Originally published on May 15, 2015

Co-written by JoyAnne Ibay

For the eighth consecutive time and sixty-seventh overall, the boys’ tennis team earned themselves a spot in the CIF Norcals Tournament, with a victory over Washington at the San Francisco All-City championships.

After defeating Lincoln 7–0 in the All-City semifinals, the Cardinals advanced to win the championships against the Washington Eagles 7–0 Friday, May 8. Senior David Mai led the team in the number one singles match, winning 3–6, 6–1, 6–1. “I was really proud of David,” head coach Bryan Lee said. “He played great defense, more defense than I’ve ever seen him play. He was sick and he had five AP exams, but he was still able to put it together and play well throughout the third set.”

“At the beginning of the year, there were a lot of great individual players but throughout the year we got better at playing and supporting each other as a team.”

Number two singles player senior Sam Tick-Raker defeated his opponent with a victorious 6–1, 6–0. Sophomore Maxwell Ho also won his number three singles match, 6–0, 6–1. Number four singles player freshman Jacob Goldstein finished off his match with a triumphant 6–2, 6–0.

Number one doubles partners, seniors Eli Rudman and Jacob Ganz, excelled in their match as well, with a 6–0 first set, followed by a 6–2 second set. Senior Brandon Lau and sophomore Ethan Trinh finished off their number two doubles match, defeating their opponents 6–3, 6–2. Number three doubles players, senior Hector Chu and sophomore Jarek Chu, secured the seventh win with a score of 6–3, 6–2.

“Winning the individual doubles with Jacob last week was probably the best thing about this season,” Rudman said. “The season itself went pretty well. We definitely bonded as a team over the course of the season. I didn’t really know the freshmen at first but I got to know some.”

“We got a lot of good additions with the freshmen, I really like them,” Ho said. “But we’re going to lose a lot of seniors next year, so hopefully we’ll get a lot of good freshmen next season too.”

“We’re going to lose a lot of seniors next year, so hopefully we’ll get a lot of good freshmen next season too.”

After finishing their season strong, the Cardinals advance to the CIF Norcals tournament. The Cardinals went undefeated in their league this season and hope to keep this trend through the Norcals. “We’re definitely looking forward to Norcals, the playoffs,” Ganz said. “I think we really improved as a team. At the beginning of the year, there were a lot of great individual players but throughout the year we got better at playing and supporting each other as a team.”

Norcals begin May 22 at the Natomas Racquet Club in Sacramento.