MISSION VIEJO There was no doubting Capistrano Valley’s Katie Ta was the best player on the court Tuesday afternoon.
San Clemente just happened to be the better team top to bottom.
By earning at least one point from every starter in its lineup, the fifth-ranked Tritons were able to sneak past the Cougars, 10-8, in a South Coast League match at Capistrano Valley High.
“Not a surprise at all,” San Clemente coach John Stephens said after the match. “We figured it was going to be a close match.”
Despite entering the contest with a 1-6 overall record, the Cougars had gone down to the wire against No. 6 Dana Hills and No. 7 Tesoro in recent weeks, and San Clemente had to battle for a 11-7 victory over them on Sept. 24.
Capo Valley proved yet again it would be a tough out, tying San Clemente, 3-3, in the first round of action.
Ta – the Register’s 2013 Player of the Year – opened with a 6-0 win over San Clemente’s Natalie Nasongkhla.
The Cougars star senior finished the afternoon with three 6-0 victories, remaining unbeaten on the season.
“Having a player like Katie out there, you just know you can count on three points from her,” Capo Valley coach Terri Machado said. “She’s been on fire this season.”
While the San Clemente singles lineup struggled against Ta, Nasongkhla, Lindsey Hung and Sami Neilson each won their other two sets, giving San Clemente six of the nine singles points.
Nasongkhla battled through a shoulder injury and earned 6-1 and 6-0 wins in the second and third rounds after being blanked by Ta.
“Someone’s always stepping up on this team,” Stephens said. “Today Natalie was struggling with a bad shoulder. She had to serve underhand. But she dealt with the adversity and won two matches she probably had no business winning.”
After adding four points in the second round, San Clemente (11-2) took a 7-5 edge into the final round of play.
With the Tritons holding a 9-8 edge, Neilson wrapped up San Clemente’s fourth straight victory with a 6-0 set to earn the deciding 10th point of the match.
“We have a lot of potential,” Stephens said. “We’re going through some growing pains, making it harder on ourselves then it has to be. But this is a real close group. I think that helps us pull out those critical late sets.”
Contact the writer: kconnolly@ocregister.com
