New look works for Huntington Beach girls’ tennis against Villa Park
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VILLA PARK — The move from Division 3 to Division 1 in CIF Southern Section girls’ tennis can be daunting.
No one knows that better than the senior leaders for Huntington Beach High School.
After the Oilers won the Division 3 title in 2018, they were moved up to Division 1. They responded well, advancing to the semifinals as sophomores. Then last spring, they reached the Open Division as one of the top eight programs in the section.
“It’s been great, our improvement throughout the years,” senior Solaya Han said.
Villa Park may be on a similar path, after beating Fountain Valley for the Division 3 title. The Spartans are now also in Division 1.
The two county powerhouses met Thursday, and a close match did indeed ensue. But Huntington Beach had the doubles strength to earn a 10-8 nonleague victory at Villa Park High School.
The Oilers (2-0) won seven of nine doubles sets. Seniors Sophie Jin-Ngo and Cindy Huynh swept in doubles, while the pairing of junior Isabella Moore and senior Hailey Petteys also swept.
Ella Weisman and Jackie Vo won one doubles set for Huntington Beach against Villa Park (1-1).
“Today for me was really, how are our doubles going to do?” Oilers coach Patrick Wright said. “This year, our doubles is looking to be strong. It was good to see them go out there and take care of business ... It’s going to be pretty different. We’re not going to be that powerhouse in singles anymore. We’ll still have good players in singles, but we’re going to get a lot of wins in doubles this year.”
Huntington Beach graduated standout Kaitlyn Taylor in singles, and Cindy Huynh said she plans to play doubles throughout the season for the first time in her four years on varsity. That leaves Jin-Ngo with her fourth partner in four years: Kaitlyn Palacio, Gennifer Wolfe, Maggie Rae Walker and now Huynh.
“I like having a partner to play with,” Huynh said. “It’s just so much more fun.”
Han moves back in singles, a change from last season. Huntington Beach’s No. 1 singles player Thursday was Huynh’s younger sister, sophomore Yen Nhi Huynh. She had two tough-luck losses, 7-6 (9-7) to Morgan Shaffer in the first round and 6-4 to Jordyn Kuo in the second round. Yen Nhi Huynh squandered two match points in the tiebreaker of the high-quality first set, which took about 80 minutes to complete.
Han and teammate Kayla Friedland each beat Villa Park’s No. 3 player.
The teams agreed not to play the third round in singles, as the match reached the 6 p.m. hour with Huntington Beach holding a 9-6 advantage. Han earned a forfeit win over Shaffer, while Villa Park also earned two forfeit wins in singles.
Wright said the youngest Huynh sister, freshman Le Nhi Huynh, is currently out with a leg injury. He said he plans to play her in doubles if and when she returns.
Villa Park also played without its top player, senior Grace Gamal. Villa Park coach Ron Metcalf said that Gamal, last year’s CIF Southern Section Individuals singles champion and Orange County Player of the Year, is currently in quarantine.
Huntington Beach will only get better if it adds Le Nhi Huynh to the lineup.
“She’s come out to practice,” Wright said. “She’ll hit during the warmup, and she looks like one of the best players I’ve ever seen in my life. It’s crazy. She has huge, heavy-spin groundstrokes, which is really uncommon to see in girls’ tennis.”
Still, even shorthanded, the Oilers are plenty good enough to beat most Orange County teams. Thursday’s result was proof.
Vo, a senior, subbed in for a 6-0 doubles win with Weisman in the final round.
“Our subs, if they go in, they are so quick to take on the challenge,” Han said. “No one on this team is significantly weak. We’re all pretty much the same level.”
Huntington Beach plays at JSerra on Sept. 9.
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