Nashua South's Samitha Nadella lunges to hit a return during the Panthers' 5-4 win over rival Nashua North in the Battle of the Bridge on Saturday at North. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

NASHUA – It was more like Breakfast at Alaska than Breakfast at Wimbledon, but neither the Nashua High School South boys or girls tennis teams let the chilly, windy conditions bother them in getting wins over rival Nashua North.

Yes, Saturday morning it was Battle of the Bridge, tennis style, and the Panthers came away with a dominant 9-0 boys win and a tight 5-4 girls triumph.

“It felt pretty good,” South’s Krisha Dani, who teamed with Jenna Lecklider at No. 2 doubles to get a 9-7 win for the girls match’s clinching point. “We were down in the beginning, so it felt good to get back up.

“It was bit of pressure, but whatever happens, happens, we still play our best.”

“Every win’s a good win, isn’t it? South coach Jeff Kelly said, his team now 2-7 but with two wins in their last three matches after starting the season 0-6. “It’s a confidence builder for the rest of the season for the girls.”

North, meanwhile, fell to 4-4 on the girls side. The teams split singles, but South’s big wins came at No. 1when junior Margaret Wagner edged North’s Ashley Goh 9-8 with a long 12-10 tiebreaker. Dani/Lecklider got their 9-7 doubles win over the tough Titan tandem of Sanya Rane and Caitlyn Mamos.

“It was very tight, especially in No. 1 singles, a tiebreaker,” North coach Bob Viens said. “They battled it out and so did No. 2 doubles. Those made the difference.”

“Wagner’s a great player every day, she brings a lot of leadership to the team,” Kelly said. “And Jenna and Krisha are both great players. Jenna has more experience being a senior, and I’m proud of Krisha, she’s still a sophomore … By the time she’s a senior, I wouldn’t want to play against her myself.”

South’s other singles wins came at No. 4 with Lecklider winning 8-4, and at No. 2 with Abby Finchum winning 8-2.

North, meanwhile, got a boost from Mary Pappas winning at No. 3 8-0, and got wins at Nos 5 and 6 with Caitlyn Mamos (9-7) and Isabella Davidson (8-0).

The Titans took a hit with losing at No. 1 doubles, as Wagner/Finchum bested Goh and Andrea Milani 8-0. Their lone doulbes win came 8-6 at No. 3, with Pappas and Claire Desrosiers getting by Samitha Nadella/Diya Bahtnagar, 8-6.

Now the teams move on with two weeks left hoping to make the post season.

“We’re kind of upper middle I think,” Viens said. “It’s going to be tough, there are a few tough schools.”

Saturday, South was one of them.

Nashua North’s Andrea Milani hits a return during the Battle of the Bridge match vs. Nashua South Saturday at North. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

BOYS MATCH

There’s no one tougher than the South boys, as the Titans found out yesterday. In the six singles, they won just a grand total of five games.

“Nine-0 is pretty self explanatory,” North coach Rob Trowbridge said, his team now 4-4 after starting the season 3-0. “It’s pretty hard to argue with not only the quality but the depth of the number of good players they have. I only wish that half of them lived in north Nashua.”

After dropping season-opening matches to Bedford and Hanover, South (6-2) has reeled off six straight wins while losing only nine individual matches in the process.

“The whole team, they want to get better every time they come to practice, every time they come to a match,” South coach Dave Santerre said. “I’m lucky in the sense the kids want to improve.”

Using just three courts, it still was over quickly, in about two hours. The only Titan to win more than one game in singles was Navein Sribalaharan in an 8-2 loss to South’s Akhil Kammila at No. 4 .

South’s winners besides Kammila were No. 1 Santi Somorrostro (8-1), No. 2 Abhinav Avvaru (8-0), Atul Phadke at No. 3 (8-1), No. 5 Kaushik Tadipathri (8-1) and Mihir Bhalla at No. 6 (8-0).

Doubles was a mix and match giving other players an opportunity with the outcome already decided, but South got wins of 8-5, 8-0 and 8-5. But doubles is really where the Panthers need to get key wins against the good teams. Somorrostro and Avvaru have jockeyed back and forth between Nos. 1 and 2 atop the singles ladder all season, but Santerre will now pair them at doubles on a regular basis.

“Every team needs that comradery,” he said. “As a team, that’s what a state championship is going to come down to. When our doubles teams are out there, we have to put our best foot forward.”

They won by more than a foot yesterday; more like a few miles.

SOUTH ADDS TO BRIDGE LEAD

With the two tennis wins, South now has a 6-1 lead in the Battle of the Bridge. North, however, broke through for its first win with the Titan freshman baseball team rallying for a 7-4 win over South Saturday about 200 yards from where tennis was wrapping up.