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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Thursday, April 23, 2009

Westmoreland, Lim win ILH tennis crowns

By Kyle Sakamoto
Advertiser Staff Writer

WAIPI'O — Island Pacific School hasn't been around too long so its athletic history pretty much begins and ends with tennis player Matthew Westmoreland.

Westmoreland routed Punahou's Doug Ho, 6-1, 6-0, in the boys final of the Clay Benham Interscholastic League of Honolulu Postseason Tennis Tournament yesterday at Patsy T. Mink Central O'ahu Regional Park.

It was his second consecutive league title.

"It feels great. Each one is special," said Westmoreland, a junior at Island Pacific, a school located in Kapolei in its fifth year of existence.

Punahou's Kristin Lim comes from a school with a rich athletic tradition, and a successful tennis family.

Lim, the top seed, beat Hawai'i Baptist's Mari Tadaki, 6-3, 6-3, in the girls final yesterday for her third consecutive ILH title.

"It feels just as good as the first one," Lim said. "Every year it gets harder and harder. It's nice to accomplish and everything you've worked for, it comes down to this match."

Lim's brothers, Robbie and Mikey, also won ILH singles titles.

In the boys final, top-seeded Westmoreland gained momentum by winning the fourth and fifth games of the first set to take a 4-1 advantage

In the fourth, Ho had two break points, but couldn't put them away. Ho, a junior seeded No. 3, led 40-love in the fifth, before Westmoreland rallied to win the game.

"Those two games really swung the momentum," Westmoreland said. "After those two I got a lot more confidence."

Westmoreland also beat Ho in last year's ILH final, but Ho got him back by beating him in a state quarterfinal match.

Yesterday, it was all Westmoreland.

"No matter what I did he basically got the ball back," Ho said. "Man, he hits it hard."

In the girls final, Lim took a 5-0 lead in the first set before Tadaki, the No. 2 seed, took three games in a row.

"I relaxed," Lim said. "I shouldn't have given up. I should have concentrated harder. It's just a few points here and there and all of a sudden I was losing three games in a row, and I really had to clamp down."

Tadaki, a senior, won the first two games of the second set and had two game points in the third before Lim rallied.

"It was very tight in that third game, but regrettably she won that game," Tadaki said.

Lim also won the next three games to take a 4-2 lead before Tadaki, a left-hander, won the seventh game to get within one.

"She is very experienced and in a tennis family, and she's been playing for quite a bit longer than I have," Tadaki said. "She's just a great player in general and I'm glad I got to play against her."

Both doubles finals went to three sets.

On the boys side, Punahou's Hiroshi Hikida and Eric Pang beat 'Iolani's Brent Hashiba and Kyle Shiroma, 6-4, 5-7, 6-4.

Hikida and Pang were the No. 3 seeds, while Hashiba and Shiroma were the No. 8 seeds.

"It was a super good match," Pang said. "Both teams played super well. I'd like to congratulate Kyle and Brent. They played really well. It was close."

In the girls final, Punahou's Ashley Nagaoka and Jennifer Laws fought off a match point and outlasted 'Iolani's Nikki Castel and Bobbi Oshiro, 5-7, 7-6 (4), 7-5.

Nagaoka and Laws were the No. 1 seeds, while Castel and Oshiro were the No. 2 seeds.

Castel and Oshiro had match point at 5-4 in the third, but Nagaoka and Laws, both sophomores, fought it off and took the game, then won the next two games to take the match.

"I got a lot of support from my partner Jen," Nagaoka said. "We just kept fighting and gave everything and left everything on the court."

Nagaoka also won last year's ILH doubles title with Ashley Ohira.

The Raiders' Castel, a senior, was slowed by a cramp in her right calf during the first game of the third set, and served under-handed the rest of the way.

Oshiro, a freshman, took as many balls as she could.

"I couldn't push up on anything," Castel said. "Luckily, I have Bobbi, who is a really good singles player. She could cover the whole court for me."

Reach Kyle Sakamoto at ksakamoto@honoluluadvertiser.com.