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Isanta 4th, Mukadam 5th at state
Mt. Pleasant/WMU sophomore, Maharishi make Day 2; Pioneer doubles falls twice
IOWA CITY - A busy weekend at the Class 1A state tennis tournament ended with not one, but two Union area tennis players notching Top-5 finishes.
Both Mt. Pleasant’s Jana Isanta and Maharishi’s Ishita Mukadam went the distance, making the placement matches at state.
Isanta, in her first Iowa high school tennis season ever, finished fourth place at the state tournament. Mukadam ended her high school career with a fifth-place finish.
Isanta, a foreign exchange student from Spain to Winfield-Mount Union, rolled through her first day at state. The fourth seed at state won her first match, 6-0 and 6-4 over Claire McCumber of Dike-New Hartford. She then cruised 6-1, 6-2 over Ballard’s Kaitlyn Zugay to make the semifinals.
“I was surprised,” Isanta said about her Day 1 dominance. “I wasn't expecting to make it that far, but I put in my best.”
Isanta couldn’t quite pull out the championship. Eventual winner Gabriella Fleming of Xavier knocked her off 6-0, 6-0 in the semifinals, and she fell 6-3, 6-3 in the third place match against Pella’s Emily Blom.
“There are girls that attack and girls that only defend,” Isanta said. “I have to learn how to win against all those types of girls.”
Isanta, who leaves to go back to Spain next month, had a raucous crowd, which included her coaches, her friends and teachers from both Mt. Pleasant and Winfield-Mount Union, and her father, who came to watch her play all the way from Spain.
“I love all my team, all the support and everything,” Isanta said. “I’m Grateful.”
While Isanta played in the semifinals, Mukadam battled through the consolation bracket. The Maharishi senior went 1-and-1 in her first two matches, beating Applington-Parkersburg’s Adria Neymeyer 7-5, 6-3, before falling to Blom of Pella 6-0, 6-0.
Mukadam defeated McCumber of D-NH by the score of 6-0, 6-0 in her first consolation match. She then took down Applington-Parkersburg’s Peyton Klooster 6-0, 6-2, before rolling her third place match against Merced Ramirez of Red Oak.
“None of my schoolmates, or myself has ever played Red Oak before,” Mukadam said. They're not in our region, so I had no idea. It was a blank slate.“
Mukadam rolled in the first set of the fifth-place match, winning 6-0. Ramirez battled in the second before Mukadam finally put her away 6-3.
“She was a wonderful player,” Mukadam said. “She was consistent, and she has a lot of potential ahead. I really needed to make sure I was honed in, locked into my match.”
Mukadam’s fifth place finish was two spots better than her previous career best. She took seventh place last year.
“It feels a lot better than last year,” Mukadam said. “This was a long run. There was a lot of good players this year, and a lot of young talent as well.”
Maharishi’s doubles team of Ria Altynska-Ross and Aparajita Kalra went 0-and-2 on the weekend. The doubles team fell 6-0, 6-0 against second-seeded Avery Link and Ruby Smith of Xavier on Day 1, and the duo dropped a heartbreaker on Day 2, falling 5-7, 6-2, 1-0 (10-6) to the Spirit Lake doubles team of Emma Straus and Izzie Wycoff.
