Ending with their competition in CIF, the Diamond Bar High School boys tennis team concluded their spring league season with another Hacienda league title.

Being undefeated this regular season, the team made their way to league finals and CIF. All of this could not have happened without the support of coaches, crowds, and the strong morality of the players.

“We have two coaches, Coach Jay and Coach Patrick who take their time to help us strategize and mentally prepare us for our matches,” sophomore Harry Liang said via Instagram.  “They really are a mental booster, especially when matches go south.” 

Not only do they have the coaches to cheer them on, they have their own audiences as well. When families and friends came to support them, the energy got the boys riled up and ready to win.

“The team jokes around a lot, but in the end we all know to support each other and cheer each other on,” junior Matthew Su said via Instagram.

The season prospered with energetic new recruits and influential upperclassmen. With most of varsity being graduating seniors, the underclassmen are stepping up to keep the team spirit alive. 

“I think we did pretty well this year,” freshman Solon Chi Chit Au said. “We did better than last year in CIF. Last year we only made it to round two, but this year we made it to the quarter-finals.” 

Triumphant against Notre Dame from Sherman Oaks with the team score of 11-7 and Yorba Linda 9-9, Diamond Bar faced great difficulty against Sage Hill in CIF quarterfinals. Losing 6-12, the varsity boys ended their season together with great pride for how far they have come. Four athletes continued their CIF path after the team match against Sage Hill and contested separately in the tournament.

Individually, the players grew substantially since they stepped onto the court for their first time this year. Working in different events such as doubles and singles, different skills were enhanced.
“One of the things I have worked on the most was building strategies and skills with my teammates, along with learning how to coordinate with my partners a lot better,” sophomore Andy Oh said.

Coach Jay Bala has refined the varsity boys the best he could to efficiently use their team status towards building the players’ cooperation, fitness, and tandem strategizing. Through this, the team has become confident with working as a group as well as individually with their personal training outside of school. Both experiences are effective and have developed them to become the players that they are to make it far in CIF.

The four individuals who made it to CIF played their last games on May 19th and 23. With Vishnu Sriram ending in round two for the singles sectionals, Ian Kim and Dao Lam ending in round two for doubles sectionals, and Solon Chi Chit Au ending in the first round of the main draw, their extended season came to an end.

“Take the loss and burn it into your mind,” Matthew Su said. “At least we went down swinging.”

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