In a close home game against South Pontotoc, the Blue Waves tennis team lost 4-3 in its season opener on Feb. 15.
The Goen doubles teams faced mixed results. Senior Iris Xue and junior Darshi Kher won 6-3, 6-3 for the doubles one team. Seniors Mariane Powell and Sydney Beane won the first set but lost following a third set tiebreaker for the doubles two team.
The Frazer doubles teams performed similarly, with doubles one juniors Ramon Munoz-Montiel and Ryan Wu winning 6-1, 6-1. The doubles two team, featuring juniors Joe Yang and Jordan Osborne, lost in straight sets.
The mixed doubles team of junior Zuxia Li and senior Sai Narla also met defeat in two sets.
The team’s singles players nearly secured two wins, with Goen junior Adair Gaines winning 6-0, 6-0 and Frazer junior Yash Malhotra losing a close game in straight sets.
The Blue Waves encountered setbacks due to the absence of two Frazer members, resulting in new pairings and players getting shuffled in the rankings. Despite this, the team still came exceedingly close to locking in a win.
“Tennis is a very exact game, and it can come down to a single shot. That is what happened [against South Pontotoc],” Gaines said. “Even if our absent teammates had been here, we all still need improvement. We must live with that and play just as we would without them.”
Malhotra, who almost clinched a victory in a thrilling match against his opponent, said he viewed the loss as a constructive start to the season for him and the rest of the team to unwind and garner more experience.
“There were things I could have done to change the outcome of the match, and hopefully, working on those things throughout the season will help me win the remainder of the matches,” Malhotra said. “All these games are to help us prepare for the district matches, and by doing so, we are building a team more comfortable with themselves and their teammates.”
Although this might not be a flawless opening to the team’s spring season, the players have hopeful anticipations for the upcoming games.
“I expect our recent performance will not be representative of our performance later in the season,” Gaines said. “One court can only contribute one point to the overall score. If each player focuses on that point for their respective court, we are [all set].”
MSMS faces New Hope next at 4 p.m. Monday [Feb. 26] at the MUW Garret Tennis Courts.
