By Yolanda Feng

On May 5, the varsity boys’ tennis team took down the Washington Eagles 7–0, concluding the season by claiming the Academic Athletic Association championship title for the ninth consecutive year. The Cards were undefeated throughout the regular season, taking all eight games. The team held a 12–2 record including out-of-league matches.

The Cardinals also came out strong in the three doubles matches of the team finals.

In the All-City team finals on May 5, the four singles matches went in favor of the Cardinals. Sophomore Justin Pau beat his Eagle opponent 6–1, 6–0. Senior co-captain Maxwell Ho obtained a 6–2, 6–0 win over his opponent. Freshman Kyle Awad took down an Eagle 6–0, 6–1. Junior Oak Gast was put in a match last minute as a substitute for a teammate who was unable to make it to the match. Gast did not have a strong start, losing the first set 6–4, but eventually closed the match by defeating his opponent 6–1 and 6–0.

The Cardinals also came out strong in the three doubles matches of the team finals. Sophomore Andrew Trinh and senior Ethan Trinh secured a 6–1, 6–0 win. Senior co-captain James Sutton and junior Ilyas Medjou-Boggiano teamed up to defeat their opponents 6–0, 6–1. Seniors Jack Ieong and Jarek Chu dominated over their opponents with a score of 6–0, 6–0.

On April 28, the Cardinals participated in the All-City individuals’ singles and doubles tournament. Pau took the All-City singles’ champion title for the second consecutive year. Ethan Trinh and Andrew Trinh clinched the All-City doubles’ champion title.

The many seniors on the team this year were able to contribute to the success of the season. Practices have been going very smoothly, according to head coach Bryan Lee. “They know what’s expected,” Lee said. “We have a lot of good leaders on the team and they’re leading warm-ups.” It was new for the team to have 28 players on the team, the biggest team Lee has had since he had been coaching for the past eight years. “The seniors do a lot for the team so I think the juniors, who are going to be seniors, really need to step up the game to take control,” Pau said.

As for the next season, the captains and coaches hope to see the team continue to grow. “We’re not worried, we have a lot of depth on this team,” Lee said. Ho hopes next year’s captains will continue to improve the team and keep their traditions. The team believed this year was a good learning opportunity for a lot of the younger players, and are looking forward to next year.

The Cardinals will compete in the NorCal Qualifiers next Tuesday 3:30 p.m. at Lowell.