Menlo boys’ tennis is headed to the state championship!

The top-seeded Knights defeated California 6-1 in the championship match Saturday at Broadstone Racquet Club in Folsom. NorCal champion Menlo is now set to play SoCal champion University-Irvine for a rematch of the Knights’ lone loss at the National Invitational Tournament. The teams play at 10:00am at Sierra Sport and Racquet Club in Fresno.

“Our team is really excited to play against University,” junior Yuanye Ma said. “Having the opportunity to face them again in the state match gives us a chance to show how far we’ve come since that loss. We’re definitely motivated and looking forward to competing at our best.”

Menlo has rolled up 29 victories and has not lost since under first-year coach Francis Sargeant.

Against California, senior Cooper Han defeated Kenn Wilekara 6-0, 6-0 at No. 1. Junior Yuanye Ma Beat Jerry Xu 6-1, 6-1 at No. 2 while sophomore Lucas Huang took a 6-4, 6-1 win oer Elbert Said at No. 3. Freshman Surya De Datta made it a singles sweep, defeating Aditya Power 6-3, 6-1.

In doubles, junior Arki Temsamani and freshman Riley Huang beat Vincent Le and Satvik Mallya 6-1, 6-3 at No.1. Senior captains Kavan Kumar and Ben Levin teamed for a 6-3, 6-1 win over Ayaan Krishnan and Viseh Verma at No.3 doubles.  Sophomore David Lipeles and James Park fell in a third-set tiebreak at No. 2.

The Knights defeated Lowell 6-1 and Amador Valley 7-0 to get to the NorCal final

” Making the state championship this season really means a lot to all of us on the team, especially after last season, where we had a pretty disappointing season, losing in the semifinals of CCS, in addition to it being Coach Bill’s last season coaching,” Ma said. “I think it also means a lot because of the consistent hard work that we have all been putting in every day at practice. “