Going into the Edina Invitational Saturday, April 27, Hornet head coach Gary Aasen has assembled a very strong field - perhaps even the strongest eight teams in the state.
The Blake School will be there as the team that is favored in Section 2AA. Wayzata, the favorite in 5AA, is in the mix for Saturday, as well, along with strong teams from Mahtomedi, Mounds View, Minneapolis Washburn, St. Paul Academy and Elk River. At the time this edition went to press, first-round pairings had not been announced. Opening matches were scheduled for 9 a.m. at four sites.
In a big non-conference test April 18, Edina lost a 5-2 decision to Blake at Edina’s Creek Valley Steve Paulsen courts.
The first singles match was a war. Edina captain Humza Chaudhri won the first set 7-6 over Kai Chen before Chen won the next two sets 6-3 and 10-4.
Blake won at second and third singles and Edina won at No. 4.
Tarun Gopalakrishnan took down Edina’s Thomas Loucks 6-4, 6-2 at No. 2 and Steven Cao of the Bears won at No. 3 over Andy Norman 6-4, 6-2. Edina got the point at No. 3 with Kamalesh Packiaraj defeating Graham Everett 6-4, 6-2.
Blake’s first doubles combo of Raiden Chen and Sam Leslie won a 6-2, 6-3 decision over Santiago Sanchez and Isaac Lower. At second doubles, Blake’s Sal Buddi and Nico Mithun won 6-4, 6-2 over Malhaar Jain and Joshua Latour. Hashim Chaudhri and Richard Hou of Edina took the third doubles point 6-0, 6-4 over Calvin Bredeson and Zach Dresner.
Edina fared much better the following day with a 7-0 victory over Eden Prairie as the Hornets improved to 4-1 in dual matches.
Singles winners for the Hornets were Humza Chaudhri at No. 1, Sanchez at No. 2, Loucks at No. 3 and Packiaraj at No. 4. Edina’s doubles wins came from Jain and Norman at No. 1, Lower and Hashim Chaudhri at No. 2 and Armaan Jain and Jaoquin Loftin at No. 3.
Coach Aasen was not disappointed at losing to The Blake School early in the season.
“Blake is more experienced than we are,” he said. “Our younger players are getting there, and we’re a top-five team in the state. We have had some good matches already and the experience we’ve gained in those matches is very important. Hopefully, we will get our doubles figured out.”
As a warmup for the Edina Invitational, the Hornets have a Lake Conference dual meet against Hopkins at 4 p.m. Thursday, April 25, on the Steve Paulsen courts at Creek Valley Elementary.
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