 | | | Back row, from left: Coach Riki Sorenson, Olivia Tomasco, Elena Sullivan, Lily Lincoln, Maddie Silveira, Caitlin Chan, Nicole Guo, Jessica Hui, Nicole Hui, Charlotte Westin, Asst Coach Julie Silveira; front row: Grace Liu, Soleil Skjorshammer, Juliet Krumholz, Alison Rhee, Olivia Rhee, Audrey Kosla Photo provided | | | | | | In the ever-competitive DAL tournament, Miramonte and Campolindo both qualified for the North Coast Section team tournament with Miramonte having representatives in the single and doubles tournament and Campolindo had a doubles team competing.
In the cold but playable NCS tennis tournament at San Ramon Valley High School, Miramonte defeated Alameda in the first round, Campolindo in the second round and the top seeded Redwood High School in the semifinals, making it to the championship match against Amador Valley but came one set short of winning the tournament 3-4.
With the team finishing in second, Miramonte Coach Riki Sorenson had mixed emotions with the end result. "We did great, but it was disappointing that we came so close to winning the whole thing," Sorenson said. "I wasn't surprised that the girls did exactly what I thought they were capable of doing but that may have been because they did not know how good they were."
Sorenson was most pleased at the mental toughness that the team showed when the pressure on the team was the greatest. "The players learned how to handle the pressure of big matches and in matches where they were trailing badly and yet found a way to pull it back together," Sorenson said. "That's the kind of mental strength and toughness that is part of tennis - feeling it and playing through it."
In particular, Sorenson singled out freshman, number three singles player Caitlin Chan and the doubles teams of Audrey Kosla and Alison Rhee and Nicole Hui and Lily Lincoln against Amador Valley. With the match tied at 2-2, Chan and each of the double's teams all lost their first sets and when rolling over could have been easy, each of the players elevated their games.
"Caitlin lost her first set 5-7 and was in an emotional struggle and seemed undone by her opponent," Sorenson said. "It was then that Coach Silveria helped talk her down with suggestions to pull her game together. Caitlin then closed out the match 6-0, 6-0."
Kosla and Rhee dug themselves out of the deepest of holes in their match. Down one set and 2-5 in the second set, they won their next five games despite facing multiple match points and won the third set. "This was an example of the mental toughness I have been talking about where they did not allow the pressure to get to them," Sorenson said. "Audrey and Alison were calm, fun loving and happy on the court and put us in a position to win the championship. Nicole and Lily recovered but ultimately lost in a back-and-forth match in three sets."
Miramonte received a late season boost with the addition of Juliette Krumholz who had competed mostly in private tournaments but maintained her eligibility to play in the DAL and NCS tournaments by competing for Miramonte late in the season. She played as Miramonte's number one singles player in the team tournament. Krumholz would go on to win the DAL singles tournament and finished in third in the NCS tournament.
"Juliette is a great athlete who devotes a lot of time to her game and played against top players," Sorenson said. "She is really strong and consistent. It was great for her to join us, contribute to an already strong team and find that community that is unique to team competition."
Soleil Skjorshammer and Elena Sullivan who played one and three singles all season, chose to play doubles and won the DAL tournament defeating Campolindo's Sienna Carroll and Paige Davis with both team's qualifying to play in the NCS tournament.
Skjorshammer and Sullivan were seeded fourth and made it to the semifinals, losing to Dougherty Valley who won the tournament and then defeated the second seeded Monte Vista team to finish in third place. "Soliel and Elena, playing doubles for the first time, were a phenomenal team," Sorenson said. "They improved as they went along, developing a balanced partnership and they were really fun to watch."
Losing only two top players to graduation, number three singles Elena Sullivan, and number one doubles member Lily Lincoln, Sorenson is anticipating a successful season next year. "We had great depth this year and if everyone stays healthy and hungry, we should have a strong team next year," Sorenson said. "Our girls also know that there is great competition out there to keep up with and I hope they're really motivated to work hard after just missing the championship by a hair. They're excited about having another year together."
Campolindo Coach Sunan Faulkner was also positive about the performance of her team. "We finished second in our league with our only losses coming against Miramonte during the season and then we had to face them in the second round in the NCS tournament," Faulkner said.
In the NCS team tournament against Miramonte, Faulkner singled out the play of their number two singles player, sophomore Sofia Raldugnia-Zhu and the doubles team of Paige Davis and Sienna Carroll. "Sofia had to play Skjorshammer who was normally playing one and she only lost 6-7, 5-7 but played out of her mind well and Paige and Sienna came out victorious," Faulkner said. "When Sienna got sick the night before the doubles tournament, Alex Goetz, our number one singles player took her place, and they made it to the second round."
The Cougars will be graduating seven players who were always in the lineup to graduation: Alex Goetz, Annie Coane, Sienna Carroll, Paige Davis, Liesel Hilkemeyer, Emily Floyd, and Louis Goldblatt. "We may be looking at a rebuilding year so we will be counting on Sofia Raldugnia-Zhu, Delaria Basgamez and Summer Chang in singles and Allisa Muller who is our top returning doubles player." |
Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA