On the afternoon of Sept. 19, 2024, the Foothill Technology High School (Foothill Tech) girls tennis team faced off against Cate High School (Cate) on the Dragons’ home court of Ventura College. After a challenging match, Foothill Tech ultimately suffered a 2-16 defeat against their league rivals.

On line one singles, Saanvi Joshi ’26 got off to a slow start with two losses, 1-6 and 0-6. However, Joshi bounced back to overcome her opponent in her last set 6-3.

On line two, Jaylene Aguirre ‘28 was unable to prevail over her opponents as she lost all her sets in scores of 3-6, 3-6 and 2-6, respectively. 

Aditi Shanbhag ‘25, who played on line three, was similarly unable to fend off her competition as she lost her three sets with scores of 0-6, 2-6 and 3-6, respectively. 

Shanbhag reflected on her performance, stating, “It’s my first time in four years that I have been put on singles so it’s been kind of an adjustment … there were a few moments where I felt like I could have done better and there were a few games where I was putting in my all.” 

In the doubles matches, Foothill Tech saw much of the same. Line one, consisting of Julia Geib ‘25 and Vivian Ryan ‘25 won their first set with score of 6-4, although they lost the second 2-6. In the third set Lilian Gonzalez ‘28 was substituted for Geib and she and Ryan suffered a 1-6 loss.

Line two, Violet Polley ‘26 and Ryan Alderman ‘25, along with line three, Rhea Gill ‘25 and Bari Davis ‘28, were defeated in each of three sets that they each played.

When points were totalled, Foothill Tech fell short of a win, with the final score being 2-16.

Gonzalez spoke on the team’s performance, “I mean, we had some struggles but we worked through them and did our best to play our game throughout the matches.” 

The Dragons will next compete against The Thacher School on Sept. 26, where they seek to recoup from this loss and take home a win.