September 17, 2004

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Palo Alto Online

Pressure is off Menlo

This is the second in a series of stories previewing the high school fall sports season. Today: girls' tennis.

by Keith Peters

It was, on the surface, a remarkable season in 2003 when the Menlo School girls' tennis team finished 28-2. The Knights began the year with a 26-match winning streak.

"Twenty-eight and two is incredible," said Menlo coach Bill Shine. "It was a very successful season."

While the 28 wins is indeed impressive, what really sticks out are those two losses. Both came to Monta Vista. Both came in the biggest matches of the season - the Central Coast Section and Northern California championships.

Those two losses meant that Menlo failed to win a CCS title for the first time in seven years, having its streak of six consecutive section crowns snapped, and failed to win a NorCal ring for the second straight year. Prior to 2003, Menlo hadn't lost to a CCS team since 1997.

"It was bittersweet," admitted Shine, looking back at 2003. "We did play really tough and we had only those two losses to a very good team . . . you can't win every year."

Expectations at Menlo, however, are very high. This, after all, is a program that once won 92 straight matches. Going through a season -- no matter how impressive the record - and not winning a CCS or NorCal title can be construed as almost an off year. "For what Menlo is used to, they're (the players) not going to be satisfied with anything less than a CCS title," Shine said. The Knights certainly have something to shoot for in 2004, which is shaping up to be very similar to last season. "Yes it is," Shine said. "Monta Vista is clearly the favorite again, more so than last year." The reason for that is the addition of Carmen Seremeta, the No. 1-ranked NorCal singles player in Girls' 18s. She didn't play last year when the Matadors won CCS and NorCal titles. She, along with former Menlo player Allie Lipton, helped Monta Vista win the title in the 64-team Peach Tree Classic last weekend in sweltering Fresno. The Matadors beat Menlo, 5-1, as the Knights (7-2) finished third. Shine, however, doesn't mind playing the underdog in 2004. "This year, the pressure's off of us," he said. "We have nothing to lose while they (Monta Vista) have to show they can repeat. Hopefully, all the hard work we put in over the summer will pay off at the end of the year." Menlo's strength this season will be with its juniors and sophomores, part of an 11-person underclass. The team's only seniors are captain Kate Serrurier, Jennifer Berry and Ashleigh Leathers. Sophomores Sarah Hoffman (No. 1 singles) and Gaby Filipcik are joined in the singles lineup by juniors Katie Bouret, Amanda Pade and Ashley Carlisle. The doubles lineup offers numerous combinations with Berry, Leathers, Brooke Badger, freshman Allison Carlisle, Drizella Moreno, Tracey Montgomery, Michelle Nguyen and Alex Steiny among the candidates. Menlo is heavily favored to defend its PAL Bay Division title and then set its sights on the playoffs. "We're really pointing towards CCS," Shine said.
Pinewood

The Panthers are coming off a 17-3 season, which ended with a loss to Menlo in the CCS semifinals. First-year coach Craig Corfield has the bulk of that team returning, having lost only two seniors.

One of them, however, was Lejla Hodzic. She's now a freshman at Stanford and likely will play for the Cardinal this season. The Panthers, however, are experienced and fairly deep and off to a 6-3 start.

"The girls are great. The team is great," said Corfield, the director of tennis at Palo Alto Hills Golf and Tennis Club.

Pinewood's top four singles players, who are interchangeable, are led by No. 1 Stephanie Herrmann, a senior. Junior Elizabeth Williamson holds down No. 2 while senior Mele Pelea is No. 3 and senior Jessica Goldband is No. 4.

The doubles feature the No. 1 team of senior Katie Swiss and seniors Bette Edwards, the No. 2 squad of junior Alisi Vea and freshman Maxine Lim, and the No. 3 team of senior Marina Nekhendzy and sophomore Mithya Srinivasan.

Corfield also expects to use senior Neda Amidi a lot this season. Freshmen Eliza Belogolovsky, Sasha Chattamanoki and Abby Cilker will see plenty of action during the Private Schools Athletic League season, where Pinewood is expected to breeze to another title this season.
Palo Alto

After graduating seven seniors in 2002 and seven more in 2003, Vikings' head coach Andy Harader fields a young and inexperienced team in 2004. Palo Alto has only two seniors, Maren Pearson and Austinn Freeman, and the latter will be available on a part-time basis.

Freeman reportedly has received a scholarship offer from the Stanford women's soccer team and will spend much of this fall training with her CYSA team. When needed, however, Freeman will be on the court at No. 2 singles and be the only senior in the singles lineup.

At No. 1 is sophomore Chrissy Hu. She won three matches last week before having her streak ended Tuesday in a 6-1, 6-4 loss to Carmen Seremeta of Monta Vista, the No. 1-ranked Girls' 18 singles player in Northern California. The defending CCS and NorCal champion Matadors prevailed in the SCVAL De Anza Division opener, 7-0.

Junior twins Meghan and Nicole Przybyla will round out the singles at No. 4 and No. 4.

Harader will use the early season to discover his best doubles lineups, a strength for the Vikings last year but a weakness thus far in 2004. Paula Yoffe and Elyssa Chandler are at No. 1, with Debbie Lehmann and Allison Heinrich at No. 2. Elene Rafii, Laura Small and Molly Robin will be seeing plenty of action this season, as well.

Palo Alto, which compiled a solid 8-4 league record last year and went 14-6 overall (losing to Menlo in the second round of CCS), is off to a 3-2 start.
Castilleja Former Stanford All-American Meredith McGrath is back for another year as head coach and has a young squad after losing four starters off last season's 12-3 squad (10-0 in the West Bay Athletic League) that fell to Los Gatos in a CCS opener. Castilleja has added three new sophomores to the lineup that features seniors Kelly McKenna (No. 2 singles) and Jessa Lee (No. 4 singles), plus juniors Anisha Bhalla (No. 1 singles), Leslie Lipsick (No. 3 singles), Brittany Brown and Emily Michaels (No. 1 doubles) and Rachelle Bolten (No. 3 doubles with sophomore Marielle Giancarlo. Sophomores Sarina Dutta and Nikki Ryu team at No. 2 doubles. McKenna was injured much of last season but is healthy again. Bhalla has moved up from No. 4 to No. 1 after working hard during the summer. "It could be a challenging season, in terms of experience," said McGrath, "but I'm looking to our returning players to step up the level of their games."
Sacred Heart Prep

The Gators went 7-7 in the tough West Catholic Athletic League last season (11-8 overall) and failed to reach the CCS playoffs. Things are much improved in 2004 under second-year head coach Losaline Mafileo, who last weekend had her team finish ninth in the prestigious 64-team Peach Tree Classic in Fresno.

The Gators (1-0, 8-1) already have edged Palo Alto in nonleague action, 4-3, and on Tuesday opened their WCAL season by upending defending champion St. Ignatius, 6-1, on the Wildcats' courts.

Sophomore Sam Rosekrans won at No. 1 singles, 6-0, 6-2, to set the stage for five wins there. Freshman Haley Hemm won at No. 2, junior Mollie Parker won in straight sets at No. 3, and senior Katie Kalkstein captured her match at No. 5. Only junior Lauren Evans, at No. 4, lost.

Seniors Alison Parker-Cole and Brianna Currier are the No. 1 doubles team. They went three sets before winning against SI. The junior tandem of Nicky Budd-Thanos and Irene Palafox won in straight sets at No. 2 doubles.

Senior Lauren Tricerri and freshman Maggie Brezinski also will be big contributors this season.

"The team should do really well in the WCAL," Mafileo said. "We are a much stronger team this year."

Mafileo said her team is shooting for the WCAL title this season, which the players decided upon during a preseason meeting.

"They said they want to win league and my job is to help them do that," Mafileo said.
Woodside Priory

The Panthers are coming off their most successful season ever in 2003, which produced a 6-4 mark in the WBAL and an overall mark of 7-6. First-year head coach Alex (Sandy) Mayer will be out to keep that level of success intact this season, despite losing three of his top four singles players to graduation.

Mayer, an assistant at Priory last season, takes over the girls' and boys' programs this season following a lengthy professional career that most recently saw the three-time Stanford All-American (1971-73) competing on the pro masters level. Mayer is a member of the Stanford Athletics Hall of Fame.

If some of Mayer's talent and knowledge can rub off on his girls' team this season, the Panthers could be in for quite a year. They're already off to a 2-0 start, including a 4-3 nonleague triumph over host Urban (San Francisco) on Wednesday.

Among the top singles players will be Alicia Kriewall, Emily Elliott, Tori Patton and Christa Daley.

The doubles teams in action this week included the tandems of freshmen Maddie Turner and Jasmine Madavi at No. 1, freshman Tomomi Menjo and Laura Christian, plus Molly Magnusson and Sue Lyon. Other top players include Michelle Bradford

Mayer will get a good idea how his team will fare in the WBAL when the Panthers travel to Palo Alto on Sept. 28 to face defending champ Castilleja at the Cubberley Community Center courts.

Menlo-Atherton

The Bears have suffered some big losses, losing Hilary Englert to graduation and Bobbie Englert to St. Francis.

Returning from last season's 5-11 squad is junior Shelley Murveit at No. 1 singles and senior Amanda Hughes at No. 3. Joining them this season will be Kim O'Donnell at No. 2 and Brooke Keating at No. 4. Keating spent much of 2003 as part of the No. 1 doubles team with Emilie O'Brien, now teamed with Emma Sharer at No. 2 doubles.

Megan O'Donnell teams with Whitney Bliss at No. 1 doubles while Lizzie Drescher and Janine Kaufer join forces at No. 3 doubles.

The Bears are coming off a 6-1 win over Sequoia in PAL Bay Division action Tuesday, sparked by a 4-0 performance in singles.

Menlo-Atherton (1-1, 2-3) still must deal with defending league champion Menlo, as well as solid teams from Aragon and Burlingame. Head coach Stan Cartwright once again has his hands full as his Bears strive to reach the league playoffs and postseason.
Gunn

The Titans (0-1, 0-4) will be playing in the SCVAL De Anza Division once again this season, which is not good news. The division features defending NorCal champ Monta Vista, and 2003 CCS tournament teams in Saratoga, Palo Alto and Los Gatos.

Sammie Hastie, who played doubles in 2003, already has had the uneviable task of playing No. 1 singles against some of the top players in Northern California.

In Wednesday's 7-0 loss to host Sacred Heart Prep, Kim Wu held forth at No. 2 singles, Wendy Lee played at No. 3 and Heather Hoffman took over at No. 4.

Playing doubles for veteran head coach Stephanie Adcock include the No. 1 team of Jill Klausner and Emily Stone, the No. 2 squad of Anna Clemenson and Asami Yamamura and the No. 3 tandem of Jing-Jing Li and Lynn Ngai.

Gunn went 2-10 in the De Anza Division last season (4-12 overall) and finds itself in another tough position in 2004. The Titans definitely have to raise their level of play to be competitive. Otherwise, it could be a long and frustrating season.

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