Weird ending to Peninsula Athletic League tennis tournament

“I got a message from her about noon, saying she had to leave school,” said M-A head coach Tom Sorenson. “We noticed [Wednesday] she was lethargic and [didn’t look well]. She’s very low key, so I didn’t think much of it.

“(Teammate Emma Williams) is really good friends with Ava and she said she got really sick in school (Thursday).”

While both Martin and Mulready qualify for the CCS tournament by virtue of making the PAL finals, Mulready is the official 2021 PAL champion.

With the marquee matchup scrubbed, the doubles championship tried to pick up the slack and, for more than two hours, the tandems from Carlmont and Menlo-Atherton made people forget about the singles championship.

The difference between the top-seeded Carlmont pair of Victoria Gittoes and Nikhila Raman and the No. 2-seeded M-A duo of Tessa Ellingson and Lila Motamedi was so thin, tournament director Bill Smith said they were essentially 1A and 1B when it came to seedings.

“We flip-flopped them back and forth,” Smith said.

The margin between the two tandems was proven on the court as the two teams took turns beating each other with strong tennis.

Sorenson, a longtime coach on the Peninsula, said it was one of the best matches he’s seen in a long time.

“It was definitely at a higher level than any match this season,” Sorenson said.

Gittoes and Ellingson are two of the biggest hitters in the PAL and both their games were on display. Gittoes was a force at the net, poaching volleys whenever she had the chance.

Ellingson used her booming forehand to beat Carlmont down the line on several occasions.

The first set went back and forth. The teams held serve through the first three games before M-A got a break and then held to take a 3-2 lead.

But Carlmont tied the set by winning the next game, holding on at deuce point.

The Scots eventually took a 6-5 lead, with Gittoes serving for the set, which they won on a Raman cross-court volley at the net that landed just inside the far left sideline to give Carlmont a 7-5 decision in a set that lasted 90 minutes.

The M-A tandem rallied back in the second, winning the first game on serve before breaking Carlmont’s serve in Game 2. The Bears went on to win four of the first five games and cruised to a 6-3 second-set win.

M-A broke Carlmont to start the third set and then held serve to take a quick 2-0 lead.

Carlmont served to start Game 3 and after the game’s second point, Gittoes took a seat on the sideline as she had health issues.

After several minutes, it was determined Gittoes could not continue and the Scots’ pair was forced to retire, giving the win to M-A.

“It was fun,” said Motamendi, who was playing doubles for the first time this season, as was Ellingson.

“[The partnership] worked really well. We get along super well.”

Ellingson, a freshman, said while she hasn’t played doubles for M-A, she does play doubles on the Nor Cal USTA junior circuit. So while she may not have had a natural rapport with Motamendi to begin with, she certainly knows what it takes to play with a teammate.

“Learning how to work with a partner,” Ellingson said.

In the third-place singles match, Aragon sophomore Varsha Jawadi made quick work of M-A’s Williams, 6-1, 6-1.

While she wasn’t playing for a championship, Jawadi said every match is important to her.

“It’s definitely important to take every match seriously,” Jawadi said. “I use it as an opportunity to get better.”

In the third-place doubles match, Half Moon Bay’s Charlotte Ragozin and Norah Lynch gave the Cougars a rare strong showing, as the sixth-seeded HMB pair beat fifth-seeded Lisa Borchelt and Brooke Franaszek of Carlmont in straight set, 6-4, 6-3.

“It means a lot,” said HMB head coach Harriet Ragozin. “We love playing in the Bay Division, but victories are few and far between.

“This is especially sweet. The girls are really excited.”