La Reina Bounces Nordhoff

OJAI — The showdown between Nordhoff and La Reina highs for the Southern Section Division V team tennis championship Tuesday had elements one would expect from a title match: a large crowd, great shot-making, some upsets.

But drama and excitement? Forget it.

La Reina won it in a rout, 15-3, at the Ojai Valley Racquet Club.

Both teams came in expecting the fourth-seeded Regents (16-3) to win the match, based on the fact that they had beaten the Rangers (14-7) three times within the past year--once in a practice and twice in official matches that ended with 16-2 scores.

The only question was by how much.

“I knew it wasn’t in the bag, but we had a really good feeling,” said La Reina junior Vicki Hull, who swept three sets at No. 1 doubles by scores of 6-2, 6-1, 6-1, in the round-robin event. “They’ve improved a lot.”

The Rangers still weren’t good enough to push Hull and partner Katie Nelson. Then again, nobody has been. Hull and Nelson are 69-0 over two seasons.

The Regents swept all nine doubles matches, winning two in tiebreakers and one by a 7-5 margin. La Reina clinched the title after the second of three rounds, when its No. 3 doubles team of Katie Grabowsky and Erin Masterson knocked off Nordhoff’s No. 1 team of Sarah Blake and Cara Dunston, 7-6 (7-1). That made the score 10-2 with six points remaining.

Upsets?

La Reina freshman Kristin Dickey, who plays at No. 3, was the only singles player to win all three sets. She overwhelmed Nordhoff’s No. 3 Brianne Chapman, 6-0, surprised No. 1 Stacey Roberts, 6-3, and pulled the rug from under No. 2 Haley Wilbur, 6-1.

“I think I felt a lot of pressure,” Dickey said. “But I was consistent and had a positive attitude.”

Wilbur said she was emotionally and physically drained after upsetting La Reina’s No. 1 player, Kristy Bear, 6-2, and No. 2-rated Cindy Bear, 6-4.