The Lady Scots tennis team dominated Woodside High School in a brutal 8-0 defeat on Oct. 24.
The girls played a mixture of singles and doubles matches Wednesday afternoon against the Wildcats. Winning all eight matches was a huge feat, giving them a much better chance at making the Central Coast Section (CCS) finals.
With all the matches going on at the same time, everyone was focused and determined to win.
Annika Lin, a Carlmont junior, won her singles match in only two sets, with both scores being 6-0.
“I like playing singles [instead of doubles] because I get to rely on myself. I get to choose my own plays and strategy,” said Lin.
Carlmont took some early leads in their matches against the Wildcats.
Victoria Gittoes, a freshman, and her opponent took a water break when Victoria Gittoes led three to zero. She ended up winning that set 6-1.
Coach Margaret Goldsmith cheered for her girls throughout the afternoon, watching closely to see how they were playing.
“We played yesterday against Aragon, so back-to-back games are always hard, but today the girls did very well. They worked very hard and played tough and I’m very proud of them,” Goldsmith said.
Doubles team Lily Gittoes and Alyssa Nguyen won their first set 6-1 and their second set 6-2.
“At practice, we have been working a lot on placement for volleys and being in sync. For doubles, it’s harder because you have to make sure you are working with your partner,” Lily Gittoes said.
Some of the matches concluded quickly while others took around an hour to finish.
Carlmont’s Sakina Bambot, a senior, played a game lasted over an hour. Her opponent was very evenly matched against her and there were numerous rallies played between them. In the end, she defeated her opponent in the first and second sets 6-2.
Isabella Reeves, a sophomore, and her partner Sannika Joshi, a junior, won their matches 6-4 and 6-1. The girls worked well with one another, calling for balls and making sure to keep their energy and intensity up if they happened to lose a point.
“I feel like we played okay today,” Reeves said. “We did not stoop down to the other teams level, but we could have done better.”
Reeves and Joshi had a short lapse in serving and took a water break with Woodside leading 3-2. With some short returns and great communication, the duo was able to make a comeback and win.
Lauren Denenberg and Tracy Cowperthwaite are first-year coaches for the girls’ tennis team at Woodside.
“We knew going into this that Carlmont was going to be good, so we were a little nervous. That being said, I think our girls played some great games and have shown their improvement from throughout the season,” Denenberg said.
Both Carlmont and Woodside have been training hard since the beginning of the season. Each team has different techniques for practices to work on new skills for the players.
“I’m really glad our team is getting more attention. We all work so hard and love playing with one another,” Reeves said.
