By Shannon Tseng | Staff Writer

On Thursday October 1, Irvington and Mission San Jose went head-to-head in an intense match. After two grueling hours, Irvington lost to Mission with a score of 0-7.

Irvington had a rocky start; varsity and junior varsity players alike had a hard time scoring. During the first set, varsity singles and doubles players were only able to score one or two points in their matches. Junior varsity players scored on average higher, but they were unable to defeat their opponents as well. Eventually, Mission won all the matches in the first set.

In the second set, varsity doubles performed slightly better, scoring three or four points. However, no Irvington teams were able to advance into the third set. In the end, Irvington lost every match in the tournament, scoring an average of less than 2 points per match. Mission’s forceful aces and impressive volleying were the ultimate factor in determining their win.

Both the tennis captains and coach see a need for improvement within the team.

“[I’d like to see] improvements including consistency, angled shots, and staying mentally strong during games,” explained captain Sakshi Das, “I felt like we were lightweight discouraged from the start, knowing [that Mission is] a really good team. From the start, we were not as confident as we were in other games.”

“Our team is fairly young,” elaborated Coach Dan Leon, “and we played against some strong opponents. We were outmatched this time, but I just told [the players] to do their best and have fun. When they have fun, they’re more relaxed and they play better.”

Despite the loss, Tennis Captain Stuti Patel has high hopes for the future, “I was really proud of the team’s performance against MSJ. We all went into the match knowing it was going to be tough. I’m really glad we put up our best fight, and we’ll win when we go to MSJ courts.”