Boys tennis narrowly defeats rival Peninsula, looks to stay undefeated

By Ian Rapoport
Staff Writer

In the midst of an undefeated season with a ranking of 8th in their division, the Mustangs’ boys tennis team narrowly defeated Peninsula.

Costa beat its rival, Peninsula High School, 12-6 at an away match on March 21. The Mustangs are now 10-0 overall and 1-0 in Bay League.

“The match was closer than we would like,” coach Joe Ciasulli said. “We had a lot of close sets, and the match could have easily gone either way.”

In singles, sophomore Evan Han lost one match, 6-3, but won two, 6-1 and 6-2. Freshmen Joey Rotheram and Alex Gaal both won two of their three singles matches. In doubles, junior Zak Vand and partner sophomore Jason Wu won their matches, 7-6 and 6-2.

“Overall we played really well,” Wu said. “We did not let the pressure get to us, and we did what was asked of us.”

Wu and Vand closed the game with the final match. In one of the final sets of the match the pair pulled ahead, breaking the tie and finishing the match 4-2.

“That set was crucial,” Ciasulli said. “That match gave us the momentum to win the whole thing.”

Freshman Mason Zisette with partner junior Ross Woolridge as well as freshman Alec Zirkelbach and senior Michael Carella narrowly won their matches, 7-5.

Peninsula has long been a major competitor for the Mustangs. Peninsula defeated Costa in both of the matches last year with scores of 13-5 and 11-7.

“Obviously we can’t do any better,” Ciasulli said. “The team is playing really well and has exceeded my expectations.
We don’t have any superstars, but we are solid up and down the lineup.”

With the team’s recent success, the Mustangs have beaten four different teams that they lost to last year, Peninsula being one such team.

“It was great beating Peninsula,” senior Connor Mathews said. “We have labled this year the redemption tour. Beating Peninsula brings us one step closer.”

The team’s next match was against West Torrance on Thursday, but results were unavailable due to the time of publication. After Spring Break, Costa will face off against Redondo Union, Santa Monica and Palos Verdes High School.

“Palos Verdes is going to be a really tough competitor,” Wu said. “We are going in as the underdogs, but we’re hoping for the best.”