Maintaining mastery of PAL

And while the Bears were down two starters and the Panthers got off to a fairly solid start in a majority of the matches, it did not prevent the inevitable: an M-A landslide — Bears 7, Burlingame 0.

Burlingame thought things might be different a second time around. In the first meeting of the season, the Panthers sent three matches to three sets. There was a glimmer of hope the Panthers might somehow turn those long matches in their favor and pull off an upset.

Perhaps that explains some Burlingame frustrations after the match, which head coach Bill Smith liked to see.

“Good. Be upset. I don’t want you to be satisfied,” Smith said.

But like every team in the PAL, the Panthers simply can’t keep up with M-A. Sure, the Bears draw a lot of talent, but building a program requires a lot more. It needs players who buy into what M-A head coach Tom Sorenson is selling and it’s about having an passion for the game and for playing it well.

Once you build that culture, it’s up to each successive team to continue the tradition.

“Pressure (to keep the winning going) is not the right word,” said Sarah Marks, a third-year senior, team tri-captain and half of M-A’s No. 1 doubles team. She said it’s more of a feeling of commitment.

“You don’t want to let those other [teams before you] down.”

Sorenson said the expectations he has for his team are two-fold.

“One, is to win matches and one ‘A’ is to develop players,” Sorenson said. “I’m always looking to insert players into matches I think will be competitive.”

As such, Sorenson will start players who are lower on depth chart against teams lower in the standings, knowing that the increased competition between the players can only help both teams get better.

“I love those matches,” Sorenson said.

But there is still an expectation to win matches and no matter who plays where, the Bears win matches — a lot of them. But the mindset of winning never changes and the Bears are tenacious as they go about winning.

“Victory is never guaranteed,” Marks said.

The development of players leads to greater depth and that is how teams win in high school tennis. Against Burlingame Thursday, Sorenson was without a pair of starters, meaning he had to shuffle his starting lineup. Charlie Smith and Emma Williams moved up a singles spot to No. 2 and No. 3, respectively.

Sorenson then turned to Mara Williams, a member of the No. 3 doubles team, to fill-in at No. 4 singles.

All the moves paid off. Charlie Smith needed a first-set tiebreak, 9-7, to win 7-6, 6-0 at No. 2 singles, Emma Williams took down a 6-4, 6-1 win at No. 3 singles.

Mara Williams was taken the distance by Burlingame’s Ella Rafferty, needing a third-set super tiebreaker to post a 6-4, 2-6, (10-8) victory.

Burlingame also forced a three-setter at No. 2 doubles. M-A’s Emily Xi and Amelia Wu won the first set 6-4, but the Panthers pair of Kaleia Daga and Sophia Roberts blitzed the Bears in the second set, roaring to a 6-1 win. But Xi and Wu settled down and won the third 6-3.

The Bears’ No. 3 doubles team of Christine Herbst and Johanna Gulliksson got the ball rolling with a quick 6-0, 6-2 victory and Marks teamed with Lila Motamed to win 6-2, 6-4, but it was Allison Brown’s performance at No. 1 singles that showed the tenacity that has come to define the Bears and this multi-year run of success.

Brown certainly had to work for her straight-set win, as Burlingame’s Michaela Llewelyn had Brown lunging for returns — both forehand and backhand.

But more often than not, Brown dug up a return and then went on to win the point and the match, 6-3, 6-1.

“Down oh-5, love-40, you fight for every point,” Marks said. “Every point is a victory in and of itself.”