Burlingame begins 2021 fall season with a straight-set sweep of Lick Wilmerding

With an entire starting lineup returning from the spring season, Burlingame coach Bill Smith believes this fall’s squad can finish in the upper echelon of the Peninsula Athletic League Bay Division. If they don’t challenge Menlo-Atherton for the division title, the Panthers can certainly be in the mix for the top spot in the PAL team tournament.

The Panthers will find out where they stand right off the bat as they open PAL play next Thursday by hosting the league favorite Bears.

“We’re not ready for that,” Smith said. “But my thinking is, this team will improve as the season goes along.”

The Panthers certainly looked good as they opened the 2021 fall season with a shutout of San Francisco’s Lick Wilmerding, 7-0, without dropping a set Tuesday in Burlingame.

The Tigers are no pushovers. Lick Wilmerding handed Aragon a 6-1 non-league loss in 2019, so Burlingame’s score was a bit of a statement.

“They beat us the last time we played,” Smith said. “I thought it would be a good test; to see balls coming off other players’ rackets.”

Burlingame (1-0) needed less than two hours to complete the sweep. Mila Mulready led the way as the sophomore cruised to a 6-0, 6-1 win at No. 1 singles in just over an hour.

Mulready assumed the No. 1 spot during the spring season as a freshman.

“She’s a future college player,” Smith said. “She plays top-level USTA (junior) tournaments.”

Ella Rafferty, a junior embarking on her second varsity season, gave Burlingame a 2-0 team lead, coming off shortly after Mulready with an identical score of 6-0, 6-1.

Michelle Moshkovoy, a junior, cruised at No. 4 singles, 6-2, 6-3. Moshkovoy was up 3-2 in the second set and went on to win the final three games to close out the match.

Kelli Eng, who spent her first two seasons at San Mateo before transferring to Burlingame last school year, completed the singles sweep with a 6-3, 6-4 win at No. 2 singles.

Eng was broken in the first set as Lick’s Noelle Pak took a 3-2 lead. But Eng broke right back and went on to win four games in a row to take the first set.

In the second, Pak held a 2-1 lead early, but Eng took control by breaking Pak’s serve and holding her own to take a 3-2 lead on her way to the 6-4 decision.

“We have solid singles (players),” Smith said. “Probably six deep for the four spots.”

In doubles play, Burlingame’s Stone twins, Caitlin and Rorie, dropped only four games in a 6-1, 6-3 victory to set the tone. They were followed by the No. 1 doubles tandem of Molly Wachhorst and Annika Ganguly, the Panthers’ top duo during the spring.

The Panther pair came out firing on all cylinders in the opening set, blasting to a 6-1 victory. But the Tigers’ team of Emma Yin and Annelise Fisher opened the second set by winning the first three games in a row, prompting Smith to give his team a pep talk during the changeover.

“They’re liable to win 6-oh, oh-6, 6-oh,” Smith said. “I told them, ‘You’re doing it again.’ And they said, ‘We know.’”

But Ganguly and Wachhorst buckled down and won the next six games straight to take the set and the match.

Sydney Lane and Kaleia Daga finished off the Panthers’ domination with a 6-4, 6-4 win at No. 2 doubles.

“We could be good. … We have experience,” Smith said. “If we’re healthy and the kids keep their heads about them … it’s a CCS team.”