SLUGGING IT OUT-Simi Valley's Karissa Peterson, above, and Sarah Ko, right, compete in a non-league match against Oak Park on Wednesday, a day after losing a 10-8 heartbreaker to Thousand Oaks at home. Simi Valley's girls' tennis team caused Thousand Oaks quite a scare before losing at home to the Lancers 10-8 Tuesday.

Coming off a year in which they finished 3-11 in the Marmonte League, the Pioneers played well against T.O. before coming up a little short.

After two rounds, SVHS was tied with Thousand Oaks, who's expected to be one of the dominant teams in the league this year.

In fact, Simi Valley actually outplayed the Lancers in doubles, winning 5-4.

Especially good at the doubles were senior Megan Boon and junior Sarah Ko. Boon and Ko remained undefeated on the year as they beat Hilary Koenig and Courtney Neumann 6-3, Erica Steinberg and Sarah Shain 6-3, and Jessica Greiner and Ashley King 6-1.

Boon, who also plays softball for the Pioneers, said she and Ko work well together in practice and it's starting to show during the outcome of matches.

"We definitely know how to pick each other up during a game," Boon said. "Our team had a lot of trouble last year and struggled, but we have a lot of potential this year. I think the experience from last year will help us."

Simi Valley hasn't had much success since winning the Marmonte League in 1997, but head coach Rob Wickwire is impressed with what he has seen so far with this year's squad.

"By far, this team has the least amount of drama I have ever seen," Wickwire said. "The girls get along very well and the chemistry has been great. Our league is very competitive, but we know we are good. Every time we play outside of league we seem to win."

Even though the Pioneers lost to Thousand Oaks, Wickwire saw many things during the matches that he was happy with, including the continued great play of Boon and Ko.

Also looking to make a difference on the doubles side for SVHS will be senior captain Hana Park and senior Payal Patel, who went 1-2 Wednesday.

Also going 1-2 against TOHS were seniors Michi Carman and Kayla Caceres.

Although they didn't play together against Thousand Oaks, the best doubles pair for Simi Valley may be Park and Carman.

"Since it's now our senior year, we feel really comfortable when we play together," Park said. "It's fun playing with her (Carman). She encourages me when I play with her."

Carman agreed that her best doubles play usually surfaces when she's on the court with Park.

"She's really good at the net, where I tend to play back," Carman said. "I think I tend to play more consistent when I'm on the court with her."

The Pioneers could only muster three wins against the Lancers in singles, but Simi Valley's future looks bright as No. 1 singles player, sophomore Jessica Phan, won two of three matches against TOHS, beating Neda Iradpanah 6-4 and Kathryn Baumgarten 6-0.

"Jessica right now is playing the best I've ever seen," Wickwire said. "She worked really hard in the offseason and has improved to stay at No. 1 this year."

Also looking to make a difference on the singles side for SVHS will be senior Sarah Varola and junior Karissa Peterson.

"Karissa has been one of our biggest surprises so far this year," Wickwire said. "She has been on the junior varsity team a couple years now and has shown great improvement. She has great consistency and is one of the most teachable players on the team. She's very cheerful and gets along with everyone."

Although Calabasas and Thousand Oaks have very strong teams again, Wickwire said his squad isn't about to go and hide against the teams they aren't supposed to beat, and hopes to surprise some people like they nearly did a strong Lancer squad.

"What we lack in skill we gain in experience with six of our nine players being seniors," Wickwire said.

"I think that will help us in close matches. We know our game plan and we just need to concentrate one point at a time. The fact that we have been down in matches 2-5 early on and

come back to win tells me that they are indeed concentrating well. I'm happy with this year so far, and hopefully we can move forward," he said.

Ko said because of Wickwire, the team is starting to believe they can make a difference in 2006.

"He seems to know the limit of when to fool around and when to get serious," Ko said. "He's always positive with us, even against teams like Calabasas. Early on in those games, he will give us a lot of encouragement and believe we can win."