The Wildcats defended their undefeated record with a decisive victory over Granada on Oct. 3. The final match score was 9-0.

The singles kept a firm grip on their competitors, not allowing Granada to win more than one game within a match. Granada’s Hana Lucero played DV’s No. 1 single, senior Christina Wang. Wang dominated the court with her powerful forehand swing and gained the upper hand early into the game, eventually securing the win, 6-0. The second set followed a similar trend, with a score of 6-1 to Wang.

No. 2 single freshman Sana Shehabi won her match in a clean sweep, completely shutting out her opponent, Raenelli Orlino.

The doubles teams also had strong showings. Karen Liu and Katherine Gan sweeped Rebecca Therrien and Olivia Howe 6 – 0 in both sets.

Wang attributes this definitive victory against Granada to a greater effort put in by the team. She explained that last year’s performance was weakened by a false sense of confidence from reaching state semifinals in the 2014-2015 school year.

“You just start slacking off and that obviously didn’t go so well,” explained Wang. “So this year everyone really stepped it up, and that’s all the difference.”

The team’s efforts were also evident in their Oct. 10 game against Livermore, where they won 9-0.

Wang again took the lead in her match against Sydney Pournaras, gaining momentum in the third game. She faltered briefly, allowing  Pournaras to win the fifth game, bringing the score to 4-1. Wang recovered quickly, winning the first set and three games afterwards. Despite the fact that the scoreboard was in Dougherty’s favor halfway throughout the second set, neither player decided to back down. Wang and  Pournaras maintained a tense struggle to claim victory for the last three games, with both players active on the court. Wang eventually won the second set, contributing to Dougherty’s win against Livermore.

The Wildcats have an away conference game at San Ramon Valley on Oct. 26.