Tam No. 1 singles player Chloe Mouret-Lafage of hits a forehand during her MCAL girls tennis match against Katie Warrin of Branson at Redwood High School in Larkspur, Calif. on Thursday, Oct. 9, 2025. (Sherry LaVars/Marin Independent Journal)
Bianca Botero-Cortes of Tam returns a ball to Paloma Vano-Rice of Branson during their No. 2 singles match at Redwood High School in Larkspur, Calif. on Thursday, Oct. 9, 2025. (Sherry LaVars/Marin Independent Journal)
Branson No. 1 singles player Katie Warrin moves in for a forehand during her MCAL girls tennis match against Chloe Mouret-Lafage of Tam at Redwood High School in Larkspur, Calif. on Thursday, Oct. 9, 2025. (Sherry LaVars/Marin Independent Journal)
Branson No. 2 singles player Paloma Vano-Rice hits a backhand during her MCAL match against Bianca Botero-Cortes of Tam at Redwood High School in Larkspur, Calif. on Thursday, Oct. 9, 2025. (Sherry LaVars/Marin Independent Journal)
Tam No. 3 singles player Maya Riisgaard hits a forehand during her MCAL girls tennis match against Simone Schachter of Branson at Redwood High School in Larkspur, Calif. on Thursday, Oct. 9, 2025. (Sherry LaVars/Marin Independent Journal)
Branson No. 3 singles player Simone Schachter watches her forehand during MCAL girls tennis match against Maya Riisgaard of Tam at Redwood High School in Larkspur, Calif. on Thursday, Oct. 9, 2025. (Sherry LaVars/Marin Independent Journal)
Branson No. 4 singles player Bailey Hedrick gets a hand from her teammates during introductions at their match against Tam at Redwood High School in Larkspur, Calif. on Thursday, Oct. 9, 2025. (Sherry LaVars/Marin Independent Journal)
Branson No. 2 singles player Paloma Vano-Rice hits a forehand during her match against Bianca Botero-Cortes of Tam during their MCAL girls tennis match at Redwood High School in Larkspur, Calif. on Thursday, Oct. 9, 2025. (Sherry LaVars/Marin Independent Journal)
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Tam No. 1 singles player Chloe Mouret-Lafage of hits a forehand during her MCAL girls tennis match against Katie Warrin of Branson at Redwood High School in Larkspur, Calif. on Thursday, Oct. 9, 2025. (Sherry LaVars/Marin Independent Journal)
Home-court advantage is overrated. Just ask the Tam High girls tennis team.
Playing on the road every match this season while their courts have been taken over by portable buildings due to construction at the school, the Red-Tailed Hawks have become road warriors en route to an unbeaten season.
On Thursday at Redwood, the Red-tailed Hawks were hosts to Branson and continued their hot streak with a 5-2 win. It was the second time this season they had beaten Branson.
Tam (15-0, 13-0 MCAL) also has a pair of key wins over Redwood, making the Hawks the probable top seed for the playoffs later this month. The Red-tailed Hawks’ last MCAL title came in 2019 when they also won the North Coast Section Division I title.
“Given that we’ve had challenges finding tennis courts, everything has come into place thanks to both the district and the community,” said Wally Tice, a longtime assistant who is now head coach. “I had an idea that a couple of freshman players were going to come in and I’m so happy we’ve been able to do what we’ve done so far,”
Besides borrowing Redwood’s courts for their “home” matches, the Hawks practice at Boyle Park in Mill Valley and Marinship in Sausalito, where they must split their singles and doubles players. Mill Valley Tennis Club, Scott Valley Swimming & Tennis Club and Harbor Point have also pitched in with court time to keep the girls sharp.
The inconveniences have seemingly brought the Red-tailed Hawks closer together, according to Tice.
“Seriously, the best part of it is how well our kids have blended and stuck together and supported each other as a team,” said Tice. “Everybody sticks around until the final match is finished, even though we’ve won. It’s fun to win and fun to have this group.”
The Red-tailed Hawks swept all four singles matches thanks to stellar play from two of their newcomers. Freshmen Chloe Mouret-Lafage and Bianca Botero-Cortes took the No. 1 and No. 2 singles matches, dropping only three games combined against Branson’s Katie Warrin and Paloma Vano-Rice.
Tam sophomore Maya Riisgaard at No. 3 and senior Annika Hakes at No. 4 also won their singles matches in straight sets.
Hakes, a senior captain, knows all about MCAL championships and the work it takes to earn a pennant. Last spring, she was a vital member of the Tam swim team that claimed its first league title since 2018.
“I think we have a really special team,” said Hakes. “We’ve definitely been putting in a lot of work and I think we’re getting the results that I think we deserve. We got lucky — we got some really good freshmen — super talented. I hope we can bring it to the finish and win MCAL.”
Sophomore Siena Moglen, another key underclassman for the Hawks, and senior Maria-Jose Stuart won at No. 1 doubles for the deciding match with two courts still in play.
Branson (9-6, 8-4) got wins at No. 2 and No. 3 doubles. The Bulls won North Coast Section Division II titles last season and in 2021.
“It’s nice that there are changes,” said Branson coach Chrissie Costamagna. “We were part of those changes the last few years. I’m excited there’s good competition out there. You can’t always be the top.”
Costamagna reports that many high school teams in Marin had a record number of players turn out for tennis this season. She’s hoping that leads to a full junior varsity schedule; most teams already play exhibition matches once varsity competition concludes.
“I’m just a huge proponent of girls playing tennis,” said Costamagna.