Girls’ Varsity Tennis Sweeps CIF-SS Championship

On Friday, November 9, all were ecstatic as Maranatha’s Girls’ Varsity Tennis team took home their second CIF-SS Championship win since winning their first championship in 2014. There was hope for the 2018 tennis season, and match by match, the Lady Minutemen were discovering more about who they were and what they were capable of. And by the end of the regular season, the team’s identity had been forged, and each player knew what she needed to do and what was expected of her. “It was on to the playoffs and talk of a CIF-SS Championship and championship rings began to swell. In an intense and exciting two weeks, the team rallied together and played focused throughout the playoffs. Round by round, the Lady Minutemen emerged with dominant victories, with parallel score lines to the 2014 championship team,” said Head Coach Arthur Hsieh.

Playing against the #1 seed, Woodcrest Christian Royals, Maranatha (the #2 seed) was down early on all doubles courts; but all three of our doubles teams rallied back to join the victorious Madison Kane ’20 and Stella Wang ’19 to give the team a commanding 5-1 lead after the first round of play. Malena Smith ’20 joined in and added to the victories by Kane, Michael Wilkins ’20/Aria Haver-Hill ’20, and Georgia Wilder ’21/Amanda Yee ’22 in the second round to give the Lady Minutemen a nearly insurmountable, 9-3, lead. The only suspense left was who would win the deciding 10th point. Fittingly, that honor went to the team's undisputed leader, Madison Kane.

Playing for the “King of the Ring” became the tennis team’s motto, which was driven by 1 Corinthians 10:31, "Whether then you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God." The girls clinched their final win and secured themselves a Championship Ring as they became Maranatha’s CIF-SS Division 5 Champions!