9.24.2022 –During a wildly impressive weekend, the Menlo girls’ tennis team went 3-1 and took fifth-place in the prestigious Point Loma Invitational Saturday in San Diego.
The Knights (6-3) opened with a nail-biter of a win over Los Altos, tying 3-3 before winning the tiebreaker on sets won 8-7. Their lone loss came to defending tournament champion Canyon Crest 5-1. The Knights overturned No. 3 seed Palos Verdes 4-2 before closing the tournament with a 5-1 win over Westview-San Diego.
Menlo sophomore Andra Braicu went 2-1 at No, 1 singles and teamed with Sofia Labatt for a No.1 doubles win. Freshman Elise Chen and senior Natalie Westermann finished 3-1 at Nos. 2 and 3 singles, respectively. In doubles, Labatt teamed with Braicu once and sophomore Izzy Klugman for a 2-2 mark.
On Day One, Menlo eked out a win on sets after tying Los Altos 3-3. Chen, Westermann picked up wins at Nos. 2 and 3 singles and Labatt and Klugman won at No. 1 doubles.

Westlake defeated Peninsula to take the title, and Canyon Crest defeated Torrey Pines for third place.

The Knights resume league play Tuesday against Crystal at home.

Point Loma Invitational
Fifth-place game
Menlo 5, Westview 1
Elise Chen (M) d. Khansari 6-1, 6-1; Natalie Westermann (M) d. Hong 7-5, 6-3; Charlotte Yao (M) d. Brahmbhatt 6-1, 3-6 (8). Doubles: Andra Braicu-Sofia Labatt (M) d. Dang-Zhu 6-1, 7-6 (0); Wang-Chen (W) d. Izzy Klugman-Kate Hsia6-2, 6-4; Hannah Satuito-Evelyn Zhou (M) d. M. Nguyen-K. Nguyen 6-2, 6-1.

Menlo 4, Palos Verdes 2
Andra Braicu (M) d. Ne 6-3, 6-4; Chen (M) d. Kresser 6-1, 6-1; Westermann (M) d. Vasey 6-1, 6-0. Doubles – Morgan-Simpson\Min (PV) d. Labatt-Klugman 6-1, 6-3; Cobb-Kao (PV) d. Charlotte Makoni-Yao 6-1, 6-3; Ellie Hardegree-Kate Hsia (M) d. Sachar-Feng 7-6,(4), 2-6 (8)

Canyon Crest 5, Menlo 1
Braicu (M) d. Kang 6-3, 6-3, Liu (C) d. Chen 6-4, 2-6 (8); Sinhi (C) d. Westermann 6-7 (5), 6-2. Doubles: Sighe-Shalaen (C) d. Labatt-Klugman 7-5, 7-6 (7); Pierce-Finnegan (C) d. Makoni-Satuito 6-1, 6-2; Ma-Zhang (C) d. Hardegree-Zhou 6-1, 6-2.

Menlo 3, Los Altos 3 (Menlo wins on sets 8-7)
Maraiana (LA) d. Braicu 6-1, 2-6 (10); Chen (M) d. Wallace 6-2, 1-6 (6); Westermann (M) d. Ghaffari 6-1, 6-3. Doubles – Labatt-Klugman (M) d. Chin-Kikuchi 6-4, 6-4; Lai-Shao (LA) d. Yao-Makoni 6-2, 6-3; Mullempati-Rashid (LA) d. Hsai-Hardegree 3-6, 6-4 (5)