Scots strong in win over Dons

On the surface, it appears Carlmont is poised for big season after the Scots handled the Dons 6-1. But a closer look shows the match could have easily gone the other way as most one-sided tennis matches don’t last more than the two hours the Scots and Dons eclipsed. Two of the matches went three sets and there were a pair of tiebreakers as well.

“We had some close matches,” said Aragon head coach Dave Owdom. “Unfortunately, [Carlmont] won the bigger points in those.”

While the Scots have battled for one of the top spots in the Bay Division the last several seasons, head coach Margaret Goldsmith wasn’t sure what to expect from her team Thursday.

“We lost six seniors (from last year), so you never know,” Goldsmith said. “I expected Aragon to be really tough. This was going to test us to see where we sit (in the Bay Division).”

What she and the Scots do know is that they have a bonafide 1-2 punch at the top of the singles order. Annika Lin enters her senior year as one of the top singles players on the Peninsula and the four-year varsity player appears to have taken her game — both on and off the court — to a new level.

She was much more aggressive coming to the net than in years past and she has simply gotten bigger, stronger and better as she rolled to a 6-4, 6-1 win over Aragon’s Jessica Fu.

Fu hung with Li in the first set as the two exchanged breaks throughout the set before Lin took control with a break to give her a 5-4 advantage. She then served out the set.

In the second, she overwhelmed Fu.

“She is adding more to her game,” Goldsmith said. “She’s advanced (as a player).”

Off the court, she has taken on more of a vocal leadership role. She was the first to put her arm around Gittoes to encourage her as she prepared for her third set against Aragon’s Christina Wu.

Wu had frustrated Gittoes in winning the first set, 6-3. She had Gittoes on the ropes in the second, but the talented sophomore finally started to find her consistency and pulled out the second set 7-5.

Forced to play a third set, Gittoes was firmly in control and went on to win the match 6-2.

Gittoes’ match was the final of the day, finishing well after 6 o’clock — more than an hour after Carlmont notched their first two wins. Nikhila Raman dropped only two games as she cruised at No. 3 singles, 6-1, 6-1. Kat Nguyen, playing at No. 4 singles, was just as dominant, losing only three games in a 6-3, 6-0 victory.

Aragon had its chances, especially in the three doubles matches. But those chances slipped away, most notably at the No. 1 doubles. The Aragon team of Romy Patchner and Athena Chen had battled back in the first set to force a tiebreaker with Carlmont’s Simone Beilin and Naya Salah.

It looked as if the Aragon duo were poised to win the first set in a tiebreak as it held a 6-1 in the first-to-7 points. But the Carlmont tandem did not give in. Beilin and Salah won six points in a row to take a 7-6 lead. Aragon staved off set point with a Patchner winner, but Carlmont won the final two points — including set point on an Aragon double fault.

The second set was much like the first, but Beilin and Salah did not wait for a tiebreaker this time, breaking Aragon’s serve to take the match 7-6 (9-7), 7-5.

The No. 2 doubles match was similar to No. 1, again with the Carlmont tandem of Sannika Joshi and Bella Reeves pulling out the straight-set win over Aarti Subramanian and Kasandra Rascon, needing a tiebreak to win the second set and post a 7-6, 7-6 (7-0) victory.

“They don’t give up. You can’t coach that,” Goldsmith said of her team. “Aragon didn’t go away either. They were right there the whole time.

“This is a good win for us.”

Aragon picked up its lone win at No. 3 doubles. Sophie Fayet Faber and Ari Leventhal were blanked in the first set by Carlmont’s Anjali Metha and Mira Bhatt, 6-0. But the Dons’ duo rebounded to win the second set 6-4 and then closed out the win with a 7-5 victory in the third and final set.

“We need to work a little harder in doubles,” Owdom said. “We made too many unforced errors.”