Photo of Mia Su/Madison White courtesy of Sandra Hsieh
Thanks to Maranatha tennis for this report:
In recent years, the Village Christian Crusaders have risen under the leadership of Coach Jonathan Ngai (a Maranatha alumnus).
They have improved each season, finally winning the Olympic League title last season (the first in school history), sweeping Maranatha in the process.
Coming into today’s league opener against the league champs, the Lady Minutemen knew they were the underdogs and would have to play focused tennis from top to bottom to have a chance to compete.
Everyone would have to contribute.
In the opening round, it was apparent that Maranatha was dealing with nerves, as they fell behind early; but No. 2 and No. 3 doubles – Mia Su/Madison White and Kathryn Khalil/Diana Sarksyan – then finished with identical 6-1 wins, to close the gap and bring the overall score to 2-3, showing the team’s depth.
In the final set of the round (between the No. 2 singles players), Sarah Fong was ahead 5-4, but she trailed 15-40 in the game.
After crushing two crosscourt forehands, she brought the score to deuce.
After splitting the next two points, it came down to the deciding “deuce plus one” point, which Fong won with another aggressive forehand.
Maranatha players and supporters cheered, as Fong evened the score at 3-3.
This gave the Lady Minutemen confidence and hope, knowing they hadn’t played their best tennis yet.
What had the makings of a classic match quickly subsided in the 2nd round when the Crusaders’ top player was unable to continue.
Instead of taking a narrow 7-5 lead into the 3rd round, the lead became 8-4 with her absence.
With No. 1 Mia Huang/Jennifer Chu joining their doubles teammates in the win column (6-2), Maranatha completed a doubles’ sweep.
Su/White registered the upset of the day by defeating the Crusaders’ top doubles team, 6-2, in an impressive showing of teamwork and grit.
Khalil/Sarksyan continued their dominant play, registering another 6-1 victory.
In singles, No. 1 Grace Yang got on the board with a bounceback 6-2 victory, while Fong took care of the Crusaders’ singles substitute, 6-1.
With the Lady Minutemen riding their momentum into the 3rd round, it wasn’t too long before the match was decided, with Yang and Huang/Chu each winning, 6-0, guaranteeing Maranatha the victory.
No. 3 Hannah Su claimed her first win, 6-2, while Su/White closed out the day with a 6-3 victory.
The two teams will meet up again for the last match of the regular season, and there’s no doubt that the Crusaders will be seeking to even the score.
There will likely be a lot at stake, with league placements determining who gets the two league playoff berths in the CIF-SS Team Championships in November.
Up next: The Lady Minutemen (10-0) will be another league heavyweight, the Valley Christian Defenders, who swept Maranatha on their way to being league runners-up last season. Maranatha will host the Defenders next Tuesday.
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