Manasse a Big Factor for Mustangs

Maegan Manasse and Hanna McGuire led the Mira Costa girls tennis team to a resounding victory Monday at home over Orange Lutheran, winning 13-5.

The team plays South Torrance High today at 3 p.m. in an away contest.

Manasse, a junior who is ranked seventh in the state of California by the United States Tennis Association, showed why she is so highly regarded by sweeping through the Lancers Monday, only dropping a single game in the process, winning 6-0, 6-0, 6-1.

“As Maegan goes, we go,” said Mira Costa head coach Joe Ciasulli, who is in his seventh season at the team's helm. “When we have her, we will be tough to beat. You can pretty much guarantee when she’s in, that we will get three wins for sure.”

The problem for Ciasulli is, because Manasse is so good she often plays in more prestigious national tournaments, making her available to play in a limited number of matches for the Mustangs.

“We'll take what we can get,” Ciasulli said of how much he will have her this year. “When you have a player that good, it helps the others around them get better because they see how hard she works and what it takes to succeed.”

Manasse had the best season in Mustang history last season with an eye-popping record of 68-1, making it all the way to CIF-SS semifinals.

“That was really something to see last season,” Ciasulli said of Manasse’s dominance. “I can’t ever remember a player having a better season and hopefully this season she will be able to win it all.”

McGuire was impressive in victory, winning her singles matches 6-2, 6-1, 6-0 over the outclassed Lancers.

On the double’s side, the pair of Carly McGuire and Mai Nojima won two of three sets, 0-6, 6-2, and 6-3. The duo of Erin Murphy and Sidney Ascher also won two of three sets, 3-6, 6-2 and 6-3.

“I thought we played a lot better than we did last week,” said Ciasulli of his team’s performance, “so I’m happy that we are showing improvement. But I think that we still make too many unforced errors, which we will need to correct by the time Bay League starts.”

The extremely tough Bay League, which Ciasulli believes is the strongest league in the CIF-SS, will be the litmus test for the Mustangs as they will battle Peninsula, Palos Verdes, Redondo and West Torrance squads.

“There are no easy matches in the Bay League,” Ciasulli said. “That’s why we try to schedule so many tough non-league opponents so that we will be prepared for rigors of the Bay League.”

The junior varsity squad, led by Ysabella Cuevas, Ellen Speicher and Dana Sternthal, was just as impressive in winning all of their singles matches and downing the Lancers 14-4.

The JV Mustangs also got two of three wins in doubles play from the duos of Hannah Proctor-Jenna McKinney and Maddy Coate-Cody Gunderson.

“Overall our program is extremely young,” Ciasulli said. “But we have some talented players and we should have a pretty good year.”