Barring an unmitigated disaster, the undefeated Menlo-Atherton girls’ tennis team will wrap up the Peninsula Athletic League Bay Division title in the next week and earn the first of two automatic bids to the Central Coast Section tournament.
That doesn’t mean, however, there isn’t still plenty for the rest of the division to play for. There is the matter of the PAL team tournament — which features the next three Bay Division teams and the Ocean Division champ — which will decide the PAL’s second automatic qualifier to CCS.
Tuesday, two of those teams jockeying for a spot in the PAL playoffs — Carlmont and Burlingame — hooked up in a match in Burlingame.
If M-A has proven to be the best in the Bay, Carlmont has proven it is the second-best team in the division as the second-place Scots solidified their standing with a win over the fourth-place Panthers, 6-1.
“Carlmont is the second-best team in the league and they looked like it today,” said Burlingame head coach Bill Smith. “The won the first four [matches off the court to seal the win] in rapid fashion.”
Annika Lin, playing at No. 1 singles for Carlmont (8-2 PAL Bay), set the tone for the Scots by blitzing her opponent in straight sets, 6-0, 6-2. The No. 3 doubles team of Kelly Doherty and Kat Nguyen were equally dominant, winning their match 6-0, 6-1.
It’s precise the type of performances Carlmont head coach Margaret Goldsmith expected of her team.
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“Anything can happen (in a match). … I talked to my girls about being mentally tough,” Goldsmith said. “You have to show up and play your game.”
The Scots got their third straight win when Victoria Gittoes finished off a 6-3, 6-1 win at No. 3 singles and they clinched the match when the No. 1 double team of Alyssa Nguyen and Lily Gittoes posted a 6-2, 6-4 score.
It appeared Carlmont was poised for the sweep as the Scots won the first set in the remaining three matches, but Burlingame (5-5) made them work for it.
Juhi Mehta had the easiest time of the remaining matches for Carlmont, getting a break in each set to post a 6-4, 6-4 win over Burlingame’s Olina Du at No. 4 singles, but Vedika Bhaumik and the Panthers’ No. 2 doubles team of Anya Smith and Sofia Zaragoza each pushed their opponents to a third set.
Bhaumik pulled out Burlingame’s only win of the day. She dropped the first set to Carlmont’s Sakina Bambot, 3-6, but rallied to tie the match at a set apiece by winning the second 6-3 and forcing a third-set, super tiebreaker. Bhaumik posted the victory by taking the super tiebreaker 10-8.
Smith and Zaragoza played a similar match against Carlmont’s Saanika Joshi and Bella Reeves, who won the first set 6-3. Smith and Zaragoza, however, prolonged the match by winning a second-set tiebreaker, 7-5. In the third-set super tiebreaker, Joshi and Reeves prevailed, 10-6.
With the win, the Scots took a step closer to the locking up the No. 1 seed in the PAL tournament. Burlingame, with the loss, falls into a tie for fourth place with Aragon, both at 5-5. The Dons beat third-place San Mateo, 5-2 Tuesday.
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