Menlo News September 20, 2025

Tennis first NorCal team to win Point Loma

Knights defeat Mira Costa in championship thriller

Forgive the Menlo girls’ tennis players if their voices are a whisper Monday.

They spent Friday and Saturday, screaming in support for their teammates before Menlo School girls’ tennis captured the Point Loma Invitational to become the first Northern California team to win the title.
The Knights won in dramatic fashion, defeating Mira Costa 53-52 on games after the match was tied 3-3.
Before that, Menlo turned the tables on two opponents to which they suffered narrow losses in the Golden State Classic at home. The girls defeated Canyon Crest Academy and Palos Verdes each 4-2.

“This showed the potential of our team because even though it’s early in the season, we’ve grown so much in the past few weeks, and it shows how much further we can go,” Chen said. “We had such high hopes after winning those two big matches, and just talking with the girls, we stressed keeping the energy high.

“I think the most important part was just to keep instilling in the team that enerfy and support - doesn’t matter how badly we do - that is what’s going to keep us going.”

Singles swept for Menlo with junior Emily Li, sophomore Celena Gao and senior Elise Chen defeating all four teams.

In doubles, freshman Leighton Bardony won with sophomore Bella Liu against Peninsula, teamed with junior Sophia Jia for a win against Palos Verdes, and with senior Sulia Gayle for a tiebreaker win over Canyon Crest.

“In the toughest times when it was 2-all in the matches, and we’re waiting for the last two matches to finish, and they were 10-point tiebreaks, and we needed them to win, everyone was so loud,” Chen added. “There wasn’t one person who wasn’t screaming at the top of their lungs.