Carlmont’s varsity girls tennis team gave their seniors a proper send-off as they beat San Mateo 7-0 at home on Tuesday Oct. 25.
“Everyone did really well today,” said Margaret Goldsmith, the head coach. “Our performance was nearly flawless, and we topped it off by celebrating our seniors.”
Five of the matches were won in two sets. Sophomore Chloe Khachadourian played a close game in the Singles 1 and came out on top against San Mateo’s Katie Hong with final scores of 6-3, 5-7, 10-5.
Sophomore Ashwika Narayan was down after the first set of Singles 2. She kept her composure and recovered well to beat Anika Shah with a score of 3-6, 6-3, 10-4. Outside of the top two singles matches, the rest of the matchups were all dominated by the Scots, who won every contest, including the exhibition doubles matches.
“[Carlmont] was really strong and connected today. They all play really well together, and it was nice to see their team dynamic,” said Nisha Siva, a junior at San Mateo High School. “That’s definitely a strength of theirs. Their chemistry is unmatched, and I haven’t really seen much of that in this league.”
The season has been exceptional for Carlmont. They finished 12-2 in the Peninsula Athletic League (PAL) Bay division, securing second place behind Menlo-Atherton (MA). This year, they played their closest match against MA in years, only losing to them 3-4 on Sept. 28. The Scots won all three doubles matches, but at the same time, lost every singles game.
“We’re stronger than ever. All the way down the line, there are so many people on our team playing at such a high level; it’s really impressive,” said Mallika Agrawal, a senior at Carlmont.
Agrawal has been on the team for four years and has seen noticeable improvements over that course in the quality of the roster and the team’s performances. Throughout her tenure on the team, they have added summer training and weight training, which benefited the team’s depth. Now, such improvements are paying off in the form of one of the Scots’ most dominant seasons and upcoming Central Coast Section (CCS) playoffs.
Agrawal celebrated senior night with triumph in her Doubles 2 match with her partner Megan Bence, a freshman, winning with both sets ending 6-3. The rest of the seniors also came out victorious, as seniors Lisa Borchelt and Brooke Franaszek made up the Doubles 1 pairing that won 6-2 and 6-0. Finally, senior Meiling Rowland partnered Miyu Ikeda, a junior, to prevail in Doubles 3, with the two sets ending 6-0 and 6-1.
The Scots have finished their strong league campaign and will follow the game by taking on the PAL tournament on Oct. 26 and 27. Next, they’ll be playing in the CCS playoffs, whose first round starts on Monday, Nov. 7.
“They look out for each other when they play, and they play collectively for team wins. Our team spirit and depth of talent are very vital to our success this year,” Goldsmith said. “I don’t expect that to be any different in the PAL tournament and CCS.”
