Thrice is nice for M-A tennis

It was the third time the two teams have faced off, with M-A posting a pair of 7-0 wins. The third time was not the charm for the Scots as M-A got off to a quick start, winning the first set in all seven matches as the Bears cruised to their third sweep of the Scots without losing a set.

“I’m always open to the possibility of an upset,” said M-A head coach Tom Sorenson. “So I’m pleased that didn’t happen.”

There weren’t any upsets in the rest of the bracket either. The Bears will take on No. 3 Monta Vista in the quarterfinals 3 p.m. Monday at a site to be determined. The Matadors dropped only one match in a 6-1 win over Los Gatos.

Top-seeded Menlo cruised into the quarters as well with a 7-0 sweep of WBAL rival Harker. The Knights will face No. 8 Gunn, which beat Cupertino 5-2.

Aragon, the third remaining county team, saw its season end with a 6-1 loss to No. 4 St. Ignatius.

There really wasn’t much to worry about if you were an M-A player. Not only had the Bears beaten the Scots twice this season, they have beaten them 22 out of the last 23 times they have played them.

With Friday’s win, M-A improved to 154-1 against PAL competition since 2009 — that “1” came in a loss to Carlmont in 2013.

That kept the Bears focused on Friday’s match despite the comfort level of having beaten the Scots twice already this season.

“I think that there was a little more pressure,” said Tim Berthier, M-A’s No. 1 singles player and the reigning PAL singles champion.

Sorenson said his team was without two starters during the 2013 loss, but had his full lineup Friday. And whether the Bears were fired up to be hosting their first CCS home match in four years, or were simply excited to play as a team for the first time in two weeks, M-A was ready to play.

As has been the case this season, freshman Luke Jensen got the party started for the Bears with a dominating performance at No. 4 singles, winning 6-0, 6-1. M-A co-coach Carlos Aguilar said Jensen has been the first player off in every Bears’ match this season, save one.

Sorenson said in addition to Jensen’s talent, it’s his approach to the game that enables him to finish matches quickly.

“He’s very efficient (during his matches). It’s not just his tennis, it’s the fact that he works really quickly,” Sorenson said.

When you add in Jensen’s abilities, it adds up to a lot of quick matches.

“He’s solid all the way around,” Sorenson said. “He’s the textbook all-court player. … He does everything well.”

Jensen was followed minutes later by the No. 2 doubles team of Erik Hanson and Mason Lau, who dropped two games in the first set before going on for the straight-set win with a bagel in the second. Zach Ostrom and Griffin Voss dropped only one game in their 6-0, 6-1 No. 1 doubles victory, while the No. 3 doubles team of Ammar Safdari and Josh Wiseman rounded out the doubles sweep and garnered the match-clinching fourth team point with a 6-1, 6-2 decision.

Seniors Berthier and Jake Andrew gave the Bears points 5 and 6 with 6-3, 6-4 and 6-1, 6-4 victories, respectively. And when Maxsim Lukic hit a passing winner, he pumped his fist to post a 6-2, 7-5 win at No. 3 singles.

For the M-A seniors, it was their first home playoff match. The courts at M-A were closed for three seasons as campus construction was going on, but the school finally got the new and improved courts opened for this season. Over the weekend, the team made it their own by hanging all their PAL championship banners.

“It feels good, especially in front of all the new banners,” said Andrew, who finished runner-up to Berthier in the PAL championships.

If Berthier felt pressure, Andrew was on the other end of the spectrum.

“It was comforting (facing Carlmont),” Andrew said. “I knew who I was playing and what his game is like. Everyone was pretty confident.”

No. 4 St. Ignatius 6, Aragon 1

The Dons struggled against the Wildcats, who won back-to-back CCS titles in 2016 and 2017.

The No. 1 doubles team for Aragon (16-4) of Rithik Booreddy and Richard Tang prevented the sweep by SI (16-5) with a three-set win over Daniel Gaffney and Asa Kong. The Aragon pair dropped the first set 2-6, but they came back to win the final two sets by the same score.

Daniel Duan, at No. 2 singles, and No. 3 singles player Ilan Leventhal each forced a first-set tiebreaker before going on to lose in straight sets for the Dons.