GIRLS' TENNIS: CAMPBELL HALL DOMINATES.

Byline: ERIK BOAL

Special to the Daily News

Caroline Richman barely had a chance to catch her breath following an hour-long battle with Michelle Sulahian when Sarah Lee sarcastically asked the Harvard-Westlake of Studio City junior if she was ready to play her final set.

Richman eventually made her way back on the court to face the freshman standout, again fighting through fatigue, before being dealt another hard-fought loss.

Although Richman recorded more combined games (10) in her three sets than any other opponent had against Campbell Hall of North Hollywood's daunting singles lineup so far this season, she and the rest of the Wolverines found out how difficult the gauntlet could be Monday at Studio City Tennis Center.

For the fifth time this season, the Vikings girls' tennis team won all nine singles sets and showcased continued improvement in doubles to record a 14-4 victory over an injury-plagued Harvard-Westlake team (0-3).

"This team is by far the best we've played so far and probably the best we'll play all year," said Richman, who played doubles her first two seasons with Lauren Moy, before switching to singles this fall.

"Playing these teams can't hurt us. It seems like we're always faced with a lot of challenges from the get-go and hopefully we'll learn from this and get the results when they matter most."

Richman turned in her best performance of the young season in her loss to Sulahian, leading the senior 4-1, before falling 7-5.

She suffered a 6-2 setback to freshman Sabrina Santamaria in her opening set and closed out the day with an inspired effort against Lee, before falling 6-3.

"I've told my girls that everyone is going to bring their 'A' game against them because they know they have to try to get one out of three against Michelle, Sabrina and Sarah," Campbell Hall coach Steve Kuechel said.

"That was a very big win for Michelle. Caroline played unbelievable, but Michelle was able to dig down and find a way to win and you need that from your captain."

After losing all nine doubles sets in their last outing against Palos Verdes, the Vikings (6-0) rebounded with five victories Monday, including two each from Ava Sadeghi/Bree Sinclair and Jenny Cherry/Hannah Moss.

"For them to come back like that was good," Kuechel said. "People think they're going to be able to get one in singles and sweep us in doubles, but that's not the case anymore. Our doubles have gotten better and that has only given our singles players more confidence."

Despite their improvement from last season, Campbell Hall's doubles teams were no match for Harvard-Westlake's tandem of Cassidy Horn and Nicole Hung, who rebounded from winning only two of six sets last week to allow just one game in their three-set sweep.