Aragon tennis bound for CCS playoffs

If there’s one thing Owdom stresses with his players, though, it’s consistency. And that consistency won the day as Aragon rallied for a 4-3 victory to earn the PAL tournament title, and with it clinching the league’s second automatic berth to the Central Coast Section team playoffs.

“We tried to keep an upbeat attitude and didn’t let anything get to us,” Aragon freshman Ryan Firestone said.

Firestone, playing at No. 2 doubles, was one of the players who figured in Aragon’s lineup shuffle. With senior Rithik Booreddy — one half of the usual No. 1 doubles team — out due to injury, Owdom was forced to move up Randy Liu from No. 2 doubles to the featured court.

Firestone — who played at No. 4 singles in Wednesday’s PAL semifinal win over Mills — shifted to the No. 2 doubles court and powered through with senior Sean Hsu for a 6-4, 7-5 victory.

“I tried to figure out what the best lineup was and it ended up working out,” Owdom said.

Carlmont had the early advantage, taking the first set in four of the seven matches. Scots No. 1 single Milad Shafaie enjoyed a dominant showing, defeating senior Daniel Li 6-2, 6-1.

During the break after Shafaie’s first-set win, the junior surveyed the court cautiously confident. Carlmont’s regular-season record against Aragon was looming overhead though, as the Dons won both matchups by scores of 5-2 and 4-3, respectively.

“I saw all the matches were in it and everyone had a chance to win,” Milad Shafaie said. “So, I just did my best to spark it … because any match could go either way.”

That it did, as Aragon showed off its depth at the lower seeds. Dons No. 3 doubles Jason Hauk and Nicky Dobbs embodied the turnaround, rallying back from a first-set loss to win it 2-6, 6-1, 6-3.

Aragon No. 4 single Arnav Kothari also proved a motivator. While his opponent Carlmont senior Siddarth Srmivasan ultimately won the matchup, Kothari managed to battle his way back after a lopsided first-set loss. Srmivasan needed three sets for a 6-1, 4-6, 6-4 victory but, with the outcome being prolonged, it helped Aragon pick up steam. By the time the No. 4 singles match was completed, the Dons had already clinched the team win.

“Depth is very important,” Milad Shafaie said. “I think they might be a little deeper than us. … It came down to maybe them competing a little bit harder.”

Carlmont is known for its outpouring of emotions, and the volume of its sometimes raucous on-court celebrations after contentious points, especially at No. 3 singles. Scots team captain Chris Cho has been a sparkplug all season in this sense. With Aragon senior Ilan Leventhal hammering past Cho in straight sets, however, it left a void in the Scots’ typical rally-cry vibrato.

“Let them scream and yell,” Owdom said of what he preaches to his players. “You’ll win some points and they’ll shut up.”

Leventhal and Cho have a long history. Last season, Cho won both regular-season matchups between the two. This season, Leventhal swept Cho through two regular-season matches and Wednesday’s playoff showdown.

“I worked hard and was able to better myself,” Leventhal said.

But it was Aragon’s ability to solve the doubles lineup that won the day.

Firestone — one of two freshmen in the Aragon starting lineup, along with Dobbs at No. 3 doubles — had a good feeling near the start of the second set that things were going the Dons’ way, he said, when he had low backhand drop short for a point.

His doubles partner, Hsu, is one of six seniors on Aragon’s roster. Four of them were in the lineup Thursday.

“We’ve got six very talented seniors on the team,” Owdom said. “That’s going to be tough to replace next year. But it’s a blessing now.”

In Thursday’s other matches: Aragon No. 2 single Daniel Duan defeated Daniel Avakaki 6-1, 6-2; and Carlmont No. 1 doubles Jerry Liu and Iman Shafaie defeated Randy Liu and Richard Tang 6-2, 3-6, 6-4.

Carlmont still has a chance to qualify for the CCS team playoffs but must now rely on an at-large berth to do so. Seeding will be announced one week from this coming Sunday.

Prior to CCS selections being announced, the PAL individual playoffs begin next Tuesday, where Milad Shafaie will be looking to improve on his fourth-place finish last season.

“I think I’m playing a little better going into it this year than I was last year,” he said.