There’s more to life

Joseph Boo

COSTA MESA - For a coach whose team went 2-15 last year, Costa Mesa

High’s girl tennis coach John Tichy is unnaturally optimistic.

“We have a good group of girls here,” Tichy said. “I enjoyed coaching

them immensely. I don’t think I had one bad experience.”

To understand how he feels about his team, you have to look at his team

from another angle. The Mustangs, according to Tichy, have the highest

GPA among all tennis teams in Southern California. The girls are

uncommonly courteous about sportsmanship. And despite their record on the

court, the team tries hard against usually overwhelming opponents. In

other words, the Mustangs are as nice a bunch of students as you’re ever

going to find.

But when Costa Mesa’s tennis team gets on the court, it’s easy to wonder

if Tichy thought he was coaching a Davis Cup team. The Mustangs failed to

win a match in the Pacific Coast League last year and finished 0-10.

And as hard as it sounds, it will be tough for Costa Mesa to improve on

that record, with a tougher league and graduated players. The team will

only feature two seniors for the coming year.

The PCL also got tougher this year. Perennial powerhouse Corona del Mar

joins the PCL and Northwood will unveil its new team full of talent-rich

Irvine students. The only realistic hope for Costa Mesa is to place ahead

of Estancia.

“We’ll be a squad who’ll give people a battle,” Tichy said, “but we’re in

a very tough league. Our season goal is to give it everything we have.”

If there is hope for Costa Mesa, it’s in freshman Hillary Havens, who

impressed Tichy with her abilities. She could grow into one of the better

tennis player in the area, but that’s still a way off. And one person

will not win matches for the entire team.

“If I had eight other girls like Haven,” Tichy said, “then we could think

about contending for the league title. But we don’t. Instead, we’re

looking on each player improving. I look to have a good season and to

definitely improve from last year.”

Such optimistic talks are necessary at Costa Mesa. But rose-colored

glasses will only do so much.

Roster

Hillary Havens Fr.

Jillian Demello Sr.

Marisa Dinsdale Sr.

Misa Lee Jr.

Sung Lee Kim Jr.

Diem Chau Sr.

Coach: John Tichy