Girls tennis: San Marin’s ace leads Mustangs into MCAL semifinals
San Marin High junior Clare Zhu continues to establish herself as the player to beat in MCAL girls tennis, pushing her league record to 14-0 with her latest shellacking in the first round of the playoffs on Tuesday.
Zhu’s dominance lifted the host and fourth-seeded Mustangs to a 4-3 victory over fifth-seeded Marin Catholic. San Marin advances to the MCAL semifinals on Wednesday at top-seeded Redwood at 3 p.m.
“We beat Marin Catholic three times this year and that’s a big accomplishment,” said Zhu. “I felt good today. I’m confident about my match against Redwood and I think we can pull out a couple of other wins, too.”
Although the league MVP has yet to be announced, San Marin coach Christy Sherley believes Zhu has to be the top contender.
“Personally, I don’t think there should be any other candidate,” said Sherley. “She’s won all her matches in line one. For me it’s a no-brainer.”
If MCAL coaches do indeed vote Zhu as MVP, she will be the first San Marin girl to earn the honor since Darla Hoang in 2014.
“Clare is unbelievable,” said Sherley. “She’s hard-working, she’s focused, she’s driven, she’s our team captain”
Against the Wildcats, Zhu posted a 6-0, 6-0 win over Georgia Compagno to seal the Mustangs’ team victory. To show just how versatile her game is, Zhu’s last two points were an untouchable drop shot and a cross-court forehand winner.
Zhu is expected to be the top seed in singles when the MCAL individual tournament begins on Monday. Last year, Zhu missed the MCAL tournament due to a wrist injury, but she’s teeming with confidence this year and it showed against Marin Catholic.
In No. 2 singles, San Marin’s Deepti Bhat attacked the ball repeatedly for a 6-0, 6-1 victory over Payton Greco that only lasted 45 minutes. Bhat has been battling a knee injury throughout the season but has seemingly recovered in time to help the Mustangs in the playoffs.
“Both Clare and Deepti are tough to face,” said Marin Catholic coach Corey Cheng. “They came in with a little more confidence — our confidence could have been stronger today.”
San Marin freshman Emily McCoy put together one of her most impressive singles wins of the season, handling Ellie Damiani 6-3, 6-3 in No. 4 singles. Anticipating the victory at No. 1 singles with Zhu, McCoy’s triumph ended up being the difference-maker for the Mustangs.
The Mustangs also got a win at No. 2 doubles from Julieta Exberger and Divya Lourdu. Exberger is the only senior in the Mustangs’ starting lineup and Lourdu is a sophomore runner who has raced in the Dipsea. Together they form a solid combo with doubles experience and superior quickness and fitness.
Marin Catholic, which hopes to receive a second-straight at-large berth to the North Coast Section Division II tournament, earned wins at No. 3 singles from Christiane Zuber, No. 1 doubles from Heidi Koch and Estella Degraeve, and No. 3 doubles from Natalie Martin and Ruby Pisaturo.
Regardless of their outcome in the MCAL semifinals against Redwood, the Mustangs also hope to secure an at-large berth in the NCS tournament. The team did not apply last year after Zhu was unavailable due to her wrist injury.
Sherley, in her second season as the San Marin coach, has announced she will be stepping down to focus on her youth and adult tennis clinics full-time.
“I’m proud that we got this far,” said Sherley, “It feels really rewarding for us. As a team, as a unit, we’re really connected.”