Junior Izzy Klugman will never forget scoring that final point. The final point that won Klugman her match and crowned Menlo’s varsity girls tennis team CCS champions. The team rushed the court and celebrated the last league victory of retiring coach Bill Shine’s storied Menlo career.
The Knights faced reigning CCS champion Monte Vista in the finals and won their matches 5-2. “We were playing for the title, of course, but also to beat Monta Vista,” senior Lucinda Schafer said in a message to the Coat of Arms. Monte Vista was the team’s first loss of the season.
Before facing reigning champion Monte Vista in the finals, the Knights first had to defeat Los Altos in the semifinals. “We were the underdogs,” Klugman said in a message to the Coat of Arms. “Los Altos on paper was the better team and Monta Vista had won CCS [the year before].”
After winning the semifinal match, Shine gave a talk emphasizing the team’s ability to win, even against such a formidable opponent. “This is when I realized that, ‘Wow we [do] actually have a chance at this,’” Klugman said.
Shine himself has also been an inspiration for the girls since the beginning of the season. “The team was saying, ‘We wanna make this the best year for Bill and go as far as possible,’” Klugman said. “I’m just really happy that we get to do this for Bill and make this last year something he’ll remember.”
