On the afternoon of April 14, 2025, the Foothill Technology High School (Foothill Tech) boys tennis team brandished their rackets and prepared to face off against their league opponents from Cate School (Cate). With many matches between the two already in the books, it came down to this last face-off to determine who would become league champion. After three sets of back-and-forth tennis, Cate ultimately overcame Foothill Tech’s efforts and took the win, 6-12.
On line one singles, Charlie Powers ‘27 played two out of his three sets, winning them both with scores of 6-4 and 6-4. Emiliano Ferro ‘25 filled in for Power’s middle set but was unable to take down his opponent, losing his set 0-6.
On line two, Aaditya Atluri ‘27 faced rough competition as he took losses in his first and second sets, 4-6 and 2-6. Mahir Shyam ‘25 subbed in for Atluri’s last set but was similarly unable to take a win.
Nicholas Saucedo ‘28 was also met with overbearing competition as he was unable to take a win in his three sets, going 2-6, 0-6 and 0-6 respectively.
On the line one of doubles, Dylan Files ‘26 and Greg Davis ‘26 fared relatively well. Despite a hard-fought 5-7 first set loss, they were able to bounce back and take down their next two opponents 6-0 and 6-2.
Line two, featuring Ansh Joshi ‘26 and Kiran Maserang ‘25, also found their rhythm after an initial 2-6 loss, taking their next two sets 6-2 and 7-5.
Reflecting on their performance, Joshi stated, “I think this was one of our best games we’ve ever played. We played strong, we were loud on the court, and we had a lot of momentum.”
Line three wasn’t able to match the success of their teammates as they took three consecutive losses 1-6, 0-6, and 2-6, respectively.
After scores were compiled, it was clear that Foothill Tech had come up short, with the final tally reading 6-12 in Cate’s favor.
Maserang commented on the loss, stating, “We were obviously hoping to become league champs, and it didn’t look like that happened, but I’m still happy with our performance.”
With the regular season coming to a close, Maserang also commented on the team’s California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) postseason aspirations, “Last year we came in second, so we’re hoping to avenge ourselves and get first.”
Coach Dan FitzPatrick laid out what it would take for the Dragons to make a deep playoff run, explaining, “Our lines two and three would have to raise their game a little bit and rise to the challenge, because we’ll only go as far as those lines can take us.”
Foothill Tech’s next match is scheduled for April 17, against Bishop Diego High School (Bishop Diego) at the Ventura College courts, where the Dragons will look to sharpen their game as the postseason approaches.
