Varsity boys tennis defeats Rowland at home, winning 12-6 Tuesday, March 19.
In the first round, doubles two juniors Calvin Bautista and Tyrik Chen struggled to gain their footing. The set came to a 1-2 struggle after an overhead smash from Bautista gave the pair their first point of the set. Eventually, Bautista and Chen would drop the set 3-6, bringing the first round score to 3-3.
“We just have to be mentally strong and not choke our games,” Bautista said. “We have to keep on playing aggressively.”
In the second round, doubles subs junior Marcus Phan and senior Leo Xu came in and gave Walnut some momentum. Using their height, the pair made use of volleys to score quick points and to put pressure on the opponents, leading to a 6-2 victory.
“We need to work on [our serves] but overall it was okay because we powered through and trusted our instincts,” Xu said.
“I think it was pretty good, I got a rush of adrenaline and we improved our chemistry,” Phan said.
Bautista and Chen came back in round two to take a 6-3 win from Rowland. The pair utilized an “I” formation to take control of the game. Bautista would start at the net and tell Chen which direction he was going and Chen would then serve and move to the opposite direction of Bautista.
“I think we have good chemistry,” Bautista said. “We ran certain strategies and plays and we were able to execute it properly so we got the win.”
After losing his first round 4-6, singles two freshman Brad Wong came back with a vital victory in round 2 to give Walnut a commanding 8-4 lead at the conclusion of the second round.
“I think the match was in my favor because my opponent was making careless mistakes,” Wong said. “And in the end, that’s what led me to my win.”
The singles players rounded out the game with three wins, each player playing methodically and to their own pace. Wong used his strong volley game to secure the 6-0 sweep, while singles two junior Tyler Wu and singles one senior Noah Salvador played longer rallies to secure their wins 6-2 and 6-1 respectively.
“I think it went pretty good because we almost swept singles,” Salvador said. “My game was pretty light, and I just went with the rhythm.”
