On November 15, the Segerstrom Girls’ Tennis team became CIF champions and became the first girls’ tennis team to do so in school history.  Alexa Perez

“Till this day, I still couldn’t believe that we as a team actually won. It was way too surreal for me to process for a while. My goal for next season is to improve my skills in tennis and to hopefully push through all the way. We did a lot more drills and conditioning. It was a lot of hard work but hard work really pays off,” said Paige Dinh (11).

The Lady Jags Tennis team defeated Western which was the last game of their season. They won 10-8 to gain the championship title. They played their last game at the Claremont Club located in Claremont, California. 

“I was very surprised and proud of my team for winning CIF. At the beginning of the season, we all shared our goals for the season and the majority agreed on beating Garden Grove because they were our hardest rival last year. No one expected or thought that we would make it this far because we didn’t even think that we would get to that point,” said Rose Vivencio (11). 

The 2019-2020 team was the first girls’ tennis team, in Segerstrom and Santa Ana Unified School District history, to win the title. They are prompted to be getting their CIF rings and a banner to honor their win in the gym. 

“When we won CIF, it was really emotional for all of us, some of us were just full-on sobbing happy tears because we have all worked so hard for this achievement and we wanted it so bad. I felt like what led us to this particular victory was the passion and drive and the battle came down to who wanted it more. Although we have won against Western High School twice, we didn’t underestimate them and were still nervous going against them for the third time. I’m overall so thankful for their support and the sacrifices they made to help us become Santa Ana’s first CIF Girls Tennis victors,” said Teresa Dinh (11).

The scores were extremely close (10-8), but of course, the Lady Jags persevered and came out victorious. Because they had beat Western twice before, they knew they had tough competition. They were ready for a fight and both teams gave their best on the court.

“I couldn’t sleep and I was really nervous the entire time. Upon hearing that we won, it caused a mix of happiness, tears of joy, and exhilaration. Throughout CIF, there were a lot of times I wasn’t too sure we were going to make it. There were a lot of close calls, but we powered through. The euphoria lasted quite a while. It felt surreal when we won and I couldn’t believe it, it took a while before it actually sunk in that we did it. I hope to improve my skills with my partner and also to become league champs again,” said Vicky Do (11).

Their coach, Coach Jack, who actually won CIF tennis for boys back in 2008, wanted to end their day at Red Robin’s because that is what his team did after they successfully won. They were also treated immensely by Ms. Shin and Mr. Canzone, who fed them pizza and Newport Rib.

We were all enamored by the administration, teachers, staff, and students who showed us so much support throughout the season and we all wanted to dedicate this accomplishment to everyone at Segerstrom. 

Team captain, Irene Le (12), stated, “It was an amazing feeling the second the last match finished. I remember all of us crowding together and a bunch of us began to cry. We were even the last team to leave because all the pictures we took and us jumping all around. It was a great way to end the season and until this moment, I still can’t believe how far this team was able to go together. As a senior, sadly I’m not going to be part of the team. However, I made multiple promises to the girls to come and cheer at all the matches I could come watch. I have confidence that next season will be a great season for the returning players. These girls can go above and beyond because of how close they are. We really didn’t do anything different from any previous years. One thing that did stand out was the fact that we felt much closer as a team this year compared to others. We found ourselves hanging out outside of school and going to many team bondings. I’m happy that we were so close and I wish them best of luck next year.”