After a promising start to the season, the girls varsity tennis team’s schedule has intensified further.

The team lost to Piedmont High School and Cupertino High School on during the week of Sept. 9, both with scores of 4-3. After that, the Vikings played in three matches during the week of Sept. 17.

The girls tennis team won against Homestead with a score of 5-2, but lost their next two matches against Los Gatos High School and Saratoga High School, with scores of 6-1 and 4-3 respectively.

With both wins and losses this season, the team is hard at work preparing for the matches to come.

“Every coach says that losses help players improve more than wins, but it’s definitely true,” senior captain Isa Cossio said.

“I think one thing our team has to work on is trying to learn from our losses because those experiences can really help us be better prepared for matches in the future.”

Senior captain Isa Cossio

According to Cossio, the central issues the team has faced thus far have been in unity. 

“One of the main challenges we’ve had since the beginning is getting the team to practice together, which initially affected our team dynamic,” Cossio said.

In addition, sophomore captain Maddi Page reveals another issue affecting team performance.

“Most of our matches have come down to tie breaks, most of the matches we lose are solely because we didn’t win the tie break.” Page said. “I think we really need to work on that, but it’s mainly because most of our newer members just aren’t used to the high pressure levels. We’ll definitely get better.”

Despite facing problems and losses, the team is currently doing very well, according to Cossio.

“After playing in a two-day tournament together and having more team bonding time, such as a team dinner, we are more connected to each other,” Cossio said.

Page won all her matches against Homestead and her single match against Saratoga. The new additions to the team and the improvement of returning players have proven useful.

“This year’s team is very strong in both singles and doubles, because we have many new experienced players and all our players have improved a lot since last season,” Cossio said. “I think we can do very well in our league this season.”

In addition to this, the team bonding activities and joint practices have helped with camaraderie, according to Page.

“I feel like I’m better friends with some of my teammates, which in turn is helping us on the court since we’re all closer and better communicators with each other,” Page said.

As the season progresses, the team remains optimistic and motivated, their main goal being the Central Coast Section (CCS) championships at the end of the season.

“Everyone is just excited to improve, get more match experience, become closer as a team and hopefully be seeded in the CCS championships,” Cossio said.

It is still early in the season, and the team has many more matches to play.

Varsity tennis will be playing their next game on Oct. 4 against Homestead.