Los Altos High sophomore phenom Bella Mariona has proven herself the best in the Central Coast Section after winning the singles championship for the Eagles.
Mariona won the Nov. 15 final in her first CCS singles tournament experience as the No. 3 seed by defeating Hannah Rutherford of Mountain View in the first round, Ava Doan of Evergreen Valley in the quarterfinals, Rachel Gee of Evergreen Valley in the semifinals and Varsha Jawadi of Aragon in the final. The first round and quarterfinals occurred Nov. 13, with the semifinals and final two days later.
“Going into the tournament, I knew I was going to play girls who were good, who are at a really high level, and I knew it was going to be tough to win,” Mariona said.
Los Altos High tennis coach Hung Nguyen noted this is the first time he has had a singles winner since he started coaching at the school over a decade ago, though there have been some finalists. Nguyen praised Mariona for her commitment to improve and said she knew how to handle the pressure after competing in high-level tournaments across the country as part of the United States Tennis Association and knowing how to train tactically. Mariona is a top 100 nationally ranked player in the Class of 2026 and the No. 1 player for the Eagles team that reached the CCS semifinals.
“I think it gives her a lot more satisfaction and pride to win for not only herself, but for the school,” Nguyen said.
Mariona’s mother, Marisue Jacutin-Mariona, is a former professional tennis player who represented the Philippines national team in the 1990s and later played in college. Her father, Rodrigo Mariona, played professional soccer briefly in Kansas City. Nguyen said her parents did an excellent job teaching hard work and respect for the game, praising her for her demeanor and calmness under pressure in tournament play.
One of Mariona’s toughest tests was in the semifinal match against Gee that finished 7-6, 6-3 and could have gone either way, with Mariona playing a clean match to win, Nguyen said. Mariona and Gee are good friends who have played and trained against one another. Most of their matches against one another are back-and-forth games, with the semifinal the first time in two years Mariona has won against Gee in straight sets.
“We just have good competition against each other and always push each other to do good,” Mariona said.
Mariona is a right-handed player who tries to be aggressive and control the tempo offensively. Throughout the tournament and season, she has come up to the net more to attempt riskier shots to win matches.
“I like to be a little more fearless when I am playing,” Mariona said.
In the final, Mariona beat Jawadi 6-1, 6-1 by not giving away much against a familiar opponent and friend.
“In that match, I was just really motivated,” Mariona said. “I feel like I dominated.”
With the tennis season now over, Mariona will join the varsity soccer team as a forward after spending last season on the junior varsity squad.
