Redwood High's Tennis Season: Near Title, Then a Narrow Semifinal Loss

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Redwood High School's athletic department has been making waves this season. From the tennis courts to the football field and the soccer pitch, the Giants and their athletes have been leaving their mark. Let's take a closer look at some of their remarkable performances.

Unparalleled Athletic Success at Redwood High

Tennis Championships

Redwood High's tennis team had an outstanding season at the CIF Northern California Girls Tennis Championships. They came within a hair's breadth of a title shot, showing their true mettle. In Tuesday's opening round, they earned a solid victory, with Jordan Marotto and Julia Povio winning their singles matches and sweeping doubles play. Marotto won 6-3, 6-0 at No. 1 singles, and Povio won her match at No. 2 with ease, 6-1, 6-0. Ella Povio and Julia Laury won 6-2, 6-2 at No. 1 doubles, while Gwenn Ricordel and Alessia Bailliet won 6-1, 6-2 at No. 2 doubles. Redwood's No. 3 pair of Livia Klompas and Molly Gallagher also scored a 6-3, 6-3 victory. Their strong doubles play put pressure on Los Altos in the semifinal matchup, with both the teams of Ella Povio-Laury and Marotto-Bailliet picking up wins. Los Altos, which beat Washington of San Francisco, 7-0, in the first round, is scheduled to play Menlo for the pennant on Wednesday. Menlo was perfect in a pair of sweeps against Davis and Dublin to reach the finals. The NorCal championships, originally scheduled for the week of November 19, were delayed by a series of intense rain storms.

Football Champions

The North Coast Section 8-person football champions from the Branson School brought home more honors this week. The Bulls' Tom Lardner, Colby Buxton, senior Julian Barnes and senior Mo Jacoby were named to the All-North Coast League II team, and senior Jack Castonguay earned an honorable mention. Branson finished second to Stuart Hall in the NCL II regular season but beat the Knights 40-24 in the NCS 8-person Division I championship on November 23. In his senior campaign at quarterback, Lardner had 32 touchdowns and threw for 1,834 yards and led the Bulls with 2,144 yards. Sophomore running back Buxton rushed for 806 yards on his way to 1,2386 all-purpose yards and 17 touchdowns. Jacoby was an impact player on both sides of the ball, with 10 touchdowns, 37 receptions for 594 yards and 70 tackles. Barnes led the Bulls' defense with seven sacks and 11 tackles for loss. The Bulls (8-2) finished the season ranked third in the state with their third NCS title in four years.

Girls Soccer

Julia Myerberg scored twice and added an assist as Branson (2-0-0) rolled to a 5-0 road win against Lick-Wilmerding on Tuesday. Myerberg did all her damage in the first half, scoring in the sixth minute on an assist from Catrin Howell, assisting a goal by Riley Pearson in the 25th minute, then scoring off a pass from Anya Sridharan in the 37th. Ally Hsieh and Giselle Hernandez added second-half goals, on assists from Whitney Collet and Luna Diaz, respectively. Tam rallied with three goals in the second half to win its season opener, 3-1 against Cardinal Newman on Tuesday. Lauren Willard tied the game at 1-1, scoring on an assist from sophomore Allegra Andreoli, who was making her varsity debut. Tam (1-0-0) went in front on a goal by Ava McMahon, assisted by Addie Covey. McMahon added an insurance goal following a corner kick taken by Willard. Tam is the defending North Coast Section Division II champion while Cardinal Newman was the D-III runner-up. Kiera Plunkett, Leila Olson and Abby Silver found the back of the net as San Domenico (1-0-0) opened the season with a 3-2 win against Drew on Tuesday. Jaela Brown scored four times to lead San Rafael to a 6-0 rout of San Lorenzo on Tuesday. Darby Fones and Ryder Higgins Jones also scored for the Bulldogs (2-0-0). Arlin Guzman had four assists and Joselin Romero also had an assist. Alina Franchetti scored the only goal of the game as Marin Catholic opened the season with a 1-0 win against International on Monday. Sloane Carey provided the assist for MC (1-0-0).

Boys Soccer

Tam (0-0-1) kicked off the season with a 0-0 road draw against Casa Grande on Monday night. The Red-tailed Hawks travel to face Terra Linda in a non-league match on Wednesday.