Sean Zhang

Sophomore Chloe Rui launches a strong diagonal serve to the opponents. The serve wasn’t returned and helped the Scots doubles become a point closer to victory. Due to this pivotal point, the Scots were able to easily win the next few serves, resulting in the win.

Maintaining their perfect undefeated season, the Carlmont varsity girls tennis team came out victorious against the Sequoia Ravens with a score of 7-0 on Oct. 22. 

After defeating the Ravens earlier this season, the Scots spent the week preparing for a strong comeback from their opponents.

“Our team was confident. We’ve gone undefeated the whole year, and we intend to just keep doing that,” said Chloe Khachadourian, the singles top seed for the Scots.

In the No. 1 singles match between Scot Khachadourian and Raven Sasha Efimchik, Khachadourian won in straight sets 6-0 and 6-2, putting the Scots ahead early in the match. 

On the other side of the court, juniors Mia Ikeda and Jaelyn Chow defeated Christine Chang and Sadie Saffren in the No. 3 doubles match, winning 6-1 in both sets. 

“I was mostly thinking of having a good and fair match,” Ikeda said. 

Following those victories, the Scots maintained their strong performance in singles play. In the No. 3 and No. 4 singles matches, Scots Vania Pala and Radhika Agrawal each secured victories with identical scores of 6-1 and 6-2, defeating Kylie Ho and Maya Perez-Martinez, respectively.

In the final No. 2 singles match, Megan Bence defeated Xienna Ma in a tight matchup, with the scores 6-1 and 7-6, winning the tiebreaker 7-2. 

“Megan Bence, at No. 2, who ended up in a really tough match, but steadied herself and won in a tiebreaker, so that was a very impressive win,” said Margaret Goldsmith, the head coach for the Scots.

As the No. 1 and No. 2 doubles matches came to an end, the Carlmont team rallied outside the fence to provide support and encouragement for their teammates. Sophomores Avani Dixit and Chloe Rui, playing in the No. 1 doubles seed, secured a decisive victory against Emma Wang and Natalie Tha, winning 6-1 in both sets. Meanwhile, Katherine Zhang and Zoe Hendricks dominated their match, defeating Leila Berman and Francesca Dimick with a score of 6-2 and 6-0. 

Throughout the final games, the atmosphere was filled with positivity and cheering, reflecting the team’s strong bond. 

“My responsibility is to keep the tennis environment healthy and make sure no one ever feels left out,” Ikeda said, emphasizing the importance of teamwork and support in their success through the role of team captain. 

With an overall match score of 7-0, Carlmont secured another win and improved their record to 13-0 in the league and 15-0 overall. 

As the season comes to an end, the team is preparing for important events like senior night and a bonding session.

“I’m just looking forward to celebrating with my teammates for the last time and definitely going to college, see how that goes,” Khachadourian said.

Ultimately, the team’s victory was important as it provided each player with valuable lessons on how to improve their performance for future matches. 

“Well, we are in first place, and so a lot of people come and play really hard against us. So, teams really come prepared, and we have to show up and play tough every time,” Goldsmith said. 

Gallery • 6 Photos

Sean Zhang

Junior Vania Pala pays close attention to the trajectory of the ball. She successfully returned this ball due to her focus. As a result, she was able to catch the opponent off guard and secure the point.