Hung Comes Up Big for Mater Dei

Mary Hung didn’t let Melissa Esmero’s first set loss of the season make the difference for Mater Dei in its Southern Section Division II semifinal girls’ tennis match against top-seeded Woodbridge.

Instead it was Hung’s two clutch victories that led the fourth-seeded Monarchs to a 10-8 victory Thursday at Woodbridge.

“Melissa had an off day today and Mary Hung pretty much took everything that Melissa didn’t have,” Mater Dei Coach Gina Jojola said. “She definitely came up big for us.”

Hung, playing at No. 2 singles, crafted consecutive 7-5 victories over Adrianna Hockicko and Elizabeth Exon to help Mater Dei to an 8-4 advantage after two rounds.

Woodbridge (18-5) made the third round interesting by winning three of the first four sets while maintaining a slight advantage on games. The Warriors also had slight leads in the three remaining sets.

Esmero, who lost her first set of the season, 6-2, to Susanna Lingman in the first round, was trailing in one of the remaining sets against Exon, 4-2, but rallied to win four straight games against the freshman and clinch the match.

Mater Dei (18-2) will defend its Division II title Monday against Troy at the Claremont Club.

“When I lost the first set to Susanna, who played excellent, Mary saved my butt by winning her set,” Esmero said. “We canceled each other out.”

Woodbridge defeated Mater Dei earlier in the season in a match that was decided on games. In that loss, Hung dropped all three sets, including the last one of the match.

“I was glad I was able to contribute this time,” Hung said. “It wasn’t a good feeling last time, especially ending the match that way.”

Mater Dei also received strong contributions from its doubles teams, which won six of nine sets.

Jodie Nygard and Lauren Thomas swept, 6-3, 6-2, 6-1. Casey Knutson and Erin Herrel won two out of three, and the No. 3 team of Orla Petirs and Julie Litrich came back from a 3-6 deficit in a second-round tiebreaker to defeat the Warriors’ No. 1 team, Evangelina Soriano and Lindsay Roth, 8-6.