Boys tennis: Mesa looks for improvement

Joseph Boo

COSTA MESA - Costa Mesa High’s boys tennis team did not have a

memorable season last year, so the fact that Mustangs have a lot of new

players on this year’s team is a positive for Mustangs Coach John Tichy.

And two matches into its season, he sees a lot of improvement in his

team.

“We improved tremendously from last year,” he said. “Newport Harbor beat

us, 16-2, last year. (Wednesday), we lost, 12-6, but it easily could have

been 9-9.”

Among the reinforcements coming in is sophomore Cuong Nguyen. A transfer

from Inland Valley athletic power Upland, Nguyen already grabbed Mesa’s

No. 1 singles spot. Sophomore Marvin Lam is the odds-on-favorite to be

the No. 2 singles player. Sophomore Spencer Soloman and juniors Raphael

Bernard and Vijay Lilaram are other contenders for the singles spot.

Brothers Thien and Thu Pham form Mesa’s No. 2 doubles team. Costa Mesa’s

senior class president Raphael Kazi, who was last year’s team MVP,

returns as the team captain and is in Mesa’s doubles rotation.

“Raphael’s the hardest working guy on our team,” Tichy said. “He’s a

tremendous competitor. He’s the heart and soul of our team.”

Sophomores Partha Patel, Laurent Nguyen and David Nguyen round out the

doubles squad.

Tichy feels his team is good enough to capture third or fourth place in

the Pacific Coast League. A third-place finish would lead to a CIF

Playoffs berth, which seemed impossible last year. But this is another

year for Tichy’s squad.

“You can see that I’m trying to say that we’re a big improvement from

last year,” Tichy said.

Roster

Raphael Bernard Jr.

Farshid Kazi Sr.

Marvin Lam So.

Vijay Lilaram Jr.

Cuong Nguyen So.

David Nguyen So.

Laurent Nguyen So.

Partha Patel So.

Thien Pham Sr.

Thu Pham Jr.

Spencer Soloman So.

Coach: John Tichy