Downey Vs. Paramount

On Thurs., Mar. 20, the boys varsity tennis played in a tournament against Paramount High. The Vikings held their undefeated title after winning the game 11-7, with their strength evident in the single player games.

The game began at 3 p.m. with the single player games taking place on the left side courts and the doubles players on the right side courts. The singles started off strong with senior players Christos Meletis, Jimmy Ziegenbein, and sophomore player Daniel Son each taking on a Paramount player.

Meletis, on the first court, played the most difficult Paramount player first. The game went by swiftly, with Meletis staying in the lead the entire time, and winning 6-0. On the second court, Ziegenbein also had a short game winning 6-0. Son had a more difficult time on the third court; he and the Paramount player went back and forth winning games until Son finally took the lead and ended the game winning 6-4.

After a five-minute break the players rotated to play their next opponent. Ziegenbein played Paramount’s best player and had to push a little harder to keep the lead. His fast serves often failed and he had to use his second serve to get the ball over the net. Although he showed a little frustration with the player, he was still able to keep a strong lead and win his second match 6-1.

The Paramount players seemed to be the exact opposite of the Downey players with their calm and composed strategy of playing while the Downey players were full of passion and force. Ziegenbein was irritated with the Paramount’s style of playing.

“The Paramount team has a reputation for an unorthodox style of play,” Ziegenbein said, “and it kind of threw our guys off.”

Son played his second match with a stronger attitude and confidence but, when the Paramount player started to take the lead, he became agitated. Son would hit his racket on the floor when Paramount scored another point. His anger was released when he was hitting the ball, which allowed him to win the match 6-4. Meletis on the third court had another short game winning 6-0.

On the final break and rotation, the team began to worry that they would lose the tournament because of how the doubles were doing. The doubles struggled to keep up with the Paramount players and were winning few games.

Sophomore Roman Buenrostro kept hope throughout the game and supported his teammates.

“It looked like Paramount might win towards the end,” Buenrostro said, “but with the singles doing so well, I still believed my team would win it.”

The singles rotated for the last time and played their final games. Meletis finished his match once again with ease with a final score of 6-0. Ziegenbein had a difficult time when his match began, but quickly picked up the pace of the game and took no mercy on the Paramount player, each to finish and win his final match.

“It felt good finally beating that player,” Ziegenbein said, “because he was rude.”

Son’s last game lasted the longest. His aggression began to show in his playing when he would hit the ball with too much force, causing the Paramount player to easily get the ball back. Son lost the match, ending with a score of 4-6.

The team had a rough match, but was still able to succeed in defeating the varsity boys Paramount team. Although the doubles games were more difficult and took more effort out of the boys, the singles games were able to make up for the lost points and win the overall tournament with a final score of 11-7.

“I’m glad we were finally able to defeat them and stay undefeated,” Meletis said. “I hope we stay undefeated this summer; I think its possible.”

With Paramount being one of the toughest rivals they play in their season, the Vikings were proud to win the tournaments and remain on the path for CIF. The boys varsity are now in preparation for their Downey vs. Warren game on Thursday, Apr. 1 at 3 p.m.