It’s been a historic year for the Millikan boys tennis team, after winning the Moore League boys tennis title for the first time since 1997 – the Rams weren’t finished making history.
On Friday at Millikan, the Rams won the first boys’ tennis title in school history with a convincing 13-5 victory over visiting Mark Keppel to claim the CIF-SS Division 4 championship.
“We’re making history,” Nguyen said. “We’re having fun with our teammates – it’s the life of high school and it feels great to win and make our coach proud.”
Led by their singles strength, the Rams took a 5-1 lead after the first round with wins from Andy Nguyen, Nolan Alvarez and Lucas Mikasa.
Millikan picked up important doubles wins as Aidan Mousseau and Jack Baker, and Peter Antonette and Ethan Foote won their first match.
In the second round the Rams picked up another five wins to put themselves one game away from the championship
Alvarez and Nguyen both continued their dominance as they swept each of their final matches.
With a 9-1 lead after the second round, Alvarez defeated his opponent about one minute before Nguyen won his to clinch the title for the Rams.
“I was excited to clinch the victory,” Alvarez said. “I tried to win as fast as I could and I did and it was really fun.”
For Millikan coach Torie Frapwell it was a special day as a coach and as a Millikan alum to see her team win the ultimate prize.
“I played here,” Frapwell said. “I’ve been hanging around this sport at this school for 20 years I think. We started this season looking for that Moore League championship and this wasn’t even in our sights and I didn’t know any of the history of it going into it either. I knew we hadn’t had won any time recently - to not have one ever was news to me. It’s awesome to be able to pull this off and finish No. 1.”
For Nguyen this win was special for him not only after losing his freshman season early, but also what it meant off the court..
“Ever since I was kid I was looking forward to my high school career and playing for coach Torie,” Nguyen said. “Just being able to play for her and live up to my family’s expectations feels really good.”
