Maranatha Boys Tennis Overmatched by Le Lycee, 12-6, in 1st Round of Div. 3 Playoffs

Photo of Eli Su courtesy of Amanda Lin

The big irony that Maranatha’s boys tennis team has been working under this season is that after losing 5 of their top players from last season (all singles players and two of their top doubles players), they moved up a division to CIF-SS Division 3 (a division they’ve only played in twice before – ’18 and COVID-shortened ’20), despite being reduced to a mid-Division 5 level squad.

They faced the reality of that mismatch today against a Le Lycee team that had just too much fire power and depth. They even spotted the Minutemen a 3-0 lead when one of their players was unavailable.

With the lead, Maranatha actually had a window that they could have squeezed through to pull out the win; but their doubles teams would have to turn the corner on something they’ve had trouble doing all season … winning the close ones. There were 5 such sets today; but they only came up with one of them, as Joshua Im/Eli Su rallied back from a 2-5 deficit in the tie-breaker to win 8-6. The Minutemen lost 3 other sets, 4-6, and a set, 5-7, in which they had a 4-0 lead. Had they won those sets, they would be moving on to the 2nd round. But that’s a tall ask, especially under the pressure of the playoffs, for a team still learning how to continue to play their best in “crunch time.”

The Minutemen finish the season with a 7-5-1 record and 2nd place in league, both far better than anyone expected. They reached their goal of making the playoffs by making constant progress this season under the direction of a dedicated coaching staff – Coach Arthur Hsieh and his assistant coaches, Preston Geeting, Amanda Lin, and John McNall – who poured themselves into helping the Minutemen grow and mature as players and as young men.

The team says farewell to their seniors and captains, Joshua Im, Shahe Yerevanian, and Victor Qiao, which marks the second straight year of significant departures.

While this marks the end of the season for the team, Im and Yerevanian still have some tennis to play, as they have qualified to represent the Coastal League in doubles at the prestigious CIF-SS Individuals Sectionals on May 18.

Maranatha High School, 169 S. St. John Avenue, Pasadena, (626) 817-4000 or visit www.maranathahighschool.org.