The Lady Mats sustain their perfect record in league play.
Junior Nicole Stomakhin dashes to the other side of the court to return a serve. Stomakhin won 6-1, 6-0 providing a boost for the team. Photo by Elliot Ki

MVHS continued its streak of dominance in league play, defeating Lynbrook High School 5-2 on Oct. 10 in a girls tennis match. MVHS has yet to drop a match during the regular season, other than one loss in the California Classic to the eventual champions Corona del Mar High School.
Although co-captain senior Claudia Kesala was out due to a shoulder injury, the team still did not miss a beat. Co-captain senior Kelsey Chong stepped up and defeated LHS senior Angela Yang 6-2, 6-1. Chong started out slowly, falling behind 0-2 in the first set. However, she shook off the cobwebs and won six consecutive points to win the first set with little trouble.
In doubles, sophomores Anna Kang and Sarah Lim suffered a 4-6, 6-2, 9-11 loss. After taking an early 3-0 lead in the first set, the pair momentarily lost focus and lapsed in game play, falling in the first set. Even though they regained their touch in the second set, the pair failed to close the game out, missing out on three opportunities to win.
In singles, freshman Laura Cao dispatched her opponent LHS junior Yejin Jang 6-0, 6-0. Powerful serves and volleys factored into the easy win. Sophomores Shaili Davuluru and Uma Kirloskar struggled against LHS’ team of senior Annette Ma and junior Megan Wong, falling 3-6, 2-6. The two seemed to be out of sync and some communication errors caused confusion on the court including a time where the pair nearly collided. Junior Nicole Stomakhin beat LHS sophomore Neha Kunjal 6-1, 6-0. Stomakhin had several aces and seemed to be in command during the entire match.
MVHS improved to 14-1 overall and 7-0 in league play. The team has four games left, with their last home game on Oct.29 against Los Altos.