On Thursday, Ahelleya and Zhang, joined by sophomores Alicia Rawat and Diya Sunday, traveled north to Johnson Ranch Tennis Center to compete in the CIF Sac Joaquin Section individual tournament. Both teams cruised through their first two rounds, winning with the identical scores of 6-0, 6-0 and 6-0, 6-1. Ahelleya and Zhang beat the Livingston team and the Los Banos team. Rawat and Sundar beat the Tokay team and the Merced team.
On Friday, both teams returned to face two Placer teams in the semifinals. Ahelleya and Zhang defeated their opponents 6-1, 6-1 to advance to the finals. Rawat and Sundar had a tougher match against Placer's top team. They jumped on top and won the first set 6-2 and were up 5-2 in the second set. The wheels fell off this point and the Placer team ran off 4 straight games to take a 6-5 lead. Rawat and Sundar regrouped and won the next game to push the second set into a tie-breaker. They won 6 of the first 8 points to take a commanding 6-2 lead with 4 match points but had to fight to win that last point, finally winning the tiebreaker 7-5. Their victory set up a finals rematch against Ahelleya and Zhang who beat them 6-3, 6-2, in the league finals just a week ago.
While it was a friendly match between teammates, you could still feel the tension in the air. Ahelleya and Zhang won a competitive first set 6-3 but Rawat and Sundar fought valiantly in the second set, tying the score at 4-4 before some big shots by Ahelleya and Zhang clinched the final victory.
Most of the best players in MHHS girls tennis history (over the last 9 years) have never even advanced to the sectional finals in singles or doubles. For Zhang, it was the 3rd consecutive time in 3 years that she has reached the sectional finals but lost the first two so this victory was extra special. "I have known Vivian since the 5th grade and have watched her tennis skills grow year after year. A wrist injury in the preseason prevented her from participating in the entire season but careful and cautious management gave her a chance to win this title with Ishita. All the hard work over the years and specifically this year finally paid off," said Coach Andy Su.
For Ahelleya, one of the most beloved teammates over the last 4 years, what a fantastic way to end her high school career. Not only did she win her first league doubles title (with Zhang), she became one of the first two girls (with Zhang) to win an individual sectional doubles title in school history. Ahelleya ends her career on top of most of the record lists (most matches played, most wins, most singles wins.)
"Not only is Ishita a fantastic tennis player and leader, she is an even better student and person who will do great things in the future," said Coach Su.