Mustangs Beat Sea Hawks This Time

Two weeks ago, with the winds swirling and fresh off of spring break, the Mira Costa boys tennis team came out flat and was upset 10-8 on crosstown rival Redondo’s home courts.

On Wednesday, the Mustangs, determined to avenge their defeat two weeks ago, picked up a decisive 13-5 victory to move into a tie for third place, setting up a possible rematch with a CIF berth at stake.

“We played poorly last time," said Mira Costa head coach Joe Ciasulli. "I expected us to play better today. Last time the kids had not picked up a racket during spring break.” 

“In the last match, we were coming off of spring break and we had not been playing much. We have been practicing more lately, which has definitely helped,” said Toni Cvitanic.

On Wednesday, Ciasulli inserted senior Will Wong into the singles lineup in an effort to strengthen the individual side. The move paid off as the Mustangs claimed six victories, sweeping Redondo's number two and three players.

“Last time [vs. Redondo] the singles did poorly, but doubles did okay," said Ciasulli. "I wanted to get Will in to strengthen singles and we got two wins like I expected from him.” 

Wong’s departure from the doubles side did not hurt, as seven of the nine sets went the way of the home team with Mira Costa (11-9, 3-4) picking up the much-needed victory.

Both the Mustangs and Sea Hawks have one remaining match and unless either team can pull off an upset over Palos Verdes and Peninsula respectively, there will be a rematch at Mira Costa on Tuesday with a berth to the CIF tournament on the line.

Redondo’s number one singles player, Derek Levchenko picked up a set victories 6-3, 6-1 and 6-0, with the remaining six sets going to the Mustangs.

Playing in the number one slot, Cvitanic defeated Christian Grantz 6-2 and Erik Fleming 6-2, rebounding from a difficult showing two weeks ago.

“Toni’s play was an aberration last time," Ciasulli said. "He is usually very consistent and he played much better today for us.” 

Wong, who has alternated between singles and doubles this season, recorded 6-2, 6-2 victories on the singles side in spite of reduced mobility stemming from an ankle injury. 

“My ankle feels much better," Wong said. "I think the home court definitely helped a lot today for us. This was our biggest win of the year so far.” 

Sophomore Kyvan Elep won 6-0, 6-0.

“I don’t think we took them seriously enough the first time," said Elep. "This time we focused more and knew we had to get the win.” 

On the doubles side, Chris Stanbrook and Tom Wessel were victorious 6-0, 6-2 and dropped their third set to Paul Levchenko and Chris Lew 2-6.

“It was a different lineup today," said Stanbrook. "Having Will in singles was an advantage and we did well in doubles, taking all of the sets against the teams they had at one and two.” 

The number two doubles team of Michael Carella and Ben Sands picked up the only sweep of the day, winning 6-3, 7-6 (7-4) and 6-4.

The number three team of Daniel Juhanz and Matt Wah won 6-2 and lost 1-6 to Levchenko and Lew. Steven Korda subbed for an injured Wah and paired with Juhanz for a 6-2 win to close out the match.