Exon Stands Out in Crowd Because of Her Play : Tennis: She doesn’t say much, but at No. 1 singles for Woodbridge, she speaks volumes on the court.

It isn’t Natalie Exon’s style to speak up. She has played No. 1 singles for the Woodbridge girls’ tennis team two seasons, but she wants no part of being the team leader.

“We have a huge group of juniors,” Exon says. “I’m still just a sophomore. It’s not really my place to say anything.”

But if she likes it or not, Exon is the Warriors’ best and most popular player. As a freshman, she had a 55-8 singles record and advanced to the Sea View League semifinals, one victory short of qualifying for the Southern Section individual tournament.

After the season, Exon was named the team’s most valuable player.

“The girls absolutely love her,” Woodbridge Coach Joan Willett said. “That award isn’t given just for winning matches. The girls always choose someone they admire as the team’s MVP.”

Though Exon entered Woodbridge as a highly-ranked junior player, Willett said Exon has never put herself above the team.

“She didn’t want to stick out as an individual,” Willett said. “In fact, everywhere she goes, there is a crowd around. In the yearbook, there is a picture called ‘Natalie and friends.’

“Even when she’s in the middle of a close match, she is always asking how so and so is doing in her match. A lot of tournament players come in and don’t want to play high school tennis, but Natalie has been excited about being part of this team from the start.”

Exon said she was proud of what her team accomplished last season, even if some of it wasn’t documented. Woodbridge went 16-5, qualified for the section playoffs and handed Sea View League champion Newport Harbor its only league defeat. Somehow, Exon said the victory over Newport Harbor never made it into print.

“Our win over Newport Harbor was never recorded,” Exon said. “It always said in all the papers that Newport Harbor was 14-0 league. That really bothers us.”

Exon also was bothered that her team was ignored in all the preseason top-10 polls.

“We should have been ranked, but we don’t seem to get much respect,” she said.

Woodbridge gained some respect early this season when they lost to top-ranked Laguna Beach by only two games. The Warriors (6-1) have moved into the top 10 and are ranked sixth by The Times.

“It’s really annoying to think of that Laguna match,” she said. “A lot of girls could have won more games, including me. I had some game points in my sets that I could have won and didn’t.”

Exon has won 18 of 21 sets this season, losing only to El Modena’s Brandi Freudenberg, 6-1, and Laguna Beach’s Michelle Bray and Amanda Hastings-Phillips, 6-4. Exon realizes there probably will be more frustrating losses to come as she moves her game from the baseline to the net.

The first steps of that transition have not been kind to Exon’s Southern California ranking. While working with her father, who is also her coach, over the summer, Exon played in only a couple junior tournaments and saw her girls’ 16 singles ranking fall from 25 to 39.

“My summer wasn’t too good,” she said. “I’m constantly learning and still going through the process. I’m trying to come to the net more and develop more of a serve and more variety in my shots.

“The hardest part is getting the aggressiveness. I’m more of a passive type player. That really fits my personality.”

But Exon is beginning to understand that being aggressive will save her some aggravation and pain in the end.

“It shortens the matches and ends the points quicker when you get to the net,” Exon said. “It prevents me from having leg cramps during long points.”

Last year, Exon’s cramps came during the third set of her Sea View League semifinal match with Irvine’s Sarah Denson.

“When the cramps come, I slow down,” she said. “I can’t run and that’s one of my strengths.”

Exon acknowledges her cramping could probably be avoided if she took more precautions.

“A lot of times at school, I’ll have a Coke and some junk food for lunch, then go out and play a match,” she said. “I don’t have good habits, but I’m trying to change.”