Boys tennis falls to Glendora in a tight game

Varsity boys tennis lost 79-82 against Glendora on Tuesday, March 24 at home. After a tie of 9-9 against the Tartans, the scores were tabulated by games rather than matches.

The first round started out with each player and team playing a total of six matches. The first round went in favor of Walnut , who were consistent with their serves but started to lag behind in their moves due to fatigue. They scored 4-2 against Glendora, winning two of their singles matches and two of their doubles matches in the first round. 

“It was a heartbreaker. That was probably one of the toughest defeats I’ve had in [the] league, because we actually were winning by the second round.” Head Coach Joe Fasheh said.

As the game went on, the players started to feel fatigued because of a combination of factors such as fatigue, heat and exhaustion. Doubles player junior Justin Liu noted a personal strength of communication, but a weakness was being less careful when returning serves and underestimating the opponents moves throughout the match.

“I guess [that the] opponents would utilize the very sides of the court, areas that are tricky to get to by [and to] hit down It would just be more troubling to get [the ball] because I had to, run all the way to the sides and all these [plays] prevent me from hitting it back at them when they hit it back at me.” Liu said.

However, a factor the players also collectively believed helped them succeed in some of their matches was communication. Double player Junior Eason Lin began analyzing his opponents’ playing style and adjusted his serves and volleys accordingly. 

“I felt like me and my partner were both [thinking] we couldn’t finish our sets, and that’s how we lost. I don’t think anything was too unique that the opponent did, since based on two games that I watched them play, I already knew what they were going to do. But we couldn’t execute to win any sets or matches for that round,” Lin said.

Despite initial hesitation and worry going into the game,  Fasheh was ultimately pleased with his doubles pairings.

“The positive was [that[ I found a pair of doubles teams that I liked the pairing of, and I think we’re going to continue to use those doubles teams.  That was a really good, bright sign right there that we found something that’s going to end up working for us. I think the pressure got to the point, sometimes inexperience [played a part]. A lot of these boys are first time varsity players, so I think that affected it, but next time, we’ll get them.” Fasheh said.