-finals, one singles and one doubles. However, the coaches now have to make the tough decision to choose one singles player and one doubles team to take to CIF. The rest of the team are continuing practices to prepare for next year, while others are getting ready for the banquet and senior night, as their season has ended.
