The MCAL Boys Tennis Season is approaching, and the Trojans are looking to improve on their heartbreaking season from a year ago. Despite finishing with a 5-11 record, the Trojans nearly made the playoffs. They were literally a couple of bounces away from clinching the #4 seed in the playoffs.  The year before that, it came down to the last match of the season to determine whether TL made the playoffs, in which they just barely lost 5-4 to Justin-Siena and finished at 5-9, one spot out of the MCAL playoffs. This season will be no different. The Trojans will have to come through in the clutch in these close matches against rival schools like San Rafael, Branson, and Novato.   

So, this is a team looking for redemption, especially the Seniors who are in their last season and have made up the core of the team for the past three years. Unfortunately, valuable doubles player, Ben Bloomberg, graduated after last season. However, Seniors Max Myers, Jason Tighe, and Ronzel De Leon will be back and likely play #1, #2, and #3 singles for the team this season. Senior Gustavo Moraes and Kunal Lohtia will likely play #1 doubles. Even with talented freshmen joining the team this year, and for years to come, the team will be losing valuable leadership, experience and skill after this season, so they are going to make the absolute most out of it. 

One of the biggest issues the team has had the past two seasons was the lack of effort and discipline during practices. Lohtia emphasized this: “I think we’re definitely there talent-wise, but in terms of conditioning, practice, and seriousness, we don’t have that edge compared to other teams.” Along with that, Moraes believes there is another crucial aspect that the team needs to improve on for this season, “We came close last season, but we lost motivation as the season progressed. At the beginning of the season we were doing well because we were playing weaker teams, and we were winning a lot, and our morale was high, we were a motivated team. But later on, we got hit hard when we had to play tougher teams, and started losing, and our morale as a team took a nosedive.” 

This team has a lot on their hands this season, but they’re determined to change their fortunes after two consecutive years of disappointment and heartbreak. Kunal Lohtia insistently explains,“This year will be different. We’re more focused since it’s the last year for us Seniors. We’re taking it much more seriously. And we have the best chance to make the playoffs this season, especially since we have more time to focus on tennis this season.” The Trojans are a hungry and determined team, and they’ll leave everything out on the court this upcoming season.