Staff Writer
Even in the wake of a near-perfect season, the Mira Costa boys tennis team was unable to defeat rival Palos Verdes High School in its final regular season match.
The Mira Costa boys tennis team lost 11-7 on April 29 at Palos Verdes High School in the final match of the regular Bay League season. The Mustangs’ first match against Palos Verdes on April 16 was a 12-6 loss and ended what had been Costa’s undefeated season. Costa’s only two League losses throughout the season have been to Palos Verdes.
“Sometimes, things get really tight,” Costa coach Joe Ciasulli said. “Palos Verdes is a good team, and they’re ranked ahead of us, but we still played good matches.”
In singles, freshman Alex Gaal won two of his three matches while freshman Joey Rotheram won one of his three. Sophomore Evan Han also had one win, but the combined effort was not enough for the Mustangs to defeat the Sea Kings.
“Our opposition, Jake Douglas and Brandon Holt, swept all their matches today,” Rotheram said. “Jake is clearly the strongest player of all of us and I think even in the Bay League.”
The match was decided by two tie-breaking games. Both the doubles pairs of seniors Connor Mathews with Tom Wissel and senior Michael Carella with freshman Alec Zirklebach faced off against Palos Verdes’ top doubles team, juniors Tony Delvode and Kent Mukai. Both matches ended with Palos Verdes winning 6-4. The Mustangs’ losses allowed Palos Verdes to take the overall lead.
The doubles team of Wu with junior Zak Vand was unable to compete as Vand was not able to play due to a schedule conflict. Freshman Jeremy Chung stepped up to fill in for Vand, but the pair was only able to win one of its games.
“It took awhile for Jeremy to get used to playing doubles,” Wu said. “However, after our first match we began to play really well together.”
The Mustangs’ match against Palos Verdes was the last of the regular season. The Mustangs finished 17-3 overall and 6-2 in Bay League. The Mustangs placed second in League behind Palos Verdes. Costa also finished in seventh place in Division I of CIF.
“I am very pleased with the team’s performance throughout the season,” Ciasulli said. “I don’t want this match to come off as a disappointment.”
The Mustangs also competed in the Bay League singles tournament, Wednesday at the Kramer Club in Palos Verdes. Carella and senior Ben Sands, as well Gaal and Han, represented Mira Costa. Sands was defeated in his first match, but everyone else was able to make it to their second matches before losing.
“Overall, we played well,” Han said. “All of the matches were tough, and we could have done better, but we gave it our best try and, hopefully, we can be successful in CIF.”
The Bay League doubles tournament also took place at the Kramer Club and featured the teams of Chung and freshman Mason Zissette, Carella and Zirklebach and Mathews with Wissel. The teams competed on Thursday, but results were unavailable due to time of publication.
The Mustangs will compete in CIF on Wednesday, but their competitors will not be announced until Sunday.
“We can make a good run in CIF,” Wu said. “We have an outstanding team this year and will likely make it to quarters.”
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