By Ryan Franklin
Staff Writer
The Mustang girls tennis team suffered a tough home loss on Oct. 12, falling 13-5 to Peninsula High School. The match was the squad’s third Bay League match of the season.
The girls were outplayed by a historically challenging Peninsula team and were put to the test in every single set. Sophomore Maegan Manasse led the way for the Mustangs singles players. She won all three of her matches with scores of 6-0, 6-1, and 6-2, continuing her season dominance by improving her personal record to 30-0.
“Peninsula was very good and was definitely our toughest competition of the year so far. I feel like we played pretty well despite our loss, and I am pleased with my personal performance. Peninsula is full of tournament-type players that start the game ready, which makes it a very difficult school defeat, but I think we did well overall,” Manasse said.
The girls will travel to Palm Springs today for a two-game tournament. They currently hold an 8-3 season record and a 2-1 Bay League record. After Tuesday’s loss, the girls sit at nineth in Division 1 of all of the Southern California, with Peninsula as their most difficult competitor so far this season.
“We are not going to change a thing. We have played well so far this year, and all we have to do is come out and compete,” coach Joe Ciasuli.
Together, senior Laura Derian and sophomore Hanna McGuire won two matches for the Mustangs with scores of 6-4 and 6-1. The other doubles tandems played hard but found themselves on the wrong side of the score. Senior Taylor Mahr and sophomore Ava Klein were the other two starting singles players.
“Peninsula is an extremely tough and consistent team. They work the ball around the court, which makes it difficult to stay strong in a rally and a match,” junior Erin Murphy said.
Alongside meeting the team’s goal of competing in CIF, Manasse has set a high personal goal for herself this season.
“It would be really nice to go undefeated and not lose a single match all year. I’m off to a good start and really hope I can continue my success,” Manasse said.
Despite the tough loss, the Mustang players were able to see the positive side of their loss.
“I am pleased with our performances even though we didn’t come out on top. Peninsula is a tough high school to play against. I really can’t be upset with this loss,” Ciasuli said.
Leave a Reply