Josie Collier
Staff Writer
The Mira Costa boys tennis team fell to Harvard-Westlake High School on Wednesday, May 16, in a bittersweet match during the semifinals of the California Interscholastic Federation southern section playoffs.
Though the Mustangs lost to Harvard-Westlake 6-12, at the Manhattan Beach Country Club, Costa made history by being the first Costa tennis team to ever reach the semifinals in CIF. Costa’s top performers of the match included senior Evan Fortier who won two out of three of his sets.
“I think the biggest improvement in the tennis program has just been each guy being super motivated to improve their games, which in turn helps us win matches,” Fortier said.
Fortier won two of his matches 6-4 and 6-2, but unfortunately was not able win the third. According to Fortier, the team did a great job competing despite the controversial line calls that took place during critical points.
“I think advancing in CIF and progressing through the season in stride really showed us our team potential, bringing us closer in all the battles we have endured,” Fortier said.
The Mustangs found themselves closely trailing behind at 5-6 during the end of the second round, but could not convert and fell short during a crucial tiebreaker. Later, junior singles player, Kyle Sillman, defeated one of his opponents 6-3, but could not come out on top during his other sets.
“Against a team like Harvard-Westlake, every point counts, which made today frustrating given the circumstances,” Fortier said.
Doubles partners, senior Shant Samuelian and sophomore Tim Dzhurinskiy, had a great performance winning two of their sets 6-1 and 6-4. The duo was able to put points on the scoreboard, but it was not enough to give Costa the edge over Harvard-Westlake.
“It feels great to make history,” Dzhurinskiy said. “I think we just need to improve on hyping each other up on the court.”
The other doubles pair, including senior Ben Chromanski and junior Ethan Han, won one set 6-4. Despite the duos efforts, they were unable to find themselves with wins at the end of their other sets resulting in minimal points being contributed onto scoreboard.
“Everyone is working hard and contributes as much as they can to help the team succeed,” Fortier said.
The Mustangs had a successful performance throughout the season finishing 22-2 overall and 9-1 in Bay League. The team will play on Friday, May 25 in the Southern California Regional playoffs at the Claremont Club.
“Looking back on the season, I think we all have a lot to be proud of, this team has won the Bay League, reached the semis of CIF, and [was] ranked in the top 3 of CIF,” Fortier said. “I am excited to see what we can accomplish at state.”
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