The Cal High men’s tennis team keeps making history.
After winning their first league title in school history last year, the Grizzlies backed it up with a perfect 16-0 record and second straight EBAL championship.
The team now hopes to continue its success this week as the Grizzlies head into NCS. They also hope to avenge last season’s disappointing end after seeing their NCS championship dreams dashed in the semifinals.
“I definitely think we are one of the deepest teams in Northern California,” coach Manny Vasquez said, “but I think what makes us strong is that we are so united as a team.”
Over the past 11 seasons that Vasquez has coached the team, Cal has advanced to NCS six times as a team and 10 times with individual players.
The Grizzlies also have gone 31-1 in league over the past two seasons.
Cal sent one individual, sophomore Kenn Wijesekara, to the NCS Singles Championship last weekend. Results were not available before The Californian went to press.
The team will begin the NCS Team Championship today. Cal’s opponent was announced last weekend after The Californian went to press.
There is a strong possibility Cal earns the top seed and home court advantage for team championships. The NCS semifinals and finals will be at James Logan High in Union City.
The Grizzlies are hoping they face rival Amador Valley in NCS again after the Dons beat them last season.
Senior captain Kartik Pandian said the team was especially motivated on April 9 for their NCS rematch against Amador, which Cal beat 6-1.
“Amador has been one of our toughest opponents throughout the years,” Pandian said.
Pandian started his match against the Dons down a set, but came back at the end to win and get even with Amador.
“It took a lot of effort and self motivation to make a comeback,” Pandian said.
Pandian gets nothing but high praise from his teammates as Cal’s top singles player and a key cog in the machine and a big part of the team’s success these past few seasons.
Cal had a roster issue last season in NCS and couldn’t start a player against Amador. Junior Jerry Xu thinks if that wasn’t a factor in the match, they would’ve gone all the way.
The tough matches that Amador and Cal have played against each other has left a mark on more players than just Pandian.
“We’ve had difficulty with them in the past and I think I played pretty good [in this year’s match],” Xu said.
Another very tough match for Cal this year was against defending NCS Champion Mission San Jose. Cal got the best of Mission at the James Logan Tournament, winning 4-3 and providing a big confidence boost for the team.
Cal handed Mission its first loss in four years.
Beating a tennis powerhouse like Mission provided the Grizzlies with the hope that they could make a good NCS run.
The team is confident and united which makes them a dangerous matchup for any school.
Although many Cal tennis athletes winning EBAL is an accomplishment in itself, these boys know they can do more and are looking forward to getting a shot at an NCS championship.
“I think we will be more prepared for NCS this year because everyone has been putting in the work,” a confident Pandian said.
The team has five captains: Pandian, senior Ryan Wang, Xu, junior Elbert Said, and Satvik Mallya, the team’s first sophomore captain.
Having such a valuable underclassman as one of the team leaders is a huge bonus because it will help the team in the future.
The captain that has looked the most impressive to sophomore Vishesh Verma is Mallya.
“He’s been a leader and was promoted to captain because he’s been running everything,” Verma said.
A strength of this team is that they have a number of good players, so if someone isn’t playing well or is injured, they have people to step up and fill the gaps needed.
The team also has grown in size this year with 20 players on the roster, including 12 who play in matches.
Xu takes on a lot of responsibility on the team and Vasquez said his junior captain is the main leader, but they both agreed that the team doesn’t necessarily have one leader.
Instead, all of the captains take on a shared responsibility and there isn’t a power dynamic, another quality that makes this team so successful.
“This year we have been winning as a team, everybody does their job,” Vasquez said.
This year the team added three more players to their already stout roster. Freshman Aditya Power, Wijesekara, and a French foreign exchange student Etorre Petit have been in the middle of the pack helping the team this season in big ways.
“It certainly feels good [to win back-to-back EBAL championships] Xu said, “but I feel like this year our team is a lot better so we didn’t expect to lose.”
