Menlo stuns No.2 Saratoga to reach final

0 Comments | Oakland Tribune, Nov 16, 2005 | by Simi Lee, CORRESPONDENT

LOS GATOS -- Menlo School's girls tennis team knocked the socks off spectators and opponents alike at the Central Coast Section team tennis semifinals on Monday.

The Knights not only upset No.2 seed Saratoga, but beat it handily, 7-0, at the Courtside Tennis Club.

No.3 Menlo (25-5) marches on to the championship match, where it will meet two-time defending CCS champion and No.1 seed Monta Vista of Cupertino (24-3) on Wednesday at 2 p.m. at Courtside. Saratoga qualified for the title game by downing Mitty (21-6), 6-1. The victory also put Menlo in the NorCal championships on Friday and Saturday at the Fremont Tennis Center.

Menlo had clashed with Saratoga early in the season and had come away with a 4-2 loss at the Fremont Tournament in September.

Knights coach Bill Shine had made one minor adjustment and added a doubles team to the ladder, but it was basically the same group that had fallen previously to Saratoga (22-4).

"I thought we had the ability to win the match. -- 7-0 is kind of surprising -- but it was just a confidence thing," said Menlo School senior Amanda Pade, one of only two seniors on the Menlo ladder.

"We let up against Saratoga the last time we played them," Pade's partner Ashley Carlisle said. Carlisle teamed with Pade to win the last three games for a come-from-behind first doubles win that locked up the 7-0 shutout. "We stopped playing. This time, we were more focused through the whole match. We all were ready for this."

Every match was close. Menlo's Sarah Hoffman took first singles 6- 4, 6-3, while Marjorie Adams won in second singles 6-1, 1-6, 6-3. Amanda Goldman got a win in third singles 6-4, 6-4, and Gaby Filipcik battled for a 7-6 (4), 7-6 (2) fourth singles victory.

Behind Pade and Ashley Carlisle in first doubles, Mimi Huggins and Courtney Matteson earned a 6-2, 7-5 second doubles win, and sophomores Alicia Cha and Allison Carlisle rallied for a 5-7, 6-4, 6- 1 victory in third doubles.

Menlo has been in the CCS team tennis championship match in both of the past two seasons but lost both to Monta Vista. The two teams have not met this season.

"These were basically the same girls when we played them before," said Shine. "The difference was this time we won all the close matches instead of losing them. I hope we can keep it up on Wednesday against Monta Vista."

College volleyball

SAN RAFAEL -- A year after making school history with its first California Pacific Conference championship, Menlo College took its second consecutive conference title with a sweep of Dominican University.

Menlo's 30-20, 30-19, 30-25 victory was paced by freshman outside hitter Malia Pires' 13 kills. Teammate Sanoe Eselu had 12. Menlo, a combined 31-1 against Cal Pac opponents the past two seasons, is 13- 1 in conference play this season, 17-6 overall. Dominican is 10-3, 10-9.