Dominion's Mousavi Has Come A Long Way
Walk ten minutes to the bus stop. Ride the bus. Grab a taxi. Walk another 15 minutes.
For Dominion's Mehrdad Mousavi, it took the combination of all of these steps just so that he could reach the tennis courts in his native country of Iran. Throughout his life, Mousavi has displayed an incredible work ethic in his attempt to improve and perfect his game.
Now, as the senior captain of the Titans' tennis team, Mousavi's efforts are paying huge dividends for both himself and his teammates. Mousavi has been a member of the varsity team since his freshman year and has been awarded the team's most valuable player award each year. But this year, he has set his sights even higher and focused solely on the success of the team. When asked what his goal for this season is, Mousavi responded simply, "A district championship."
Mousavi said he refuses to finish his career at Dominion without his team winning that title, and could be bad news for his Dulles District opponents.
In his four years with the Titans, Mousavi has been a part of a number of great matches. For him, however, one match sticks out in particular. "The most memorable match for me was during my junior season," he said. "We were playing our rival Potomac Falls and I found myself down 7-2 in an eight game match. At that point, I knew I had to step up and I ended up winning 9-7."
This is just one example of a time Mousavi has found success when all odds were against him and a big reason he has developed a reputation for comeback victories.
Mousavi has a distinct style of play that often gives him a strategic advantage over his opponent. For much of his career, he has been considered mainly a "baseliner" - a player who stays back and rallies cross-court with his foe. This technique proved very successful for Mousavi due to his incredibly consistent and accurate ground strokes.
However, this season he has added another dimension to his game: net play. Mousavi has worked hard in the off-season to develop the ability to rush the net and close out points whenever possible. Always a defensive player, Mousavi now has the ability to attack his opponent when he sees fit. This season, he has already begun to see the benefits of his increased arsenal of shots, as he is able to put his opponent back on the defensive and finish easy points.
Mousavi will pace a Dominion team this spring that is strong from top-to-bottom. Key returning players for the Titans include sophomore Brandon Hall, who will be the top seed this year and could make a run at the district singles title. Fellow captain and senior Chris Long will play near the top of the order for singles and pair with Mousavi as the number one doubles team.
Perhaps the strength of the team, however, is the bottom half of their lineup, as juniors Andrew Livingstone, Ian Saeger and Akhil Pal are expected to dominate as the four through six seeds. A testament to the Titans' depth is the doubles play of key reserves Ian Pearson and Darius Mobarakeh.
Aside from the individual players, there is another reason Mousavi is confident in the Titans' potential to have a memorable season: Ken Whitaker. Whitaker is entering his second season as the head coach of the Titans. Last year, he turned a team that had one district victory in two seasons into a squad that went 8-6 and reached the district tournament semifinals. Whitaker recognizes that if the Titans are to make a title run, Mousavi will have to be an integral part of it.
"Mehrdad is a quiet leader on the team," the coach said. "He leads by example on the tennis court and battles hard. Put simply, his results speak for themselves."
Mousavi's impact on the Titan tennis program is apparent to all, leading his teammates to develop a confidence in him that serves as a motivation to win. "Mehrdad really embodies all that our team is about," said Livingstone, his teammate of three years. "He doesn't try to be too flashy, he just goes out there and takes care of business. And the team really feeds off that.
"With that mentality of getting the job done, I feel this team is really going to take a lot of teams by surprise in the district this year."
