West Ranch Wildcats girls’ tennis is heating up in the final stretch of the season.
The Wildcats won their sixth straight match on Tuesday after beating the visiting Hart Indians, 10-8. West Ranch has now taken down and split matches with the only two Foothill League teams to beat the Cats’ squad this season.
None of the Wildcats swept through all three matches but a host of players and doubles teams took two of their sets.
No. 1 singles Audrey Park led the Wildcats before subbing out and finished the day with a pair of 6-0 wins. No. 2 singles Kaylie Chung returned to the team after nursing an injury for the majority of the season and also brought in two wins.
“Kaylie has been injured since the season started, but she is a great addition to the team and we are all excited to have her healthy and ready to play,” Cats coach Jackie Lange wrote in an email.
Chung finished the day with 6-4 and 6-0 wins, and only dropped her match to Hart No. 1 singles Sofia Ganshirt.
Ganshirt won two of her matches 6-1 and 6-2 and gave Park a tough battle despite the 6-0 score. The two displayed their talents to start the day in an intense match with numerous rallies, tough serves and backhanded slices.
In doubles, Hart No. 1 Em Porter and Mia Rodriguez swept through the day with 6-3, 6-1 and 7-5 wins.
The Indians duo’s match with West Ranch No. 1 Stephanie Douille and Suprita Yeole was cut short after Douille went down with an injury. Douille was briefly hospitalized but has safely returned home and is OK, according to Lange.
The Wildcats got a pair of points from their second and third doubles teams. No. 2 doubles Genesis Nochez and Audrey Kim brought in 6-3 and 6-2 wins, while No. 3 Berkely Nunez and Quinn Sallee finished the day 5-7, 7-6 and 6-1.
Lange was pleased with her young duo’s fight through some long battles.
“(Nunez and Sallee) games and personalities’ complement each other well,” Lange wrote. “They know how to calm each other and know how to communicate with each other. They are a solid team.”
The win avenged West Ranch’s previous loss at Hart, and although there won’t be a league title back up the hill in Stevenson Ranch, the Wildcats have beaten every opponent in the second half of league play.
“The difference (between round one and two with Hart) was the girls had a goal that they wanted to accomplish as a team and each of them executed the goal very well,” Lange said. “It is overwhelming how much they have improved as a team.”
West Ranch will finish off the regular season on Thursday at home against Golden Valley. Hart will look to rebound and head to Canyon on Thursday. Both matches are slated for 3 p.m.
The top tennis players in the Foothill League will head to the Paseo Club on Wednesday, Oct. 25, for the Foothill League preliminaries, a five-round, two-day tournament. Individual league champions will be crowned the following day at Paseo in the Foothill League finals.
