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Sports

Cal High Girls Tennis: Mix of Youth, Experience Key to Grizzlies Success

Top players Kellie Taylor and Shannon Hung look to capture the NCS doubles title.

School: California  
Sport: Girls tennis
Coach:  Laurie Radanovich, Kal Peters; second year
Key returners: Shannon Hung, junior; Kellie Taylor, senior; Michelle Kim, sophomore; Lucy Li, sophomore
Top newcomers: Jessica Ma, freshman
Quote: "We are a very young team," coach Laurie Radanovich said. "We have a couple very strong veterans but the bulk of our team is young."

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It's no secret the East Bay Athletic League is one of the most competitive athletic conferences in Northern California.

Girls tennis is no exception.

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Four of the last five North Coast Section girls tennis champions have come from the EBAL, so California High coach Laurie Radanovich knows the Grizzlies have a tough road if they wish to qualify for the postseason tournament as a team.

"Our goal for this year is to make NCS as a team," Radanovich said. "We're going to have to finish in the top four of EBAL, which is one of the toughest leagues in Northern California."

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In order to get accustomed to the difficult EBAL schedule, Radanovich and co-coach Kal Peters scheduled a strong preseason schedule. Radanovich feels the tough opponents early can only be good for the Grizzlies.

"We scheduled a tough preseason to prepare this team for league play," Radanovich said. "So our record might not totally reflect how well we've played. We're a young team so we want some of our underclassmen to get some good experience against tough opponents."

If there's one part of the team Radanovich and Peters don't have to worry about, its Cal's one-two punch. The Grizzly duo of Shannon Hung and Kellie Taylor is arguably the best double's team in NCS. The tag-team finished second in NCS last year, falling to Mission San Jose's Natsuko Takayanagi and Stephanie Quan in the finals.

Taylor feels confident in their chances to capture the title this year, but doesn't want to jinx their chances.

"It depends on how close we play," Taylor said. "If we're playing our best, I think we have a chance. Since we finished second last year, I guess we're the favorites, but I don't want to jinx it."

Not only are Hung and Taylor the top two players on the Cal roster, they're also the captains of the team. Radanovich believes the captains are almost as important as the coaches in developing a strong squad.

"Most of the younger players have never played on a team, so our captains help them learn what it's like to play tennis on a team," Radanovich said.

Hung said she and Taylor have organized social events for the team to increase the overall cohesiveness of the squad.

Radanovich feels that the mix of young and old, along with strong team chemistry, Cal has a legitimate shot to qualify as a team for the NCS playoffs.

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