Photo of Mia Su courtesy of Amanda Lin.
Girls Tennis:
Thanks to Maranatha tennis for this report:
The learning curve for the Lady Minutemen this season has had to be quick and steep, with over half of its players being new to the sport of tennis.
With less than a week of practices before their first match of the season, they have had to learn the game on the fly, eventually earning an at-large bid to the CIF-SS playoffs.
The intensity of the playoffs is at another level, as the Maranatha players discovered, as they immediately fell behind on all six courts to start today’s 1st round matchup with the Rosemead Panthers, largely due to nerves and inexperience.
The opportunities were there for the Lady Minutemen, as the Panthers were not playing great tennis either; but too many unforced errors and the inability to capitalize cost the Lady Minutemen the opportunity to stay within striking distance in the first round.
Only #2 Mia Su was able to secure a win, while #3 Kathryn Khalil and #1 doubles Mia Huang/Diana Sarksyan were engaged in 4-4 sets, before each losing 6-4 respectively, and leaving the Lady Minutemen in a huge 5-1 hole after the first round.
Maranatha eventually overcame their nerves and raised the level of their play, playing the remaining two rounds to a 6-6 draw, but the damage had already been done.
The bright light for the Lady Minutemen was Su, who rose to the occasion and came up big, playing her best tennis of the season at the most important time. Su swept her opponents, 6-2, 6-4, 6-1 in an impressive display of controlling each set and making her opponents play her game.
Huang/Sarksyan were able to rebound from their first round defeat to win their next two sets, 7-5, 6-0. #1 Grace Yang and #2 Madison White/Jennifer Chu each got untracked in the third set, winning 6-1 and 6-2.
Thus ends the Maranatha girls tennis season. With no seniors, the hope for the Lady Minutemen is that they will work hard in the off-season to develop their skill and gain valuable experience, with the hopes of building upon this season.
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