Boys’ tennis team exceeds expectations at CCS

Despite coming into the season with five out of six of its top players having graduated last spring, the boys’ tennis team still managed to maintain an overall record of 15-7 compared to last year’s 18-6.

“This year we had a considerably weaker line up since a lot of seniors left,” freshman No. 2 singles Neel Bedekar said. “It was really a blow, but all our players fought hard and despite the weaker team we had this year we did beat teams that were better than us.”

The season ended on a high note as the boys exceeded their own expectations at CCS when they made it to the semifinals. In the tournament, one point was awarded to the team for each individual match won rather than the usual scoring by overall victory over the course of three sets.

The Falcons played Menlo-Atherton in the first round of CCS and easily won 15-3 on May 4.

In the quarterfinals, the Falcons faced off against top rival Monta Vista on May 7. To their own surprise, the boys’ managed to pull out a 10-8 victory over the Matadors.

“Our players really stepped up,” Bedekar said. “It was a tough match and we were expecting to lose since they’re the strongest team in the league.”

Moving on to the semifinals, the Falcons played Bellarmine but fell 11-7 in a hard-fought match against the Bells on May 9. No. 1 singles player sophomore Kial Kaiser and Bedekar both won two out of their three matches while each doubles team won one out of their three matches.

“They were too strong, but considering what we had we all made the most of what we had for sure,” Bedekar said. “The two teams that were better than us were Menlo and Bellarmine and they both recruit players and give scholarships, so for a public school to compete against something like that is really hard.”

Kaiser and Bedekar agree that the team’s growth throughout the season was especially noticeable in doubles.

“I think we basically have a lot of doubles chemistry,” Bedekar said. “At the start of the season, we’d usually only win singles and lose all the doubles matches but by the end doubles were nearly always a guaranteed win.”

As the season comes to a close, the team will be losing many of its key players. Graduating this year are No. 1 doubles players seniors Krishnan Raman and Will Edman. In addition, head coach Tom Uyehara will be leaving for new job opportunities and Kaiser will not be returning next year due to schedule conflicts.

“It’s going to be tough without Kial and everyone else, but [No. 3 singles player sophomore] Zach [Hewlin] has been doing well and hopefully I’ll improve,” Bedekar said. “It’s going to be tough, but we’ll still be a good team.”