Menlo-Atherton’s Sienna Aylaian lines up a return during her No. 3 singles match. Her 6-2,6-4 win was the match-clinching point in the Bears’ 5-2 win over Carlmont.
The Menlo-Atherton girls’ tennis team has owned the Peninsula Athletic League’s Bay Division for most of the last 10 years, winning seven straight division titles.
During that run, the Bears have been seldom challenged.
Carlmont took its best shot at the Bears Tuesday and while they came closer than anyone, M-A still managed to escape with a 5-2 victory.
“This was much more dramatic (than the first time we played, a 4-3 M-A win),” M-A head coach Tom Sorenson said. “This match was hanging in the balance.”
“Escape” would be the proper term as Sorenson believed if his team was going to be knocked off this season, it could have happened Tuesday. An injury forced Sorenson to juggle his lineup and, with players out of position, the Scots were poised to pounce.
The teams split the first four matches, leaving No. 3 and No. 4 singles, along with the No. 1 doubles match, to decide the outcome.
Those also happened to be the three matches when Sorenson had to make changes. His normal No. 3 singles player, Eva Chow, suffered a wrist injury last week. While it wasn’t enough to keep her off the court, it did limit her play and Sorenson moved her to the No. 1 doubles spot.
With an opening at No. 3 singles, No. 4 Sienna Aylaian moved up a spot and Meena Alvi, who had teamed with Jasmine Hou at No. 1 doubles, moved to No. 4 singles.
In the Bears’ match with Burlingame last week, Sorenson said Chow was serving underhand and was not using her power game at all.
“She was slicing everything,” Sorenson said.
He said she then pulled out of a junior tournament this past weekend and he was unsure of her status for Tuesday.
“She told me on Monday she could not play singles (Tuesday),” Sorenson said.
Sorenson believed his singles lineup was compromised with Chow out and he was uncertain how she would perform at doubles — where the Scots swept all three matches in the first meeting this season.
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But Chow and Hou managed to pull off a slight upset, winning 7-5, 6-2.
“I felt very lucky to have Eva play doubles. We wouldn’t have won the (team) match without Eva,” Sorenson said. “I didn’t expect her to play as strong as she did. Apparently her condition has improved.”
The win at No. 1 doubles gave M-A (8-0 PAL Bay) a 3-2 lead in the race to 4 points, but Carlmont was up in the second sets at No. 3 and No. 4 singles.
Carlmont’s Ujala Chauhan and Katherine Zhang had dropped the first set at No. 3 and No. 4, respectively, but were up early in the second set.
M-A’s Aylaian was down 3-0, but rebounded to win six of the next seven games to pull out a 6-2, 6-4 victory to clinch the match for the Bears.
“Sienna is a stalwart player,” Sorenson said. “She’s strong mentally.”
M-A completed the sweep of the final three matches as Alvi held on for a 6-4, 7-6 (8-6) win over Zhang. The two went back and forth in the second set, with Zhang holding a 4-3 lead late.
But Alvi held her serve and then broke Zhang for a 5-4 lead. The two then traded breaks until they got to 6-all before Alvi prevailed in the tiebreak.
Carlmont’s Mallika Agrawal, shown hitting a volley during a match against Menlo-Atherton earlier this season, teammed with partner Megan Bence to win their No. 2 doubles match in the first round of the CCS team tournament. The Scots held off Homestead, 4-3.
Nathan Mollat/Daily Journal
“It was a much more competitive match (than the first one),” said Carlmont head coach Margaret Goldsmith. “It is because all the girls work so, so hard. They’re out there scrapping for every point.”
M-A took an early 1-0 when Ava Martin cruised to a 6-0, 6-0 win at No. 1 singles, but Carlmont (5-2) tied the match when the No. 2 doubles team of Megan Bence and Mallika Agrawal came away with a quick 6-1, 6-0 victory.
Tess Ellingson gave the Bears a 2-1 lead with her 6-1, 6-3 win at No. 2 singles, but Carlmont countered with Delfina Bianchi and Addison Mann posting a 6-1, 6-4 win at No. 3 doubles.
“You want to win, but you also want to play well,” Goldsmith said. “And today, we played well.”
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