Thanks to Maranatha for this report
Boys Tennis:
Maranatha, a CIF-SS Division 4 program, knew that defeating the 10th ranked team in Division 3, South Pasadena, would be a tall order, especially after last season’s 13-5 drubbing at the hands of the Tigers, who return 7 of their 9 starters this season.
But the Minutemen knew they had a chance, if they could keep their composure and play the way they knew how.
MHS struck early by playing focused purposeful tennis. It was clear that SPHS wasn’t expecting that caliber of play from the Minutemen, who jumped out to a 5-1 lead after the first round. #1 singles, Tim Huang, set the tone by defeating SP #1, “Finn” McMillan, 6-2, to avenge last year’s 6-0 defeat. #2 Nico Engling defeated SP#2 Leyton Ramos-Platt, 6-0, while #3 Laci Szabo completed the first round singles sweep, with a tough 7-6 (7) win over SP#3, Oliver Nelson.
On the doubles side, #1 Jordan Miao/Joshua Im handily defeated their #1 counterparts, Christopher Wong/Matt Ou, 6-1, while #2 Sean Tang/Sawyer Tarampi bested Winston Chan/Samuel Xu, 6-4. #3 Shahe Yerevanian/Matt Yip lost 6-3 to Joshua Ou/Justin Albert.
Round two was played to a 3-3 draw, with Huang, Engling, and Tang/Tarampi winning, 6-1, 6-0, 6-1. At one point in the second round, Maranatha held a commanding 8-3 lead, before South Pasadena rallied furiously late in the match, winning 6 of the final 7 sets, turning the tables on the Minutemen and going 5-1 in the final round (Huang won, 6-0). With MHS hanging on to a 9-7 lead and the Tigers leading 3-0 on each of the final two courts, Szabo fought back to even the score, 4-4, while Miao/Im rallied to a 5-3 lead. Neither could complete their comebacks, as Szabo lost, 6-4, and Miao/Im lost, 7-6(5), despite also holding a 6-5 lead.
Led by Huang, who swept, singles was the difference today for Maranatha, winning 6 of 9 sets, and doing so with several lopsided wins, which were the difference in the final score. Doubles was able to garner 3 wins, with two of them coming from Tang/Tarampi.
Playing a quality team like South Pasadena was a good test and gauge for Maranatha at this early juncture of the season.
The 3-0 Minutemen travel to Malibu on Thursday to play New Roads in their first-ever Coastal League contest.
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