Waubonsie Valley boys tennis travels to Metea Valley in the opening matchup of the DVC season. In last year’s meeting, the Mustangs got the road victory 6-1. This highlight is sponsored by BMO.
Ishaan Suresh gets the afternoon bumping with a 6-0 sweep for Waubonsie Valley boys tennis
We start things off in two singles between Metea’s Dhanush Chittaluri and Waubonsie’s Ishaan Suresh. Chittaluri and Suresh rally back and forth, not giving up any ground. Suresh moves closer to the net and attacks the corner as Chittaluri’s return goes high into the air. It allows Suresh to send a strike to the opposite corner for the point.
Suresh looks to give the Warriors momentum by closing things out in the second set. The two sides rally as they look to gain the advantage. Suresh sends it down the line for the score. The Warrior goes on to win both sets against Chittaluri, 6-0.
Moving onto two doubles as Mustangs, Royce Lalani and Sakthi Karthikeyan match up against Warriors Kavin Sivapunniyam and Krish Dave. Both Warriors rally with Lalani as he keeps the ball in play. Lalani moves towards the net to attack the high return and sends it just out of reach of Sivapunniyam for the score!
Later in the set, Dave sends a nice serve for the Warriors as the Mustangs return from the back row. Sivapunniyam’s shot bounces high into the air but remains in play because of the great play by the Mustangs. With one hand, Sivapunniyam hits his shot past the Mustangs for the score. Waubonsie ties things up after winning the second set, 7-5.
In the final set, after the Warrior serves, the Mustang returns high into the air. Dave sends one back row to Karthikeyan, who gets just enough on his shot to keep it in play for the score!
Trailing 5-1 in the final set, Karthikeyan serves for Metea as he looks to keep hope alive. Sivapunniyam returns the serve as his shot bounces past the Mustangs for the game-winning score. After falling in the first set 7-6, Sivapunniyam and Dave win the final two sets for Waubonsie.
Warrior Samayan Tayal takes a back-and-forth matchup in one singles
Moving onto the final match of the night, One Singles, between Mustang Mihir Arya and Warrior Samayan Tayal. In the first set, Aarya and Tayal start things off with a rally. Tayal approaches the net to keep the rally going as Arya sends a powerful shot to the back corner, which Tayal can’t keep in play.
Later on in the set, Arya keeps Tayal on the move while approaching the net. He keeps the ball in play as Arya hits one backhand while Tayal sends it right back. Arya can’t convert on the second backhand shot as Tayal gets the point and wins the first set 6-3.
After Arya won the second set 6-3, both sides came out aggressive in the third as both move around the back row to keep it in play. Taking advantage of Tayal’s approach at the net, the Mustang sends a shot just out of Tayal’s reach for the score.
Tayal jumps out to a 5-1 advantage for the Warriors as he looks to close the day out strong. His shot is high in the air as Arya sends a strike down the line, as the Mustang hits an acrobatic shot to keep the rally going. The rally soon comes to an end as Arya’s shot is just out of bounds, putting the game out of reach.
Waubonsie Valley boys tennis opens the conference season with an impressive 6-0 victory over Metea Valley.
For more prep sports highlights, visit the Naperville Sports Weekly page
