SOUTHERN SECTION TENNIS PLAYOFF ROUNDUP : Unseeded Woodbridge Shows It Can Play With the Best

Playing with a chip on its shoulder and an eye on Dana Hills, Woodbridge’s unseeded boys’ tennis team easily moved into the second round of the Southern Section Division I playoffs with a 13 1/3-7 2/3 victory over Edison Tuesday.

“We wanted to prove that we were given a bad rap,” said Woodbridge’s A.J. Thoryk, who felt his team should have been seeded. “We wanted to show people that we’re better than what they think.”

Edison Coach Tim Ball said he didn’t have doubts about Woodbridge’s talent.

“We knew we were playing a good team and that we had to play outstanding tennis to beat them,” Ball said.

The Chargers (15-5) played better than they did last year when they were beaten by Woodbridge, 14-4, but not nearly well enough to beat the third-place team from the Sea View League.

Woodbridge (16-6) led, 5 2/3-1 1/3, after the first round and never was seriously threatened, though Edison did win five of nine doubles sets. Freshman Jonny Biorkman and junior Yoshi Suzuki each won three singles sets and freshman Reza Farokhpay won two of three.

“I was a little nervous before the match because I had nothing to go on,” Woodbridge Coach Joan Willett said.

Unfortunately for Willett, she has more to go on in Woodbridge’s second-round match Thursday against third-seeded Dana Hills (20-0). The Warriors were trounced by Dana Hills, 17 2/3-3 1/3, in a nonleague match.

“It would be a huge upset if we beat Dana Hills,” Willett said. “But I think our chances of winning are good. They had a great day against us the last time and other teams in our league have played them close.”