Willow Glen Resident

Sports

Rams start season 5-0 in West Valley play

By Dick Sparrer

It was the start that head coach Nancy Williams was hoping for.

The Willow Glen girls tennis team has opened the league season with five straight wins, including victories over two of the teams that Williams figured would be title contenders this fall in the West Valley Division of the Blossom Valley Athletic League.

The Rams topped Del Mar 5-2 and edged Sobrato 4-3 last week to improve to 5-0 in the division and to 5-1 for the year.

The Rams and Dons matched 4-0 league records heading into their match last Thursday. A couple of crucial three-set victories helped Willow Glen to the team win.

In what Williams called "the match of the day" and a "marathon battle," senior Laura Pierson defeated Anh Le 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 at No. 2 singles.

In another three-setter, sophomore Carla Avila and junior Laura Redmond teamed for an impressive win at No. 1 doubles over Khanh Huynh and Rachel Schauer 6-4, 4-6, 6-2.

Junior Nicole Unger won at No. 3 singles and soph Edith Herrera won at No. 4, and the team of sophomores Alyssa Terrazas and Sandra Macias nailed a win at No. 3 doubles.

Junior Adalia Lopez, the No. 1 singles player for the Rams, joins Redmond and Unger as Willow Glen players returning with varsity experience from a team that finished 6-8 in the Santa Teresa Division and 7-8 overall last fall.

Williams said that "first-time players to watch" include seniors Pierson and Kathryn Sartor and sophomore Herrera. Avila and sophomore Erin Wilcox are newcomers up from the junior varsity.

Williams said that the Rams "dropped to the West Valley Division from the Santa Teresa due to graduating eight of 10 starters," and she expects her squad to be title contenders this year. She ranked Del Mar and Sobrato as division favorites, but her Rams beat them both last week.

The Rams, who were to visit Pioneer on Tuesday, will be back on the court on Oct. 2 when they host Gunderson at 3:15 p.m.