Girls Tennis:

Thanks to Maranatha for this report

It was opening day for the new look Lady Minutemen, who have only had four days of practice and are still getting to know each other.

With five starters gone from last year’s league champion, CIF-SS D4 semi-finals squad, including the league’s top player (Stella Hsieh) and half of the league’s best doubles team (Kasey McCoy), head Coach Arthur Hsieh will be counting on his young returners to keep improving and to step into leadership roles, if Maranatha is going to have a chance to compete for another league title.

The season opener against the Bulldogs of Pasadena provided an opportunity for the Lady Minutemen to see where they are at. There were positives to take away, as well as areas that need lots of improvement.

The Lady Minutemen were determined not to start off this season like they did when they opened against PHS last year, falling behind quickly and deeply in several 1st round sets, forcing them to produce epic comebacks, including two sets from 1-5 deficits.

This year, the first round saw MHS jump out of the gates well, taking a commanding 6-0 lead. Maranatha won the 2nd round, 4-2, thereby clinching the match. The final round went 3-3, concluding with the most exciting set of the day, as No. 2 Esmee Eaton/Kathryn Khalil fell just short to PHS’s No. 1, 6-7(4).

Today’s match marked the high school tennis debuts of Grace Yang, Laura Garabedian, Madison White, and Doria Chen, as well as the inaugural entry into the starting lineup for returners, Sofia Celis and Diana Sarksyan.

It was an especially auspicious debut for #2 Yang, who racked up a “triple bagel,” defeating her opponents, 6-0, 6-0, 6-0. No. 1 Arminak also handily swept, 6-1, 6-1, 6-0, with No. 3 Sarksyan winning two sets, 6-1, 6-0, while losing, 4-6, to PHS’s No. 1.

In doubles, returners No. 1 Mia Huang/Mia Su enter the season as MHS’s top doubles team. They won, 6-1, 6-1, before being subbed out in the final round for White/Chen. No. 2 Esmee Eaton (reigning league doubles champ)/Kathryn Khalil won 6-1, 6-0 before losing that 6-7 nailbiter. No. 3 Sofia Celis/Laura Garabedian won their opening set, 6-1, before losing their next two, 1-6, 3-6.

Next up for Maranatha is a visit on Thursday to the well-coached San Gabriel Matadors, who they lost to last season, 7-11, in a match that came down to the final two sets, both of which the Matadors won. It marked the first time MHS lost to San Gabriel since Hsieh started coaching, though they have had many close matches through the years. It promises to be another hard-fought match, as it always is when the two schools play.

Photo of Natalie Arminak courtesy of Amanda Lin.