Photo of Cherif Sauma courtesy of Sandra Hsieh

Boys Tennis:

Thanks to Maranatha tennis for this report:

In his pre-match briefing, Coach Arthur Hsieh warned his squad that today’s match against the Moors would come down to the wire, as that’s exactly how their matches the last two seasons have turned out, with Maranatha winning the final set in dramatic fashion to clinch the victory.

Today’s match followed the same script, as the two evenly-matched teams battled neck-and-neck the entire way.

The first round started with #1 Matt Yip/Reggie Park and #2 Nate Schumann/Russell Sze winning 6-0, 6-1 respectively.

The key moment in the first round was the day’s best set, between the teams’ top singles players, MHS’s Cherif Sauma and AHS’s Dylan Luhar.

In a set full of deuces and clutch shot-making from both players, Sauma won, 6-2, though it was much closer than the score indicates.

The win avenged last year’s 6-3 defeat for Sauma.

It also pulled Maranatha ahead 3-2 in the match.

At #3 singles, Will Klop was in an even set when his opponent went down with an injury, forcing a 6-4 forfeit to Klop, and giving Maranatha a 4-2 advantage.

The Moors evened things up at 6-6 after the second round.

Sauma won MHS’s only singles point, 6-0, against the Moor’s injury replacement, while Yip/Park won their only doubles point, 6-2.

Schumann/Sze fought back from a 5-3 deficit to take a 6-5 lead, only to lose 9-7 in a 6-6 tie-breaker.

Coach Hsieh felt confident heading into the third round, as he expected two wins apiece from singles and doubles.

The round started as planned, with #2 Pierre Adrien registering his first win of the day, 6-0, and Yip/Park completing their sweep with a 6-2 win.

The Moors responded with two wins of their own.

With the score at 8-8, things looked bleak for the Minutemen, with Sauma behind 4-0 to the Moors’ #2 and Schumann/Sze on the brink of defeat, down 5-2.

Knowing that if the match ended at 9-9, Maranatha would win (based on total games won), Coach Hsieh informed Sauma at the changeover (down 4-1) that if he can find a way to fight back and win, Maranatha would win the match; if he loses, they will lose.

Sauma understood, doubled down, and fought back for a thrilling 6-4 comeback win, giving the needed ninth point.

Down 5-2, Schumann/Sze made a critical adjustment to their strategy that the Moors weren’t able to adjust to, resulting in another improbable thrilling comeback victory, 7-5.

This gave Maranatha their third consecutive 10-8 win over Alhambra.

Tomorrow, the Minutemen (3-2) finish their gauntlet of three matches in three days, as they host league foe, New Roads, the reigning CIF-SS Division 6 champions.

Each team is vying for one of the league’s allotted CIF-SS playoff spots.