Led by No. 1 singles player Ameer Dababo, the Hillsdale boys’ tennis team clinched an undefeated Ocean Division title by sweeping past El Camino, 7-0 — the Knights’ eighth sweep of the Ocean Division play.
With the win in its final division match of the season, Hillsdale (10-0 PAL Ocean) won its first Peninsula Athletic League Ocean Division championship since 2013.
Dababo improved to 8-2 in Ocean Division matches after winning 6-2, 6-0. In his eight wins, Dababo has lost a total eight games. His only Ocean Division losses are to Sequoia’s Ethan Khaw.
The Knights had little trouble beating El Camino (2-7) as they lost a total of seven games across seven matches. Hillsdale was especially dominant in the three singles matches, where the Knights lost one game. The No. 1 doubles team of Leon Zhou and Mathias Gerber and the No. 2 tandem of Matheus Baiao and Silas Keith both won their matches 6-0, 6-0. The No. 3 doubles duo of Evan Motamed and Ahmad Dababo lost only one game in a 6-1, 6-0 decision.
Tyler Cheng and No. 3 singles and No. 2 singles player Lucas Ku each posted identical scores of 6-0, 6-1. Clayton Bogan rounded out the sweep with a 6-0, 6-2 win at No. 2 singles.
TUESDAY
Burlingame 4, Carlmont 3
The Panthers are making a late-season push to gain a piece of the PAL Bay Division title as they moved into a tie for second place with the Scots.
Burlingame (8-2 PAL Bay, 10-4 overall) and Carlmont (8-2, 9-2) are both one game behind division-leading Aragon. The Panthers handed the Dons their first Bay Division loss of the season last week.
The Panthers pulled out the win when Alexander Bozinovic outlasted Carlmont’s Dmitry Ovesnov at No. 3 singles. Ovesnov won the first 6-4, but Bozinovic rallied, winning the second set in a tiebreak before winning the point and the team match with a 10-7 decision in the third-set, super tiebreaker.
The No. 3 doubles match also went three sets, with Carlmont’s Nathan Reznik and Max Margolis holding on for a 4-6, 7-6, 10-7 win over Kobe Wang and Dominic Tom.
Aragon 4, Menlo-Atherton 3
After rolling through the first round of Bay Division play, the Dons are finding it much harder to close the deal in the second round as they slipped past the Bears to stay atop the Bay Division standings.
Aragon (9-1 PAL Bay, 12-2 overall) holds a one-game lead over Burlingame and Carlmont with three matches left. The Dons and Scots play on the final day of the regular season next Thursday.
The Dons clinched with Darrin O’Brien’s three-set win at No. 3 singles to give Aragon the singles sweep. O’Brien cruised to a 6-1 win in the first set, but M-A’s Lawrence Chao rebounded in the second, winning 7-5. O’Brien clinched the point for the Dons by winning the third-set super tiebreaker, 10-8.
The No. 2 and No. 3 doubles matches also went three sets, with M-A (4-6, 7-10) winning both. Yooni Bae and Max Weiss won 5-7, 7-6(4), 10-8 over Alex Barnett and Joshua Lee at No. 2 doubles, while at No. 3, M-A’s Connor Bae and Raphael Pierres posted a 5-7, 6-0, 10-8 win over Linus Feng And Kian Cheung.
Recommended for you
Mills 5, Woodside 2
The Vikings closed in on a fourth-place finish and a spot in the PAL Central Coast Section play-in tournament after beating the Wildcats.
Mills (5-6 PAL Bay) is a win ahead of fifth-place M-A. The second, third and fourth-place finishers in the Bay will be joined by Ocean Division winner Hillsdale to determine the PAL’s second automatic berth into the CCS tournament. The Bay Division champ gets the first automatic bid and skips the PAL tournament.
Mills took three of the four singles matches, led by Neel Ranji at No. 4 singles, who won 6-0, 6-0.
But three of the matches went three sets, with Woodside (2-9) winning two. Lucas Kuo, playing at No. 3 singles, beat Aidan Young 6-4, 5-7, 10-3. The Wildcats’ No. 3 doubles team of Christian Toothman and Trace Land beat Simon Post and Johan Cheung 6-3, 4-6, 10-7.
Mills’ three-set win came at No. 2 doubles, where Gavin Liu and Cameron Liu posted a 3-6, 6-2, 10-5 win over Aaron Van Hoven and Derek Ho.
Menlo School 7, Sacred Heart Prep 0
It was Senior Day for the Knights and they celebrated by sweeping the rival Gators to stayed undefeated on the season.
Menlo improved to 8-0 in West Bay Athletic League play and are 17-0 overall.
The Knights won all seven matches in straight sets, highlighted by a 6-0, 6-0 win from Miles Burnett at No. 3 singles.
In other action ...
Oceana (3-5 PAL Ocean) beat Capuchino (0-9), 6-1.
PAL Bay Division standings: Aragon 9-1, Burlingame 8-2, Carlmont 8-2, Mills 5-6, Menlo-Atherton 4-6, Woodside 2-9, San Mateo 0-10.
PAL Ocean Division standings: Hillsdale 10-0, Sequoia 8-2, Half Moon Bay 6-4, Oceana 3-5, El Camino 2-7, Capuchino 0-9.
WBAL standings: Menlo School 7-0, Harker 5-1, King’s Academy 4-1, Sacred Heart Prep 4-3, Nueva School 2-4, Priory 2-4, Crystal 1-5, Pinewood 0-7.
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.