MHHS LADY MUSTANGS ADVANCE TO THE CIF D1 SEMIFINALS!

 

With 8 courts, most of the matches were able to start right after introductions except #3 doubles.  The Lady Mustangs came out swinging.  The first point went to Mountain House as senior co-captain Ishita Ahelleya took down Lilah Shapiro at #3 singles by a score of 6-0, 6-2.  The next point also went to Mountain House as sophomore Aditi Baskaran defeated Athena Maduros 6-0, 6-3 at #5 singles.  The match got a lot tighter after this as the next 6 matches all went to the 3rd set tie-breaker.

 

At #1 doubles, the senior duo of Gauri Krishna and Varna Maganti took the first set 6-4 but struggled in the second set, losing 1-6.  In the tie-breaker, Krishna and Maganti elevated their game and jumped on top early and won by a score of 10-5 to give Mountain House its 3rd point.  

 

At #4 singles, sophomore Diya Sundar also played a see-saw match, winning the first set 6-4 but dropping the second set 5-7.  In the tie-breaker, Sundar took an early 5-1 lead only to lose the next 5 points to fall behind 5-6.  The Mountain House sophomore regained the momentum quickly however and won the last 5 points in a row to win the tie-breaker 10-6 and gave Mountain House a 4-0 lead.

 

With 5 matches left, Mountain House had to win just 1 of the 5 to clinch the team victory.

 

At #2 doubles, sophomore Dhruvika Samala and freshman Keerthana Jallipalli lost the first set 4-6 but fought back to even the match with a 6-3 win in the second set.  The tie-breaker went back and forth and Mountain House even held a 9-7 lead but multiple errors by the Mountain House pair in the end gave Davis Sr their first point.

 

With the team score at 4-1, all attention turned to #2 singles where superstar sophomore Alicia Rawat (pictured) and Davis Sr's Kyla Schuman were battling in a dog fight with Schuman winning the first set 7-5 and Rawat evening the match with a 6-4 win in the second set.  In the tie-breaker, some excellent shot making by Rawat and multiple errors by Schuman gave Rawat a 10-0 victory and the 5th and clinching point for Mountain House.

 

The next match to finish was at #6 singles where freshman phenom Hansika Dinesh continues to shine, winning 6-2, 2-6 and 10-3 in the tie-breaker. 

 

Junior co-captain Vivian Zhang (pictured) lost a tough 3 setter to Davis #1 Gianna Ji, 1-6, 7-6, 9-11 and senior Nitya Meda and junior Ishika Gupta lost at #3 doubles, 4-6, 1-6, to end the overall match with a 6-3 victory.

 

Zhang, Ahelleya, Rawat and Sundar will travel to Roseville Thursday and Friday to participate in the CIF Sac Joaquin Individual sectionals and the rest of the team will join them next Monday in the team semifinals, against #1 seed St Francis.