WANDO BEATS BERKELEY TO FINISH WITH A PERFECT 10-0 REGION RECORD

MONCKS CORNER -- Sophomore Lilly Biggs survived a match point in her epic singles contest on Wednesday en route to winning the deciding tiebreaker 12-10, lifting the Wando girls varsity tennis team to a 4-2 victory over Berkeley.

Had Biggs lost her match after nearly three hours on the court, the teams would have had to play #1 doubles to decide the outcome. Wando’s Kinsley Matthews and Caroline Greene warmed up just in case.

But their services ultimately weren’t needed as the Warriors secured their 15th straight victory to improve to 15-2 overall, including a perfect 10-0 mark in Region 6-AAAAA. Berkeley, an experienced team with 11 seniors on its roster, fell to 16-4 overall and 6-4 in the region (3rd place).

The Warriors won despite playing without four of their top five players who were out for various reasons. The team should be at near full strength for its final regular season match on Thursday -- a home contest against Bishop England.

Against Berkeley on an unusually hot late-October afternoon, Matthews at #1, Greene at #2 and Brigitta Ohannessian at #3 all won their singles matches handily to give Wando a 3-0 lead. But after losses at #3 singles and #2 doubles, all eyes turned Biggs’ match on the #4 court.

Biggs won her first set 6-4 but couldn’t match the consistency of her steady opponent in the second, losing 6-2. She jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the deciding tiebreaker but again saw her opponent mount a comeback and even faced a match point at 8-9. Yet the crafty right-hander survived the moment when her opponent netted a forehand.

After switching ends and with dozens of players and parents looking on, Biggs made good on her second match point opportunity when her opponent’s forehand sailed long.

Thursday’s Bishop England match is Wando’s final contest of the regular season. The playoffs start next week, but the Warriors are expected to get a bye that will move their first playoff match to Oct. 27th.