Sports briefs: San Marin tennis team claims final playoff spot

After her match was delayed due to darkness the previous day, San Marin’s Clare Zhu took the court against Tam on Thursday with her team’s hopes of ending a long MCAL playoff drought on the line.

Zhu emerged with a 4-6, 6-3, 10-6 win at No. 1 singles to lift the Mustangs to a 4-3 victory and put them into the MCAL tournament for the first time in 11 years. The top six made the playoffs back then while only the top four make it now.

The Mustangs’ reward for a 10-6 season is a date with top-seeded Redwood (16-0) at 3 p.m. on Tuesday in Larkspur. The Giants closed out their regular season with a 5-2 win over No. 2 Branson on Wednesday to cap an unbeaten run through the league.

San Marin’s other wins came from Deepti Bhat and Ava Kaplan at Nos. 2 and 3 singles, respectively, plus the team of Catania De Keyrel and Aashna Selvaraj at No. 1 doubles.

Scarlett Wilson won at No. 4 singles for Tam, which secured the No. 3 seed and faces No. 2 Branson at College of Marin in the other semifinal on Tuesday. The MCAL championship is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. on Thursday at Novato High.

• Redwood got wins at Nos. 3 and 4 singles from Julia Laury and Gwenn Ricordel, respectively, and swept the doubles for its 5-2 win over Branson. The Bulls got a win from Katie Warrin at No. 1 singles with Redwood’s ace, Jordan Marotto, retired at 6-6 in the first set. Audrey Gilmor picked up a 7-6, 7-5 win at No. 2 singles.
• Kylie Lee, Jamie Schmidt and Sahaj Malik had singles victories as Terra Linda closed out the regular season with a 6-1 win against Novato on Wednesday. Bridget Lawler had the lone win for Novato at No. 3 singles.
• Marin Academy picked up a 3-2 victory against San Domenico in the conclusion of a match that was rained out last week. San Domenico got wins at Nos. 1 and 3 singles from Carly Amborn and Lily Reeser, respectively.

Girls water polo

The MCAL playoff schedule was made official on Thursday with top-seeded Archie Williams facing No. 4 Redwood in the first semifinal and No. 2 Marin Academy facing No. 3 Marin Catholic in the other.

All four semifinals — boys and girls — will be held at Marin Academy on Wednesday. Archie Williams and Redwood kick off the action at 4 p.m. while the MA-MC game is set to begin at 6:30 p.m.

• Jessa Dun had three goals as Terra Linda outlasted Marin Catholic for a 7-6 victory on Thursday. Emily Erickson, Julia Hamilton and Josephne Fetterman-Riggle also had goals for TL.

Boys water polo

Soren Jessen and Finn Snekkevik scored two goals apiece, leading a balanced Terra Linda attack to a 10-6 win against Marin Catholic.

The result settled the MCAL playoff picture, allowing TL to claim the No. 3 seed ahead of No. 4 Redwood.

The Giants are set to face No. 1 Tam in a semifinal at 5:15 p.m. on Wednesday at Marin Academy. The quadruple header ends with TL against No. 2 Archie Williams, which is a 7:45 p.m. start at MA.

Field hockey

The four MCAL playoffs teams are set, although the order could still change. Tam has secured the No. 4 seed. Marin Catholic, Redwood and University will be the top three in some order. MC can finish no lower than second.

Women’s volleyball

Former San Marin and Marin Catholic standout Bella Bergmark had six kills and a pair of blocks to help No. 6 Texas survive a five-set thriller against TCU on Wednesday night.

Bergmark has started all 17 matches for the national champion Longhorns (14-3, 9-0 Big 12) and ranks fourth on the team with 90 kills on the season.