From the sports archives: Bearcats snag CCS tennis bid

CCS records are incomplete, but the Bearcats have not made the playoffs since before the 2000 season. San Mateo went to back-to-back CCS finals in the late 1980s, winning the 1989 championship.

Well, 2016 will be the new touchstone for Bearcats tennis, who beat Carlmont 5-2 in the Peninsula Athletic League team tournament final Friday in San Mateo.

With the victory, San Mateo improved to 14-2 against PAL Bay opponents this season and a 19-3 record overall.

“This is, by far, the best record we’ve had here in years,” said San Mateo coach Ed Schuler.

The win over the Scots didn’t come without some drama for the Bearcats. Their No. 1 singles player, Ksenia Vasilyev, was a late scratch, meant No. 2 singles player Aida Lowe had to move up a slot.

Not that it really mattered to Schuler or Lowe.

“[Aida has had] some great wins (this season),” Schuler said. “It’s not the first time this year I’ve had to juggle my lineup.”

Lowe has filled in at the top spot plenty of times this year and Friday was no different. She played — and beat— Carlmont’s Annika Lin in the teams’ second regular-season meeting, so she was familar with Lin’s game.

“I played No. 1 my freshman year and No. 2 my sophomore year,” Lowe said. “I’m used to both.”

Lin was far from 100 percent as she suffered an abdominal strain in the semifinal match against Aragon and she was visibly struggling with again against Carlmont.

And yet the freshman Lin put up a fight. Trailing 4-3 in the first set, Lowe broke Lin’s serve and then held her own to take a 5-4 lead. A second consecutive break of Lin’s serve gave Lowe the first set, 6-4.

In the second, Lowe jumped out to a 5-2 lead, only to see Lin come roaring back. Lin held serve at deuce to close to 5-3, then broke Lowe to get to 5-4. She broke Lowe again, this time at love, to tie the set at 5.

But Lin wasn’t only one to show some determination as Lowe bore down and won the final two games, winning the match when Lin double faulted on match point.

“I saw all these close matches around me,” Lowe said. “I knew my point would count for something today.”

The Bearcats got off to a quick start as their undefeated No. 1 doubles team of Emily Chan and Lauren Young made quick work of their opponents, dropping one game in each set to give San Mateo a quick team point.

It was the 15th straight PAL win for the junior tandem, a goal they set out to achieve at the beginning of the season.

“(The winning streak is) big, for me,” Chan said. “It’s my last year.”

Despite being only junior, Chan will graduate a year early to get a jump-start on her college career. She is planning on attending the University of South Florida and focusing on becoming a doctor.

Young believes the three years spent playing together has benefitted their communication — or the lack of it. Young said she and Chan know each other so well that they just know where the other is going to be on the court.

“I think we move around well,” Young said.

With Chan and Young wrapping up the first point, it was No. 2 singles player Tessa Chou who gave the Bearcats their second team point. After a contentious start with Carlmont’s Sandra Strongin, one that required the use of line judges early in the first set, the two settled down. With the first set tied at 5, after much debate, Chou went on to win the next two games to claim the first set 7-5.

Chou then blitzed Strongin in the second set, 6-1.

Lowe earned the Bearcats’ third point, in what Schuler called, “a clutch performance,” and then there was a wait to find out if that fourth point would come.

Carlmont earned its first team point at No. 2 doubles, where Saanika Joshi and Juhi Mehta posted a 6-2, 6-4 win. The remaining three matches were tight and could have gone either way.

San Mateo picked up its winning point at No. 4 singles, when Ilana Basman posted a 7-5, 6-4 victory. Basman trailed for most of the first set, but she broke her opponent on her final two service games to post a 7-5, first-set win. The second set stayed on serve until Basman broke to win the second set 6-4.

The teams split the two remaining matches. San Mateo picked up its fifth point from Grace Wang at No. 3 singles, while Carlmont’s Dani Dinulos and Pauline Sy won at No. 3 doubles.