Rock Stars Travel to SoCal and Nevada

NorCal Juniors Honor Roll: April 2019

April was an exceptional month for Team NorCal, on the national and international level. Keeping it close to home, our rock star players traveled to Southern California and Nevada to compete.

First on the agenda, the coveted USTA International Spring Championships from March 20, to April 7, in Carson, CA. In the Girls’ 16 doubles division, Sofia Zaprianov of Walnut Creek, CA, reached the semifinals with Parker Fry of Southern California, following three wins. The Californian duo was stopped by Tsehay Driscoll of Southern California, and Ava Krug of Florida, 6-2, 6-1. In the Girls’ 18 singles division, regular Connie Ma of Dublin, CA, had another great run, finishing runner-up to Tyra Black of Florida, 6-2, 4-6, 6-3. In the Boys’ 16 singles division, Alexander Chang of Berkeley, CA, climbed that last step, winning in the finals against William Cooksey of Michigan, 6-2, 6-2. Alexander also advanced to the semifinals in doubles, with Cooper Williams of Connecticut. The pair fought hard but Lucas Brown of Texas and Alexander Karman of New York, overcame them 4-6, 6-3, 1-0(7).

International Spring Championships – Carlson, CA. Picture on the left: Boys’ 16 singles winner – Alexander Chang. Picture on the right: Girls’ 18 winner and finalist – Tyra Black and Connie Ma

Now heading to Las Vegas, NV, April 20-22, where Team NorCal showed up in force. In the Girls’ 12 singles, newcomer Penelope Wong of Mountain View, CA, made it to the semifinals, where she was defeated by Sasha Kilgour of Florida 6-2, 6-1. Penelope took an impressive third place, winning her playoff match easily 6-3, 6-2 against Atria Biria of Missouri Valley. She reached the finals in doubles with Campbell Ricci of Intermountain. The pair lost a close match against Sage Bergeson and Jessica Bernales of Intermountain, 8-6. On the Boys’ side, Masato Kato of Reno, NV, and Luke Stratakos of Saratoga, CA, reached the doubles semifinals but were stopped by Jon Gamble and Mark Lapko of Intermountain, 8-6, finishing fourth overall.

USTA National Level 3: Darling Memorial Spring National – Las Vegas, NV. Picture on the left: Girls’ 12 singles 3rd place – Penelope Wong. Picture on the right: Boys’ 12 doubles 4th place – Luke Stratakos.

In the Girls’ 14 singles division, Anya Murthy comes back on the Honor Roll, with a third place finish. After winning against the No. 3 seed in the quarterfinals, Anya fell to the No. 2 seed Meg McCarty of Intermountain, 6-1, 6-4. Anya teamed up with another NorCal fellow player, Natasha Rajaram of Palo Alto, CA, for doubles, earning an impressive first place (first ever tournament played in the Girls’ 14s for Natasha). The pair won against Caroline Lemcke and Meg McCarty of Intermountain 8-1. On the Boys’ side, Mitchell Lee of Oakland, CA, had a perfect tournament, winning in straight sets, including in the finals, against the No. 1 seed, Adam Sun of Southwest, 6-1, 6-2. He also made it to the finals in doubles with Nathan Blakey of Southern California. The duo finished runner-up to Kane Kelley and Ivan Savkin of Southern California 8-5.

A new face on the Honor Roll, Parvathi Shanker of Napa, CA, made it to the semifinals in the Girls’ 16 singles draw, pushing Hailey Stelse of Southwest until the end, with a 7-5, 3-6, 1-0(7) score. Arushi Malik of Cupertino, CA, joined the semifinals party, falling to Anisha Apte of Texas, 6-1, 6-1. In an all NorCal playoff match, Arushicame out as a winner against Parvathi 6-3, 6-2. In addition, Ryan Torres of San Ramon, CA, and Herrick Thomas Legaspi of Sacramento, CA, were also in the final four in the Boys’ 16 divisions. Ryan pushed Tristan Messerli of Southern California to a third set tiebreaker, but lost 7-6(3), 2-6, 1-0(4). Ryan came back strong, winning his playoff match 7-5, 6-4 against Kyle Garmer of Intermountain. Herrick avenged Ryan’s loss, winning the title against Tristan, 6-1, 6-4. He also made it to the semifinals in doubles, teaming up with Nicholas Chen of Oakland, CA. The NorCal duo fought but lost to Dragos Andrei Juncu and Chase Kasday of Intermountain, 8-6, but won their playoff match 8-2 against Lucas Coriaty of Southern California and Cole Stelse of Southwest.

Last but not least, Nora Lee of Oakland, who is having a strong start in 2019, advanced to the semifinals of the Girls’ 18 doubles draw with Audrey Boch-Collins of Intermountain. The No. 1 seeds battled through the end but fell 8-6 to Katherine Krueger and Samantha Remis of Missouri Valley.

Congratulations to everyone on a very strong month of April! We look forward to seeing the momentum continue in May.

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