Carmel High’s girls’ tennis team is on its way to a third league title in a row, currently atop of the leader board at 9-0 in league.
Although Carmel still must face a tough Pacific Grove team Tuesday and Gonzales on Wednesday, the Padres have pretty much sewn up league with two huge wins over Stevenson and Catalina.
“Playing good teams in the Fresno Girls’ Tennis Classic helped us to prepare for these tough league matches,” head coach Michael Zury says.
In facing league rival Stevenson twice, Carmel won both matches 4-3. In the first match on Sept. 19, tied at 3-3, junior partners Athena McPartland and Sydney Stilwell faced Stevenson’s no. 2 double players and defeated them in a third set to clinch the match for Carmel.
In addition to outstanding performances by the doubles players, junior co-captain Megan Scannell plays no. 1 on the team and has led the Padres for the past couple of years.
“We are doing really well this year and have a lot of great players on the team this year,” Scannell says. “We try to get better everyday and plan on being MTAL champs once again.”
In the second match against Stevenson on Oct. 4, with the league title on the line and two doubles games left, Carmel needed both to win the match. Down 2-4, partners McPartland and senior Helaine Ridilla won their match, leaving the fate of the match in the hands of Stilwell and senior Juliana Burns, who managed to win the first two sets and force the Pirates to walk their own plank.
“Our doubles teams are playing very well this year and have contributed to our success,” Zury notes.
After defeating Catalina in round one Sept. 17, Carmel beat them once again on Oct. 10, securing their spot as league champions with wins over Oakwood and Aptos this week.
The next match will be played Tuesday against Pacific Grove, and MTAL championships will begin the first week of November
-Aram Berberian
