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Fantastic 4!
Quartet of Trojans make girls state tennis; team knocks out Fort Madison
Southeast Iowa Union offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced.
FAIRFIELD — A historic Fairfield girls tennis season continued to chug along last week with two more major scores.
On Wednesday, four Trojans battled through the state-qualifier at Fairfield Middle School to punch their tickets to the state singles and doubles tournaments. Then, on Friday, the Trojans knocked off Fort Madison in the first round of the team tournament.
Returning to state singles in the fall of 2025 are two Trojans who just did this song and dance a few months ago.
Both Poojita Mukadam and Natalie Steele will be returning to state after making their debuts on the big stage less than five months ago, in the final spring state tournament before the sport moved to the fall.
“A year is nice to get more practice, but having it right away just keeps the fire going,” said Mukadam, who took first place in the singles bracket. “You can just get right back into it.”
Mukadam cruised through the singles bracket, going undefeated in sets. The Trojan senior knocked off Steele 6-2, 6-2 in the championship match, landing the two players 1-2 in regional singles for the second-straight time.
“I get to play Poojita every day, and she's an amazing player,” said Steele. “With all of this challenging going on in practice, it makes us all better.”
Steele was a place-winner at the state tournament last season, taking eighth. She clinched her spot in the state bracket with a thrilling three-set win over Southeast Conference champion Navaeh Logan, beating her 5-7, 6-3, 6-3.
“She's a really good player,” said Steele. “Every time we play each other, we get better. We're just both going at it all the time.”
The battle between Steele and Logan was intense enough to require two neutral judges to help call lines. It took place at the same time as Mukadam’s semifinal, as well as semifinal matchups for two Trojan doubles teams.
The doubles squad of Ria Ross and Syria Yammanur answered the call in a big way, advancing to the state tournament for the first time. Ross and Yammanur battled past Knoxville’s No. 2 doubles team 6-0, 7-5, to punch their state ticket, and then fought back for a three-set win in the final.
“It makes me proud, because we've been best friends for most of our lives,” said Yammanur. “We do a great job of uplifting each other. We know how to do it, because we know each other.”
Ross and Yammanur have been friends since they were seven years old, but hadn’t played on the same doubles team before this spring. The two were coming off an SEC title win just one week prior, and the good vibes kept rolling into regional play.
“I would say it's just our mindset,” Ross said. “Whatever you put your mind to, you can accomplish, and I feel like even when we're down, and we're losing, we're able to just put that behind us and say, 'hey, we can do this.’”
Fairfield head coach Travis Dunkin said he was proud of how all six of his players performed, including Faevan Gebremariam and Mareyn Duncan were just one win away from a state berth, getting knocked out in a competitive doubles match against Knoxville’s top team.
“They just battled, and battled, and I'm super proud,” Duncan said. “They all six played well today, and we were close. Four of the six is an outstanding return.”
Both Fairfield and Mt. Pleasant played in the first round of the regional team tournament on Saturday, with the top-seeded Trojans going through with a 5-0 sweep of Fort Madison, while the Panthers finished out the year with a 5-0 loss to second-seeded Central DeWitt.
In Fairfield, Mukadam and Steele both continued to roll, winning the No. 1 and No. 2 singles matches. Mukadam won 6-0, 6-0 and Steele was victorious 6-1, 6-1.
Ross took down her opponent 6-1, 6-0 in the No. 3 match. Yammanur won the No. 4 match 6-0, 6-1, and Gebremariam won 6-1, 6-0 in the No. 5 match.
Duncan was winning at No. 5 singles, but after five completed points, the matchup was clinched by the Trojans, ending the action.
Mt. Pleasant tried to fight to keep the season going after failing to put anyone through in the singles or doubles tournament. The Panthers were done in by the Sabers after losing five singles matches.
Katana Phangchanthong was beaten 6-0 and 6-0 at No. 2 singles. Bella Dodds fell 6-0, 6-1 at No. 3. Lianah Phangchanthong fell 6-0, 6-0 at No. 4. Shaye Barbee lost 6-0, 6-0 at No. 5, and Lucca Moyes was defeated 6-0, 6-0 at No. 6.
Mia Gray was still fighting in the No. 1 singles match after losing the first set. Her match was called when Central DeWitt hit five points to clinch the win.
Before Fairfield’s singles and doubles competitors can worry too much about the state tournaments in Iowa City, the Trojans have at least one more battle on the team side. Fairfield plays Camanche on Wednesday, with the winner playing the Central DeWitt-Assumption winner for a team state berth.
The Trojans will play at home in any regional tournament team matchups no matter who the opponent is.
