Photo of Reggie Park courtesy of Sandra Hsieh

Tennis:

Thanks to Maranatha tennis for this report:

Early in the season, the Maranatha boys tennis program elected to name four captains – Reggie Park, Russell Sze, Cherif Sauma, and Nate Schumann.

Today’s match proved why, as the foursome won all nine of Maranatha’s points, each sweeping their Coyote opponents.

The rest of the team fought hard and were engaged in six “clutch sets” (sets won/loss by 2 games or less).

Unfortunately for them, they fell just short in all six, losing three sets, 7-6, one, 7-5, and two, 6-4, while holding late leads in four of them.

Those lost close sets weren’t for naught, however, as they helped the Minutemen earn enough games to escape the 9-9 tie with an 88-76 win (in the event of a 9-9 tie, the total number of games from all sets are counted to determine the winner).

In each round, Maranatha threatened to pull ahead to take the lead, only to lose the last set in each round, 7-6, after leading, 6-5, in each set, leaving each round tied.

Seeing the situation after the first round, the captains worked hard to win their remaining sets as decisively as possible.

They succeeded, helping the Minutemen “dodge a bullet” against a much improved league opponent they had never lost to before.

With the win, the Minutemen improve to 5-2 on the season and 2-0 in league play.

Scoreline:

Singles
No. 1 Cherif Sauma 6-4, 6-0, 6-2
No. 2 Reggie Park 6-0, 6-2, 6-4
No. 3 Zach Amirian 4-6, 6-7(4), 0-6

Doubles
No. 1 Nate/Schumann/Russell Sze 6-3, 6-1, 6-2
No. 2 Elvis Zhang/Joseph Yang 3-6, 6-7(4), 5-7
No. 3 Sam Crisman/Ben Forsyth 6-7(2), 4-6
No. 3 Sam Crisman/Marco Lau 1-6

Up next: The Minutemen will play their third match in three days tomorrow, facing another league opponent, the Wildwood Wolves, who boast the best singles lineup in the league, led by the defending league singles champion.

Having already played two long-distance away matches on back-to-back days, and with heavy winds, the Minutemen are looking forward to hosting their second home match of the season.

Though they are a little banged up and worn entering tomorrow’s contest, with league and potential playoff implications on the line, they vow to give it their best shot.