By Pete Borello

joe hu/Town Crier Junior Quan Vu is in his third season as Mountain View High’s No. 1 singles player. Vu, a USTA-ranked player, has an 8-2 record in SCVAL El Camino Division play this season.

As coach Frank Smyth watches his Mountain View High tennis team, he can’t help thinking what the future may hold for his Spartans.

Smyth sees underclassmen playing the top four singles spots - and two of them are USTA-ranked players. He glances at the roster and counts only four seniors among his 14 boys. And he hears several varsity-quality freshmen are headed to the school in the fall.

“Next year this team is going to be stronger yet,” Smyth said. “Not that I’m complaining about this year.”

Smyth doesn’t have much to complain about; the Spartans are second in the SCVAL El Camino Division at 9-2 and 11-4 overall. Their two leagues losses came at the hands of Homestead, which has already clinched the division title with an 11-0 mark.

Only the division winner is guaranteed a spot in the Central Coast Section playoffs, leaving Mountain View to fight a slew of other schools for an at-large berth in the small-schools division.

“We’re hoping,” said Smyth, whose Spartans last made the postseason in 2003. “At 12-4, we have a chance.”

The coach expects to get win No. 12 Tuesday when Mountain View returns from spring break to host Milpitas at 3:30 p.m. The Spartans swept the Trojans in mid-March in Milpitas.

Mountain View has won four division matches by a 7-0 score - including last Thursday’s home contest against Santa Clara. Smyth admitted that the El Camino isn’t too strong, with only Homestead and Gunn posing a challenge to the Spartans.

Smyth attributes Mountain View’s success to having four formidable singles players and depth in doubles.

“We have no obvious weakness in singles,” the team’s fifth-year coach said, “and the doubles are strong for the El Camino Division.”

Quan Vu sits firmly atop the singles ladder. The junior is 8-2 in division play. Vu has been the Spartans’ No. 1 player since his freshman year and is ranked in the under-18 division of USTA-Northern California.

“Quan has certainly improved,” Smyth said. “He’s sharpened his skills. But I’d like to see him come to the net and develop more of an attack game.”

Smyth would also like to see No. 2 player Henry Nguyen, a sophomore, do the same.

“He’s done pretty well,” Smyth said. “He’s developing more this season, but he needs to come to the net more. He’s making strides doing that.”

Nguyen, ranked in the under-16 division, is 8-3 in league play.

No. 3 player Joe Zielazinski brandishes Mountain View’s best record, 9-1 division. Smyth calls the sophomore “our surprise addition,” as he transferred from Chicago this school year.

“He has a very good all-court game,” Smyth said of the 5-foot-5 Zielazinski. “He won’t overpower you, but he varies his pace and throws opponents off balance.”

Returning player John Doty holds down the fourth spot. The junior is 9-2 in league.

“He’s done very well,” Smyth said. “His game overall is very good.

Mountain View may not have the most gifted group on the doubles side, but it has strength in the number of capable players. The Spartans haven’t allowed the loss of one of their top doubles players, who was ruled ineligible for academic reasons a few weeks ago, to faze them.

“We’re sufficiently strong to adjust,” Smyth said. “It didn’t impact us as much as losing a singles player.”

The coach said the Spartans have only a few losses in doubles during league and he mixes up the lineup “quite a bit.”

The top tandem consists of Peter Shapp and Alex Henke, both seniors. Shapp has been at No. 1 all year; Henke recently moved up from No. 2 doubles.

“They haven’t played together a lot,” Smyth said, “but they’ve come up with some good wins.”

The No. 2 team comprises Kevin Stanek and Doug Wiersig, both seniors. They have lost just a couple of matches all season.

“They’re not strong in skills,” Smyth said, “but they give it their all and they’ve been successful.”

Aaron Shaw, a junior who recently returned to the team after missing the first half of the season with an illness, plays at No. 3 doubles. Shaw is teamed with either Matt White, Justin Greenberg or Ben Parker. White and Greenberg are juniors; Parker is a freshman who also fills in at No. 4 singles.

“It’s worked out fine,” Smyth said of his flexible No. 3 doubles spot. “Generally, they come through.”

If the Spartans don’t make it through to the playoffs this year, Smyth knows there’s always next year. After all, Homestead will be up in the SCVAL De Anza Division and Mountain View may have as many as seven seniors.

“The program is getting stronger, which is encouraging,” he said.

Eagles edge Matadors

Los Altos ended its streak of three straight league losses by beating Monta Vista 4-3 Thursday in Cupertino.

“It was kind of a must-win,” said coach Cuong Duong, whose Eagles improved to 6-4 in the SCVAL De Anza Division.

Los Altos was helped by Monta Vista having to forfeit No. 2 and 3 doubles because of a lack of players. The other wins came from Jeff Liu at No. 2 singles and the top doubles team of Ryan Louie and Brian Chang.