In a surprising turn of events, the girls’ varsity tennis squad was named the 13 seed in the Invitational Playoffs yesterday.

“We did not expect to make the playoffs,” said second-year coach Steve Hososhama. “We finished sixth in a very tough league…we played some of the top competition in the city.”

Hosohama’s speculation is that his Wildcats were selected for the postseason in order to ensure equal representation of the city’s two best leagues in the tournament.

Three teams from both the Western League – the league that the Cats play in – and the West Valley League are representing their schools in the Invitational Playoffs.

“The city wants equal representation from the strongest leagues in the city,” said Hosohama. “It’s an advantage that we play in the Western League, because we’ve seen how the best teams play.”

Hosohama has a couple of different lineups to choose from, but he says that he will stick with the one that the girls have the most experience with.

“We’ll play straight up and use our most successful and familiar lineup,” he said. “Because they’ve played like this a lot, the girls will be confident with their positions.”

Despite their relatively low seed in the playoff bracket, the Cats will not be intimidated by first-round opponent Kennedy High.

The team has underdog experience already, as they were the 14-seed in last year’s playoffs but turned in an impressive effort.

“I’m glad we made the tournament,” said sophomore Mary Kabonian.

“Kennedy had better be ready for us,” she said.

The Cats will travel to Kennedy on Monday to begin what will hopefully be a long trip through the postseason.