Girls Tennis:
Thanks to Maranatha for this report:
For the third time since 2012, Maranatha will not be crowned as Olympic League champions; but it isn’t for lack of opportunities.
The opportunities were there in abundance.
But opportunities must be accompanied by hunger and a will to win to result in a championship.
The latter two are where the Lady Minutemen fell short this season.
It was almost as if they expected to win, because they are Maranatha.
In the last two heartbreaking 9-9 losses to Valley Christian and Village Christian, the hungrier team won.
The Maranatha player to whom that does not apply to, however, is their top player, Natalie Arminak, who has been constantly improving throughout the season, especially in the heart and will power departments.
In a season of breakthroughs for her, she broke through again today, sweeping the best singles lineup in the league.
She first defeated No. 1 Karen Shin, 7-5, who was undefeated in league coming into today’s match, and will be named league singles MVP next week.
She then defeated No. 2 Mia Martinez, 6-4, avenging a 6-0, 6-0 loss in the semifinals of last year’s league tournament and a loss earlier in the season.
In defeating No. 3 Natalie Chorbajian, 6-3, Arminak completed the only sweep in the league this season of the Crusaders’ vaunted singles squad.
No. 2 singles Grace Yang also did her part to help the Lady Minutemen, by defeating Martinez and Chorbajian, 6-4, 6-3.
Where Maranatha fell short was in the doubles department, where they dropped five sets, after dominating Village’s doubles in their first two meetings.
The four sets they won were garnered by No. 1 Mia Huang/Mia Su and No. 2 Kathryn Khalil/Laura Garabedian.
Maranatha’s hopes were that one of them could break through and defeat Village’s No. 1 doubles, Ella Salzarulo/Mabyn Kim, who only have one loss in league and will be named league doubles MVP’s.
They both had their opportunities, losing 6-4 and 7-5 respectively, but Salzarulo/Kim were the hungrier duo and finished with more fire and composure in the biggest moments of both sets.
A win today would have secured a share of another league championship for Maranatha with Valley Christian, who, with Maranatha’s loss today, have won their first league championship since 2011.
The Lady Minutemen finish their regular season 11-5 overall and 6-3 in league. By virtue of their second place league finish, they have qualified for the CIF-SS playoffs in two weeks.
Photo of Kathryn Khalil courtesy of Amanda Lin
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