Mustangs venture into championship territory

Richard Dunn

Times like these are a rarity at Costa Mesa High, which opened its

doors in the autumn of 1958 and waited until Thursday to win its

first league championship in girls tennis.

“This is a huge thing -- it’s the first time in 40 years. Isn’t

that incredible?” said Costa Mesa Coach Joe Havens, whose team

defeated Westminster, 11-7, in a Golden West League match on the

Mustangs’ courts, locking up the program’s first title.

“I’ll be doing something (today) for the first time in my career.

Order a banner for girls tennis,” quipped Mesa Girls Athletic

Director Pat Leahy, who has been at the school since the first

graduating class in ’62. “This is a nice introduction into the new

league.”

The Mustangs, who struggled in the Pacific Coast League against

teams like Corona del Mar, Laguna Beach and University, have a lot on

top this year, including their No. 1 singles player, Hilary Havens --

also No. 1 scholastically in her senior class at Costa Mesa.

“The league change helps,” Havens said of her tennis progress this

season, in which she’s 31-2, including a loss Thursday to

Westminster’s No. 3 player, Hang Tran, 6-4.

“This year, for the first time, our school is playing against

schools like us, and we’ve had a lot of close matches this year ...

you learn something out there rather than just hit balls and serve.

That’s what happened against Corona del Mar. Watching (the Sea Kings)

was incredible. The people at Corona del Mar are incredible, the way

they swing and play. It’s like watching ballet. They’re like

machines.

“But with people like this (in the Golden West League), there are

long rallies and you learn more.”

Havens, as you might suspect, is a valedictorian candidate with a

4.4 grade-point average. She has applied to and is interviewing at

Harvard, MIT, Cal Tech and Amherst. She has taught math at UC Irvine

in the summer. Her idea of a good time is creating new math formulas,

so tennis is there to help kick in the endorphins.

Joe Havens, her father, coach, academic decathlon advisor and

long-respected science and math teacher at Costa Mesa, was thrilled

to clinch the Golden West title outright and not have to worry about

facing host Santa Ana in the league finale Tuesday, with the

possibility of a four-way tie looming at the top if the Mustangs lost

to Westminster and Santa Ana.

The Mustangs, who lost to Westminster on the road earlier this

season by five games after a 9-9 tie, didn’t need to count games this

time as they swept all nine doubles sets and Hilary Havens, the

top-ranked singles player in the league, captured two of three sets.

Costa Mesa (10-5, 10-1 in league), which has won academic awards

as a team, played tough preseason opponents (Foothill, Marina,

Mission Viejo and El Modena) to prepare for its inaugural Golden West

campaign. And it paid off.

“We knew this wasn’t the Pacific Coast League,” said Joe Havens.

In the opening round against the Lions (9-7, 7-4), Hilary Havens

went through Westminster’s Tammie Xiong, considered the league’s

next-best player, 6-0, and the Mustangs added sweeps across the board

in doubles for a 4-2 edge. They maintained their lead at 7-5 after

the second round and three more doubles wins.

Seniors Brenda Tran and Laura Fais, playing No. 1 doubles for the

Mustangs, won a 7-5 decision in the first round, added a 6-2 win and

clinched the match in the third round with Mesa’s 10th set.

Costa Mesa seniors Chi Doan and Minh-Thy Pham, playing No. 2

doubles, dropped only four games, while junior Valerie Gomez and

sophomore Paulina Rodriguez teamed to sweep at No. 3 doubles for the

Mustangs. Seniors Kim Nguyen and Hong Nguyen competed in singles.

“I knew we’d do pretty well in doubles,” Joe Havens said. “If we

would’ve lost (Thursday), we would have to play at Santa Ana on

Tuesday, and if (the Saints) beat us, we’d share the league title

with them, Westminster and Estancia, but that’s not something we

didn’t think we wanted to venture into.”

Instead, the Mustangs ventured into championship territory for the

first time.

GOLDEN WEST LEAGUE

Costa Mesa 11, Westminster 7 Singles -- Havens (CM) def Xiong, 6-0, def. Ho, 6-0,

lost to H. Tran, 4-6; K. Nguyen (CM) lost 3-6, 3-6, 4-6; H. Nguyen

(CM) lost 1-6, 4-6, 2-6.

Doubles -- B. Tran-Fais (CM) def. T. Tran-M. Tran, 7-5,

def. Q. Tran-Dang, 6-1, def. Nguyen-Dinh, 6-2; Doan-Pham (CM) won

6-2, 6-1, 6-1; Gomez-Rodriguez (CM) won 6-3, 6-4, 6-1.