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Published on 11/17/1997 All articles from this issue

Eagles fall to Menlo in CCS quarterfinals

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By Pete Borello / Town Crier Staff Writer

Tennis roundup

Los Altos High tennis coach Cuong Duong has a simple explanation for his team bowing out in the quarterfinals of the Central Coast Section team tournament Nov. 12.

"They were just better," he said.

"They" in this case refers to No. 3-seed Menlo School, which disposed of No. 6 Los Altos 6-1 at Courtside in Los Gatos.

Duong said the outcome really didn't surprise him.

"Menlo is a very good team," said the first-year coach. "It was going to take everyone to play their best for us to win."

Unfortunately for Los Altos, that didn't happen. The Eagles' lone win came at No. 2 singles where Jennifer Alloo beat Tracy Cheung (a Los Altos resident) 6-3, 6-2.

The Eagles' top singles player, Lena Sherbakov, suffered her first defeat of the year. The freshman fell to Michi Bittner 6-1, 7-5.

Los Altos, which swept unseeded Mountain View in the first round, ends the year with a 17-4 record.

The Eagles' team season may be over, but two of their girls play on.

Sherbakov and Alloo have qualified for the singles portion of the CCS individual tournament, which starts at 12:30 p.m. tomorrow at Courtside.

Sherbakov, the No. 4 seed, takes on unseeded Michelle Forrest of Castilleja. No. 6-seed Alloo goes against unseeded Nancy Mok of Menlo.

Duong believes Sherbakov (23-1) has a good shot at winning the tournament and that Alloo (20-3) could go a long way if she gets by Mok.

If Alloo does defeat Mok, the junior would likely play No. 3-seed Janelle Perez of Burlingame in the quarterfinals at 2:30 p.m. If Sherbakov beats Forrest, the freshman will probably meet top-seed Catherine Hawley of Santa Catalina. Hawley plays unseeded Stephanie Fong of Mountain View in the first round.

Semifinal matches are scheduled for 12:30 p.m. Saturday and the final will be played later that day.

St. Francis is the only local school represented in the doubles competition, which also starts Thursday at 12:30 p.m. at Courtside. The duo of Lesley Muller and Emily Najour are seeded fifth and play unseeded Jory Wood and Sonya Stokes of R.L. Stevenson. The winner is expected to face No. 4 Dianna Goncerenco and Daphnie Chen of Leland at 2:30 p.m.

The semifinals and final rounds will be played Saturday starting at 12:30 p.m.