Girls tennis: Redwood seniors making the most of their last season

Three straight MCAL girls tennis championships.

Three consecutive appearances in the North Coast Section semifinals.

And one NCS title … and counting … for the dozen seniors on the Redwood High girls tennis team.

The Giants have not only set the standard in the MCAL, but continue to shine among the top teams in the section, as evidenced by their 4-3 victory over visiting Mission San Jose of Fremont on Friday in the NCS quarterfinals.

The date with Mission was pushed to Friday due to rain, creating a very tough road for the Giants to defend the NCS championship they claimed a year ago.

Third-seeded Redwood meets No. 7 seed Monte Vista in the NCS semifinals at 9 a.m. on Saturday at James Logan High in Union City. The winner advances to the final later in the day against either No. 1 Miramonte or No. 4 Dublin.

“Hopefully, we can keep that streak going and get two in a row,” said senior captain Julia Laury. “Can we go farther than we went last year? That’s been on our radar since last year.”

Redwood reached the CIF NorCal semifinals last year. The Giants will earn a return trip to NorCals Nov. 22-23 in Folsom by reaching the NCS final.

The Giants had seven seniors in their starting lineup against Mission, including Laury, who clinched the deciding match with her win at No. 3 singles. She earned a hard-fought decision over Mission’s Shilpa Arthur, 6-2, 6-3, to give the Giants a 4-0 lead with three matches still on the court.

“She’s a fighter,” Redwood coach Tracey Porter said of Laury. “She brings fire and power. She’s been playing for a long time. She knows what she’s doing. She’s a super solid player and an absolute delight to be around.”

A minute before Laury wrapped up her key win, the senior doubles team of Livia Klompus and Molly Gallagher completed their 6-4, 6-3 victory over Fiona Lee and Reva Kulrarni to put the Giants ahead 3-0.

Another senior who helped the Giants beat Mission was Gwenn Ricordel, who teamed with Alessia Bailliet to easily handle Moksha Rawlani and Samhita Bathina 6-1, 6-3 in No. 2 doubles.

“We’re definitely like a sisterhood,” said Laury of the seniors. “You play with them every day on the court and you see them in your classes. It just brings us closer.”

In No. 1 doubles, MCAL champs Jordan Marotto and Ella Povio, both seniors, suffered their first loss as a team, getting nudged out by Mission’s  Hannah Bi and Ima Nissler, 6-4, 4-6, 10-8 despite leading 7-5 late in the third-set tiebreaker.

Another senior in Redwood’s lineup on Friday was Jennie Liu, who lost 6-3, 7-6 (3) in the No. 2 singles position to Kuhn Samont.

Freshman Gabby Puentes got the Giants off to a fast start in No. 4 singles, winning the first set in 20 minutes en route to a 6-2, 6-1 win over Suhani Kumer. Her consistency and mix of shots thoroughly frustrated Kumer for 3-0 lead in the second set before the other matches had completed a set.

Redwood’s depth and experience give Porter lots of flexibility, including moving her top two singles players to team up in No. 1 doubles — even if that means she has to spend hours studying rankings to concoct her lineups.

“I trust them and I believe in them,” said Porter. “They have been working hard all season. They know how to do this.”