Here are some details on the top 10 teams:

1. Corona del Mar (12-0) - Ranked No. 1 in CIF-SS DI, the Sea Kings defeated a quality Laguna Hills (11-6) team, 11-7.

2. Dana Hills (14-1) - Ranked No. 2 in CIF-SS DI, the Dolphins defeated previously No. 3 University, 13-5.

3. Valencia (13-1) - Ranked No. 1 in CIF-SS DIII, the Tigers defeated Cypress, 12-6, and Katella 17-1.

4. University (11-2) - Ranked No. 4 in CIF-SS DI, the Trojans lost to No. 2 Dana Hills, 13-5.

5. St. Margaret's (14-0) - Ranked No. 1 in CIF-SS DIV, the Tartans defeated previously No. 9 Sage Hill, don't know the exact score something like 14-4.

6. Laguna Beach (15-4) - Ranked No. 8 in CIF-SS DI, the Breakers defated Mater Dei, 12-6.

7. Troy (7-4) - Ranked No. 9 in CIF-SS DI, the Warriors defeated Sunny Hills, 14-4

8. Northwood (11-3) - The Timberwolves lost to unranked Woodbridge, 11-7.

9. Woodbridge (6-1 Sea View League record) - The Warriors defeated previously ranked No. 6 Northwood, 11-7.

10. Newport Harbor (14-3) - The Sailors defeated Los Alamitos, 9-9 (70-66). It's the second time NH defeated LA, the Sailors also have win against Esperanza under their belt.

MORE TENNIS NEWS:

• Girls tennis CIF rankings (Oct. 27)
• Girls Scholar-Athlete of the Week: Stephanie Hui
• Woodbridge gets its upset over No. 6 Northwood

Woodbridge High

The Warriors' No. 2 singles player out-lasted Northwood’s No. 2 player, 7-5, in the opening round to help her team pull off the upset win, 11-7, and secure at least a share of the Sea View League title.

Her win tied the teams in sets, 3-3, after the first round and gave Woodbridge (6-1) the momentum. The Warriors proceeded to win five of six sets in the second round to take a commanding 8-4 set lead before wrapping up the victory.

By now the contenders have separated themselves from the pretenders.

But in order to succeed in the CIF playoffs it’s a tough nonleague schedule that really makes the difference.

Here are 10 things I know about girls tennis:

1. Newport Harbor has essentially wrapped up a Sunset League title after beating Los Alamitos for a second time, 9-9 (winning by games 70-66). The Sailors defeated the Griffins 9-9 (winning by games 83-72) in their first meeting. Newport Harbor also had a big league victory over Esperanza, 11-7.

2. Valencia dominated Division IV by winning back-to-back CIF titles. Now it looks like the Tigers are ready to do the same at the Division III level now that they have over taken the No. 1 spot in the CIF rankings.

3. Corona del Mar (12-0) blanked Irvine (1-15), 18-0. But more importantly Melissa Matsuoka moved into the singles lineup for the first time this season and didn't lose a game, 6-0, 6-0, 6-0.

This could really make a difference come playoff time.

4. St. Margaret’s might have wrapped up the Academy League title after beating Sage Hill for a third time this season.

The Tartans made it look easy with a 14-4 win against their league rivals. It was the strength of their doubles teams that led them to victory, winning eight of nine matches.

5. Three Orange County teams currently hold the No. 1 spot in the CIF polls: Corona del Mar, Division I, Valencia, Division III, and St. Margaret’s, Division IV.

But there is one team that is flying under the radar and ready to move into the No. 1 slot in Division V – Ocean View.

The Seahawks are currently No. 2 in their division thanks to a deadly singles lineup.

Problem is Ocean View tends to struggle in doubles competition.

Last year the Seahawks made it to semi-finals before losing to Viewpoint the eventual champions, 9-9 (60-55).

6. There are two more verbal commits in the world of tennis. Newport Harbor’s Nelly Radeva, who is 13-0, will play for Cal next year and Estancia’s Elanor Edles is going to play for UC Davis.

7. Capo Valley is making some bring strides as a program. Last year the Cougars qualified for the CIF playoffs, a first after a seven year absence. Now Capo Valley is primed to make a return and a cardio-tennis workout might be its secret to success.

8. I knew some team would pull of a major upset this week. That honor goes to Woodbridge after beating No. 6 Northwood, 11-7, yesterday in a Sea View League matchup.

To read the entire story click here.

9. Here is a round up of some scores reported by coaches from around the county.

Esperanza (10-4) defeated Edison, 12-5.

The Aztecs are now 6-1 in the Sunset League and if they can find a way to be Newport Harbor a share of the title is well within their reach.

No. 4 Valencia (13-1) continues to roll after beating Cypress, 12-6, and Katella, 17-1.

Natalie McKay swept her all three of her singles sets 6-0.

The Tigers are 8-0 in the Empire League.

"With one week left in league, I feel good about where our team is right now," Valencia coach Mike McCall said. "We have been improving steadily, and we hope to continue to do so".

No. 2 Dana Hills (14-1) defeated No. 3 University (11-2), 13-5.

10. Some coaches don’t seem to want to give their team any publicity fearing that their opposition might use the info for matchup purposes. As one reader put it, “At this point, they have finished the first round of play, and there is no competitive reason not to disclose the results.”

Good teams have nothing to hide.

Running back Ameer Webb is part of Tustin's triple threat on offense

By ARTIE CASAS and CHRIS TOBOLSKI

OCVarsity.com

Times are changing in the Century League.

El Dorado use to be the king of the hill and untouchable, winning three straight league titles.

All that changed when Canyon defeated the Golden Hawks, 37-27, last week.

"It was a great feeling," Canyon coach Brent McKee said. "There was a lot of relief. The last three years we have finished in second place and they kept us from a league title. It was huge for us."

It was the first Comanches victory over the Hawks in six seasons. There is just one big hurdle standing between the Comanches and their quest for a league championship – Tustin. The teams meet Friday night at 7 at El Modena High. Tustin defeated Brea Olinda, 64-0, last week to start league.

"They've already done the big thing by beating El Dorado," Tustin coach Myron Miller said. "I don't think there is anyone left on their schedule that will beat them, so I think it's really important that we beat them or else they will win the league championship."

McKee said he doesn't want his team to overlook anyone, but agreed the winner of Friday night's game would have the inside track to the title.

"I think that obviously Tustin is the team to beat," McKee said. "If we can beat them, then that makes us the team to beat.

"They are a good team. Every week they look stronger and stronger."

The Tillers formula for success has always been the same: control the ball on offense and limit the big plays on defense.

Tustin's offense is predicated on the run. But the opposition typically has problem stopping the Tillers because they have three guys that are capable handling the pigskin.

Everyone knows about the Tillers star running back Anthony Wilkerson, who appears to be fully recovered from a knee injury that he suffered in week one.

But what makes Wilkerson an effective running back is the presence and leadership of quarterback Taylor Richardson. Ameer Webb's game breaking potential also serves as a nice third option out of the backfield.

"When you have two running backs and a quarterback that can run pretty well it allows you to move the ball pretty comfortably," Tustin coach Myron Miller said. "The big thing is we need to throw the ball a little better if we want to make a real run down the road."

Canyon is aware of the Tillers attack. McKee said there are two keys for his team Friday night.

"First, the offense needs to sustain drives and stay on the field," McKee said. "Tustin runs that Wing T and if we run just three plays, we might not see the ball again for awhile. Second, we need to get the big stops. They like to go for it on fourth downs a lot. We need to get a couple key stops."

The Tillers defense has been the team's backbone of late.

Imposing defensive lineman such as Chris Robinson, Justice Tausaga and Faitele Faafoi have been dominating the line of scrimmage for the Tillers.

The linebackers Wade Minshew and Tiajay Moody are sure tacklers that seem to be in the middle of every play.

"If it doesn't happen with us, I don't think anyone will be able to stop Canyon," Miller said.

The Tillers will face a Canyon team starting all 11 projected starters for the first time this season. Combined with their victory over El Dorado last week, the Comanches are entering as confident as ever.

"It's going to be a very physical game," Canyon's Jay Kirschner said. "They have big guys, but we are physical too. It's going to be a good one."

Brooke Sendele of Woodbridge returns the ball while playing against Northwood

By BRENT SHAVER

For OCVarsity.com

GARDEN GROVE -- An ugly victory is what Garden Grove coach Ron Vander Sluis called his team's 49-21 victory over La Quinta on Thursday night.

“Our goal has been to get better the last couple of weeks, and we did not do that today,” Vander Sluis said. “Our momentum is kind of stalled right now, even though you win a ballgame, there are still a lot of things you can fix.”

Garden Grove (7-0, 2-0) had eight players combine to rush for 215 yards and five touchdowns.

Leading that balanced running attack was Jonathan Lopez with 65 yards and two touchdowns.

The Argronauts defensive star of the night was Sean Young, who finished with two interceptions.

“Basically I tried to overplay the ball,” Young said. “Luckily I was able to pick off the pass.”

La Quinta’s (2-5, 0-2) Nathan Do finished with 142 rushing yards and a TD.

• Full game stats
• More Thursday night game results

I took one look, saw there were some no-brainers on the list this week, then I went with my first reaction with the close games.  (I'll let the readers decide which games were the easy ones to pick.)

1. No. 1 Edison (5-1) vs. No. 3 Los Alamitos (6-0) – There must be a jinx on the No. 1 spot in the county because it doesn’t seem like anyone wants to stay there for more than a couple of weeks. Don’t expect the injury-plagued Chargers to hold the slot for very long, either, after the Griffins beat them this week. LOS ALAMITOS, 24-14.

2. Cypress (3-3) vs. No. 20 Valencia (5-1) – Consistency and revenge are on the Tigers' side in this game. VALENCIA, 21-17.

3. No. 2 Tesoro (6-0) vs. No. 8 San Clamente (6-0) – Someone has to lose this game, and after last week’s dominating victory over Mission Viejo it doesn’t look like the Titans are ready to do that just yet. TESORO, 31-21.

4. No. 15 Tustin (3-3) vs. No. 21 Canyon (3-3) – This showdown will likely determine who will win the Century League title. The Tillers have morphed into a defensively strong team that can do enough on offense to win. The Comanches have been inconsistent this season. TUSTIN, 28-21.

5. No. 16 Santa Margarita (2-4) vs. No. 7 Servite (3-3) – The Friars were on the verge of being the No. 1 team in the county, but their game plan misfired against Mater Dei. Now the Friars have to win out in order to have another shot at the top spot.  That ascencion will begin with a win over the Eagles. SERVITE, 28-14.

6. St. John Bosco (6-0) vs. No. 5 Orange Lutheran (5-1) – The Lancers don’t have the offense to keep up with upper-echelon team, but their defense is good enough to make this a close game. ST. JOHN BOSCO, 24-17.

7. Anaheim (4-2) vs. Santa Ana Valley (3-3) – The Colonists' defense can be stingy, but the offense will need to step up to keep up with the Falcons.  ANAHEIM, 28-24.

8. Corona del Mar (5-2) vs. Irvine (6-1) – Neither team seems to be able to put up a ton of points against a quality defense. But the Sea King's tougher nonleague schedule should be the difference in this one.  CORONA DEL MAR, 14-7.

Here are a few scores from the first half of the week:

No. 1 Corona del Mar (10-0) defeated Laguna Hills (11-6), 11-7

The Hawks dominated singles action winning seven of nine sets with Jocelyn Lu, who is 49-2 overall, leading the charge (7-5, 6-1, 6-1).

The Sea Kings' two singles victories were by freshman Katelyn Nguyen, which included a 6-1 payback win over Arianna Mokhtara – who had defeated her 7-6 earlier in the season.

Corona del Mar swept all nine doubles sets, only giving up one game.

No. 2 (13-1) Dana Hills defeated No. 3 University, 13-5

The Dolphins' powerful singles lineup did most of the damage led by Kristina Smith, who swept all three of her sets.

Brynn Boren returned to the singles lineup and won two of her sets.

Dana Hills' top doubles team, Victoria Wing/Leyla Simmons, swept their sets. Megan Miller/Kyra Scott won two of three sets to round out the scoring for the starters.

No. 4 Valencia (12-1) defeated Cypress, score unknown

The Tigers have moved up to the No. 1 spot in the CIF-SS Division III coaches' poll.

Valencia remains unbeaten in the Empire League with a 7-0 record.

"We've been fortunate to be able to rest some of our players and get all seven of our non-starters into matches," Valencia coach Michael McCall said.

No. 5 St. Margaret’s (13-0) defeated Capo Valley, 17-1.

Capo Valley only showed up with three singles players.

Earlier in the week the Cougars defeated Tesoro, 12-6. Capo Valley's singles lineup was the difference in this match, winning eight of the nine sets.

No. 7 Troy (7-4) defeated Sunny Hills, 14-4

The Trojans' top singles players Frances Tseng (6-0, 6-0, 6-0) and Stefanie Villajuan (6-0, 6-1,  6-0) swept their sets.

Troy remains undefeated in the Freeway League with a 6-0 record.

No. 8 Laguna Beach (15-4) defeated Mater Dei, 12-6

The Breakers' strength this season has been their singles lineup and they didn’t disappoint again the Monarchs.

Maddie Jaeger (6-1, 6-1, 6-0) was the only player to sweep her sets.

But Haley Moss (3-6, 6-0, 6-0) and Claire Jaeger (6-7, 6-1, 6-2) managed to win two of their three sets.

A strong showing by Lauren Michaels/Lauren Mendoza (2-6, 6-4, 7-5) and Mckenna Nokes/Alison Azera (0-6, 6-4, 6-0) helped finish off Mater Dei.

Laguna Beach coach Jimmy Gleeson had to find the right doubles partners as none of them had played together. Gleeson's instinct proved successful as the doubles won 5 of 9 matches with one of the losses being a default.

Laguna Beach then wrapped up at least a share of the Orange Coast title with a 17-1 win over Calvary Chapel. The Breakers have won three straight league titles.

Orange Lutheran (9-4) defeated JSerra, 10-8

The Lancers' Kelly Christian was unstoppable once again winning all three of her sets 6-0.

Orange Lutheran’s top doubles team, B. Campbell/M. Sujanani, also wept their sets (7-6, 6-3, 6-0).

The only other doubles team or individual to win two sets were C. Apostol/K. Loughran (3-6, 6-2, 6-0).

Esperanza (9-4) defeated Marina, 14-4

The Aztecs' No. 1 singles player, Melanie Abella, was dominant once again, winning all three of her sets (6-1, 6-0, 6-0), as did No. 3 Thanh Doan (6-0, 6-1, 7-5).

Esperanza's doubles team Bionca Quesada/Jessie Wackerman (6-4, 6-2, 6-4), Adrienne McIntyre/Sam Nielsen (4-6, 7-, 6-2) and Tammy Do/Alyssa Kramer (6-4, 6-1, 6-2) won eight of the nine sets in the match.

Ocean View defeated Santa Ana, 17-1

The Seahawks won all nine singles sets in the match and dominated in overall games won, 99-15.

Segerstrom defeated Orange, 10-8

The Jaguars won this close battle by winning five sets in the doubles and singles competition.

Los Alamitos defeated Edison, 13-5

Teams are starting to round into form and a lot of top 10 teams have already squared off.

Here’s a look at what’s going on and a few nuggets of info from around the county:

1. It looks like there are a few heavy singles hitters on teams that are flying under the radar. Here are the top three singles players, whose teams are not ranked in the top 10.

Orange Lutheran’s Kaitlyn Christian, I hear she is undefeated and tearing through the competition routinely posting 6-0 scores for the Lancers.

Beckman’s Megan Heneghan is another undefeated star. Wish I had an overall record for the Patriots No. 1 singles player.

Newport Harbor’s Nelly Radeva rumor has it she might be the best singles player in the county.

2. For the first time all season long there will be a new No. 1 team in the county. Corona del Mar will likely earn that honor after beating previously unbeaten and reigning CIF champions Dana Hills, 11-7.

I got an interesting e-mail that said Danielle Kaiden and Lindsay Zotovich are a rare commodity because they started off playing doubles as freshmen and have continued to do so as seniors. The duo beat the Dolphins Leyla Simmons and Victoria Wing, 6-2, who many considered to be the No. 1 doubles team in CIF after going undefeated the past two seasons.

Well, it looks like that’s another honor that now belongs to the Sea Kings.

3. No. 3 University (9-1) defeated No. 9 Laguna Beach (15-4), 11-7.

The doubles competition seemed to be the difference in this one as the Trojans took seven of the nine sets. The Breakers Alex Tachovsky swept her sets (6-3, 6-0, 6-2).

The Trojans are quietly putting together a nice little season; I hear they were missing quite a few girls at the All-American Tory which explains their poor showing.

Laguna Beach bounced back to beat Godniez, 18-0, and remain undefeated in league at 5-0. The sister duo of Maddie and Claire Jaeger both swept their singles competition with all their scores being 6-0.

4. No. 4 Valencia (10-1) defeated No. 8 El Dorado, 13-5.

The Tigers took seven of the nine doubles sets over the Golden Hawks.

Valencia was just a dominant in the singles department winning six of nine.

"We are beginning to get more balance between our strong singles play and our improving doubles play,” Valencia coach Mike McCall said. “The girls feel good about the progress they are making."

 5. The best non-top 10 matchup of the week came when Newport Harbor defeated Esperanza (8-3), 11-7.

The Sailors Nelly Radeva put on a tennis clinic winning all of her sets 6-0, 6-0, 6-0.

The win gave Newport Harbor command of the Sunset League with a 4-0 record.

The Aztecs improved their record to 3-1 in league with a 12-6 win over Fountain Valley.

No. 1 singles player Bianca Modoc went 5-1 over the course of the week for Valencia.

6. Good coaching can get their team a win when the score is close. That’s what happened when Orange Lutheran (8-4) got an upset win over Mater Dei, 9-9 (winning on games 72-71).

Games don’t get any closer than this nailbitter.

The difference in the match might have been the two close sets the Monarchs No. 3 doubles team Amber Guzman and Annie Castner lost, 7-6, 7-5.

The Lancer remained undefeated in the Trinity League by sweping her singles matches against Mater Dei 6-0, 6-0, 6-0.

7. No. 6 Troy keeps rolling along in the Freeway League after picking up wins against Sonora, 15-3, and Fullerton, 11-7.

The Trojans are undefeated and in sole possession of first place with a 5-0 record.

8. No. 7 Northwood (10-2) are in prime position to win the Sea View League title with wins over Huntington Beach, 14-4, and Foothill, 16-2.

The Timberwolves are undefeated at 5-0.

“Once again our singles came through for us in a big way at Huntington Beach and at Foothill,” Northwood coach Eric Keith said.

“Overall this was a good week for us as we completed the first round of Sea View League play. We now begin the second round playing each team again. Our big match will be next week when we play Woodbridge. We tied them 9-9 the first time we played them at their place and now we will try once again at home.”

Courtney Pattugalan and Melissa Kan both won all four of their sets for Northwood this week.

9. Today the second biggest match of the week took place No. 5 St. Margaret’s and No. 10 Sage Hill. The winner of this game will likely take home the Academy League title as well. I was at this game and the Tartans had the lead when I left, 4-2 after the first round. By the looks of things Sage Hill was going to win most of the singles competition and St. Margaret’s was rolling on the doubles side. Check back tomorrow for the winner of this match.

10. Here are some of the bigger matchups for next week: Woodbridge at Northwood and University at Laguna Hills, both games will be played on Thursday. Things could get interesting if either top 10 falters.