Magical season ends for Maharishi girls tennis

FAIRFIELD — Heading in to the regional tournament final against Assumption, the Maharishi tennis team hadn’t lost in 12 games. On Tuesday, that streak came to an unfortunate end.

Maharishi was swept in the tournament final by Assumption in a state tournament play-in game at Fairfield Middle School. The Knights knocked off the Pioneers 5-0.

Maharishi’s Vaisnavii Mohanraj sets to return the ball during her singles match on Tuesday in the regional final. (Andy Krutsinger/The Union)

“There's only one team in the state that is going to be smiling at the end of this two weeks,” said Pioneer head coach Lawrence Eyre. “It isn't us, but there are also 60-plus others that aren't happy with the outcome.”

Assumption ended the day with five wins in singles, clinching the victory and stopping action.

Maharishi’s Lily Fenton serves the ball during the regional team tennis final on Tuesday against Maharishi. (Andy Krutsinger/The Union)

In the No. 1 match, Maharishi’s Lily Fenton lost a competitive game to Mary Rolfstad, falling 6-3, 6-2. That was one of five two-game sweeps for the Knights.

Vaisnavii Mohanraj fell 6-0, 6-1 against Assumption’s Allison Halligan in the No. 3 match. No. 4 Isabella Castle fell 6-0, 6-0 against Lexis Timmerman. Saraswati Quevedo-Valls fell 6-1, 6-1 against Addison Walter in the No. 5 match, and Daira Valls Blazquez dropped the No. 6 match 6-3, 6-0 against Shannon Bush.

Daira Valls Blazquez gets ready to backhand the ball to the other side in Tuesday’s regional team tennis final. (Andy Krutsinger/The Union)

After dropping the first set 6-2, Maharishi’s No. 2 player, Ishita Mukadam, took the second 6-4 over Assumption’s Ella DiIulio, but the action ended before the match could go to a third.

Maharishi’s Ishita Mukadam competes in her singles match during the regional team tennis final on Tuesday. (Andy Krutsinger/The Union)

Coach Eyre says he told his team to be proud of what they’ve accomplished.

“ (I told them) be happy with how much we improved,” Eyre said. “Be happy that we got here.”

Maharishi not only won the first 12 games of the year, but had never dropped two matches in the same contest. This included 5-0 wins in the regional tournament, one against Notre Dame and one against Davis County.

It was an impressive season for a Pioneer squad that had only played two seasons over the previous four years. Maharishi didn’t have the numbers for a tennis team in 2018, and the 2020 season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I'm really proud of our girls' improvement,” Eyre said.

Eyre specifically mentioned the growth of his seniors. Out of the six varsity players, Fenton and Mohanraj were the only ones playing in their last season. Both were freshman on the 2019 team that brought girls tennis back to Maharishi.

“They've done such a great job,” Eyre said. “My hat is always going to be with these girls for sticking with it and inspiring others to do it.”

This year the Pioneers had 13 players on the roster, setting up for what could be a bright future for the program.

“Right now they're a little bummed, which I understand,” Eyre said. “But overall they're going to see, 'hey we really accomplished something.'"