Menlo crowned queens of Nor Cal tennis

The No. 1-seed Knights (26-3 overall) were calm and composed walking into the Broadstone Sports Club in Folsom for the CIF Northern California Girls’ Tennis Championship finals, then finished the day in a celebratory mob, winning in dramatic fashion 4 matches to 3 over No. 2 St. Francis.

“I thought they were very confident going in,” Shine said. “It’s still a very young team. … It’s all new to them but they have been through some really big matches throughout the year, so it wasn’t anything new to them.”

None was as big as No. 1 single Addie Ahlstrom’s comeback win.

Menlo swept through doubles play with a restructured lineup. But by the time the three doubles matches, along with St. Francis wins at No. 2-4 singles, were completed, Ahlstrom and St. Francis No. 1 Alisha Chulani were only just winding down their second set.

After Ahlstrom bounced back from dropping the opening set, she fell behind 3-0 in the third set. Then came the storybook comeback, as the junior rallied for a 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-2) tiebreaker victory, finishing the day breaking Chulani’s serve, with the match closing out with double fault from the St. Francis senior.

“It showed her toughness,” said Shine, who added Ahlstrom battled through despite not having her A-game. “And she was a true warrior.”

Shine was forced to shake up his doubles lineup when junior Lindsey Ball, a two-sport athlete, had a schedule conflict due to a lacrosse event. Ball had played at No. 1 doubles with C.C. Golub all season,

“I completely supported her with that,” Shine said. “She felt really bad but … the team gave her the OK to do what she needed to do. So it was OK.”

Sophomore Brynn Brady, who played No. 3 singles most of the season, moved to No. 1 doubles. Brady and Golub played last year as doubles partners, consistently at No. 2 doubles, and went undefeated through 2018.

Charlotte Yao moved from No. 4 to No. 3 singles, and Lindsay Canessa took over at No. 4 singles for Menlo.

“The doubles players were the reason we won the whole thing,” Shine said.

Brady and Golub swept 6-2, 6-2; No. 2 doubles Natalie Westermann and Elsie Ragatz swept 6-1, 6-2; and No. 3 doubles Charlotte Lee and Penelope Anderson swept 6-4, 7-5.

“It was pretty routine,” Shine said. “It was all straight sets. That’s why, when it all came down to Addie, it was all pretty exciting.”

All eyes shifted to the No. 1 singles court for a grueling battle. With the match starting at noon, the showdown between Ahlstrom and Chulani lasted nearly four hours, concluding at approximately 3:45 p.m., Shine said.

Last week, when Menlo and St. Francis met for the Central Coast Section championship, the score broke down the same way, with Ahlstrom triumphing in the day’s final match to swing the 4-3 victory. That win, however, was in straight sets. Saturday’s comeback was far more dramatic.

“You could just not have a better ending for the Nor Cal championship,” Shine said. “It was unbelievable.”