Carlmont’s JV boys tennis team took down the Menlo Knights in a calming manner on Tuesday afternoon.
Because the Scots had played Menlo-Atherton Bears on Monday, the JV Scots’ opponent switched from the Bears to the Menlo Knights in a last-minute decision.
Due to this change of schedule, their matches shortened to one set with eight games rather than the standard two sets. This meant that Carlmont had less time to secure their win.
The adjustment added a new level of competition to the players during their games.
“There’s a bit more pressure because I’m thinking in my head that if I win that point, then I win, but if I lose, I have to keep going, so I have to be more cautious with my shot selection,” said Kenny Lee, a junior on the Carlmont team.
Seven of the Scots’ nine matches began promptly at 4 p.m. on March 16.
With four singles and five doubles matches, Carlmont was relying on every player to help pull together a victory to add to their record.
Leading Carlmont’s singles players, Lee rallied his way to an 8-4 win. The Scots’ singles player had a strong start to his match.
Lee’s aggressive serving and ability to move the ball around gave him the upper hand on his opponent. He had some fault serves at the beginning of the match; however, this did not stop him from triumph.
The opposition struggled to keep up with his fast pace and quickly fell behind 3-0.
Unwilling to let his opponent take advantage of the prior games that he had lost, Lee finished out his match with strong serves, allowing for a well-earned win.
Despite the solid victory, Lee had comments on his play.
“My serves were going in during the first half of my match, and then during the second half, I started hitting double faults,” Lee said.
In addition to Lee, several of his teammates came out on top. The Scots had one other victory in singles and crushed the opposition in all of their doubles matches, drowning out the two losses in singles.
Freshman Eric Gerber had reason to believe why he and his doubles partner, Adam Zweiger, won their match 8-6.
“We were able to play more consistently than the other team, so we were able to pull ahead and win,” Gerber said.
Looking at the rest of the season, coach Marcus Beltramo is excited to see how things play out.
“I just want us to mesh as a group, having a good time and continuing to play, learn, grow, and just getting better,” Beltramo said.
Following their win against the Knights, Carlmont’s next matchup is against San Mateo on March 17.
