The Menlo girls’ tennis team split matches in the Tyler Nii Champions Cup, defeating Evergreen Valley of San Jose 4-3 before falling to Cupertino 5-2.
The Knights’ Andra Braicu prevailed in a tiebreaker over her Evergreen Valley opponent in a hard-fought No. 1 singles match that lasted nearly three hours.

The tournament is held in memory of Nii, a beloved area tennis pro. Nii had become one of the top young Tennis Industry Professionals in the Bay Area having served as Mitty’s varsity coach, as a teaching professional at Player Capital Tennis in Atherton, and as a USTA NorCal board member.

Menlo 4, Evergreen Valley 3
Andra Braicu (M) d. A. Doan 6-7 (5), 6-3 (3); Gee (EV) d. Natalie Westermann 6-3, 6-2; Elise Chen (M) d. Akkaya 6-3, 6-2; N. Doan d Charlotte Yao 6-2, 6-2. Doubles - Sofia Labatt-Izzy Klugman (M) d. Jain-H. Nguyen 6-1, 6-3; Cheung-M. Nguyen (EV) d. Hannah Satuito-Kate Hsia 6-1, 3-6 (4); Ellie Hardegree-Evelyn Zhou (M) d. Ram-Sanjay 6-1, 6-1

Cupertino 5, Menlo 2
Gaythali (C) d. Braicu 4-1, ret. Allison (C) d. Westermann 6-2, 6-3; Chen (M) d. Neena 6-2, 6-2; Nadia (C) d. Yao 6-2, 6-3.. Doubles - Arohi-Annika (C) d. Labatt-Klugman 6-4, 6-4; Kate Hsia-Satuito d. Cindy-Natalie 6-4, 6-4; Shania-Mia (C) d. Hardegree-Zhou 6-4, 7-5