The boys tennis team (4-0) won their fourth league game 12-6 against Brea Olinda High School (3-1) at home on Tuesday, March 31, extending their unbeaten run. 

The first round of singles and doubles matches ended with a score of 3-3, which doubles player junior Andrew Ma said shook up the team’s confident mentality.

 “Going into [the game] we were pretty confident, because we just went against Yorba Linda [High School],” Ma said. “However, we realized that we needed to work harder and started getting nervous.”

Head coach Christopher Ghareebo said the highlight of the game was when singles player freshman Ethan Moon scored a point against Brea Olinda and broke the tie.

“The second round was deadlocked because [they] tied again with a first round 3-3, and the second round was about to be 6-6,” Ghareebo said. “Ethan Moon came back to break the tie: he was down 1-4 but came back and won that set 7-5.”

Moon said relief swept over him after his efforts came through with the win.

“I felt a sense of relief [because] it was an intense and close game, and it finally being over with me winning the match made me feel satisfied with the results,” Moon said. “All the effort I put into the match paid off, and I felt that it was worth it once I finally won the last point.”

While Moon’s play helped increase the odds of winning, the score at the end of the second round was still close, with a difference of only two points, which made the boys tennis team nervous and eager to play harder, doubles player sophomore Julian Yoon said. 

“After the second round, it was a super close match and [the score] was 7-5, so then a lot of us got pressured to play our best that we possibly could,” Yoon said. 

With the pressure to work harder and finish victorious in the fourth league game, doubles set Yoon and sophomore Florenzo Tenazas said they maximized their chemistry to win their match 6-3.

Tenazas said he kept his momentum and energy high so that his partner could feel more confident.

“I think we had pretty good chemistry as Julian was not feeling his best,” Tenazas said. “I tried to keep the energy up so that we wouldn’t spiral down and so he could feel more confident.” 

Singles player freshman Austin Kim also won a set 6-2 during the third match, which helped the team receive a point.

The coach said that the play surprised him because it showed the capability of the singles player even against tough opponents.

“The second biggest match, which is equally important, is Austin Kim beating their best player in the last round 6-2 dominantly,” he said. “ I know our doubles team carried the team, but the best players of Brea are in the single side, so to get those big wins against their best players was big.”

Kim also said he’s happy with the game’s results and credits his positive mentality for helping him.

“I felt okay after the match, but happy that I won,” Kim said. “I think I have been practicing how to stay positive during matches, [which] was a good way to practice my mental work before tournaments.”

The game concluded with a score of 12-6, with Sunny Hills taking the win.

Captain senior Leo Lee said that he contributed to the results of the game by winning all three matches and being a positive motivation for his team.

“I won all three of my matches with the score of 6-2, 6-3 and 6-4,” Lee said. “I think I also tried my best to encourage my teammates and cheer them on while they are playing close matches.”

While reflecting on the plays made in the game, the head coach said that there could be improvements, such as training the young players to be mentally strong against older opponents.

“We have a lot of young players, and so when another team has some older players, and they get a little chatty, they could rattle them a bit,” he said. “I think some of our guys were a bit surprised to start the game because they were a bit more energetic than other teams that we’ve played.” 

Still, with the boys tennis team taking the win, the head coach said he is ecstatic because they have taken first place in their league.

“[The team] has a nice start that we have earned, and so now we are in the driver’s seat to win this league,” he said. “We are in control of our destiny, and we don’t need help from anyone.”

The Lancers will head to their fifth league game against Villa Park High School at 3 p.m. on Thursday, April 9.