Aragon head coach Dave Owdom couldnât have been happier after the ouster of his girlsâ tennis doubles team in the Central Coast Section doubles championships quarterfinals Tuesday at Bay Club Courtside.
Jessica Fu
Christina Wu
No, it wasnât the ouster that made Owdonâs day. Just the opposite. With the first two rounds of the singles and doubles tournaments in Los Gatos, his doubles team of Jessica Fu and Christina Wu won their opening match 6-4, 6-1 against Leland.
Before their subsequent loss in the quarterfinals 6-0, 6-0 to No. 1-seed Los Altos, Fu and Wu â a name in and of itself worth smiling over â became the first Aragon tennis players to reach the CCS quarterfinals since Steve Benvenuto did so for the boysâ team in 2006 en route to winning his second straight CCS championship.
Owdonâs message to Fu and Wu after the day was done was simple:
âAt the beginning of the season, if you thought you would get this far, you would be amazed,â Owdom said.
Not that playing two matches in the CCS tournament was the end of the day for Fu and Wu. Once the team bus arrived back at Aragon, despite some howling winds on campus, the duo hit the court for some more practice.
âI dropped them off and theyâre going out to hit for a while,â Owdom said.
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Fu, a sophomore, and Wu, a junior, played as singles players throughout the regular season. They paired up for the Peninsula Athletic League tournament and advanced to the finals, settling for runner-up after after falling in the PAL doubles championship match to M-A.
Tuesdayâs quarterfinal was another tall order in taking on the No. 1 seed in the tournament.
âThey took [the loss] fine,â Owdom said. âThey were happy where they got. They sort of knew this was going to be a tough match.â
The last Aragon player to qualify for the CCS individual tournament was Diana Gong in 2017.
Menlo doubles team upset in quarterfinals
Menloâs No. 2-seed doubles Brynn Brady and Tricia Zhang may have been feeling the ill effects of an emotional match Saturday when the Lady Knights won the Central Coast Section team championship in a thrilling 4-3 final over St. Francis.
Brady and Zhang were eliminated in the quarterfinals of the CCS individual tournament 6-4, 7-6 (7-5) by the Chassion sisters of Salinas. The Menlo duo previously swept past Westmont 6-0, 6-2 in the opening round earlier in the day.
âI noticed the girls were really mentally tired today,â Menlo coach Bill Shine said. â⌠I just noticed after the big day on Saturday, they were just exhausted. And thatâs fine. ⌠Not to take anything away from the Salinas players. They played great.â
No. 2-seed singles player Addie Ahlstrom advanced to the CCS semifinals, defeating Palo Altoâs Kamila Wong 3-6, 6-2, 6-1 in the opening round, then sweeping M-Aâs Ava Martin 6-3, 6-2 in the quarterfinals.
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