With the regular season winding down, the Foothill Technology High School (Foothill Tech) boys’ tennis team faced off against St. Bonaventure High School (Bonnie) on the afternoon of April 15, at the Dragons’ home court of Ventura College. This was one of the last home matches of the year, so the Dragons participated in the ongoing tradition of celebrating their seniors for their time spent playing as a Dragon. After the senior night ceremony, Foothill Tech took to the courts and after 18 total sets of play, the Dragons emerged victorious with a score of 12.5-5.5.
On the singles side of the match, the Dragons were met with fierce competition. For line one of singles, James Sokoloski ’24 was able to win one of his sets in a score of 6-0, but came up short in the other two as he ended the sets with scores of 3-6 and 2-6.
Sokoloski commented, “I think I performed pretty average for myself. I didn’t do too great but it is what it is … on to the next one.”
For line two of singles, Charlie Powers ‘27 initially tied with his opponent 6-6 to push the game into a 10 point tiebreak in which his opponent prevailed over him with a final score of 8-10.
Aaditya Atluri ‘27 was then subbed in for Powers’s middle set in which he dominated his opponent 6-0 to contribute a point to the teams overall score. Powers returned for the third set but was unable to come away with the win as the set ended in a score of 1-6.
For line three of singles, Shaurya Shyam ‘25 defeated his first opponent 6-0 however lost his second set 3-6. Due to time constraints, Shyam’s last scheduled match was canceled and the point was split and half was awarded to each side.
On the doubles side, Foothill Tech was met with minimal opposition as they demolished each of their doubles opponents. All three of the duos won both of their sets against Bonnie, 6-0. There was no third set played due to Bonnie’s lack of a third line of doubles, this meant the points from those non-played sets were awarded to Foothill Tech.
Mahir Shyam ‘25 who played alongside Ansh Joshi ‘26 stated, “We had pretty high expectations … we assumed we’d go 6-0 just because we have a very strong doubles side of the team.”
With the nine points Foothill Tech contributed on the doubles side of play, they achieved a victory with a final score of 12.5-5.5.
But with this victory came the realization that this was the last league match for the seniors on their home court. Mahir Shyam expressed his feelings regarding the department of the seniors, “After this year we won’t be seeing them around much, and I’m pretty sad about that … they are the sort of people who push the team forward.”
Sokoloski commented on the feelings surrounding the match, “I’m sad it’s gonna be my last league match here, but I’m excited that we got into CIF and we get to keep playing.”
As the Dragons shift their focus onto the postseason, they are determined to win the CIF championship. When asked what it will take to achieve this goal, head coach Dan Fitzpatrick replied, “It’s going to take hard work, practicing and raising our game … There needs to be a plan B and C so when things aren’t going quite right, our players can find a way to victory.”
Foothill Tech will compete next in the league finals taking place at Cate High School on April 22, where they look to move into the CIF postseason.
