Estancia makes Mustangs run

COSTA MESA — As the victorious Estancia High boys’ tennis team left Thursday’s Orange Coast League opener at Costa Mesa High, the Mustangs yelled.

But not at the Eagles. They yelled to keep count.

“One! Two! Three!”

The Costa Mesa players were running sprints, back and forth along the width of the court. They had to do 140 of them, 10 for each set lost after Estancia’s 14-4 win.

It’s a rule Costa Mesa Coach Sean Lance instituted earlier this season when the Mustangs had several members missing practice. He figures the drills help promote the team unity that his team is still trying to discover.

“Since a lot of guys missed practice and they’re not dedicated, when they lose, they do line drills,” Lance said. “It helps me get them in shape, and it’s a team bonding thing.”

Estancia (6-3, 1-0 in league) has no such problems with team chemistry, not when the Eagles have singles players playing as well as junior Bradley Fisher and sophomores Ely Zaidler and Danny O’Neil.

All three swept their sets Thursday, and Fisher didn’t drop a game. He and Zaidler are undefeated on the season.

Costa Mesa traditionally plays many of its stronger players in doubles. And, while the Mustangs (1-3, 0-1) won four of nine doubles sets, it couldn’t overcome Estancia’s singles dominance.

“Our singles has been carrying us all season long so far,” Estancia Coach Rachel de los Santos said. “Bradley has stepped right in at No. 1 singles. He and Ely Zaidler are coming together, and Danny O’Neil is coming along really well. He’s just a really good athlete and he’s just going to keep on getting better as the season goes on.”

Estancia’s No. 1 doubles team of juniors Rony Argueta and Chris Koreerat won two of three sets. And, even the tough matches the Eagles seemed to be winning. That was true after Nick Oliver and Carlos Macias, at No. 2 doubles, took a marathon 7-6 (9-7) victory over Costa Mesa’s John Ha and Andrew Nguyen.

The Mustang duo was ahead 5-4 in games and also ahead in the tiebreaker before the Eagles rallied.

“Even though it wasn’t that hard, it’s always pretty fun just because they’re our rivals,” Fisher said. “It’s always good to beat them.”

The play of Mustang seniors Ted Lee and Shea Huffman, who swept at No. 1 doubles, was a positive for Mesa. Lee and Huffman have been playing together for all four years of high school.

“We know each other’s moves like the back of our hands,” Huffman said. “I was really nervous, because we’ve always had trouble with them in the past. But they graduated a lot of [doubles] players, so it wasn’t too bad.”

The cross-town rivals will play each other twice more in the four-team Orange Coast League, at Estancia on April 3 and at Costa Mesa on April 19. De los Santos isn’t a big fan of the three matches.

“You hope for close matches,” she said. “When the matches aren’t close, the thought of playing someone three times, whether you beat them by a lot or they beat you by a lot, it just takes some of the fun out of it. There’s no competition; you already know what to expect going into the match.”

Costa Mesa hopes to make the future matches closer, if it can turn the sprints into wins.

“For one, they get us in shape,” Lee said. “And two, they give us motivation to win.”

Orange Coast LeagueEstancia 14, Costa Mesa 4 -- Fisher (E) def. Tran, 6-0, def. Sneed, 6-0, def. Dang, 6-0; Zaidler (E) won, 6-0, 6-2, 6-0; O’Neil (E) won, 6-0, 6-3, 6-1.

Singles

Doubles -- Argueta-Koreerat (E) lost to Lee-Huffman, 3-6, def. Cheskes-Harris-Majano, 6-2, def. Ha-Nguyen, 6-0; (sub) Macias-Ippolito (E) lost, 0-6, Macias-Oliver (E) won, 6-3, 7-6 (9-7); Kasper-Varma (E) lost, 0-6, (sub) Zich-Pham (E) won, 7-5, Kasper-Varma lost, 4-6.