Sage Hill boys’ tennis upsets No. 7 Northwood, could move into CIF Division 1 poll

The Sage Hill School boys’ tennis team has suffered three losses in nonleague play this season, and each have come against CIF Southern Section Division 1 opponents.

In past seasons, setbacks against Palos Verdes, San Marino and Corona del Mar would be examples of the Lightning playing up to a higher level of competition. But this season Sage Hill finds itself in Division 1, too, so these matches are potential playoff previews.

Lightning coach Zoran Korac said he approached Wednesday’s home match against Northwood, which was the final one scheduled against a Division 1 opponent, like a CIF match. He thought his team had a chance to upset the No. 7-ranked team in the division and move into the top 10 itself.

Sage Hill proved up to the challenge, rallying from an early deficit to beat the Timberwolves 11-7.

Junior Emin Torlic swept in singles for the Lightning (8-4), while juniors Steven Ferry and Robert Gerschultz swept in doubles.

“The combination of Steven Ferry and Robert Gerschultz seems like it works, and I’m really happy to kind of figure out that doubles puzzle,” Korac said. “That’s been kind of our Achilles’ heel, the doubles.”

Northwood (9-6) appeared to have the momentum early. The Timberwolves took a 4-2 lead after the first round. Northwood’s Nick Wang rallied for a 6-4 singles win over Sage Hill’s Adam Hung, and the Timberwolves’ Justin Yee and Chris Pettit did the same at No. 1 doubles against Ryan Ha and Ian Huang.

The third rally came in singles, where Northwood’s Tejas Reddy won the last five games to stun Sage Hill’s Rohun Krishnan 7-5 in a battle of sophomores.

The visitors’ edge came with a price, though. Northwood coach John Tichy said he had to sub out Wang after the first round due to a foot injury. The Lightning’s Krishnan and Torlic each won against his replacement, Alex Weyers.

“I don’t know what it totally is, but [Wang] hurt the bottom of his foot,” Tichy said. “It hurt our chances. That’s all I can say.”

Sage Hill stormed back to win the second round 4-2, tying the match at 6-6. It looked like the match might come down to games, but the Lightning were even stronger in the final round, winning five of six sets.

Torlic and Ferry said they have both been battling sickness this week, while Krishnan said he started cramping up late in the match against Reddy. But Sage Hill still pulled through. Torlic’s lefty game caused problems for Reddy in the second round, and he pulled off a 6-3 win.

“To be honest, I wasn’t expecting much,” said Torlic, who swept 6-1, 6-3, 6-1. “When I saw that we actually had a chance of winning, I decided to give it my best … I see [Reddy] at practice all the time, because we go to the same academy [the Brymer Lewis Tennis Academy at Woodbridge Tennis Club]. I felt pretty prepared for that match, sick or not.”

Ha and Huang won twice at No. 1 doubles, while the substitute team of Matthew Strok and Jerry Fu earned a third-round victory that gave Sage Hill its ninth set win. Krishnan then clinched the match by beating Nabil Fawaz, 6-2.

Sage Hill resumes Academy League play with a home match against Crean Lutheran on Friday.

“We still have a relatively young team, with only one senior [Huang] in the starting lineup,” Korac said. “We’re just going to only get better … I’m super-excited about being in the conversation of being ranked in the top 10 [in Division 1]. It’s huge for our program. It’s huge for us to be known as a tennis powerhouse, or a school that is now a contender.”

matthew.szabo@latimes.com

Twitter: @mjszabo