Boys tennis (6-3) won 14-4 at home against Irvine High on March 17. Their next match will be a home game against Sage Hill on April 15.

The Bulldogs began the game with a run of victories, winning nearly all of their first-round matches. The hot weather impeded the performance of both teams, according to boys tennis head coach Natasha Schottland.

“We played okay, definitely not our best today, but not our worst,” Schottland said. “The weather was really tough for us. It was very hot on the court. We seemed a little tired, slow, lethargic, but ultimately, we pulled out the win.”

In singles play, co-captains sophomore Garran McKay and junior Anthony Nguyen won against the Vaqueros’ No. 1, winning 6-2 and 6-1, respectively. Along with senior Smaran Mallojula, the Bulldogs dominated all of the singles matches and won all rounds.

“Our team was brilliant today,” Mallojula said. “There was a lot of spirit between us because even though we were having some tough points, we were [still] cheering on everyone.”

However, the doubles matches were more intense. The Bulldogs won two of their three first-round matches, with freshman Jaxon Moore and sophomore Taha Nasir winning 6-4 and junior Jalen Chiou and senior Aarush Raju winning 6-2. Despite the subsequent matches being a mixture of wins and losses, the Bulldogs were nevertheless able to win a majority of their matches. 

“Our whole team did really well,” Chiou said. “We were using our games to complement each other and help each other out. We came in, we knew we could beat this team, and we did exactly that.” 

In addition to physical ability, the Bulldogs also prioritized mental performance to make fewer early mistakes and be more aggressive at the net. Through focusing on these weaknesses, the team emerged with a comfortable victory.

“We managed our circumstances really well, considering it was really hot out,” Chiou said. “We made do with what we had and we still pulled out with the victory in the end.”