Having played all of four doubles matches together this season, Rachel Smith and Erin Glasspool were perhaps looking for any edge they could find entering the first round of Monday's Central Coast Section Girls Doubles Championships in Los Gatos.
Despite their brief time together, the San Benito pairing had developed several lucky charms. And with their sudden and somewhat surprising rise through the Tri-County Athletic League ranks as a doubles team, testing the boundaries of circumstance and belief one last time seemed like an obvious choice.
"But our superstitions didn't work," laughed Smith, who was donning a lucky red ribbon in her hair, and later admitted to her lucky pre-match breakfast of Capt. Crunch.
Playing just their fifth match as a doubles team Monday at the Courtside Club in Los Gatos - the makeshift pairing won all four of their matches at the TCAL Tournament to advance to the CCS bracket - Smith and Glasspool met their match in second-seeded Malavika Padmanabhan and Lisa Asai of Saratoga, who showcased their experience and some powerful serving to defeat the Lady Baler duo in straight sets, 6-1, 6-1.
"I think we played our best," Smith said. "They're just one of the best teams we've played."
"Were," Glasspool said simply.
"Yeah," Smith added. "They were the best team we've played."
While the superstitions continued - Smith and Glasspool always pick the green home card to display their courtside score, and always choose up during the pre-match racket spin, a coin toss of sorts in tennis - it may just have been Saratoga's experience that was the difference.
After Padmanabhan and Asai quickly took the first game, the two teams found themselves in three straight deuce situations in the second, third and fourth games.
"It feels like a regular point in the game," Smith said. "But it's a point you've got to win."
San Benito was only able to win one of the games that was knotted at 40-40, as Saratoga built a 3-1 lead in the first set.
"That's when experience helps you out a little bit," San Benito head coach Ed Cecena said. "There were some nerves, but that's to be expected. I think they got over the nerves and settled into the match and that was good to see."
Although not a deuce, San Benito trailed by just a 40-30 margin in the fifth game when their return shot sailed out of bounds. The hitting error supplied Padmanabhan and Asai with a 4-1 first-set lead, and the Saratoga duo never looked back.
"That No. 2 seed was very good," Cecena said. "They were a faster team, but I'm proud of the performance Rachel and Erin had. They had fun and enjoyed themselves. They just came up against a real good doubles team."
In the second set, Saratoga jumped out to a 4-0 lead when San Benito received a little help from the net. Trailing 40-30, Smith's return shot nipped the top of the net, falling well short of either Saratoga player for a counter shot, while Padmanabhan's return volley on the ensuing deuce ended with a hitting error into the net.
But unable to build upon its win, San Benito dropped the remaining two games in the set.
"They had more experience," Glasspool said.
"Just being here with all these top teams, it's really intimidating," Smith added.
"But then again," Glasspool said, "it was kind of cool just to come."
The junior Glasspool had played mostly No. 2 doubles this season with several different partners, none of whom were Smith. The senior Lady Baler was San Benito's No. 2 singles player this season, and only teamed up with Glasspool for doubles during practice and in the TCAL Tournament, where the makeshift duo won four straight matches to earn the league title.
Following in the footsteps of last year's makeshift doubles team in Amanda Marshall and Abbie Woods, Smith and Glasspool were only the second individual qualifiers from San Benito to advance to CCS since 2004.
"I'm just happy we made it here," Smith said. "We didn't even expect to get here."
Andrew Matheson Andrew Matheson is a sports writer for South Valley Newspapers. He can be reached at 831-637-5566 ext. 334 or at amatheson@svnewspapers.com.
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