Woodbridge gets its upset over No. 6 Northwood

The Woodbridge High girls tennis team didn't beat Northwood two weeks ago, but the Warriors came away with a feeling that they could.

Northwood defeated Woodbridge on games, 69-60, after the teams were tied in sets, 9-9, the first time the two squads met on Oct. 7.

The Warriors carried their optimism into Thursday afternoon's rematch at Northwood and turned it into an 11-7 upset win that all but wrapped up a share of the Sea View League title with the Timberwolves.

"Match-ups are huge and Woodbridge seems to always match up really well with us," Northwood coach Eric Keith said. "They played well today and deserved it."

Both teams now have a record of 6-1 in league play with three matches to play. But neither Woodbridge or Northwood, which was ranked sixth in Orange County, has been challenged by anyone else in league.

"We worked very hard for this," Woodbridge coach Ric Barth said of the win.

In fact, Barth said that the last two weeks of practice had been geared toward Thursday's big match.

"This was it," he said. "Everything pointed toward today. We did lots of drills with our top two singles players and our doubles teams worked on being consistent. We didn't want to beat ourselves out there. We wanted to try and eliminate mistakes by not double faulting, returning serve, hitting the ball to the open court, making your volleys, and no unforced errors."

The focused effort paid off, especially in singles.

Woodbridge won just one set in singles on Oct. 7 against the Timberwolves.

But sophomore No. 1 player Nakisa Vahdat, who missed the first match against Northwood because of injury, and senior No. 2 player Jamie Lai each won two of three sets on Thursday.

Vahdat's 6-0 win in the third round earned the Warriors their 10th set and secured the team victory.

But it was Lai's opening-round win that set the stage for Woodbridge.

She out-lasted Northwood's No. 2 player Melissa Kan, 7-5. It was Lai's first ever win over Kan.

"It was such a big win for us," Barth said.

The victory tied the teams in sets, 3-3, after the first round and gave Woodbridge the momentum.

The Warriors proceeded to win five of six sets in the second round to take a commanding 8-4 set lead.

The teams split the six sets in the final round and then Woodbridge celebrated.

"We don't have the most talented team, but these kids try hard," Barth said. "They should be really proud of themselves."

Woodbridge did its usual damage in doubles, winning seven of nine sets.

The No. 1 team of Nori Call and Allison Reeve swept, 6-1, 6-3, 7-5, as did the No. 3 team of Brooke Sendele and May Sumi, 6-4, 6-0, 6-4.

Sophomore Courtney Pattugalan did her part for Northwood, sweeping, 6-1, 6-4, 6-0.

The teams of Kim Young and Melissa Ross and Sally Hong and Alice Muk each won a set in doubles for the Timberwolves.

"There were some close sets that could have gone either way and their girls came through," Keith said. "Give it to Woodbridge. They played better today than we did."