Carlmont boys' tennis team heading to the Central Coast Section with Peninsula Athletic League tourney win

Thursday, the team teams met in the tournament finals, with Carlmont coming away with a 5-2 decision for the second time this season and qualifying for CCS.

“Something I’ve been focusing on is getting the guys to play loose,” said Carlmont head coach Marcus Beltramo. “Just worry about playing their game and being confident in their abilities.”

Carlmont, which swept Ocean Division champion Half Moon Bay 7-0 in the tournament semifinal match, came into Thursday’s match with a lot of confidence, having pushed Bay champ Menlo-Atherton in a 4-3 loss April 12.

But Aragon was just as confident. The Dons rallied over the final weeks of the season to pull into the tie with the Scots and, after a 4-2 win over San Mateo in the other tournament semifinal, the Dons were prepared for the fight.

“We never take any team for granted,” said Aragon head coach Dave Owdom.

Things looked good for Aragon early on. The Dons’ No. 1 doubles team of Keiya Wada and Thomas Nie jumped out to a quick lead over the Carlmont tandem of Aran O’Sullivan and Conrad Hsu, who had beaten the Dons’ freshmen pair in both matches during the regular season.

But Wada and Nie blitzed the Scots, posting a 6-1, 6-3 win for the Dons’ first team point of the match.

You knew it was the Dons’ day at No. 1 doubles when on set point, a Carlmont return tipped off the net cord and hopped over Nie’s racket and was looking to fall in for a point as the Carlmont pair turned their backs and started to congratulate each other.

But Wada, who was playing in the back court, chased the ball down and looped a return before a second bounce. The Scots’ pair was stunned as Aragon won the first set.

That Dons’ win tied the team score at 1-all as Carlmont’s No. 1 singles player Daniel Arakaki had little trouble in a 6-0, 6-0 victory.

But after the Aragon win at No. 1 doubles, it was all Carlmont. The Scots earned their second point at No. 4 singles where Marcus Zhang posted a 6-2, 6-2 win. Both sets started off close, with Zhang holding 3-2 advantages in each. But Zhang would go on to win three straight in each set to close out the victory.

Point No. 3 for the Scots came at No. 3 doubles where Jay Motamarry and Jake Levin handed the Dons their first league loss at the spot when they beat Yossi Moff and Jack Murphy, 6-1, 6-3.

Motamarry and Levin had little trouble in the first set, jumping out to a 4-1 lead. In the second, however, Moff and Murphy took a 3-2 lead. But Motamarry and Levin went on to win the next four games to finish off the match.

Carlmont’s clinching point came at No. 2 singles where Iman Shafaie dispatched Alex Tu, 6-2, 6-3.

“We played really well,” Beltramo said. “No. 3 doubles played a bang-up match and [Arakaki] played an amazing match.”

Carlmont earned its fifth point when the No. 2 doubles team of Andrew Cruz and Ethan Htun held off Aragon’s Amitai Smyla and Justin Wong in three sets.

The first set was decided on one Carlmont service break for a 6-4 decision, but the Aragon pair rallied in the second. Down 5-3, the Dons’ duo won three straight games to tie the set at 6-all before prevailing in the tiebreak.

Playing a third-set super tiebreaker, Cruz and Htun took the match, 10-7 for the victory.

Aragon’s other win came at No. 3 singles, where Naveen Schwarzkopf posted a 7-5, 2-6, (10-7) victory.

“My guys played very well in singles the last time (we faced Carlmont),” Owdom said. “Usually if we win, it’s because we’re winning at doubles.”

While the Dons did not receive an automatic bid to CCS, Owdom believes his team has a good shot at receiving an at-large bid. The PAL has sent three teams to the postseason consistently the last several years.

“Our overall record will be 10-6. We tied for second (in the Bay Division). We have a quality win against Carlmont,” Owdom said. “I think we have a good chance.”