Lindbergh defeated Tyee 7-0 in Seamount League high school team tennis action on Wednesday, March 23 on the courts of the homestanding Totems, but the Tyee tennis program shows signs of an upswing this season.
The most competitive match of the day came in the curtain closer as the No. 1 girls doubles teams engaged in three suspenseful sets.
Lindbergh's Preet Kaur and Maria Phan fought off Lourdes Gatdula and Savannah Williams for a 6-4 first set win. Tyee turned the tables to garner the second set 6-4, setting up the decisive third set.
Kaur and Pham led, 4-3, with Gatdula and Williams on serve. The Eagle pairing broke serve in love, but the Totem team up broke back to draw within 5-4 on its own serve. Falling behind early in points, Gatdula and Williams fought to hang on before succumbing to a final service break to end the matches.
"Whether we won or lost, it's still good," concluded Tyee coach Kin Yee. "Lindbergh is a fine team."
In action leading up to the finale, the visiting Eagles showed their strength. Joe Kwiatkowski powered past Totem senior Omar Mazo, 6-0, 6-0 in No. 1 boys singles. The girls No. 1 singles showed a similar pattern with Quinn Osborn stroking by Tyee senior Roxanna Castor, 6-1, 6-0.
Kevin Huynh and Vy Nguyen fought hard before the Eagle tandem of Vladimir Stoianov and Jonathan Eng prevailed, 6-3, 6-0, in the bos No. 1 doubles attraction. John Franco and Paulo Tiamzon took No. 2 boys doubles, 6-1, 6-0, against the Totem tandem of Jon Smith and Martin Obrero while Kimmi Girmus and Veronica Choi shot by Tyee's Thien Nguyen and Krishna Rizal, 6-0, 6-2, for the No. 2 girls doubles victory.
In a walkover in mixed doubles, the Totem team of Kyle Kennedy and Yasi Zhong due to Kennedy waiting to become eligible to play.
Zhong is one of four Tyee players that are form the Aviation High School in Des Moines.
Seniors with truly contrasting demeanors and attitudes lead this season's Totem squad.
In boys singles, Mazo is a true warrior.
"This is his second year on the varsity and he is really a competitor," said Yee. "He's fierce and likes singles because he puts the pressure on himself to win. He did not play last year and was eager to return."
According to Yee, the girls' top player Castor is nearly a diametric opposite of Mazo in her approach.
"This is her second year and she is a disciplined player who enjoys tennis more as a hobby," Yee observed. "She competes and likes the team concept of high school tennis where players support each other."
When asked about her view of playing tennis, Castor backed up Yee's observations.
"This is fun," she said. "I enjoy playing because it makes me feel happy. It's just enjoyable. Winning our last match was great."
Even more positive signs of the Totem girls progress abound.
According to Yee, this season's team boasts a full squad of varsity and junior varsity players totalling up to 30 participants. With the campus being divided up into specialty sections, some sports are having problems attracting participants, so the tennis turn out is significant.
On Monday, the Totems defeated Renton four matches to three for their first team victory in three years.
Until Wednesday, Tyee had been strongly competitive despite losses to Evergreen and Foster until they defeated Renton.
Although, the Eagles won all the Wednesday matches, Tyee players gave good accounts of themselves, overall.
"Our team is rebuilding, but there are a lot of positives," Yee said.