Hilary Havens

Steve Virgen

A storybook ending unfolded for Hilary Havens, the Costa Mesa High

girls tennis team’s No. 1 singles player who has made her senior

season a memorable one.

For starters, Havens has the assurance in the fact that her name

will forever be linked to Costa Mesa’s first girls tennis team league

title. She also has wonderful memories of this season because most of

her teammates are seniors, friends who have been with Havens

throughout their years at Mesa and friends who helped in providing

the championship.

Perhaps, the most memorable event of Havens’ sensational senior

season came Nov. 6, when she completed an overall dominating

performance in singles competition in the Golden West League.

The Daily Pilot Athlete of the Week dropped only three games in

the league finals and scored a 6-1, 6-2 victory over April Shelley of

Orange to win the Golden West League singles title at Ocean View

High. That victory capped a dominating season in league singles play.

Havens went 38-2 in league this season, dropping no more than three

games in each of her victorious matches.

And, when it was all said and done, Havens reminisced mostly about

the team’s effort that also resulted in a league championship, and a

doubles team title won by seniors Minh-Thy Pham and Chi Doan, who had

to defeat senior teammates Brenda Tran and Laura Fais in an all-Mesa

final.

“Everybody on the team is so great,” Havens said. “These people

have been my friends for a long time. We had a lot of fun this

season. Winning isn’t really everything for our team. For other

schools it might be. We just go out for fun.”

If that wasn’t enough for a feel-good story, Havens also enjoyed

this season because her father and Costa Mesa’s coach, Joe Havens,

also experienced winning the Golden West League title.

“She had a great time this year,” Joe Havens said of his daughter.

“She was playing on a team with seven other seniors who she’s been

with for four years. It was a great season for her and a great

atmosphere. For her being the team captain, she had a nice way about

her to get the team motivated. Everyone had a smile on their face,

but everyone got down to business and took care of business. It was

the best of both worlds.”

“She hit the ball about as hard I’ve seen a ball hit,” Coach

Havens said. “She had the other girls running around when she was

hitting to the corners. She just out-hit them. It was really a power

game, she just overpowered her opponents. There was little finesse.

She was up in the 90-95 mph range on her first serve.”

Power and aggressiveness have always been a part of Hilary Havens’

game. She learned the lessons from her father and from training under

Robert Van’t Hof five years ago. It was then that she received what

she called, “My best experience with tennis,” when she got to work

out and hit with women’s tennis star Lindsay Davenport for one day.

Davenport’s coach is Van’t Hof.