BOYS' TENNIS PREVIEW: VALENCIA HOPES TO DO IT AGAIN.Byline: Lauren Gustus Staff Writer Before junior David Foglesong answers a question, he sucks in a deep breath and lets out an extended sigh. You'd think he'd been asked to name the capital of Liechtenstein or some other far-away place. Are the questions harder for the Valencia High boys' tennis team to answer after expectations were raised by last spring's incredible run? The Vikings are working just as hard as they did last season. However, the pressure might be less this year. After all, in 2002 they accomplished what no other team had in 14 years: the Vikings ended Burbank's 126-game Foothill League winning streak Noun 1. winning streak - a streak of wins streak, run - an unbroken series of events; "had a streak of bad luck"; "Nicklaus had a run of birdies" and captured the league championship. Valencia had shrugged the monkey off the back of every other team in the league. Foglesong, who will try to step in the space left by a senior-heavy team, simply wanted to give the best answers he could, just as Valencia is simply committed to doing the best it can this spring. ``It's going to be tough,'' Foglesong said. ``It's going to be really tough. But if we are serious I think we can do it.'' The Vikings believe they will at least be competitive with Burbank but aren't overconfident o·ver·con·fi·dent adj. Excessively confident; presumptuous. o  ver·con as the Bulldogs return their top two
players.
Valencia lost its top two singles players, Andrew Pappworth and Patrick Farschian, and Foglesong's doubles partner, Frank Ferrel, to graduation. But it has four juniors, three of which are returning varsity players, that should be in the starting lineup For the line of action figures, see . A starting lineup in sports refers to the set of players actively participating in the event when the game begins. The players in the starting lineup are commonly referred to as starters, whereas the others are substitutes : Foglesong, Nick Amico, J.J. Patino and Aaron Sison. Amico, Patino and Foglesong could all play singles, but there are only two positions available. All three are versatile and played doubles last year, so Valencia coach Annie Kellogg will likely rotate them in and out of singles and doubles positions. ``My seniors are kind of quiet,'' Kellogg said. ``Hopefully they're quiet and they carry a big stick.'' Or at least a big forehand forehand the head, neck, shoulders, withers and forelimbs of the horse. . Kevin White Kevin White may refer to:
Valencia will tackle what is arguably ar·gu·a·ble adj. 1. Open to argument: an arguable question, still unresolved. 2. That can be argued plausibly; defensible in argument: three arguable points of law. one of the most challenging nonleague schedules in the area. The Vikings will see Hoover of Glendale - the defending Southern Section Division I champion - Agoura, Buckley of Sherman Oaks, Crespi of Encino and Quartz Hill. ``We have a very strong preseason,'' Kellogg said. ``I scheduled some very tough teams. We could potentially go 1-9 in preseason.'' White is more optimistic op·ti·mist n. 1. One who usually expects a favorable outcome. 2. A believer in philosophical optimism. op . ``It's possible, but I don't think (1-9) will happen ...'' he said. ``We're trying to work a lot harder than we did last year. We're practicing more. We used to leave early, but now we're staying until 5:15 or whatever.'' The eighth annual Spring Fling Spring Fling can refer to:
n. 1. One that is easily defeated or taken advantage of. 2. Something that is easily done or attained. See Synonyms at breeze1. , either. Royal of Simi Valley Simi Valley (sē`mē, sĭm`ē), city (1990 pop. 100,217), Ventura co., SW Calif. in an oil, fruit, and farm region; laid out 1887, inc. 1969. , Camarillo, Don Bosco of Rosemead, Granada Hills and Quartz Hill will all be there. ``No one ever wanted to play us, but then we won league,'' Foglesong said. ``And there's some new competition all of a sudden. You only get better by playing kids who are better than you.'' Last spring the Vikings went a few steps beyond winning the Foothill title - they reached the quarterfinals of Division II, where they lost to Santa Barbara Santa Barbara (săn'tə bär`brə, –bərə), city (1990 pop. 85,571), seat of Santa Barbara co., S Calif., on the Pacific Ocean; inc. 1850. . Valencia hopes a well-balanced lineup A criminal investigation technique in which the police arrange a number of individuals in a row before a witness to a crime and ask the witness to identify which, if any, of the individuals committed the crime. can lead the team deep into the playoffs again this year. VALENCIA Coach: Annie Kellogg 2002 Record: 18-5 Foothill League finish: First place Playoffs: Lost to Santa Barbara in Southern Section Division II quarterfinals. Key returnees: Kevin White (Sr. captain, doubles); David Foglesong (Jr., singles), Nick Amico (Jr., singles) J.J. Patino (Jr., singles), David Lachin (Sr.), Allan Lachin (Sr.), Mike Vidal (Sr.), Robert Kim (Sr.). Top newcomers: Aaron Sison (Jr.) CAPTION(S): photo, box Photo: Valencia's David Foglesong will be one of the players the Vikings rely on to fill the loss of three seniors to graduation. Hans Gutknecht/Staff Photographer Box: VALENCIA (see text) |
|
||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion