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HIGHTSTOWN: Muthyala wins MCT second doubles title; Rams tie for third

By Rich fisher, Packet Media Group
There has been a renaissance on the tennis courts at Hightstown High School and it was on full display at Mercer County Park this week.
In their finest Mercer County Tournament showing in at least 20 years, the Rams finished tied for third with West Windsor-Plainsboro North with 17.5 points on Wednesday.
They put all three singles players in the semifinals, had two in the finals and produced their first champion in two decades when freshman Sahithi Muthyala won second singles.
The finals and semifinals were played indoors due to the weather.
“It’s been a very good season for us so far and this has been one of our best Mercer County Tournament showings in a long time,” said coach Chip Rorer, whose team is 6-0 in dual meets. “We were very happy with the points we got after the first day in the first and second rounds (on Monday) and it continued today.”
The day’s highlight was the 4th-seeded Muthyala, who rallied for a 2-6, 6-3, 6-0 win over top-seeded Angela Weng of West Windsor-Plainsboro South (the Pirates had all five top seeds and won the team title with 27 points).
“I actually lost to her about a year ago in a USTA Tournament and we trained together in the past,” the freshman said. “I kind of knew I could beat her because every match we played against each other was tough. I know her game really well, I just wanted to go for my shots and try my best.
“I knew that heading into the match she played a three set semifinal, so I was just going to try to hang in there and try to make her tired.”
Muthyala breezed through her semifinal, taking a 6-0, 6-1 win over Marissa Liu. Weng provided a tougher opponent and quickly won the first set 6-2.
“That’s a girl who has been playing a lot and who’s been very, very good, who deserved to be the number one seed,” Rorer said. “Sahithi struggled a little in the first set. Once she found a strategy that worked for her and started to control her unforced errors, she was unstoppable. “
Rorer noted that Muthyala’s loss in the first set marked the first time she was tested this season.
“Being able to regroup, refocus and come back from losing that first set, that just showed you how mentally tough she is,” Rorer said, “and it showed how she can adapt her play and also her coachability, how she can listen to strategy, and then can apply it.”
Rorer said it’s the first MCT champion he has had, noting “I’ve been coaching eight years, and I know that the decade before me was not anything at all, so it’s at least been 18 years.”
Hightstown’s other finalist was 2nd-seeded Rithika Yadav, who beat Princeton’s Brinda Suppiah 6-3, 4-6, 6-0 in the semifinals before falling to West Windsor’s top-seeded Caroline Zhou 6-4, 6-3.
“The girl from Princeton was great,” Rorer said. Rithika got that first set but when she started she lost the first three games. We worked on a strategy, found her rhythm and she came back to win that first set. In the second set she struggled again, the other girl came back and threw her off her game.
“She was very frustrated after that. We had a nice, long break before the third set, talked to her, helped calm her nerves down. She re-focused, we talked about what went well at the beginning of that match. She went out there and she didn’t just win that third match, but won it 6-0.”
Rorer noted that Yadav played Zhou last year and lost 6-0, 6-0, “so that shows how much she’s improved. She played a much closer game against her this year.”
The Rams third semifinalist was 5th-seeded freshman Anusha Rangu, who fell to eventual champion Claudia Siniakowicz of WWPS, 6-1, 6-0, at first singles.
It’s now back to the regular season as the Rams will try to continue their best campaign in years.
“We’ve been working really hard,” Muthyala said. ‘We’ve known each other for a long time. We’re just trying to the team better each game, each match.”
Rorer pointed to a preseason scrimmage against Peddie as a sign that things could be special this year.
“We’ve played Peddie before, sometimes we win 3-2, sometimes we lose 3-2,” he said. “We were kind of shocked we beat Peddie 5-0. All the girls played really well, so things got off to a good start right there.”
A good start that led to a great MCT showing.