Nothing but up

Bryce Alderton

Moving into a new league this season excites Costa Mesa High girls

tennis coach Joe Havens.

The 15-year Mesa coach will now direct his team in the Golden West

League this season as the Mustangs make the move from the Pacific

Coast League to face the likes of Westminster, Santa Ana, Ocean View

and Saddleback.

Havens expects the Mustangs to fare better than they did in the

hotly-contested PCL, where they went 3-13, 2-8 in the PCL, against

the likes of Corona del Mar, University and Laguna Beach.

“Last year we were playing for fourth, fifth or sixth place

against teams that were top 10 in the county so it was not a lot of

fun,” Havens said.

This season Havens expects the Mustangs to have a shot at the CIF

Division III playoffs in the seven-team Golden West League.

Costa Mesa opens with home matches against Calvary Chapel and

league-rival Saddleback. The schedule surprises Havens, somewhat.

“Ever since I’ve coached there’s been two or three weeks of

preseason tennis before league play so it’s going to be interesting

as all the teams (in the league) will have similar pressure to be

competitive from Day One,” Havens said.

One can expect the Mustangs to be very competitive as they return

seven seniors from last year’s team including the coach’s daughter,

Hilary Havens, who went 31-18 last season in singles.

Hilary is a four-year Mesa varsity starter who enters as the No. 1

singles player.

The top doubles team is still up in the air, Havens said, but

senior returners Minh-Thy Pham, Chi Doan, Kim Nguyen and Brenda Tran

figure to feature prominently, along with the addition of two players

who sat out last season to compete for the University of California

fine arts system, according to Havens.

Thao Vu and Hong Nguyen will add more depth to Havens’ talented

squad that also features junior Thu Tran, Linda Nguyen and Monica

Neslage, a soccer player, who Havens said has, “quick feet and good

endurance.”