By ARTHUR HSIEH The Minutemen came out of the gates roaring, playing confident tennis, and got a quick jump on the Moors, finishing the first round, 6-0. The toughest and most exciting set of the round (and of the day) came from the #1 singles duel, as MHS’s Daniel Guan edged out the the Almont […]
By ARTHUR HSIEH
The Minutemen came out of the gates roaring, playing confident tennis, and got a quick jump on the Moors, finishing the first round, 6-0. The toughest and most exciting set of the round (and of the day) came from the #1 singles duel, as MHS’s Daniel Guan edged out the the Almont League’s top player, Patrick Fan, 6-4. It was a hard-hitting, see-saw match with lots of winners, aces, and deuce games. Despite playing the second and third sets with a teammate’s racket, Guan finished off his sweep , 6-1, 6-0.
#2 Jake Scott and #3 Billy Sun also posted dominant 6-1 wins each, even though the sets were tougher than the score looks. Scott also posted another 6-1 win in the second round before falling to Fan in the third.
In doubles, MHS was led by the #1 doubles duo of Matthew Leiva/Michael Mathews, who jumped on AHS’s #1 doubles early and swiftly, not allowing them to get into any rhythm, winning, 6-1. Leiva/Mathews went 6-0, 6-0 the rest of the way.
#2 Billy Tan/Kenny Cho also started off smoking hot, going 6-0, 6-0 before facing a settled down #1 doubles team in the day’s final set and falling short, 3-6, in a highly competitive contest, with several deuce games.
The newly formed #3 doubles team of Tony Gao/Ben Smith got off to a good start, registering a 6-0 victory before falling, 4-6, to the Moors’ #1 doubles. In the final round, Coach Hsieh inserted freshmen alternates Zack Yang and John Zhang in their first official varsity doubles action. The Moors’ coach did the same, inserting their alternates as well. When all was said and done, Yang/Zhang earned their first career victories.
It was a strong showing for the Minutemen, who look to build momentum next week at San Gabriel HS on Tuesday and in their Olympic League opener at home on Thursday against last year’s league runner-up, Tarbut V Torah.
