The Cupertino Courier
Sports
Chin, Chang maintain tradition for Mats by taking doubles title
By Mike Barnhart
Courtney Chin is no stranger to Central Coast Section doubles championship matches. The Monta Vista senior recently competed in the section finale for the third year in a row.
After combining with Taskeen Bains for a CCS title in 2005 and second place last year, Chin needed a new partner this season since Bains graduated and joined the University of San Diego team. Sophie Chang, the CCS singles champion last year as a sophomore, decided to join forces with Chin.
Seeded No. 1, Chin and Chang became the seventh Monta Vista pair in the past nine years to reach the CCS doubles final and the fifth to capture first place. Chang and Chin breezed through four matches in straight sets, Nov. 19-20 at Courtside Tennis Club in Los Gatos.
The top-seeded doubles combination did not lose a game in the first round against Leland's Anastasia Glyantseva and Vivian Ngo and lost just one against Watsonville's Luci Basor and Karina Luguin. In the semifinals, Chin and Chang topped Menlo-Atherton's Marjorie Adams and Marietta Tuioneta 6-1, 6-2, the same score they posted in the finale against Palo Alto's Emma Marti and Janet Liu.
In the singles championship match, top seed Tayler Davis, an Archbishop Mitty junior and a finalist for the third year in a row, defeated Lynbrook junior Zoe DeBruycker 6-4, 3-6, 6-3.
Like Chang and Chin in the doubles competition, Davis and DeBruycker had little trouble dominating their singles matches.
Ranked No. 1 in the USTA Northern California Girls 18 rankings and in the CCS tourney, Davis lost a total of eight games while sweeping Overfelt's Julie Leong, Leland's Allison Hsia and Saratoga freshman Srinidhi Raghavan.
DeBruycker, seeded No. 2 and ranked 13th in NorCal, advanced in straight sets over Gina Nguyen of Notre Dame-San Jose, Allyssa Roberg of Santa Cruz and No. 4 seed Cassie Bergeson of Los Gatos.
In the doubles competition, Monta Vista had two of the top three seeds. In addition to Chang and Chin, senior Tiffany Nguyen and sophomore Melissa Kobayakawa entered the tourney as the No. 3 team.
Mats win CCS title
Paced by Chang's come-from-behind, three-set victory over Davis at No. 1 singles, Monta Vista defeated Mitty 4-3 in the championship match of the CCS team tennis tourney on Nov. 14 at Courtside.
But, three days later Davis and the Monarchs turned the tables on Chang and the Matadors in the finals of the Northern California Championship at Fremont Tennis Center.
Mitty won three of four singles matches, all three-set affairs, and the No. 3 doubles contest, claiming its first NorCal championship and ruining Monta Vista's bid for an unprecedented fifth straight NorCal title.
It was the third meeting of the season between the two teams. Monta Vista won a non-league match that Davis missed and the CCS finals. The Monarchs, coached by Jason Scalese, finished the season with a record of 24-3. Monta Vista was 25-4.
Chang, who survived two match points to beat Davis in the CCS finale 6-2, 0-6, 7-5, also jumped ahead of Davis at the NorCal event. Chang took the first set 6-4 but Davis recovered to win the last two sets 6-1 and 6-3.
Chin, the only Monta Vista singles player to lose in the CCS title match, was the lone singles winner for the Matadors in Saturday's rematch. Chin topped Ton 2-6, 6-2, 6-0.
Kiersten Meehan and Yam also needed three sets to win for Mitty. Meehan beat Tiffany Nguyen 2-6, 6-1, 7-5 while Yam defeated Kobayakawa 6-4, 2-6, 6-3.
At No. 3 doubles, Tara Vanooteghem and Maggie Yudkevich teamed to beat Iliana Nguyen and Tara Nguyen, 6-3, 6-0. Monta Vista took the other doubles contests in straight sets, Annalisa Choy and Chau Nguyen winning at No. 1 and the freshman tandem of Vynnie Kong and Sylvia Li taking No. 2.
Monta Vista, which had beaten Menlo School in four straight NorCal title matches, entered the recent NorCal tournament as the No. 1 seed. After a first-round bye, Monta Vista swept both Chico and San Ramon Valley 7-0.
Meanwhile, No. 3 Mitty reached the NorCal final by topping both Granite Bay and Monte Vista of Danville by 6-1 scores.
In the battle for the CCS title, Monta Vista winners were Chang, Kobayakawa (6-0, 6-0 at No. 4 singles), Choy and C. Nguyen (6-1, 6-2 at No. 1 doubles) and Kong and Li (6-0, 6-1 at No. 2).
To reach the CCS championship match, Monta Vista had to get past Saratoga 5-2 in the semifinals. Mitty got past St. Ignatius 5-2 in the other semi.
