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The Talon September 24. 2021
Read more sports articles at lahstalon.org/category/sports
Tennis
so many years, I was hoping we could come to some agreement to help Mountain View have their own space too. But unforCONTINUED FROM THE tunately this is the situation we FRONT PAGE were left with.” The Eagles have been optimizing in the only way they “Mountain View’s matches can, finding practice spaces are scheduled on Mondays and and times whenever possible. Wednesdays so we really have These chalno practice lenges have time,” varsity made the start doubles playMountain View’s match- of the season er senior Sofia difficult, but Mujica said. es are scheduled on the Eagles are “ W h e r e a s Mondays and Wednesalready seeing MVHS prac- days so we really have improvement. tices at Reng- no practice time,” They celebratstorff on their varsity doubles player ed their first off days, we’re win of the seasenior Sofia Mujica going match son on Tuesafter match said. “Whereas MVHS day, Septemwith little practices at Rengstorff ber 21, where practice beon their off days, we’re they domifore each.” nated against There is lit- going match after Saratoga High tle the Eagles match with little pracSchool 7–0. can do about tice before each. The JV girls the inconve— senior Sofia Mujica have proved nience. The their resilteam is curience too by rently trying winning all to work their practice times four of their matches by sigaround MVHS matches, but nificant margins against Gunn there are often few hours of High School, Cupertino High daylight left to practice in. School, MVHS and Saratoga “Essentially, this becomes High School. The Eagles hope [Mountain View’s] home court for a more consistent schedule for certain days,” LAHS varsity as the season progresses, but girls tennis coach Hung Nguythey have faith that they will en said. “Seeing as how Saint triumph in future matches reFrancis High School has had gardless. an agreement with the City for
Senior Rose Liu serves during a doubles match against Mountain View High School.
ROHAN VASWANI
ROHAN VASWANI
Los Altos High School tennis courts are still in use despite construction on the back field. Students from Mountain View High School have been assigned these courts for matches as their own tennis courts are out of use due to construction at MVHS.
Girls lacrosse welcomes new coach Christina Sabin MIRA SUNDAR Sports Editor
Coming from a household where team sports were an integral part of everyday life, Christina Sabin knew exactly what athletic environment she was after when she tried out for her first lacrosse team. At first she was just tagging along with a friend to try out for a local club team, barely knowing any of the rules, but eventually the sport stuck. “My first year was miserable,” Sabin said. “I hated it. I didn’t know how to do anything; from passing to shooting the ball, I didn’t understand any of it.”
But rather than quit after her terrible experience, she told herself that going into high school, she would try out for the school team, just to see what would happen. Little did she know, the sport would eventually become her passion and the very thing she’d be inspiring other girls to give a shot. “I had a blast,” Sabin said, crediting her amazing high school lacrosse experience to her high school coach — an old school New Yorker with a Brooklyn accent. “He was just really ‘nitty gritty,’ but honestly one of the best coaches I’ve had. Without him I wouldn’t have found my passion for the sport and my love
COURTESY CHRISTINA SABIN
Sabin (center) is pictured with some of her fellow teammates at Occidental College. She played four years of lacrosse in college and is excited to share the lessons she has learned through her time as a player and her visions for the upcoming season this Spring with the rest of the LAHS team.
COURTESY CHRISTINA SABIN
Sabin is pictured coaching her club team. She has prior coaching experience through her time coaching Team NorCal and the Tomahawks Lacrosse Club. She is excitd to bring what she has learned through these experienciences to her career coaching the Los Altos High School girls lacrosse team.
for being a team player.” And it was due to this newfound passion for the sport that Sabin felt she could continue to play through college. She went on to play Division 3 lacrosse at Occidental College, where she received her bachelor’s in art and art history. While playing at Occidental College, she found many life-long friends in her teammates, and that camaraderie is something that she still cherishes today. The new girls lacrosse coach Sabin hopes to carry that support
over to the Los Altos High School lacrosse team. She wants her players to love the sport and aims to further expand the program — which is known for being notoriously small — to have a junior varsity team to play parallel to the varsity team. “While my goal this season is to obviously win some games, I do hope to be able to share some of the lessons that I learned as a player with my future team,” Sabin said. Going into this upcoming season, Sabin hopes to build the team
around a strong defensive side, as she believes in order to have a strong offensive you must have a solid defense — a result of her time as a defensive player in college. She translates this same coaching principle to her two club teams: Team NorCal and the Tomahawks Lacrosse Club, a travel team based in Palo Alto. “My ultimate goal this season is to make my team into better players and better people, just like my high school coach did for me,” Sabin said.
