Completing a postseason trifecta, the Menlo boys’ tennis team captured the CIF-NorCal Championship in dominating fashion with a 7-0 win over Cupertino in the final Saturday.
At the Broadstone Racquet Club, Menlo defeated ’Tino in a rematch of the CCS Championship, which the Knights won by a slimmer margin 4-3.
“They played their best match of the year,” said Menlo coach Bill Shine who celebrated his birthday and a NorCal win on Saturday. It is the 14th NorCal Championship in program history.
“We just tried to stay focused and just get the win,” Burnett said. “It was also Bill’s birthday when we won so we wanted to win for him as well.”

And, that’s saying a lot considering the Knights went 21-0 through NorCals, and 46-3 in CCS and NorCal matches. They finished the season with a remarkable 27-1 record, falling only to University in the National Invitation Tournament in Orange County.
In the final, sophomore Evan Burnett took charge, winning 6-1, 6-7 (4). Seniors Alex Volgin won 6-2, 7-5; Mick Tamas cruised 6-0, 6-0 and Soren Sutaria 6-1, 6-2 to sweep singles, In doubles, freshman Cooper Han and senior Rishi Jain won 6-1, 6-0. Seniors Rohan Shah and Nik Khuntia teamed for a 6-0, 6-2 victory at No. 2 doubles and juniors Nikhil Agarwal and Tudor Braicu sailed to a 6-1, 6-1 win over Cupertino, who was missing a few players.
Burnett, who battled injury earlier this season, has come back strong. The team has been consistently playing strong with a deep lineup and a core of seniors.
“It’s such a great group of guys and we all have so much fun together no matter what we’re doing,” Burnett said. Our trip down to Newport definitely brought us closer and made the rest of the season even better. We have so many seniors on the team and all of them made such a positive impact on the team and I’m happy that we could have such a great season before they go off to college. Next year will be so much different without them but I’m looking forward to it, and we’ll be trying to repeat CCS and NorCals.”

CIF-NorCal Championships

at Broadstone Racquet Club

Menlo 7, Cupertino 0

Evan Burnett d. Kim 6-1, 6-7 (4); Alex Volgin d. Anand 6-2, 7-5; Mick Tamas d. Parman 6-0, 6-0; Soren Sutaria d Ayre 6-1, 6-2. Doubles: Cooper Han-Rishi Jain d. Medam-Hikida 6-1, 6-0; Rohan Shah-Nik Khuntia d. Naman-Hebber 6-0, 6-2; Tudor Braicu-Nikhil Agarwal d. Chisholm -Krisman 6-1, 6-1.

Menlo 7, Redwood 0
Burnett d. Carpenter 6-1, 6-3; Volgin d. Gerber 6-4, 6-2; Tamas d. Monatuk 6-1, 6-0; Sutaria d. Devilbus 6-0, 6-1. Doubles: Han-Jain d. Blackmon-Brancotti 6-3, 4-6 (6); Khuntia-Shah d. Sichel-Feehaw 6-2, 3-6 (3); Agarwal-Braicud. Cubillas-Lee 6-4, 6-1

Menlo 7, Pleasant Valley 0
Volgin d. Lee 7-5, 6-2; Tamas d. Foster 6-1, 6-1; Braicu d. Veresic 6-1, 6-2; Nishan Rajavasireddy d. Kuper 6-3, 6-1. Doubles: Khuntia-Sutaria d. Huston-Martin6-1, 6-0; Agarwal-Sam Engel d. Martin-Mestin 6-0, 6-0; Wil Perez-Nikhil Kothari d. Carmack-Coleman 6-1, 6-0.