Alameda Women's Tennis Fall to #1 Seed Miramonte in NCS quarterfinals

November 14, 2024, Orinda, CA -- The Alameda women's tennis team's season came to a close on a cold night under the lights at Miramonte High. Miramonte's depth on the singles and doubles lines proved too much for the Hornets, with a final tally of 6 matches to 1 for the Matadors in a North Coast Section (NCS) quarterfinal. It was Jeff Jue's first season as head coach of the women's team, aided ably by assistant head coach Russell Yee and first time coach Mary Magellan. Coach Jue, in a email to the Alameda tennis community, said "we are very proud of our team in winning the West Alameda County Conference for the first time in 13 years and finishing in the top eight in the North Coast Section."

It was the final team match for seniors Juliana Johnson, Renata Serna, Abby Moore, Lauren Yee and Lindsay Gilbert. Serna put up a good fight against Jessica Hui, but the Miramonte #3 prevailed 2-6 2-6. Sophie Featherstone at #4 fell to Abby Storer 2-6 2-6 as well. Unfortunately, Alameda #1 Alice Chen was forced to default due to health issues.

Moore and Natalie Wong at #1 doubles were right in it at 3-6 4-6 against Madeleine Essner and Emily Suh. The #2 team of Nora Lloyd and Zoey Jalleh fought to end in the last match to finish, losing 4-6 and 6-7 (5) to Skye Skjorshammer and Amelia Mordy. At #3 doubles, Yee and Caroline Sue lost 2-6 2-6 to a strong team, Audrey Kosla and Sophia Kan.

Alameda veteran tennis player Jeff Pedersen made the trek over the hills to Orinda to cheer on Alameda on Thursday. He reported that "the highlight of the match was watching Juliana Johnson's play at #2 singles. She put on a display of ball striking, shot making and athleticism that resulted in a decisive 6-1, 6-1 win" over Miramonte #2 Madison Silveira. It was Johnson's last singles match for Alameda, going 13-1 over the course of the season. Johnson finished her singles career for Alameda with a 42-23 record, playing in the #1 position for the first three years of high school and #2 this year, and reaching the WACC singles final as a sophomore. Her doubles career continues for at least one more day on Monday, when she will be pairing up with partner Featherstone in the NCS Division I individual championships, taking place at Chabot College. Chen will be competing in the singles championships at Chabot as well.