Mustangs Whip Wind, Redondo Union

Strong gusty winds were a factor, but the Mira Costa High boys tennis team won another Bay League match Thursday, beating rival Redondo Union 14-4 to keep their league title hopes alive.

"In this wind, you just get into survival mode and hunker down," Coach Joe Ciasulli said. "The wind can really become a factor and neutralize a lot of things. It's a wild card and just makes everything less predictable."

Mira Costa will host Palos Verdes on Monday with a share of first place in the Bay League at stake. The Mustangs need a victory to tie for first with Palos Verdes and Peninsula. If the Mustangs win, a tiebreaker will be determined by coin flip.

"We're not going to hold back, it is going to be a dogfight and a win could really help us out in post-season draw and make up for some early losses," said Parker Kelley, who won his match in straight sets 6-1, 7-5, 6-0.

"The team has lots of potential. We won't really know how good we are until CIF. We need to have everyone at full strength. Our doubles have been getting better and they will be important for us to advance."

Devon Sousa also won in straight sets 6-3, 6-0, 6-0, continuing a solid season in which he is approaching 50 match wins. Rounding out the singles play, junior Toni Cvitanic won 6-1, 6-2 and suffered a defeat of 1-6 to Derek Levchenko.

"We had a windy day against Marina, but today was probably the windiest, it was just howling," Cvitanic said. "The shots were unpredictable sometimes, but I got one of my favorite match-point shots in the second match to win, so that felt good."

The wind was altering shots all day and despite the visible frustration expressed by both teams, communication was a key in doubles play.

The senior and freshman combo of Brian Humbarger and Matt Sumen suffered a loss in its first match, 5-7, but rebounded with impressive wins of 6-2 and 6-0. 

"The team cheers on each other, we have good chemistry and it helps on a day like today," Sumen said. "We had some losses early that have helped us learn where we need to improve.  In particular, I'm a freshman and am practicing really hard and working on my mechanics."

The No. 2 doubles team of juniors Will Wong and Chris Standbrook were involved in three competitive back-and-forth matches, but won all three, 7-5, 7-5 and in a tiebreaker 7-6 (7-4).

Michael Carella and Willem Kamoen also claimed a tiebreaker victory of 7-6 (7-5) to finish their day on a positive note after losing their first two matches 3-6, 1-6.

"I said at the start of the week we needed to focus and win both matches to see if that would give us a chance against Palos Verdes," Ciasulli said.