The squeaking of tennis shoes as they skid across green and red courts. The hot sun relentlessly beating down on hat-covered heads. The sound of tennis balls slamming against the strings of a racket. In the last match of the regular season, the Sierra Pacific boys tennis team was facing Central Valley Christian, with both teams needing to win this match in order to become the champion of their league.
“I wanna say I’m confident that we can pull off the win, but also worried ‘cause this is a very tough team. It could go either way,” Coach Reggie Matias shared.
The match started off well for the Golden Bears, as all of the varsity singles matches in the beginning, with the exception of the No. 1 player, had Sierra Pacific in the lead by a decent margin. Things did not stay good for long, however. Around thirty minutes later, the tides were turned significantly, with Central Valley Christian either leading or quickly closing the gap.
Benjamin Rogado, a sophomore ranked No. 4 on the team, struggled during his match. While he had a 3-1 lead initially, he eventually lost the first set 5-7. There was some disagreement between Rogado and his opponent from Central Valley Christian on whether shots were in or out, so a line judge from each school had to be called and observe their game. Rogado managed to come back during the second set and won it 6-4, but lost in the third set’s 10-point tiebreaker.
“My performance today was a 1 out of 10. I should’ve gotten line judges earlier,” Rogado stated. “I was nervous during my game, it was a trainwreck.”
Despite his loss, Rogado shared that he felt positively about the season as a whole and already had high hopes for next year’s season.
“The season was good, it went well. My favorite part was the away games, I got to meet new people,” Rogado shared. When asked what he was looking forward to next year, he added, “Winning, period.”
This match, besides being the last one of the regular season, was also Senior Night, the night where the team celebrates their seniors and their contributions to the team. One of the two seniors this year, Javi Alcala, played the #2 JV singles player this time, and was very happy with his performance despite narrowly losing 5-7.
“It was good– my best game ever, especially for singles,” Alcala said. “My serves were really good today. I was a bit nervous, but confident overall.”
In the end, the Sierra Pacific boys tennis team triumphed over Central Valley Christian with a score of 5-4. After the match ended, the Senior Night celebration was to start, where Javi Alcala and the other senior on the team, Bjorn Dimacali, would be recognized by their teammates. Alcala shared that he was sad that the season was ending and that he was really going to miss playing with the team, as he’s grown close with each and every one of them. However, Alcala still has a lot of faith that the team will do well after he graduates.
Alcala stated, “I believe they can do anything. I think they can do well, I believe in them.”