Girls tennis: Warrin’s win sends Branson to MCAL final

Senior Katie Warrin sealed The Branson School’s rare playoff victory over Redwood on Wednesday in the MCAL girls tennis semifinals.

The third-seeded Bulls had not beaten the second-seeded Giants in the league playoffs in Warrin’s three previous seasons. Warrin supplied a 6-2, 6-1 victory in the No. 1 singles match to complete the Bulls’ 4-3 win.

“I kind of knew it would come down to this match,” said Warrin. “This year we lost a lot of key seniors, so making it to the league finals is super nice for us — a full-circle moment.”

The Bulls meet Tam in the MCAL finals on Friday at 3 p.m. at Novato High. The top-seeded Red-tailed Hawks defeated San Marin 6-1.

The Giants had won three straight MCAL finals over the Bulls, with Branson’s last MCAL playoff title coming in 2021. Redwood also beat Branson twice during the regular season this year, making the Bulls’ semifinal triumph on Redwood’s home court a surprise if not an upset.

“We knew we had to win four lines and those lines that needed to win won,” said Branson coach Chrissie Costamagna. “They brought out a great lineup and we’re the underdogs. We had nothing to lose.”

To set up Warrin’s heroics for the match-winner, Branson’s No. 2 doubles team of Talia Schneiter and Noa Schachter played just aggressively enough at the net and just steadily enough from the baseline to prevail 7-5, 7-6 (2) over Gaby Puentes and Adrienne DeMos. Redwood’s tandem jumped ahead 4-2 in the second set, before the Bulls relied on consistency and key volleys for the win that knotted the team score 3-3.

It was hard to miss the dramatic ending in the second-set tiebreaker of the No. 2 doubles match four courts away from Warrin. And when full attention shifted to Warrin’s court, she was already ahead 6-2, 3-0 and brimming with confidence against Redwood’s Alessia Balliet.

“Katie Warrin played the best match I’ve seen her play all season and probably the best match I’ve seen her play from last year,” said Costamagna. “The old Katie is back. I know it’s been tough for her this season because she’s a senior and dealing with all the senior-related stuff.”

The Giants got a quick win at No. 3 singles from Sienna Rouas. Setting the stage for the back-and-forth duel, Olivia Shekou took the No. 4 singles match for Branson before the Giants went back ahead 2-1 when its No. 1 doubles team of Julia Povio and Scarlett Hackwell won in straight sets.

Branson made it 2-2 with the Bulls’ No. 3 doubles team of Anna Jacobs and Kayla Zhang won. Redwood then took No. 2 singles thanks to Ira Shostakovich, turning all eyes to that pivotal No. 2 doubles match with the Giants clinging to a 3-2 edge.

“I’m ecstatic,” said Costamagna. “I’m so excited for them because they played so well.”

Branson and Redwood customarily meet in the playoff finals, but the rise of unbeaten Tam along with much-improved Marin Catholic, San Marin and Terra Linda has created closer matches this season, which may have helped the Bulls on Wednesday, according to Costamagna.

“We’ve had some really solid teams this year,” said Costamagna. “I think everybody has pushed each other this season. It has helped us coming to the end of the season that we had some tighter matches.”

Redwood (13-5) lost seven seniors from its 2024 MCAL championship team that reached the North Coast Section Division I final and won the 2023 NCS title. Branson is the defending NCS Division II champ.

“We have a fresh new team,” said Redwood coach Tracey Porter. “I feel like we’ve learned and we can build on this.”

Around the MCAL

Tam High’s solid doubles play helped spur the top-seeded Red-tailed Hawks to a 6-1 semifinal victory over San Marin and a berth in Friday’s MCAL finals against the Branson School.

The Hawks’ No. 3 pair of Ellie McEvilley and Scarlett Safrit rallied past the Mustangs’ Bailey Bowman and Elizabeth Bogak for a taut 3-6, 7-5, 6-2 win as Tam swept doubles play.

Tam’s Bianca Botero-Cortes and Siena Moglen won at No. 2 and No. 3 singles, respectively, while Maya Riisgaard battled Divya Lourdu for a 3-6, 6-0, 6-0 win at No. 4 singles.

The Mustangs avoided the sweep with Devanshi Shrestha’s 6-2, 6-5 win over Chloe Mouret-Lafage at No. 1 singles.