Athlete of the Week: Menlo’s Brynn Brady

Menlo’s doubles team was the backbone of the team’s postseason run that included a Central Coast Section team championship, and a legitimate shot at the program’s first Nor Cal title since 2015. In claiming the CCS title match Saturday, Nov. 16 against St. Francis-Mountain View, the Knights won 4-3. Three of those victories were by virtue of sweeping doubles play.

“We were going to have to win the same way,” Brady said.

Brady, the Daily Journal Athlete of the Week, teamed with CC Golub at No. 1 doubles. And after Menlo defeated Granite Bay in the Nor Cal semifinals, it was back to a familiar opponent in St. Francis for the season-finale Nor Cal championship. And, sure enough, the Knights were able to follow the same formula with Brady and Golub setting tone, winning 6-2, 6-2 in the team’s first win of the day.

Pairing the sophomores made perfect sense. Last season, Brady and Golub played as doubles partners. As a duo, they went undefeated as freshmen. They even played one match early this season against Westlake in the third-place match at the Stanford Invitational. They won there as well, and even settled a team deadlock with an 11-9 tiebreaker victory.

So, Brady’s idea to return to doubles was a logical remedy.

“And they are still undefeated,” Shine said.

Brady and Golub had one day of practice to get back up to speed as doubles partners, pairing at last Wednesday’s run-through for the Nor Cal tournament. The next time they set foot on the court was in Friday’s semifinals.

The comfort level wasn’t an issue. The two have known each other since well before attending high school, growing up playing at the Alpine Hills Tennis & Swimming club at the same time, in addition to attending some of the same tennis camps. It wasn’t until they arrived at Menlo last season, however, that they were paired as doubles partners.

This year, Brady simply had more momentum entering the season as a singles player, having focused on her solo career during the offseason with Pure Pace Tennis Academy in Portola Valley.

“I spent a lot of time in the spring and winter last year training and did more singles tournaments, and I feel like I had more success than I usually did,” Brady said. “I definitely enjoyed my time playing with CC, but I also figured I could contribute to the team in a beneficial way playing singles too.”

Brady spent most of her sophomore year playing at No. 3 singles, but even dropped to No. 4 singles on occasion. This, along with her 5-1 stature, made for quite a Cinderella story in moving up to No. 1 doubles at the most critical time.

“She’s small in stature but she’s got huge heart … and I’m just so pleased she’s on the team,” Shine said.

Being the first team to close out its day at the Nor Cal finals means getting to kick back and relax, right? Nope. The most grueling part of Menlo’s first CIF title in four years was enduring No. 1 single Addie Ahlstrom’s near four-hour comeback battle, which saw her drop the first set to St. Francis’ Alisha Chulani then, after bouncing back to win the second set, falling behind 3-0 in the third.

Ahlstrom ultimately won in a tiebreaker 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-2) to claim the title for Menlo.

“I was so nervous,” Brady said. “When it was 4-all in the third set I couldn’t watch. … Then, during the tiebreaker, I had to turn my back and was just peeling grass, I was so nervous.”

What a sweet celebration it was on the court for the Lady Knights, none of who were in high school the last time the program won the Nor Cal crown in 2015. Returning to school Monday was bittersweet, though, with no more varsity tennis to be played this season.

“It’s kind of sad because we’re not coming anymore for practice every day,” Brady said. “But we’re all really excited and still riding the high from the season.”