Winds, Mustangs Whip Redondo Union

The conditions were anything but ideal for tennis, the wind was both strong and unpredictable. Frustration was evident for both teams on a day the final match count was not indicative of the Redondo Union High Sea Hawks' effort, as they lost two tiebreakers and three close 5-7 matches in a loss to rival Mira Costa.

"We're playing better tennis than we were this time last year," Coach Jessica Seibert said. "Our league has some of the best teams in Southern California, and we hope we can get an at-large bid to CIF. It's our seniors' last chance and we hope to finish strong and keep playing."

The Sea Hawks' No. 1 doubles team of seniors Kevin Shin and Dylan McCarthy picked up a team-best two wins as they won 7-5, 6-1 with their other match a close 5-7 loss to Mira Costa's Will Wong and Chris Standbrook. 

"Kevin and Dylan played well, they're experienced and I expect them to be a tough draw for anyone," Seibert said.

In other doubles action Robert Tekie and Paul Levchenko lost 2-6 and in a tiebreaker 6-7 (4-7). 

"We had to change our game up a little bit, normally we're playing more singles, but it was fun to get some doubles action in," Levchenko said. "Determining the bounces and where to set up was consistently changing with the wind shifting across the courts.

Tekie was joined by Justin Choi in the third match, picking up a 6-3 victory. The No. 3 team of Trent Dantzig and Chris Lew fell 0-6 in their first match and then in a hard-fought 5-7 loss and a tiebreaker defeat of 6-7 (5-7).

"You get lucky once in a while in wind like that, but it's really a toss up, you never know where the ball is going," Dantzig said. "Hitting slices is harder, the serving was tough, but we could do better and I hope we do to finish out the season."

Facing a very staunch group of singles players from Mira Costa, Seibert was happy with her talented freshman Derek Levchenko. Levchenko picked up an easy 6-1 victory over Toni Cvitanic, and fell to the highly-rated Devon Sousa 6-3 and Parker Kelley 6-1.

"Derek is young, but he plays great tennis and today he had some really tough competition which always helps for the future," Seibert said.

Levchenko's win, was the lone victory on the singles side as Konrad Schreier and Collin Matthews were both defeated in straight sets. But Matthews, a junior found the experience valuable. 

"Mira Costa has some great talent, it's my first year on varsity and I'm learning more and more what to expect," Matthews said. "Playing in this wind, maintaining your composure and trying to anticipate the bounce was key, I learned a lot for the next time."

Redondo is 10-9 on the season, and finishes the season against Peninsula. Regardless of the outcome, they will finish at or above .500 and be eligible for an at-large birth in CIF.

"We play in a great league, we have a senior-heavy team and we want to finish the season off right and hopefully the strength of our league will help us get a chance to play in CIF," Seibert said.