By Pete Borello
LAHS tennis team battling Lynbrook
Youth is being served - and doing the serving - at Los Altos High.
The Eagles girls tennis team is overstocked with underclassmen, including three freshmen and four sophomores.
Yet coach Cuong Duong has high expectations for a squad that starts just two seniors.
Even after a surprising 4-3 setback at rival Mountain View on Oct. 1, the veteran coach seemed confident Los Altos could contend for the SCVAL El Camino Division title.
“We’ll be fine,” said Duong, who benched two of his most experienced players against Mountain View for skipping practice the prior day. “We still have a chance for first place and winning the league - that was our goal (when the season began).”
Reaching this goal won’t be easy, not with Lynbrook standing in the way. The Vikings (5-0) lead the division, with the Eagles (4-1) perched in second.
The two teams were scheduled to face off Tuesday at Los Altos, then go at it again Oct. 31 at Lynbrook.
“We need to beat them twice,” Duong said last week. “(Tuesday) is going to be an important match. If we lose that, we have no chance at winning the league.”
The Eagles placed third in the El Camino last season with an 8-4 mark; Duong predicts a 10-2 finish this year.
And he warns, “We haven’t played our best tennis yet.”
The eighth-year coach is counting on his young players to get better with each match.
Los Altos’ top two singles players, Alicia Incerpi and Wei Wei Lu, are both sophomores.
Duong said Incerpi hasn’t improved all that much from last year when she played at No. 3, “but she’s able to beat the other girls with her athletic ability.” Incerpi is a standout soccer player as well, making the varsity team as a freshman.
Former doubles player Lu “is the most improved player on the team,” Duong said, because of her new mentality.
“She’s out there fighting for it more,” he said. “I didn’t see that last year.”
Emily Keenan and fellow senior Blair Dematteis play at No. 3 and 4 singles, respectively. Keenan “is very solid,” Duong said, and one of the team’s best athletes (she’s also a gymnast and diver).
Dematteis worked at No. 2 singles last year.
Gina Wong, younger sister of former Los Altos tennis star Jon Wong (now at Stanford) played at No. 4 vs. Mountain View. Although the freshman lost 7-5, 7-5, she showed potential.
“She’s a very good player, but she has limited experience,” Duong said. “She only started playing tennis last year and will definitely be a good player in the next couple of years.”
On the doubles side, junior Emily Reid and sophomore Christina Strong are entrenched at the top spot.
“They’re playing really well together,” Duong said. “They’ve only been together for three weeks and they’re undefeated (4-0).”
Strong played No. 1 singles last year, but requested a move to doubles this season. Reid is a returning doubles player.
The No. 2 and 3 doubles slots are not yet settled, according to Duong, with six players in the mix. Freshmen Tessa Ameri and Carolyn Whitesell prevailed at No. 3 against Mountain View (2-2).
“They were impressive,” Duong said. “They were down in the third set, then they just started playing and showed they can play under pressure.”
Wong, sophomore Christine Russell, junior Tayler Cox and senior Estelle Hong also play doubles. Challenges in practice determine which of them play in matches.
Los Altos (4-3 overall) has a bye Thursday and is slated to play a 3:30 p.m. match at Santa Clara on Oct. 15.
