Modest as she is, Trang Huynh-McClain nevertheless saw this coming.
Through the self-described “ups and downs” during the season, the Cal State Fullerton women’s tennis coach had her eye fixed on the destination she knew was reachable.
When the Titans dropped three matches in seven days in late March, Huynh-McClain had that innate sense that all coaches – regardless of the sport – with a glass-half-full mindset possess somewhere in their DNA – that this speed bump was just that. Trouble to overcome. Lessons to learn.
The record shows that the Titans fell one game short in their quest to win the program’s first Big West women’s tennis title. It shows Cal Poly San Luis Obispo’s 4-3 victory over CSF in the conference tournament finale, when Cal Poly’s Melissa LaMette rallied from 5-2 down to beat the Titans’ Milena Gevorgyan in the deciding third set of the final match. You will read that LaMette prevailed, 2-6, 7-6, 6-4, to give the Mustangs their second Big West title, one that came after three consecutive losses in the conference final.
You will read that fact in stark, impersonal words that leave no room for interpretation or equivocation. But, reading that, you will miss the full story of what this represented, because the record here conceals far more than it reveals.
You may have to initially draw Huynh-McClain out to talk about this season’s journey. But once she gets going, you get swept up in the accomplishment. The record becomes barely relevant, and the journey becomes the story.
“I expected it,” she said. “This was the constant message we’ve been sending to the team since the beginning of the season. We were a very talented team, and we could go out and win our conference title. We had a lot of ups and downs during the season, but I think the whole team saw how we were all really good at trying our best every day and sticking through it together. I think it showed toward the end of the season, when we put our heads into it and showed we could really do it.
“I think it’s a great feeling for them. Hearing the message from us is a different thing than actually going out and seeing that it’s possible. I’m really proud of them, and I’m sure they are proud of themselves for making this one of the best seasons in our school history.”
The record shows that the season produced a 17-9 overall record that featured a 6-1 pounding of Loyola Marymount, the Titans’ first victory over the Lions since 2016. It also came with a 5-4 conference record in which only one loss – a 5-2 loss to Long Beach State on March 29 – came by more than one set.
That was the third of three consecutive setbacks, following a 4-3 loss to Cal State Northridge and a 6-1 nonconference blitzing by the University of San Diego. Huynh-McClain said this was the proverbial fork in the road the Titans’ season would travel. Would it take the oft-traveled path into mediocrity? Would CSF – featuring players from six countries (U.S., Canada, South Korea, Russia, Ukraine and Armenia) – merely meander through the rest of the season?
“I definitely saw a lot of growth with how we handled adversity throughout the season. They got through the adversity by going back to keeping things simple,” Huynh-McClain said. “We talked a lot about playing to win and enjoying the moment, because many times, we find ourselves thinking about the past or trying to figure out what could happen or what could have happened.
“We worked a lot on staying in the moment and taking one point at a time. We stuck to our game plan and stuck to what we know to do to beat the other person. It was simply a matter of keeping things simple. We knew our talent was there. All we needed to do was trust in ourselves and execute it. If we’ve done the work every day, we have it inside of us.”
What came next illustrated this in 3D living color. The Titans closed the regular season winning six of their last seven matches. Adding in victories over Hawaii (4-2) and UC Davis (4-1) in the Big West Tournament, Fullerton won eight of its last nine going into that final against Cal Poly.
Two weeks earlier, the Titans had dispatched Cal Poly, 4-3, at home. This time, the Mustangs flipped the script, finally getting over the top after three previous final losses. It came with former CSF assistant Ellie Edles-Williams – who was the Titans’ assistant the last time they reached a conference final, in 2018 – now helming Cal Poly.
Not that she expected a loss, but Huynh-McClain sees where this could lead.
“They were runner-up three straight years, and this year they finally made it. This is only our second time getting to the Big West championship final,” she observed. “The future is bright.”
It is. Very bright. The only player departing is senior Natalie Duffy, the Titans’ team captain and a Big West honorable mention selection. Duffy’s 16-7 overall singles record included a victory over Oklahoma State’s Anastasiya Komar, the eighth-ranked college player in the country.
Huynh-McClain’s optimism that the Titans will be back in the conference finals sooner rather than later is rooted in the fact that three of CSF’s top four singles players – No. 1 Josie Usereau, No. 2 Sein Myoung and No. 4 Seha Yu – are all freshmen. Usereau became only the second Titan in program history to be named Big West Freshman of the Year, going 13-6 overall and 5-4 in the Big West. The Quebec, Canada, native was an All-Big West first-team selection in singles and Second Team in doubles. In the fall, she was the singles runner-up at the Dennis Rizza Classic and reached the quarterfinals of the ITA West Intercollegiate Championship.
Myoung (12-9 overall in singles, 6-3 in conference), who hails from South Korea, where she was the second-ranked U-18 player, joined Usereau on the all-conference first team for singles and second team for doubles. Her countrywoman, Yu, was 15-7 overall in singles, including a sparkling 8-1 in conference.
Probably the biggest jump in talent came from a player who could be excused if her mind was elsewhere – junior Mariia Nikitash. Playing mainly at No. 6 singles, Nikitash went 15-7 overall and 5-3 in conference – all while worrying about her family back home in Kyiv, Ukraine.
“She has been going through a lot of things, with the war in the back of her head and not knowing what’s going on,” Huynh-McClain said. “She’d tell me, ‘I haven’t heard from my mom for a few days, and I hope she’s OK.’ She’s always working hard, not letting it be an excuse for not focusing. She’s a very strong individual who inspires a lot of us.”
You hear those stories, you see how far Huynh-McClain has brought the Titans in only her second year at the helm, and you understand her foreshadowing, her optimism. You understand the journey isn’t close to its destination. You don’t have to draw it out of her. She’ll proudly show you the receipts.
“This is one of the proudest moments of my coaching career,” she said. “To see how much our players have grown and how they are all so appreciative and hungry for more. That’s what keeps college tennis fun. After every year, we reset, and it’s a new thing you get to continue building from wherever you left off from last year.”
