MATH & SCIENCE 5, TARTAN 2
Math & Science continued their tour of district 622. Monday they traveled to North St. Paul and fell to the Polars. Today the visited Tartan and took down the Titans 5-2. The Dragons swept the singles and grabbed third doubles. There were four three set matches, both at the top two slots in singles and doubles. Doubles proved to be the tightest with the separation between the two teams 0.50 in favor of Math & Science despite the Titans winning a pair in doubles.
This marked the third straight match where I saw a team the match before. With the full slate of games coming next week that streak ends today.
This was an adventure getting to the Tartan gym thanks to construction on the usual east entrance site. I had to park on the west (back) side of the building and wind my way through the school. I almost needed to leave bread crumbs to find my way back to the exit.
SINGLES
1. Emily B, M&S def Sebrina Xiong 17-21, 21-13, 22-20
2. Sahasra, M&S def Ya-Yua Vang 21-15, 21-23, 22-11
3. Emily N, M&S def Naw Clay 21-15, 21-12
4. Anya M, M&S def Briana Agama Cruz 21-15, 20-14 withdrawl
DOUBLES
1. Evylnn Yang / Lavender Moua, T def Sanjana / Sathvika 12-21, 21-15, 21-15
2. Angel Lee / Viviane Yang, T def Mihira K / Maame A 21-19, 14-21, 21-14
3. Grishma M / Shrestha, M&S def Abygail Yang / Pearl Her 21-14, 21-19
BY THE NUMBERS
SINGLES
Matches: Math & Science 4-0 1.000
Games: Math & Science 8-2 .800
points: Math & Science 206-159 .564
Set 1 points: Math & Science 80-66 .548
Set 2 points: Math & Science 83-62 .572
Set 3 points: Math & Science 43-31 .581
decided by 10+: Math & Science 1-0 1.000
decided by 3-: tied 1-1
margin: Math & Science 4.70
DOUBLES
Matches: Tartan 2-1 .667
Games: tied 4-4 .500
points: Math & Science 147-143 .507
Set 1 points: Math & Science 61-47 .565
Set 2 points: Math & Science 57-54 .514
Set 3 points: Tartan 42-29 .592
decided by 10+: none
decided by 3-: tied 1-1 .500
margin: Math & Science 0.500
FIRST SINGLES
Emily B 2, Sebrina XIONG 1
(reported 17-21, 21-13, 22-20 recorded 16-21, 21-15, 22-20)
For the second match in a row Emily B bounced back after falling in the first set. And by an odd coincidence of fate the same third set extra point score of 22-20 gave her the victory. Weirdly the second set score was the same as Monday’s too 21-15.
Today Emily B took advantage of Sebrina Xiong’s errors while minimizing her own mistakes. Xiong had a higher success rate in sideouts (.581 to .469) and achieved 41 winners compared to 19 by her opponent. But Xiong almost matched that winner total in errors with 40. Eight times Xiong missed a serve, usually in the net, a couple of times in the bottom of the net indicating a wide margin off. Emily B’s top winner score of six (in drops) should have finished in fifth place for Xiong in her tally.
Both players were evenly matched at the start with six straight side outs. Xiong broke that string with a seven-stroke drop. Xiong then got a run on her fifth service to push ahead 7-4. On service six she scored four more to lead 11-6. Emily B got right back into the contest with her first run, all points gift wrapped by Xiong errors. This is where the score got off count. They both agreed that it was tied at 12. Xiong got the last run of the set after a two-stroke clear to the left corner. Xiong’s defense came up big in the first set with three points off blocks including point #21 on a three-stroke block off a smash. Xoing was rolling with 19 winners in set one to four for Emily B.
All that momentum for Xiong evaporated at the start of the second set when Emily B made use of four straight errors and then added another run of four to pull ahead 8-1. Two straight cross court drops ignited Xiong’s only run of the set and it brought her back to trail 9-6. Xiong’s side out game wasn’t as effective in this set. In set one she shut down Emily B eight of eleven times with four straight stops at the start. In set two Emily B found a way to score on six of her nine services. Despite coming out on the short end of the second set Xiong still had more winners 9-7.
Emily B broke free early with a run of six to take a commanding 7-1 lead. After that Xiong reverted to set one’s side out methods and shut down the Dragon five straight times. She also notched two runs of her own and turned that six-point hole into a two-point lead after her second run (14-12). It was short lived. First Xiong stopped her own serve by hitting the net. That opened the door for Emily B’s second run, and she inched ahead 15-14. Xiong, in a rare string where she did not have a winner, got her last run to take an 18-16 lead. Emily B responded with a run of three to take back the lead 19-18. A six-stroke soft drive tied it for Xiong at 19. A three-stroke drive gave her a match point opportunity. A nine-stroke hitting error that went wide on a smash attempt evened the score to 20. Emily B capitalized with a deep ace to the right back, and then on a clear attempt on the second stroke Xiong went wide. Emily B had her second straight 22-20 third set victory.
Category | EMILY B | XIONG |
Side out | 15/32-.469 | 18/31-.581 |
Longest side out string | 3 | 5 |
3+ Runs | 8 | 7 |
Longest point string | 7 | 4 |
SERVING | ||
First serve | 3 | 1, 2 |
First point | 1, 2 | 3 |
Service points | 28 | 25 |
Serving % | 56/58-.966 | 49/57-.860 |
Point generated off serve | .474 | .446 |
POINTS | 59 | 56 |
Points after 11 | 31 | 30 |
Points after own errors | 9 | 19 |
Winners after own errors | 13 | 5 |
STROKES | 200 | 218 |
Strokes per point | 3.900 | 3.893 |
5+ rallies (%) | 13 | 17 |
2- rallies (%) | 25 | 21 |
WINNERS | 19 | 41 |
Aces | 3 | 1 |
Blocks | 0 | 3 |
Clears | 5 | 9 |
Drives | 3 | 3 |
Drops | 6 | 7 |
Soft drives | 1 | 7 |
Smashes | 1 | 11 |
Even Stroke Winners | 11 | 22 |
2nd Stroke Winners | 7 | 8 |
Odd Stroke Winners | 8 | 19 |
ERRORS | 15 | 40 |
Deep | 4 | 2 |
Net | 7 | 18 |
Wide | 2 | 12 |
Serve | 2 | 8 |
Even stroke errors | 8 | 20 |
2nd stroke errors | 8 | 7 |
Odd stroke errors | 7 | 20 |
WINNER LOCATION | ||
Left | 3 | 15 |
Right | 16 | 26 |
Largest Lead | 1, 8, 6 | 5, 0, 2 |
W:E Ratio | 1.267 | 1.025 |
Margin | 1.000 | |
Set Point % | 2/4-.500 | 1/3-.333 |
Time | 27:21 |
FIRST DOUBLES
Evylynn YANG / Lavender MOUA, 2, SANJANA / SATHVIKA 1
(reported 12-21, 21-15, 21-15, recorded 12-21, 21-16, 22-14)
The Titans’ first doubles pair of Evylynn Yang and Lavender Moua picked up one of the two wins for Tartan in a three set match with the Math & Science identical twins Sanjana & Sathvika. This is the second straight three set loss for the Dragon pair. Against North St. Paul the margins were -5.33 per set. On Thursday it was -4.50.
Just like in Monday’s contest M&S took the first set. Then it was a two point nailbiter. Today it was a more comfortable nine point margin, but that comfort did not last beyond the first set. M&S opened with Sathvika scoring the first three points off serve including a smash for the second point. Tartan responded right away to tie it at three. Then Sathvika served right away again. There were three other doubling up situations involving the Dragons, but then it was Sanjana doubling up on serve. On M&S’s seventh service Sanjana rang up four straight initiated by a missed Titan serve which brought the score to 16-10. M&S silenced Tartan on their next two services and Sathvika closed with three straight points, all courtesy of Titan hitting errors.
There was a 180 degree turn on the second set opening with Lavender Moua getting the side out on a clear (no go) followed by four more on her own serve for a 5-0 lead. The Dragons kept chipping away at that hole and inched ahead 15-14 on a Sathvika drive. Evylynn Yang tied it up on the next bird at 15 and then the Titans only gave away one more point on a missed serve. The hosts closed with the last five points, four on Yang’s service. Moua had three winners in that mix. The rubber match awaited.
Again Tartan rolled early with the first three points. M&S bounced right back into the contest with two runs to push out to 6-4. Their last lead came at 9-6. Yang picked up her second run of the set with four to put the Titans back up 11-9. Her third service run made it 15-11. Tartan’s side out game was fully ramped up at the end of the match. M&S was held scoreless their last six services. Moua had the opportunity to close the match with her own service run of three.
You might notice I recorded 22-14 in the final set instead of the reported 21-15. I don’t know where that number was pulled from.
As for the stat breakdown Yang had the best side out numbers when receiving being the only player above .500. She also had more service points, and winners while limiting her errors. The Tartan duo led the way with smashes 21-3 with Yang providing 11 and Moua 10. Clears were M&S’s best option with an 8-3 advantage.
How can I tell the twins apart? shoe colors. White for Sanjana; Black for Sathvika.
Category | YANG | MOUA | SANJANA | SATHVIKA |
Side out when receiving | 13/25-.520 | 12/25-.480 | 9/22-.409 | 10/26-.385 |
3+ Runs | 6 | 2 | 4 | 4 |
Longest point string | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 |
SERVING | ||||
First serve | 3 | 1, 2 | ||
Scoring on service | 19 | 10 | 12 | 13 |
Serving % | 29/31-.935 | 19/23-.826 | 23/25-.920 | 26/26-1.000 |
Pt generated off serve | .327 | .182 | .235 | .255 |
STROKES | 86 | 96 | 94 | 93 |
WINNERS | 18 | 14 | 12 | 10 |
Aces | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Blocks | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Clears | 2 | 1 | 3 | 5 |
Drives | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 |
Drops | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
Soft drives | 0 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
Smashes | 11 | 10 | 1 | 2 |
SET UP POINTS | 10 | 8 | 17 | 7 |
ERRORS | 19 | 32 | 35 | 20 |
Deep | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Net | 10 | 9 | 10 | 4 |
Wide | 0 | 4 | 4 | 2 |
Serve | 2 | 4 | 2 | 0 |
Fan/no contact | 5 | 10 | 11 | 11 |
No go | 2 | 5 | 8 | 3 |
W:E Ratio | 0.947 | 0.438 | 0.343 | 0.500 |
TEAM | TARTAN | MATH & SCIENCE | ||
POINTS | 57 | 51 | ||
Points after 11 | 27 | 25 | ||
First points | 2, 3 | 1 | ||
Longest side out string | 6 | 3 | ||
Strokes per point | 3.193 | 3.667 | ||
5+ rallies | 20 | 19 | ||
2- rallies | 9 | 10 | ||
Largest Lead | 0, 6, 8 | 9, 1, 3 | ||
Margin | 2.000 | |||
Set Point % | 2/2-1.000 | 1/1-1.000 | ||
Time | 30:11 |