The Lady Mustangs defeated Chino Hills 13-5 on Tuesday, Aug. 27, winning their second preseason game of the year.
In the first round, doubles one captain senior Abigail D’Souza successfully returned many of the Huskies’ shots. After consistent rallying between the two pairs, they secured the set with a score of 6-4. Additionally, the rest of the doubles players swept their sets in the first round. Singles one senior Charlize Wong and singles three senior Olivia Bromberg also won their first sets with their respective scores of 7-5 and 6-3.
“During the first game I played against their doubles one, it was a bit stressful because I was still getting back into the groove of playing tennis, especially in this heat for long hours,” D’Souza said. “It was difficult, but winning was very exhilarating and very relieving. Everything else was more relaxing because their doubles pairs aren’t as experienced so we took it as a practice moment to deepen and improve upon a lot of our shots.”
The team’s success carried over into the second round as D’Souza hit consistent serves, placing pressure on her opponent and winning the set 6-0. Doubles three players freshmen Megan Bui and Addyson Wu also stayed unwavering in their shots as they won this set with a score of 6-4. The second round singles’ scores were 6-1, 1-6 and 0-6; the doubles’ scores were 6-0, 6-1 and 6-4.
“I felt like we had a lot less weight on our shoulders with such a big lead. At that point, we just had to keep the momentum going and close out the remaining matches so we could secure the win,” Wong said. “I usually play better in my third sets because I don’t have anything to lose and wouldn’t have to worry about how losing might affect our overall score.”
Going into the third round with a score of 9-3, the team had a major lead against their opponent. Every doubles team went on to triumph in each set alongside an additional win in singles.
“I was really nervous during the game because we were tied at some points. But once I started to take more time to calm down I was less nervous,” Wu said. “I think we played well because we won all three of our matches. We were pretty proud of that.”
