A fter defeating San Mateo 6-1 in the first round of Central Coast Section (CCS) playoffs, the Paly boys tennis team lost 5-2 to Saratoga in the second round of the CCS playoffs.

During the first round of CCS, Paly competed in four single matches and three doubles matches. Juniors Samuel Xing and Brion Ye played doubles and won with scores of 6-3 and 7-5.

Going into the second round of CCS,  Xing said he knew his team was the underdog, as Saratoga was ranked higher than Paly. However, he was unfazed.

“We played our hardest, but you can’t win every match,” Xing said.

Although this loss from the second round of CCS led to the end of the season, senior Adam Love said he and his doubles partner senior Nathan Ellisen are still proud of winning the Santa Clara Athletic Valley League (SCVAL) Doubles Championships at Mountain View High School, which brought them to CCS.

According to boys tennis coach Andy Harader, Love and Ellisen faced Cupertino in the semifinals.

The pair made a tremendous comeback after losing the first set. In the third set, they were losing by four at tie break. The team won 10-8.

“We didn’t expect anything going into SCVALs besides giving our best effort. Our focus and determination over the course of the two days led us to victory.”

Senior Adam Love

Love and Ellisen faced Los Altos in the finals and won in the third set, 10-4.

“It was an amazing feeling being able to play and win alongside a long time friend. The most exciting part of it all was the camaraderie between all of the players.”

Senior Adam Love

Throughout this season, the team faced the challenge of losing players to injury.

According to sophomore Matthew Ho, another challenge the team will face is the loss of the team’s single players, all of whom are seniors.

However, Xing said every player was able to improve their skills as the season passed and Paly Boy’s tennis has made a big achievement qualifying for CCS, which they were not able to do  for the past four years.

“I think we’ve gotten better at closing out matches, which has helped us a lot in winning overall,” Xing said.

The  loss from the second CCS match wrapped up the team’s season, and the Boys tennis team finished the season with a record of 13-6-0.