Viewpoint claims CIF tennis title
By Thomas Gase tgase@theacorn.com

Earlier in the season, Viewpoint girls' tennis coach Travis Kikugawa said there were five seniors on his team who helped build the school's program. Now, thanks to the talented tennis players, someone will have to build Viewpoint a new banner.

For the first time in the school's history, the girls' team won the Division V CIFSS championship by beating St. Bonaventure 13-5 Monday at the Claremont Club.

"It feels surreal to me," Kikugawa said after winning the title. "Everything this year fell into place. It was exciting, but also a little bit of a relief since I really wanted to win for the five seniors that have been playing here for so long."

The seniors, who Kikugawa named "The Fab Five," are Gaby Massoth, Natasha Tan, Farah Samarrai, Samantha Young and Brittany Beisswanger.

In the title matchup against St. Bonaventure, Young went 3-0 in singles play while the doubles team of Beisswanger and Samarrai swept all three of their games, too.

"As a coach, I'm just happy I could be associated with this student body," Kikugawa said. "Four of the five seniors have been with me since I coached them in seventh grade, so I've been with them a while. This was the perfect way to end their high school careers."

The seniors weren't the only ones who contributed for Viewpoint on Monday. The doubles team of sophomores Emily Mischel and Crystal Arnold swept their three games. Doubles partners, junior Harley Joffe and sophomore Sam Spielfogel, won two of three games, while single players Massoth and Tan each won a game of their own.

The Patriots got off to a good start, taking a 4-2 lead after the first rotation. With an 8-4 lead after the final rotation, Young quickly won her last singles game (6-0) to put Viewpoint up 9-4. Moments later, the Patriots clinched their first title when Beisswanger and Samarrai won their final doubles game (6-1).

"The championship means the world to them," Kikugawa said. "The team was super excited. Like you would expect with high school girls, there was a lot of jumping around, hugging and screaming following the win. With all the highs and lows of a season, to see it come full circle like it did was an awesome scene."