GIRLS TENNIS: Milpitas Pushes Past Wilcox

The sport of tennis is a one-on-one, team-free arena of competition, minus the fact if you’re playing a doubles match.

However, the beauty of high school tennis blends aspects of the professional tennis ranks and mixes in plenty of team as well.

Milpitas High freshman Kristen Buchanan got to experience a little of both on Thursday afternoon at Wilcox High.

Buchanan secured the fourth and final win for the Milpitas High girls tennis team, clinching a 4-3 victory over Wilcox High with a gritty three-set victory in a Santa Clara Valley Athletic League El Camino Division match in Santa Clara.

After her match concluded, the cagey Trojans southpaw was surprised to see a wall of her teammates waiting for her to walk off the court.

Buchanan’s 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 victory was the fourth win of the afternoon for the Trojans, extending the team’s perfect 2011 record to 12-0 overall and 4-0 in league play.

“It really feels good to win this one,” a relieved Buchanan said after the win. “It’s hard to just focus on your match sometimes. You want your teammates to play well and win too.”

Facing an opponent with a similar style, nothing came easy for the Milpitas No. 3 singles player on this day.

“She hit the ball deep into the corners,” Buchanan said. “It was tough for me to get to some of her shots.”

A 6-2 first set victory put Buchanan in the driver’s seat, but a 4-6 defeat in set number two forced the Trojans freshman to play a little longer.

Buchanon extended across her body and returned a tough forehand shot in the third set to setup the final error of the match.

Her Wilcox opponent returned the forehand shot into the net.

“It’s a learning experience for her,” MHS head coach Dong Pham said after Buchanan’s tough match. “I told her she needs to finish and get out. You win as a team. Her teammates needed her today and she was able to get a win for them.”

Milpitas won all four singles matches, including straight set wins from No. 1 singles player Christi Tain, No. 2 player Shuyang Ye and No. 4 singles player Manasi Aranake.

Tain and Ye both stayed perfect on the year, showing off their potent ground strokes.

“I came into this year a little nervous about being the No. 1 singles player,” Tain said. “But after a match or two I just got used to it and now I’m much more comfortable. I’m a lot more confident in my game.”

Tain won 6-0, 6-1, while Ye took care of her match, 7-5, 6-0.

Aranake, a second Trojans freshman in the varsity singles lineup, won her match 7-5, 6-3.

Buchanan and Aranake’s impressive wins and growth over the first month of the season has their head coach excited about the Trojans future and present.

“The singles players all want to go undefeated this season,” Pham said. “We’ve never had a group do that before here. They keep improving each match.”

Wilcox swept all three doubles matches to put the heat on the Trojans singles player to win-out. They lived up to the challenge.

Milpitas returns to league play next Tuesday at home against Fremont High. The match is scheduled to start at 3:30 p.m.