Local girls tennis teams off to a fast start this season
Paloma's Rachel Ngo has impressed her coach with her play this season. (Photo by Action Captures Media Group) By Paige Mendez, Correspon...
By Paige Mendez, Correspondent
The girls tennis season continues this week for three of the local high schools -- Liberty, Paloma Valley and Heritage -- as they begin league play.
Liberty holds the best of the teams’ records at 8-1, while Heritage is 5-1.
Danica Doskocil -- both a doubles and singles player -- has been a standout player for Heritage this season, according to head coach Monty McIntosh.
“She serves as a mentor for those she plays with and the entire team,” McIntosh said of Doskocil, who is 11-1 overall going into league play.
McIntosh said their most challenging match-up this far has been Liberty, due to the fact that the Bison seem to be in their prime while the Patriots are doing some rebuilding from last year. But McIntosh said he is proud of the fact that they have been able to upset some opponents that they lost to last season.
Liberty’s team has an undefeated star in sophomore Katie Lee.
“All parts of Katie’s tennis game are fine-tuned and she’s ready for any style of player she plays,” said head coach Tyler Baca. “She also excels in the classroom maintaining a 4.0 GPA.”
Baca has also been impressed with sophomore Marianne “Angel” Alonzo, who, after not making the JV team last year, worked hard enough to now be the third spot on the varsity singles roster.
“She took not making any of the teams [last year] and put in the work to not only become an amazing tennis player but also a huge piece of this team this year for varsity,” Baca said. “She is my first player to not make JV the year before and come back and make a varsity spot as a sophomore. She has true passion for the game.”
Although Baca is proud of his team’s record thus far, he said his priorities rest in the culture he creates in his team.
“What I want the community to know about our team is that Liberty Bison Tennis is one big family. The players on my team are great friends that I can see being friends forever,” he said. “We are competitive but make sure we keep the fun going during practice no matter the circumstances."
Paloma Valley’s team is currently 4-4 going into this week and head coach Alison King said her standout player this season has been Rachel Ngo.
“One of my leaders who plays tough and always sets a good example and precedent for the other girls is Rachel,” she said. “She steps up every time and plays well.”
Brooklyn Berni, Christian Adams and Sierra Laban were also players that King said have stepped into leadership roles this year for her team.
“The 4-4 record can feel tough because that’s just .500 but it feels really good to know they’ve faced different types of teams,” King said. “I think it’s given the girls a really good sense of what they’ll need going into league.”
Each team will start league play this afternoon: Heritage at Canyon Springs, Paloma at Citrus Hill and Liberty against Valley View.
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