Nashua North's Sanya Rano hits a return during her win at No. 3 singles on Friday vs. Nashua South. However, the Panthers prevailed overall, winning the rivalry match in a tight 6-3 battle at North. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

NASHUA – Sometimes sports is all about taking advantage of an opportunity, even at the high school level.

Just ask Nashua South girls tennis player Samitha Nadella.

Nadella has been a sophomore reserve most of this spring. But due to the fact that one of the South regulars was ill going into Friday’s rivalry match at Nashua North, Panthers coach Charles Gray subbed her in at No. 3 doubles.

All she did was not only play well in teaming up with Krisha Dani, she served the overall team match clinching point in the Panthers’ hard fought 6-3 win over the Titans. It was South’s ninth straight win after an 0-2 start.

Did she ever expect to be such a big factor?

“I really did not,” Nadella said. “When I learned I was going to play in this match because our No. 2 (Priya Shokeen) was gone I was pretty nervous. I actually believed I would take it easy. But it got close and we had to go into the tiebreaker.”

You see, matches aren’t often decided at No. 3 doubles, and North’s Ashley O’Young and another sub, Mackenzie Smith, went down to the wire with Dani/Nadella, who rallied from being down 7-6 to send things to 8-8 and a tiebreaker which they won, 7-3.

The teams had split the six singles matches but South gained a 4-3 lead when the No. 1 doubles team of Margaret Wagner and Abby Finchum downed AshleyGoh/Andrea Milavi 8-2.

Thus the Panthers had to win one of the next two, and Nadella, who has only been playing tennis for a year and a half, made sure it was at No. 3.

“I’ve never had a player come in with as good a natural form that she’s come in with,” Gray said. “She watched some videos and they were the right ones. This may have been her first varsity match, so to play well and keep it together, she did a good job to get close to the net.

“Because of the weather, we hadn’t had a lot of time to practice doubles, so she was kind of playing on instinct. She didn’t get caught up in the moment, and I love to see that.”

Nadella’s contribution was part of the story of Friday’s match. The other was the hard fight the Titans (7-4), who have had a good season themselves, put up, after losing the first meeting 7-2. The only thing that stopped this from being 5-4 was another very close but anticlimactic win by Katrina Tsao and Jenna Lecklider, 9-7, over North’s Sanya Rano and Caitlyn Ramos at No. 2 doubles.

North won at No. 1 singles when Goh beat Wagner, 8-5, and again at No. 3 (Rano over Tsao, 8-5) and No. 5 (O’Young over Dani, 8-3.

“I was happy with the way they played,” said North coach Bob Viens, whose team was also missing a key player, Lillian Azevedo, also ill. “It’s a young team, well conditioned and everything, and I’m happy with the way they played.

“It’s this Battle of the Bridge, first time it’s ever lived up to it. They’re competitive, they try hard.”

The Panthers singles wins came at No. 2 (Finchum over Malavi, 8-5), No. 4 (Lecklider over Mamos, 8-3) and Shreya Kethi Reddi over Patricia Rodriguez at No. 6, 8-3.

“The rivalry’s real, we enjoy it,” Gray said.

And enjoyed it a lot more thanks to Nadella answering the call. She was all set to play last year as a freshman, but after the pandemic forced the season to be cancelled, she used the time to try to improve, playing with friends and her dad. Even though she was disappointed.

“I was, but I needed a lot of refining to do with my game, so I’m glad I had the year off to get better,” Nadella said.

Not only was she opportunistic, she’s been patient as well. She and the Panthers were rewarded for all of that on Friday.

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