Claire DuMont
Staff Writer
Mira Costa’s boys tennis team took on Corona del Mar High School in a match filled with many bickering fans and close games at its home game on Monday.
The Mustangs fell to Corona del Mar, 10-8, in the Southern Section California Interscholastic Federation quarterfinals. According to senior Blake Suard, the team struggled to convert on the deuce plus one points.
“I felt the team fought very hard and gave our best effort, but we definitely didn’t play up to our potential in doubles,” freshman Matthew Poh said.
During seniors Blake Suard and Tanner Suard’s game, Corona del Mar made a line call on the back baseline that was called in that the Mustangs’ crowd did not agree with. According to Suard, he believed the call was unfair.
“Whenever [Corona del Mar] made a questionable line call, I tried to ignore it and keep my focus on just winning,” Blake Suard said. “I blocked out what I could hear of the disagreements and hazing from the audience during my set and did my best to make sure it did not influence the way that I played my game.”
The disagreements in the crowd over the line call might have affected the overall outcome of the Suard brothers’ match, which ended in a 7-6 loss, boys varsity tennis coach Joe Ciasulli said.
The team ended its season with an overall record of 21-2 and a Bay League record of 9-1, which allowed it to win Bay League. Despite the loss in the quarterfinals, the Mustangs broke a Costa record by attaining 20 wins this season, which is the most season wins in the history of Costa boys tennis.
“This season has been the best season in all my four years at Costa,” senior Alex Gaal said. “Our team has played exceptionally well.”
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