On Oct. 21, the girls varsity tennis team took on its local rival, La Costa Canyon High school. In their last game of the season, the girls looked to end their season on a strong note as they head into CIFs.

Though they played hard, the team did not come out with a win in the end. Out of their eighteen sets, Carlsbad won four, putting the final score at 14-4. The doubles team of junior Melissa Kasai and junior Miranda Tomaneg won two sets, and singles players, senior Delaney Phanco and sophomore Lexi Mertz won another two points.

Although they did not win this game, the team had strong and steady season. After every game, the team says they learn from their mistakes and look to utilize new approaches they find.

“In the beginning of the season, we were just trying to find the best ways to work as a team and find our footing,” sophomore Alexis Mertz said. “But throughout the season, we’ve really become closer as a team which has helped us through many of our games.”

Coming into the game from a previous loss, the team hoped to put up a good fight and gain back their momentum. But overall, their goal was to mainly just to enjoy themselves.

“Everyone played really well, and it was a fun match overall,” junior Melissa Kasai said. “We were great getting back on our feet after we lost.”

While the Carlsbad community considers La Costa Canyon to be one of its biggest rivals, the girls tennis team has a different competitor they put in that category, Vista High School. Going into CIFs, the team wants to be as strong as possible, ready to make any changes necessary to succeed.  Recognizing the areas they need to work on the girls continue to work hard in order to perform their absolute best in CIFs.

“Our doubles teams are a little weaker than our singles team, so we need to improve in that area,” Kasai said.

Staying positive, the team remains hopeful that even with this loss, they will still be able to go into play-offs with their best foot forward and take home the CIF title.

“The teams we are coming up against, we’ve beaten before in league,” Mertz said. “So we are very confident and very excited, we have a very good chance of making it to finals, and even winning finals.”