Better concentration and focus in an intense match powered West Ranch girls’ tennis back into the Foothill League title race.  West Ranch beat the visiting Valencia Vikings, 11-7, behind a stellar day in singles on Tuesday.  West Ranch No. 1 singles Ta’leighah Saulter won all three of her matches and remains the player to beat in league. Saulter finished with an efficient trio of 6-0 wins.  “I’m anticipating Ta’leighah to be the number one seed in the (Foothill League) tournament because she’s been undefeated, and she’s winning with such a wide margin,” West Ranch coach Paul Orzsag said in a phone interview. “I’m picking her to win the whole thing.”  Saulter has now won 23 league matches this season with 19 of which being six-love matches.  Wildcats No. 2 Kaylie Chung and No. 3 Stephanie Douille brought in a pair of wins on the day as the singles standouts only dropped sets to Valencia No. 1 Keira Rand.   West Ranch singles player Kaylie Chung returns the ball with a backhand against Valencia at West Ranch High School on Tuesday, Oct. 15. Habeba Mostafa/ The Signal Rand, a freshman, bested Chung 6-3 and Douille 6-1, only dropping her battle with Saulter. The two top singles players have been steady all season and didn’t disappoint in the first set of the day.  “They both strike the ball really well, and are very athletic,” Valencia coach Darrell Peries said via text message. “They had to go to sudden death quite a few times in the set, but Ta’leighah was able to capitalize on those crucial points.”  Valencia singles player Keira Rand returns the ball against West Ranch’s Ta’leighah Saulter at West Ranch High School on Tuesday, Oct. 15. Habeba Mostafa/ The Signal Douille was in the midst of battle with Valencia No. 2 Samara Wijesundera before the Vikings shoulder gave out. Wijesundera couldn’t finish the set nor sub out leading to a forfeit point for West Ranch.  Valencia won the battle on the doubles sides, with five of the team’s seven wins coming in from Viking duos.  Valencia No. 2 doubles duo Izzy Bronstein Jiya Sanghani won all three of their frames with wins of 6-1, 6-2, 6-1 to bring their league record to 30-2.  “They’re one of if not the best doubles team in the Foothill League,” Peries said. “They’re both very consistent. I’m anticipating that they’ll go far in prelims”  Valencia doubles player Nitya Kotha returns the ball against West Ranch at West Ranch on Tuesday, Oct. 15. Habeba Mostafa/ The Signal Nitya Kotha and Jean Kim also played well for Valencia with a pair of wins, and were only dropped by West Ranch No. 3 Arabella Alberto and Suprita Yeole , who also won two sets that turned crucial in the Cats’ win.  Orzsag felt his team had far better focus than displayed in round one with Valencia, while Peries thought his team came out flat in the first leg of games on Tuesday.  “We came out a bit flat from the beginning, and West Ranch was much sharper than we were,” Peries said. “Samara going out in the second round with a shoulder injury was a huge loss which may have deflated the moral of the team quite a bit going into the third round.  Valencia won the first round with West Ranch back at home, 9-9, earlier this season via tiebreaker rule, where the Vikings ended up winning 73-70 sets to get the win. Tuesday’s match evens the teams up at the top of the standings with just one week of season left before Foothill League preliminaries at The Paseo Club.  Both teams will aim to be on their A-game as any slip up from here on could lead to a missed opportunity for a Foothill League championship.  “We need to finish strong, secure a share of the league title, and create some momentum going into prelims,” Peries said.  Valencia returns home on Tuesday for a league match with Golden Valley while West Ranch takes on Hart. Both matches are slated for 3 p.m.  “I’d like to see them continue their smart play, where they just don’t just hit the ball back and forth, but actually use their heads,” Orzsag said. “That’s number one and number two, of course I’d like to see some good results.”  West Ranch doubles player Audrey Kim returns the ball against Valencia at West Ranch on Tuesday, Oct. 15. Habeba Mostafa/ The Signal Valencia singles player Samara Wijesundera returns the ball against West Ranch at West Ranch High School on Tuesday, Oct. 15. Habeba Mostafa/ The Signal West Ranch doubles player Berkeley Nunez returns the ball against Valencia at West Ranch on Tuesday, Oct. 15. Habeba Mostafa/ The Signal The post West Ranch tennis beats Valencia in another thriller  appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.