Claire DuMont
Staff Writer
Mira Costa’s boys tennis team defeated Saint Francis High School 15-3 on Wednesday with ease in the first round of California Interscholastic Federation (CIF.)
The Mustangs started off well, winning their sets without difficulty and only losing one set. The team focused on strong plays against their opponents and consistency throughout the matches. In order to prepare for the match, Costa practiced their aggressive play.
“In the past our doubles teams have been strong, but we haven’t capitalized on poaching,” sophomore Evan Fortier said. “We used the knowledge we received yesterday to have a more aggressive mindset in our approach to volleys, which helped us win fairly easily today.”
The Mustangs won all of their sets in doubles against the Golden Knights. Senior Jeremy Chung and sophomore Evan Fortier won 6-0. Seniors Blake and Tanner Suard won 6-1, freshman partners Matthew Poh and Kyle Sillman won their rounds 6-0 and seniors Adam Kaseff and Tanner Suard won one set 6-2. According to Suard, the team played aggressively and won without difficulty.
“Overall, we played strong and tough today, which will be very important if we want to advance in the rest of CIF,” Suard said.
The team’s wins in singles also contributed to the overall victory. Senior Alex Gaal won 6-2, junior Tommy Kendall won 6-4, and senior Kyle Ou won 6-2. According to Gaal, he was able to win his matches easily, despite a rough start at the beginning.
“I started off slow in the beginning of the match, but I was able to come back and ultimately win the match,” Gaal said.
The Mustangs currently 19-2 overall, will play in the next round of CIF against Beverly Hills at home on Friday. According to Fortier, the team needs to keep practicing and working hard in order to advance.
“We need to maintain our current practice routine and continue playing our hardest even in the easy games,” Fortier said. “When we get into the harder games against tougher opponents, we will be prepared.”
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