By ARTHUR HSIEH The D-5 Lady Minutemen opened up their season against D-4, Westridge, a team they have not beaten in the modern era. It marked the 1st career match in a Maranatha uniform by junior, Madison Kane, sophomore, Georgia Wilder, freshman, Amanda Yee, and senior, Molly Mittelberg. MHS got off to a strong start, […]
By ARTHUR HSIEH
The D-5 Lady Minutemen opened up their season against D-4, Westridge, a team they have not beaten in the modern era. It marked the 1st career match in a Maranatha uniform by junior, Madison Kane, sophomore, Georgia Wilder, freshman, Amanda Yee, and senior, Molly Mittelberg. MHS got off to a strong start, leading 4-2 after the first round, highlighted by the match-up of the day between the two #1 singles players, Kane and Caroline Lopez. Kane prevailed in a highly contested set, 6-2. The first round was also punctuated by a 6-0 victory by the newly formed #1 doubles team of juniors Michael Wilkins and Aria Haver-Hill. #3 singles, Wilder, and #3 doubles, junior Shuhan Yang/freshman Amanda Yee each won their first sets, 7-5 and 6-2 respectively.
The Tigers and Lady Minutemen split the second round, 3-3, with Kane, Wilkins/Haver-Hill, and seniors Rose Zhang and Stella Wang pulling out victories, 6-0, 7-6(2), and 6-3. MHS led 7-5.
The third round did Maranatha in. Leading 9-7 after Kane and Wilkins/Haver-Hill completed their 3 set sweeps on the day, the Tigers won their final two sets, tying the match. Ultimately, the four 0-6 sets and the one 1-6 set would spell Maranatha’s doom, leaving them short on games.
It was a tough loss to swallow for the Lady Minutemen, who showed potential for a promising season. Whether that comes to fruition will depend on whether returning team leaders rebound from sub-par performances today and show the grit and focus to reach the potential they are capable of. If they do, and if today’s leaders continue their trajectory, Maranatha may just find themselves in mix deep in the CIF-SS D-5 playoffs in November. Time will tell that story.
