Trojans defend home court against Hornets

The Trojans varsity boys tennis team was able to fend off Hornet stings in a dominant 6-1 victory over Alameda on Tuesday, March 8.

This victory puts Castro Valley in a good position early in the season. After a heartbreaking season-opening loss to the Washington Huskies on the road, the team regrouped and defeated the Athenian Owls. The match against Alameda marked significant importance since it was the first league match of the season, and thus, the Trojan victory not only improved the Trojans to 2-1 on the season, but to 1-0 in league.

Despite what the final score may suggest, many matches were nail-biters. In the end, all doubles matches and three of the four singles matches reigned victorious.

For senior singles star Keegan Shirley, the match took a while to ease into. “In the first set, I didn’t start out too strong,” he explained. “I double faulted twice in the first game and just felt sluggish. But as the first set continued, I started feeling more confident in my shots and by the time we got to the second set, I was hitting winners every other point.”

Shirley credits his mental game as a strength through the match. “I know a lot of people whose mental game affects their ability to play and I don’t think that is the case for me. My shots stay rather consistent, no matter how I feel,” he remarked. Shirley went on to win in two sets.

Throughout his match, singles player Daniel Lionel picked up on his opponent’s groundstroke weaknesses. “I noticed the opponent had a weaker backhand,” he said, “so I targeted that side of the court more.” Lionel went on to dominate the first set of his match, winning 6-0, and went on to win the second set as well.