Los Altos outlasts Menlo School for third time this season to win first Northern California regional girls tennis title

Menlo School had its season, and a bid for a return trip to the girls tennis state final, conclude Wednesday just how it began in August – with a heartbreaking setback to Central Coast Section rival Los Altos.

The top-seeded Eagles relied on three singles victories, in addition to prevailing in the No. 2 doubles matchup, to prevail by a 4-3 margin at the Northern California regional final at Broadstone Sports Club in Folsom.

Los Altos (24-6) not only won its first regional championship, but also knocked off last year’s winner Menlo School (22-8), which has captured four Northern California titles since 2014.

Los Altos is scheduled to square off in the state final against first-time Southern California regional champion Palos Verdes (26-0) – a 5-2 winner Nov. 23 against Portola at the Claremont Club – at a date and site to be determined.

The Eagles competed Sept. 27-28 at the Point Loma Invitational, a tournament won by Palos Verdes, although the programs did not square off in San Diego, as Los Altos lost its opening two matches.

Palos Verdes did match up Sept. 27 against Menlo School and the teams split 3-3, with the Sea Kings advancing based on a 7-6 advantage in total sets won.

Los Altos triumphed in all three showdowns this season against Menlo School, including a season-opening 4-3 victory Aug. 29 at the Tyler Nii Memorial Invitational at Monta Vista, in addition to a 5-2 win Nov. 16 in the Central Coast Section final at Bay Club Courtside in Los Gatos.

Menlo School girls tennis | Photo courtesy of Menlo School

Pallavi Mallampati secured a 6-0, 6-0 victory against Riya Chandna at No. 4 singles for Los Altos, with Emily Wu prevailing against Emily Li by a 6-1, 6-3 margin at No. 3 singles and Cory Medeiros achieving a 6-3, 6-2 sweep against Celena Gao at No. 2 singles for the Eagles.

Elise Chen of Menlo School rallied for a 3-6, 6-0, 6-4 victory against Los Altos’ Bella Mariona at No. 1 singles, which tied the contest at 3-3, with the No. 2 doubles match deciding the final outcome.

Carissa Lai and Ava Randall of Los Altos outlasted Menlo School’s Izzy Klugman and Rosalyn Zhou with a 7-5, 7-5 win to clinch the title for the Eagles.

Sophia Jia and Kate Hsia prevailed by a 6-3, 6-0 margin at No. 1 doubles for Menlo School against Maddie Herby and Ayana Modi.

Milla Bardony and Ana Yang achieved a 6-2, 7-6 (6) victory at No. 3 doubles for Menlo School against Lucy Lai and Sophia Stavrakos.

Los Altos, appearing in its first Northern California final, knocked off George Washington of San Francisco 7-0 in the regional quarterfinals and held off Larkspur Redwood 4-3 in Tuesday’s semifinals.

Menlo School defeated Davis Senior and Dublin, both by 7-0 margins Tuesday, to advance to the regional championship for the 10th time since the event began in 2004.

Chen, along with the pairing of Hsia and Jia, produced victories in all three rounds for Menlo School, with Bardony and Yang earning wins in the semifinals and final for the Knights.

Mater Dei captured the inaugural girls tennis state championship last season with a 7-0 victory against Menlo School.