Boys varsity tennis wins 4-3 against Lynbrook
It was only a couple weeks ago when MVHS swept the board 7-0 in a tennis match against Lynbrook High School, but on April 6, the Matadors only managed to pull out a 4-3 win over Lynbrook.
In a heated doubles match, teammates seniors Aditya Mangipudi and Thomas Chow faced a tough loss, losing their match 0-2.
Mangipudi started off the game serving well, with two aces in a row, making the score 30-love. But double faults on a majority of his serves allowed the Vikings to catch up and win the game, putting them up 1-0 in the set. 
After two more games, Mangipudi and Chow managed to gain a lead after correcting their previous service errors. A few Lynbrook faults assisted by Chow’s strong front court performance allowed the Matadors to add another game to their lead. Lynbrook then countered by winning a game themselves, putting the score 3-2.
The next games were evenly placed, eventually putting both teams with four games a piece. Then Mangipudi began to stutter in his serves and they lost the next game, putting Lynbrook a game away from winning the entire set. Lynbrook swept the entire final game, leaving Mangipudi and Chow scoreless, and winning the first set of three in the match.
It was necessary for the Matadors to win the next set, as the match was best of three. The entire set was littered with free points for the Vikings due to double faults on serves. Chow and Mangipudi managed to push through and win two games, but they could not outrun their serving mistakes. In the deciding game for the Vikings, lack of aggressiveness on the Matadors’ side forced them to always be on the defensive. Lynbrook won the game 45-15 after Chow narrowly missed the court, and as a result, the Vikings won the set 2-0.
"We weren’t being aggressive enough, that’s it, we need to work on consistency and returning the ball," Chow said. This was a disappointing loss for Chow and Mangipudi, as in their last match against Lynbrook, they swept the Vikings. A rematch may be possible if both teams enter the CCS tournament.
Junior Amreet Mohanty, nicknamed "T-swiftsupersize" by his teammates after country singer Taylor Swift, slowly lost his rhythm in his match against his Viking opponent. Though starting off strong in his first set, Mohanty soon found himself playing like the message in Swift’s new song "Jump then Fall".
In his first set, he delivered powerful serves, made key saves and adjusted tactically to Lynbrook’s Viswajit Simhadri’s deep shots. At 30-love, Mohanty took a shot and smartly placed it down the left sideline, far out of reach from Simhadri. After allowing Simhadri to pull in the lead 3-2, Mohanty became angered with his simple mistakes; however, he was able to channel his frustration into aggression, winning the next game to tie it up 3-3. Unfortunately, he was unable to maintain his aggression throughout the rest of the set, as he lost 3-6.
Mohanty then hit a winner by passing his opponent with a spot-on forehand shot to score the first point of the second set in his favor. With net skimming serves and smart shots, Mohanty was able to move his opponent around where he wanted. However, the instant Mohanty became unfocused, he allowed Simhadri the chance to score three points in a row.
"The other guy was really up on winning because he’s never beaten Amreet. Amreet was staying too far back in the red, and you can’t beat a guy standing all the way back there," coach Becker said.
For game point in the fifth game, when Mohanty was playing up at the net, Simhadri swung and hit the ball slightly past Mohanty to put himself at a 4-1 lead over Mohanty.
Both players held serve for the next two games. Although Mohanty was already up 30-love by scoring two consecutive winners, he continued to execute to his full potential and finally hit a deep corner shot for game point. Though Mohanty easily won his last game, he was unable to fend off Simhadri in the next game and lost the set 2-6.
Despite his usual high record and improvement over this past season, Mohanty lost his match 0-2.
"Half of the players are playing real well, but half aren’t putting in quite the effort. Amreet is playing well though. He’s really trying hard, and I think he is just worn out. He gives it his all all the time," coach Becker said.
The boys varsity tennis team plays its last match against the Homestead Mustangs on April 20.
