Metea Valley girls tennis welcomes Neuqua Valley on another beautiful afternoon for action on the hardcourt. The Mustangs fell in a tight matchup to Waubonsie Valley to start DVC play, while the Wildcats took down Naperville Central. This highlight is sponsored by BMO.
Neuqua Valley sweeps the singles division
Neuqua Valley’s one and two singles picked up a pair of victories in quick fashion in straight sets, with Anshu Matham and Jennifer Tang taking the wins for the Wildcats. In three singles, Fatima Faruqi looks to make it a singles sweep against Anakha Rahesh from Metea Valley.
Rahesh plays in the far court and uses several spinning shots to keep her opponent off balance. In the middle of the court, Rahesh spins one that forces an error into the net as the Mustang earns a point.
Faruqi bounces back quickly as she earns a point of her own, closing out a win in the opening set.
In set two, Faruqi seizes control while playing in the near court. After several volleys that move Rahesh around the back line, Faruqi fires a return that bounces in front of the line and spins back for the point. The Wildcat wins in straight sets, 6-0, 6-1.
One and two doubles head to tiebreakers
Both one and two doubles end up being the most exciting matchups of the day. At one doubles, the three-year duo of Sophia Chiou and Kylie Tran takes on Lily Tang and Leah Liu from Metea Valley.
Liu serves in the near court and waits back on the lob return before pouncing with a rocket forehand to her left and past the Wildcats for the point. The Metea duo is off to a hot start in set one.
Neuqua serves in the far court late in the first set. Lily Tang whips a return back over that gets lobbed over the net. Liu waits and smashes down the point. The Mustangs take the first set 6-3.
High-level tennis being played in this matchup as the teams flip sides in the second set. Tran makes a lunging return at the net but Tang tracks it down. Chiou and Tang fire volleys back and forth. Liu gets a racquet up in time to send the ball back, but Kylie Tran is right there for a slam down the middle. The Wildcats battle back to take the second set 6-2.
That sends the match to a 10-point tiebreaker. Liu serves in the near court, which is sent back by Tran. After a Metea return, Chiou shuffles right and chops her return as the ball evades the Mustangs for the point. Neuqua takes the win in the tiebreaker 10-3.
Mathew and Kaur look to complete the sweep for the Wildcats
At two doubles, Neuqua looks for the clean sweep with Emma Mathew and Mehar Kaur facing a tough challenge from Tvisha Shah and Smitha Narayana from Metea Valley.
In the first set, just like in one doubles, the Mustangs strike first with Shah and Narayana teaming up for a serve and a quick reacting return near the net. The Metea pair takes set one 6-3.
The Wildcats dig deep in a back-and-forth second set, hoping to force a tiebreaker. Mathew makes a couple of returns near the back before steadily approaching the net as Neuqua puts the pressure on. Kaur is ready with a two-handed return at the net that gets in between the Mustangs. Neuqua takes the second set 7-5 as we head to another 10-point tiebreaker.
Trailing in the tiebreaker, Metea fights to stay alive. The duo takes turns making strong returns near the back and up at the net, eventually splitting the Neuqua players for a big point to take some momentum.
Neuqua with match point and the serve from Mathew. Kaur goes for the quick overhand smash, trying to end things there, but the Mustangs are ready with multiple lobs towards Mathew playing in the back. A backhand lob floats high, giving Kaur time to settle and find the wide-open court with both Mustangs playing back. For the second straight week, Neuqua’s two doubles wins via tiebreaker. Neuqua Valley takes the win as a team as well by the score of 7-0, despite some tough tests in the doubles division from Metea.
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