CCS boys tennis: Bellarmine dethrones Menlo for 7th title
LOS GATOS — Bellarmine exorcised its demons in the form of the Menlo School boys tennis team Friday afternoon at Bay Club Courtside in the Central Coast Section championships.
A runner-up six previous times to the 15-time champion, the Bells avenged a loss in last year’s final with a 4-3 victory for a seventh CCS title in program history.
“We’ve always lost,” Bellarmine sophomore Luke Casper said. “They’ve always been getting in our faces, so now is time for a little revenge and it felt really great.”
The second-seeded Bells (23-3) were eliminated in the playoffs the previous seven years by the No. 1 Knights (22-3) — three times in the finals (’18, ’15, ’12) and four times in the semis (’17, ’16, ’14, ’13).
That trend came to an abrupt end.
“I can’t think of a time that’s Bell has ever beaten them,” Bellarmine interim coach Larry Christen said. “The talent came to play today and we’re fortunate to come through. It could’ve gone either way. There were very close matches all the way around.”
That wasn’t the case at No. 1 and 2 singles.
Casper, who last year lost at No. 1 doubles, anchored the singles lineup and cruised 6-2, 6-1 past UC Davis-bound Andrei Volgin, who lost for the first time this spring.
“Luke played really well today, he deserved to win,” Menlo coach Bill Shine said. “They’re both the two-best players in NorCal, so they were going at it and it was fun to watch. He just got the best of Andrei today.”
“I got really mentally prepared before this match and I just took it to him,” Casper said. “I played angry and I got it done.”
Bellarmine freshman John Kim also didn’t waste any time with a 6-1, 6-1 victory at No. 2 singles over Menlo junior Brandon Aprill.
“They come from a different planet,” Christen said of his top singles players.
Halfway to victory after less than an hour, the Bells sealed the deal in a matter of seconds.
At No. 3 doubles, senior William Westrand and freshman Jono Moore earned a hard-fought 7-5, 7-6 (5) triumph over Menlo’s Luca St. Goar and Rohan Shah.
As the crowd shifted to watch the third set at No. 1 singles, Bellarmine sophomore Geoffrey Golan and Darian Quinonez-Gonzaga closed out a 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 win over a pair of Menlo freshmen in Rishi Jain and Mick Tamas.
“It was awesome just knowing that we got it done,” Casper said.
“I think we showed our youth today,” said Shine, who had six freshmen, three seniors and a junior on the court. “But they’re better players now having gone through it now and it’s growing pains, but I’m proud of them.”
It’s only the second CCS title over the past 30 years for Bellarmine, which previously took home the trophy in 2006 after capturing five titles in the 1980s.
Co-captains Matt Moore and Brenna Denzel accepted the hardware.
“My part is easy,” Christen said. “I just stand around and get nervous. They’re the ones that go out and make it happen, and so it was a beautiful thing to watch. But it was nip and tuck the entire way because things could’ve swung so easily.”
Menlo senior John Kim — not a typo, same name as the Bells’ freshman — took care of business 6-4, 6-3 at No. 3 singles over junior Anthony Teciorowski, while Bellarmine senior Josiah Myers-Lipton retired after splitting sets at No. 4 singles to freshman Alex Volgin.
Both of those matches concluded after the outcome was already determined, with Menlo notching its first point at No. 2 doubles after freshmen Nishan Rajavasireddy and Soren Sutaria posted a 6-2, 6-4 result over Moore and junior Atay Bulut.
It’s quite possible both teams will meet again at next week’s USTA NorCal championships held at Broadstone Racquet Club in Folsom.
“I’m not going to go over there and speak to them like the season is over, we’ve still got work to do,” Shine said. “Hopefully this will motivate them to work hard this and get another shot at them, because we had our chances.”
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