St. Mary’s secured a win against their rival school, ASIJ (American School in Japan) with a final score of 3:2.
On Saturday, October 28th, the St. Mary’s Junior Varsity (JV) team went to the ASIJ to play against their JV Team. Both schools were motivated as they were eager to clinch the win for their team. The first to win 8 games were the winner for each match.
The first game kicked off at 10 a.m., starting the matches with the best singles players. St. Mary’s ace players, Aoto Fukai, and Kent Stein displayed magnificent strokes against the opponent, with remarkable consistency. However, despite their strong performance, the match remained tightly contested as the players pushed each other’s limits to conquer the victory. Unfortunately, Aoto lost to his opponent with a final score of 4:8, despite his best efforts to mount a comeback in the final stage of the match. Kent, who had the most intense match, ultimately lost the game in a tiebreaker, 9:8. After the match, Kent Stein (’27) stated, “It was such a close match,” adding “I’m going to win next time.” emphasizing his determination despite his sorrowful loss.
St. Mary’s third singles player, Max Long, was the last. With his unwavering determination and precision, Max conquers the win with a final score of 8:6. Despite his opponent’s relentless pressure Max stays calm the entire game, proving that he has ice in his veins.
St. Mary’s first doubles players Yunho Lee and Ken Yamamoto, showed incredible chemistry that the opponents couldn’t overcome, winning the game with a final score of 8:4. Yunho’s insanely sharp volleys felt like a wall to the opponents, while Ken’s spectacular strokes consistently caught them off guard, leaving the opponents just short of victory. The next doubles players, Jinmok Lee, and Kouki Morita also won the game with an impressive game score of 8:2. Despite being the first time playing together, Jinmok and Kouki displayed exceptional coordination and teamwork which led the opponents’ struggle to keep up with their dynamic play, losing the control of the match, leading St. Mary’s to win the match with a total score of 3:2.
After the intense match, JV’s captain, Aoto Fukai (’27) said, “It is unfortunate and resentful that I lost the match, yet, I feel grateful that we won the game overall” highlighting his sportsmanship and appreciation for the team’s collective success. Everyone on the team put in maximum effort to compete with their adversary, ASIJ, which ultimately led them to defeat their rival.
