Troy Easily Defeats Villa Park

Troy moved within one match of its second consecutive Southern Section Division II girls’ tennis final with a surprisingly easy 12-6 victory Tuesday over visiting Villa Park. The second-seeded Warriors (20-4), who lost to Mater Dei, 10-8, in last year’s final, will face third-seeded Woodbridge Thursday. The site will be determined by a coin flip.

“From our first practice this year, we set a goal of making the finals and winning a championship,” said junior Veronica Fermin, who won two of three doubles sets with Stacey Lee at No. 1 doubles.

If the Warriors continue playing like they did Tuesday, they might just get there. Troy defeated Villa Park, 11-7, this season and Tuesday’s match was expected to be even closer.

But it never was. Troy led, 4-2, after the first round and 8-4 after the second round.

“I thought we’d pull through with our good depth, but I never thought it would be this easy,” Serena Fermin said.

The key to the first round was No. 2 singles player Aya Sakoda’s 6-2 victory over Arti Iyer. Two months ago, Iyer defeated Sakoda and she beat Troy’s No. 1 player, Serena Fermin. But Tuesday, she didn’t beat either player.

Villa Park (13-7) got half its points from Lindsey Nelson at No. 1 singles. Nelson swept, 6-2, 6-1, 6-2. Troy’s doubles teams took seven sets against Villa Park for the second consecutive time. Michelle Dinh and Karen Eitan swept at No. 2 doubles and Pam Abella and Maja Pesya won two of three.

“They’re so strong all the way through the lineup,” Villa Park Coach Sherry Smith said. “I don’t think we played that bad. They just played particularly well. We needed a little more out of our doubles than we got.”

Troy and Woodbridge have not faced each other this season. The winner will probably see top-seeded Beverly Hills in the final.

“We know Woodbridge will be tough,” Veronica Fermin said. “They have two power players in singles [Susanna Lingman and Elizabeth Exon]. But we’ve always relied on our doubles to pull us through.”

In other Division II quarterfinals:

Woodbridge 15, Riverside North 3--No. 1 singles player Susanna Lingman swept, 6-1, 6-1, 6-0, and the No. 1 doubles team of Heather Hustedt and Lindsay Rye won, 6-1, 6-1, 6-0. Woodbridge (19-4) faces Troy in Thursday’s semifinal.

Beverly Hills 12, Sunny Hills 6--Joanna Kao won two of three sets for Sunny Hills (12-6) in one of the few highlights against the division’s top-seeded team.

University 11, Claremont 7--No. 2 singles player Amiee Kim swept her matches, giving the Trojans their only singles victory of the day. University faces Beverly Hills next.