GIRLS TENNIS| The duo of senior Iris Hsieh and junior Ashley Yeh helped Diamond Bar push past West Covina as they both dominated in the offensive and defensive end.
Following its seventh consecutive Hacienda League title last year, this year’s Diamond Bar girls tennis team defeated the West Covina Bulldogs in a dominating fashion, 14-4. The Lady Brahmas’ doubles teams led the way in the competition, taking victories for eight of its nine matches. DB is currently undefeated with an overall record of 3-0 and a league record of 1-0.
Even though the doubles teams took the spotlight of the match, the singles team did not disappoint. Junior and number one singles player Amberly Cheng swept past her opponents as she won her first set 6-4 and bageled the next two sets. After getting paired with a tough competitor, junior Jackie Zhang managed to outplay her opponent by winning the set 7-5. However, the grueling first match left a mark on Zhang; she was close to winning her next two matches, but fell short at the end. Sophomore and number two singles player Samantha Cho easily overcame two of her opponents by scoring 6-1 in both sets. At the end of three rounds of singles play, the Lady Brahmas were leading 6-3.
DB’s doubles teams were flawless during the match, performing well even with the loss of last year seniors and co-captains Melody Chen and Joycelyn Chen to graduation. The number one doubles team consisting of senior co-captain Evelyn Wang and junior co-captain Karrie Tran quickly bageled their first and only competition. Due to the talent of DB, coach Tisa Shavers subbed in senior Iris Hsieh and junior co-captain Ashley Yeh for both Wang and Tran. Hsieh and Yeh both managed to keep up the progress of the duo of Wang and Tran, bageling both of their competitors.
Juniors Rosanne Chen and Kimberly Chen, the number two doubles team, proved why the Lady Brahmas have so much depth. The Chens overpowered their challengers and won all three of their matches. At many points during the match, the Chens looked as if they could be the number one doubles team for different teams in the Hacienda League. The number three doubles team of junior Sabrina Liang and sophomore Emily Zhang were able to gather two points for the Lady Brahmas scoring of 6-3 and 7-6 against their opponents.
“West Covina is not our toughest competitor, but even so, our team still pushed to the best of our abilities and won every game that we could,” Rosanne Chen said.
Although the team easily dominated the match against the Bulldogs, there is still a potential for improvement. It’s only the third match of the season, and there is still a lot to work on in for team dynamics.
“The team looks great so far, but as the season goes on, we still have to have the mentality of to improve every day,” Hsieh said.
As the Hacienda League play progresses, the team looks to continue its hot streak and become the league champion for its eight consecutive season. In addition, it hopes to advance into the CIF playoffs. Last season, the Lady Brahmas had a record of 15-4 and managed to defeat the Walnut Mustangs in the last game of league play to secure the title of league champions.
