Finishing with a 15-3 regular season record, a first-ever NCS division title, and a CIF states appearance, the Amador Valley’s Varsity Girls Tennis Team completed an impressive season. Although the team faced multiple obstacles throughout the season, the players pushed through and found a way to find success with every match.

While the season turned out to be an extremely successful one, it wasn’t without its fair share of trials and tribulations. Losing multiple seniors beforehand as well as a brand new coach forced the team to adjust quickly.

“I was a little bit nervous with how the season would play out because half of our team had left as seniors last year and there were so many new people,” said Y-Duyen Nguyen (‘23). “Our new coach was also very different from coach Claire…with her we had a lot more drills and conditioning unlike before where we spent most of our time playing points.” 

Still, success seemed inevitable as the players bonded quickly and marked an impressive regular season with only three losses. Even then, they established themselves as underdogs heading into NCS due to the highly competitive atmosphere.  

“Last year we went undefeated but this year I wasn’t even sure if we were going to make it into NCS this year.  I think our underdog mentality led us to success, each player played their hardest to win their matches and we managed to win NCS,” said Nguyen. “We definitely had to play some hard teams though, Monte Vista was a difficult matchup for us throughout the season and Foothill changed their lineup during NCS which made things a little bit tricky for us.”

With an NCS title on their backs, the team headed into CIF with nothing to lose, performing well in the first round but ultimately falling to the eventual champions in a strong showing.

“Cupertino was definitely the toughest team we played this year,” said Montana Parkinson-Lubold (‘24). “The first time we played them we didn’t win a single line but in states we managed to win two so we were happy with that.”

After an incredible season, each player was left with unforgettable moments and memories to last a lifetime.  While some found their highlight of the season to be on the court, others enjoyed time off bonding with teammates.  

“My personal best memory was probably winning my match against Monte Vista during NCS… we had lost to them twice before and we had also lost to them in EBAL, but I was happy that I was able to win kind-of the deciding match for us,” said Nguyen. 

With a historic season behind them, many players see a bright future ahead of them in their tennis careers. They hope to replicate their success next season and beyond, hoping to continue their success in the sport into college and forward.

 “This year and last year my best memory was definitely going to states because we got to stay in a hotel and stay up all night so that was really fun,” said Parkinson-Lubold.