CIF Sac San Joaquin Div 4 Finals

It was a perfect way to end a season for the Mountain Houses High School Mustangs boys tennis team.  The #1 seed Mustangs of MHHS traveled to Oak Park in Stockton on Wednesday May 11 to take on the #2 seed Oakdale High (also Mustangs).  The WAC singles champion Eidan Mercado, despite not feeling his best, still dominated his opponent Jackson Healy at #2 singles 6-1, 6-0 to win the first match for MH.  Senior veteran Manas Mantri soon followed with a 6-1, 6-0 win of his own at #5 singles against Ethan Dingu.  The next one to finish was sophomore Daniel Zhang at #4 singles who beat his opponent Alex Tangle 6-1, 6-1.  Junior Pranav Sundar finished right after Zhang, winning his match at #6 singles, 6-1, 6-0 against Carson Stueve.  

"Winning the first 4 matches was relatively easy but we really had to battle to win the 5th match and clinch the championship," said Coach Andy Su.  

Senior captain Sreeram Ranga won a very tough first set 6-4 and then found himself down 1-4 in the second.  He fought hard to tie it at 5-5 and continued to use his powerful forehand repeatedly to dominate the final two games and the match and clinch the sectional championship for Mountain House.  The match of the day belonged to the top player from each team, #1 singles freshman Aadi Rajan from MH and #1 singles Caleb Poling from Oakdale.  Poling took the early lead in the first set and won a close set, 6-4.  The second set was a back and forth fight that Rajan won 7-5.  The final set started close but Rajan eventually pulled away 6-3 in the end to win the 6th match for MH.  The depth of the MH team allowed the doubles team to win all 3 matches without much struggle.  Senior Shuv Chakravarty, last year's WAC singles champion, played at #1 doubles with sophomore Zuhair Mughal and won 6-2, 6-3.  Senior veterans Ayush Sheth and Gautham Chandra won their match at #2 doubles easily 6-1, 6-2.  Senior Jerry Li closed out his high school career with Junior Charan Battula at #3 doubles and won 6-3, 6-3.  Section Commissioner Will Deboard congratulated both teams and awarded patches to both teams, the finalist plaque to Oakdale coach Grant Miller and the blue Sac San Joaquin Sectional Championship banner to Coach Andy Su.  This was the second Sac San Joaquin Sectional Championship that Mountain House High School has ever won in any sport in their 9 year history.  The first was won earlier this school year by the girls tennis team also led by Coach Andy Su.  

Feel free to read the Tracy Press article!