By Emma Gonosey
Executive Sports Editor
Costa girls tennis beat the Culver City Centaurs, 14-4, in a home match on Wednesday. The Mustangs’ doubles went undefeated in the match, winning all three doubles rounds
“I think we did pretty well,” senior captain Haily Huynh said. “I think it’s a great team win. It puts us in a positive mindset going into our Point Loma Invitational Tournament in San Diego this weekend.”
The Mustangs started the match out on top, winning five of six sets in the first round. Huynh, the No. 1 singles player, went 6-0 against the No. 1 player on the Culver City Centaurs.
“It feels really great to be able to win and know that all of my hard work paid off,” Huynh said. “My confidence has gone up, and I think this will be a good segue into the rest of the tennis season.”
Nearing the end of the match, the Mustangs stayed diligent, extending their lead against the Centaurs throughout the rest of the match. Losing only three singles games total, the girls tennis team’s overall record stands at 8-1.
“Our attitudes all stayed very positive throughout the match as a whole, which I think helped us come together and win as a team,” Huynh said. “Because a lot of our matches came out with good wins, everyone had good energy.”
From the beginning of the match, Costa stayed in the lead and stayed ahead during the middle and end of the match. Toward the end, the Mustangs began to pick up the pace, and, according to senior Sydney Vo, held their positive mindset and strong gameplay.
“I think the team played really well throughout the game, both mentally and physically,” Vo said. “We put in our best effort, which in the end paid off with a big win.”
One top performer of Wednesday’s match was senior Ella Lokier. Lokier and her doubles partner, senior Mia Sampson, went undefeated in all three rounds of the match, winning 6-1, 6-1, and 6-0.
“It was very difficult, but we ultimately pulled it out,” Lokier said. “I had to plan ahead, and strategically hit the ball to places I knew they wouldn’t be able to get it.”
According to Lokier, she and Sampon played strategic offense and defense, and the pair received serves gracefully and hit with power, securing their win in each set.
“We had to be focused on the placement of our ground strokes,” Lokier said. “We also tried to focus on being even more aggressive at the net.”
ready to receive a serve. The pair played three rounds during the match and
remained undefeated. Photo by Emma Gonosey
While they have an invitational tournament this weekend in San Diego, the Mustangs’ next league match will take place on Tuesday, where they will face their rivals; the Peninsula Panthers. The match will take place at 3 p.m. at the Costa courts.
“They’re a strong team, but we just want to play well, and see our hard work and practice pay off against them,” Sampson said. “We want to work together as a team in this match, and focus on our team spirit.”
The Panthers are currently ranked as the No. 2 team in the league, where the Mustangs are ranked No. 3. According to Vo, the Mustangs plan to go into their match with positivity.
“We’ve never beat Penn in the four years I’ve been on the team,” Vo said. “They are one of our toughest competitors. We have high hopes, and I know we’ll put up our best fight against them.”
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