Warriors Upset No. 1 Sea Kings

Woodbridge got over the first of many hurdles on a tough road toward the Sea View League title, upsetting top-ranked Corona del Mar, 10-8, in girls’ tennis Tuesday at Newport Beach.

“[The victory] does mean a lot, but there is a long season ahead of us,” Woodbridge Coach Joan Willett said. “You have to take it one game at a time. Every team in this league is tough. You just have to keep working hard and let your rackets do the talking.”

The rackets for the third-ranked Warriors did plenty of talking in doubles, as they dominated the defending league champions, winning seven of nine sets. Corona del Mar (9-1, 1-1) took six of nine sets in singles.

Woodbridge (9-0, 2-0) took a 4-2 lead after the first round, when Aylin Algan and April Artunian rallied from a 4-1 deficit to defeat Ruchika Budraja and McKenna Glascow, 7-5, at No. 3 doubles.

But the set that put victory out of reach for Corona del Mar, came in the second round of singles, with Woodbridge leading, 7-4. Nina Vaughan, Corona del Mar’s top player, played Woodbridge freshman Adriana Hockicko. Hockicko, the Warriors’ No. 2 player, jumped to a surprising 5-2 lead before Vaughan battled back to tie the set at 6-6. But with Corona del Mar needing the victory to pull within two games, Hockicko knocked them back by four, 8-4, defeating Vaughan, 7-5, in the tiebreaker.

Woodbridge then needed only two sets in the final round to win the match, which lasted more than three hours, and got it with two doubles victories. Michelle Stiefel and Danielle Hustedt defeated Budraja and Glascow, 6-2, and Courtney Tenerelli and Natalie Mitton clinched the victory with a 6-4 victory over Jenny Myer and Robin Coleman.