The Menlo School boys’ tennis team topped off the regular season with a Central Coast Section championship – its fourth consecutive – after topping Bellarmine in the team tournament final Friday at Courtside Club in Los Gatos.
"They handled the pressure incredibly," Menlo Coach Bill Shine said. "Bellarmine came out with nothing to lose - playing really well and were loose. Our guys responded in the first round, and just kept getting better."
That win is Menlo’s 11th overall – the most in section history. It also extends the Knights’ perfect season to 25-0.
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"I am just so proud of them," Shine added, noting the similarities between CCS and the team's National Invitational win. "They've become a such a big-match team. The bigger the match, the better they play. They showed it in Newport, and showed it here again at CCS."
Having already won the CCS finals, leading 11-1 after the second round, the Knights opted to forfeit their last round to avoid injury before CCS individual championships and NorCals. Four of the players were headed to a national tournament, and would have missed the CCS award ceremony if the third round would have been played.
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Next is the CCS individual championships in which freshman Victor Pham, the West Bay Athletic League singles champion, will play Nicco Lunardi of Los Gatos. The junior doubles team of William Boyd and Michael Hoffman face Monterey’s Joseph Quario and Darren Arakawa. All begin at 10 a.m. Monday at Imperial Courts in Aptos.
Against the Bells, junior Andrew Ball won both his No.1 singles matches in the three-singles, three-doubles format. Junior Richard Pham and senior Justin Chan also each went 2-0 at No. 2 and No.3 singles, respectively.
"Andrew Ball was incredible and all the singles were unbelievable - Richard Pham and Justin Chan," Shine said.
In doubles, the No.1 team of David Ball and Daniel Morkovine went 2-0.
"They saved 10 match points," Shine said about the team's second-round match. "They played great when they needed to... the whole team did that."
Menlo’s freshman duo of Vikram Chari and Victor Pham also went 2-0 at No. 3 doubles. Hoffman and Boyd lost a close match before rolling to a 6-1 win in the second
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