Tennis: Top-flight Monta Vista team defeats Falcons twice

Riding a string of four straight victories, the Falcons hoped they could avenge an earlier loss to rival Monta Vista at home on March 22.

But just as they did earlier in the month, the Matadors won the game by a 5-2 score, solidifying their first place position ahead of Saratoga in the De Anza League. The Falcons hold a 5-2 record, while the Matadors are undefeated.

Junior Dean Stratakos, the No. 2 singles player, said beating the Matadors is tough because of the number of high-ranking players on their squad.

“Their team has an abundance of high level U.S. Tennis Association players, even into the doubles line-up,” Stratakos said. “Even though the loss obviously hurts, we just have to look forward and make sure we take care of business against the rest of the teams in our league.”

Until the Monta Vista loss, the Falcons had been taking care of business. They beat Los Gatos 6-1 at home on March 21 with strong performances by Stratakos and No. 1 singles player senior Andre Xiao. On March 16, the Falcons beat Homestead 5-2 at home, with Stratakos defeating Homestead No. 2 singles Lukas Bandarker 6-3, 4-6 and 7-5.

“I've known Lucas since I first started playing tennis and it was definitely a fun challenge to play him,” Stratakos said.

On March 14 during another home game, the team also defeated Palo Alto 6-1.

With their other loss to Monta Vista 4-3 on March 1, the team is almost a sure beat to make CCS but have a lower seed than if they had won their league.

There are five games left in the league season, and none of them is against Monta Vista, meaning the Falcons think they can capture second if they don’t stumble.

“Even with our tough loss of leagues to Monta Vista, I’m confident that we can regroup and finish the season on a strong note by doing well at CCS and perhaps qualifying for NorCals,” No. 2 doubles player junior Tristan Xiao said.