Iris Xue

Junior Ryan Wu serves against Houston on Feb. 20. The MSMS tennis team posted mixed results against Houston and Heritage Academy in late February, sweeping the former 7-0 and dropping its match against the cross-town competition 4-3.

The MSMS tennis team posted mixed results against Houston and Heritage Academy in late February, sweeping the former 7-0 and dropping its match against the cross-town competition 4-3.

Blue Waves dominate Houston

The Blue Waves didn’t lose a single set while winning a combined 84 games and only dropping 18 against Houston at home on Feb. 20. 

Junior Adair Gaines set the tempo for the afternoon after winning 6-0, 6-0 in less than 30 minutes for Goen’s singles group. Gaines punished every lofted ball — particularly on the opponent’s second serve — and consistently hit winners throughout the match. Gaines was rarely drawn into extended rallies. 

“This match was a great opportunity for me to practice playing offensively with my approach shots and subsequent volleys,” Gaines said. “I also tried to mix up the types of serves I was hitting.”

Junior Yash Malhotra followed with the same scoreline for Frazer’s singles players. Malhotra took advantage of his opponent’s awkward positioning in front of the baseline by aiming deep, consistent shots in front of their feet. 

“The biggest factor in my victory was being able to be consistent and stick to what I knew and not try any risky shots regardless of the score of the match,” Malhotra said. 

In both doubles one matches, cross-court consistency provided the greatest advantage. Frazer juniors Ryan Wu and Ramon Munoz-Montiel won 6-0, 6-3, while Goen senior captain Iris Xue and junior Darshi Kher won 6-0, 6-4. 

Xue said the match helped her and Kher gain more experience playing together.

“This victory was very helpful for all our players to gain confidence and practice their groundstrokes and net play in anticipation for more strenuous regular season and district matches,” Xue said. 

In mixed doubles, senior Sai Narla and junior Zuxia Li won 6-0, 6-1; juniors Joe Yang and Teagan Lotwala won 7-5, 6-3 for Frazer doubles two; and senior Rhianna Drake and junior Antanae Shelton won 6-0, 6-2 for Goen doubles two. 

MSMS tennis loses 4-3 against Heritage Academy 

In a tightly fought match at Heritage Academy, MSMS fell to a 4-3 defeat on Feb. 22. 

Gaines won 6-0, 6-0 for Goen singles, while Wu won 6-1, 6-3 for Frazer singles. 

Munoz-Montiel and Malhotra lost 6-1, 6-0 for Frazer doubles one. Lotwala and junior Sanders Hudson lost 6-0, 6-2 for Frazer doubles two. 

Xue and Kher won 6-4, 7-5 for Goen doubles one. Shelton and junior Nora Ruth Scott lost 6-0, 6-0 for Goen doubles two. 

“In the second set, when we were up 5-2, coach King recommended we experiment with switching sides more often to poach the net, but that move ended up costing us momentum and bringing the score to 5-5,” Xue said. “The last few games were more stressful due to dimmer lighting blurring out the shots on our end of the court, but I’m glad we were able to dig in and focus on winning point-by-point.”

Narla and Li at mixed doubles lost in tiebreakers after winning the first set 6-4, then losing the second set 7-5. 

MSMS travels on the road to Eupora next at 2 p.m. March 19.