NICE TIMING: Coach Joan Willett’s Woodbridge High...

NICE TIMING: Coach Joan Willett’s Woodbridge High girls’ tennis team, which hasn’t won a Sea View League title since 1984, is ranked No. 1 in the county. . . . Good timing: The Irvine school’s long-awaited eight-court tennis center opened this fall. . . . “It’s a nice coincidence,” Willett says. “But the team was ready for this year. The fact that we have a new complex is icing on the cake.” . . . The courts are not open to the public at this time.

AT CROSSROADS: County cross-country coaches annually enter their teams in both the Mt. San Antonio College Invitational and the Orange County Championships at Irvine Regional Park. But for the first time, both events take place on the same day--Saturday, Oct. 21. . . . Though the Southern Section preliminaries and finals take place at Mt. SAC in November, many coaches have decided to pass on the chance to get their runners acclimated to the course--they are staunch supporters of the county race and like to compete against local teams. . . . “We committed to Orange County,” says Katella Coach Mike Cochrane, whose boys’ team is top-ranked in the county. “I think that’s good for the kids.”

NUMBERS GAME: Highly touted Roberta Gehlke and her Mater Dei High volleyball teammates won the Las Vegas tournament Sept. 30 and vaulted 17 places in the weekly national rankings to No. 4. However, the Monarchs are only No. 2 in Orange County. . . . The county’s top-ranked team, Huntington Beach High, is ranked second nationally, behind Mother McAuley High of Chicago. . . . Huntington Beach defeated Mater Dei in the Orange County Championships final to begin the season.

POWER POLO: Strong water polo teams from Northern and Central California as well as San Diego and Los Angeles counties square off against county powers in the Southern California Invitational Friday and Saturday at Heritage Park in Irvine. Admission is free. . . . “For anyone who has never seen water polo,” said Jim Brumm of top-seeded Foothill in Santa Ana, “this will be a good one to come out and see.”