WOLVES WIN THE IE TOURNAMENT ON HOME COURT
September 12, 2026
Written by Shaun Harris
RIVERSIDE: The Wolves hosted its own annual Inland Empire Tournament this past week. This tournament features a college style scoring, 5 lines of singles and 3 lines of doubles, in which players can play in both singles and doubles each round.
Day 1 featured MLK playing 3 rounds against Temescal Canyon, Great Oak, and Arlington. Despite the heat, the girls battled strong winning each round decisively 8 – 0, 8 – 0, and 7 – 1.
Due to their Day 1 success, the Wolves advanced to the Semifinals this morning against Redlands. Each set was very competitive, but the Wolves came out on top in all 8 sets to advance to the finals against Temecula Valley.
As the Wolves just recently defeated the Bears last Thursday in a very competitive match, this highly anticipated rematch was what everybody was hoping for.
The finals started with very competitive singles play. Playing lines 1 and 2, freshmen Emily Zhou and Emi Williams had very decisive results 6-0 and 6-1.
Playing in lines 3 and 4, sophomores Aahi Tripathi and Adriana Huston locked in and won theirs 6-3 and 6-2. Playing in line 5. sophomore Naomi Zhang got down early, but tried to pull off a comeback, but just fell short losing 3-6.
Needing only 1 more set for the win, the Wolves looked to their doubles teams to secure the win. Senior captain Jocelyn Harris and partner Adrianna Huston, playing line 2, were the ones to clinch the win with their strong showing of 6-1. This was quickly followed by freshmen Madilyn Harris and Sophia Soren, playing line 3, with their 6-3 set.
The last set on court for the tournament was freshmen duo, Emily and Emi, playing in line 1. In a very entertaining contest, which saw each team holding serve to the 4-5 service, the girls just couldn’t get the points needed and got broken, losing 4-6.
What a fantastic tournament for the girls. Winning the tournament is great, but the big win for the girls was the opportunity for quality sets that help them develop as players. I am very proud of the way our girls competed and the sportsmanship exhibited by all teams and players involved.
Big VIII League play starts next week.
