Courtside heads to state finals
Local tennis club wins four of six Northern California titles
By Dick Sparrer
It took some clutch performances for the Courtside Tennis Club to win four division championships at the Northern California USTA junior team tennis playoffs in Sacramento.
It took Patrick Brogan's come-from-behind victory at No. 4 singles in the boys 12's; it took the three-set wins posted by Caroline Stege and Diane Tseng in the girls 15's; and it took the doubles win that backed up singles triumphs for Amanda Wise and Audrey Wingo in the girls 18's.
But because of those clutch performances, and a near sweep in the boys 18's, Courtside will send four teams to Southern California this weekend to compete for state championships.
The Courtside boys 18's and 12's and girls 18's and 15's will compete for the Gar Glenny Cup Aug. 26-27 at UCLA.
"Northern California goes down to Southern California to defend the title it won last year for the first time in 11 years," said Courtside coach Tim Sunderland.
Courtside will be a big part of that NorCal effort, with four teams competing in the six divisions. Mission Hills will represent Northern California in the boys 15's and it will be Alpine Hills in the girls 12's.
Courtside, though, played for all six of those division championships at the Rio Del Oro and Natomas Racquet Club in Sacramento earlier this month, winning four of the titles.
Boys 18's
Bastian Bartels of Monta Vista, Steven Golod of Menlo and Ashvin Soin of Saratoga sparked Courtside to a lopsided 5-1 win over Alpine Hills in the boys 18's division.
Bartels rolled to an easy 6-1, 6-2 win at No. 1 singles to start Courtside on the road to the victory over Alpine Hills. Golod won 7-6, 6-3 at No. 2 and Soin won easily 6-2, 6-2 at No. 3.
Vikrum Kumar of Harbor was a 6-2, 6-3 winner at No. 5 singles and Chad Cochran of Valley Christian won 6-1, 6-3 at No. 6.
Nick Previte of Mitty dropped a tough 5-7, 1-4 (retired) decision at No. 4 singles for Courtside's only loss in the division.
Because of the dominating performance in singles play, there was no need for the doubles competition.
Girls 15's
It was the same story in the girls 15's, with Courtside winning five of six singles decisions to eliminate the need for the doubles matches in a 5-1 win over Auburn Racquet.
Alicia Hull of Los Gatos opened with a 6-1, 6-2 win at No. 1 singles and Emily Chen of Leland won 6-2, 6-3 at No. 2. Katrina Lebedeva of Los Gatos followed with a 6-3, 6-4 win at No. 3 singles.
Stege, who will attend Los Gatos in the fall, and Tseng then came through with their three-set wins to clinch the team victory for Courtside. Stege won 5-7, 6-4, 6-2 at No. 4 singles and Tseng won 4-6, 6-2, 7-6 at No. 5.
Augustina Allende of Los Gatos lost a 6-3, 6-4 nod at No. 6 singles, but Courtside already had enough wins for the team triumph. It was the second straight title for the locals in the division.
Boys 12's
Brogan, of Los Gatos, came through with the big win at No. 4 singles to help Courtside take the title in the boys 12's. He pulled out a come-from-behind 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 win at No. 4 singles to help the locals to a 6-3 win over Alpine Hills.
Ron Huang of Almaden nailed a 6-3, 6-3 win at No. 1 singles and Kurt Chong of San Jose won 6-3, 6-0 at No. 2 to start Courtside on the road to the team win. Mathew Soloman of Los Gatos chipped in with a 6-4, 6-0 win at No. 6 singles.
Huang teamed with P.J. Boskovich of San Jose for a 7-5, 6-1 win at No. 1 doubles and Chong and Solomon joined forces for a 6-1, 6-0 win at No. 2.
Brogan and Simon Wu of San Jose dropped a tough 7-6 (9-7), 6-3 nod at No. 3 doubles. Wu had lost a tight 6-3, 2-6, 6-3 decision at No. 5 singles and Boskovich lost 6-1, 6-2 at No. 3.
Girls 18's
Wise and Wingo sparked the girls 18's to a 6-3 win over Silicon Valley in the championship match. Wise, of Saratoga, won 6-3, 6-0 at No. 3 singles and Wingo, of Harbor, won 6-0, 6-1 at No. 4. The two also teamed for a 6-3, 6-1 win at No. 2 doubles.
Laura Boskovich of St. Francis won 6-4, 6-1 at No. 1 singles and Kathy Fawcett of Harbor won 6-1, 6-2 at No. 5.
Belinda Rungsea of Lynbrook and Cindy Manit of Woodside combined for a 6-4, 6-1 victory at No. 3 doubles to help Courtside clinch the team win.
Rungsea had dropped a 6-1, 4-6, 6-1 heartbreaker at No. 2 singles and Manit lost a tough 7-5, 3-6, 6-2 decision at No. 6. Rungsea and Fawcett lost 4-6, 7-5, 7-6 (4) at No. 1 doubles to Rachel Pua and Christina Moreno. Moreno (No. 2) and Andrea Zarate (No. 6) were singles winners for Silicon Valley.
It marked the sixth straight title for Courtside in girls 18's play.
Boys 15's
The title match in the boys 15's went down to a tiebreaker in the last set before Courtside lost a 5-4 heartbreaker to Misson Hills.
Andy Hong and Kevin Lam of Mission Hills outlasted Mike Wu and Derek Rungsea of Courtside 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 (8) at No. 3 doubles to claim the crucial win in the match.
Wu and Rungsea, both headed the Lynbrook High School in the fall, had each won in singles play. Wu beat Atol Bhatia 6-4, 7-6 (5) at No. 4 singles and Rungsea defeated Hong 6-2, 6-4 at No. 5.
Chuck Moreton of Bellarmine and Ted Hull of Los Gatos combined for a 6-1, 6-2 win at No. 2 doubles, but both lost in three sets in singles play.
Moreton dropped a tough 7-6 (9), 6-7 (3), 6-3 decision to Philip Perepelitzky at No. 1 singles, and Hull lost 7-6 (5), 5-7, 6-2 to Edward Perepelitzky at No. 2. Aaron Klapper of San Jose dropped a 6-3, 6-3 nod to Jazzdeep Mangat at No. 3.
The Perepelesky brothers, who also attend Lynbrook, teamed for a 6-4, 7-5 win at No. 1 doubles over Hull and Klapper.
Girls 12's
Anita Athavale of Los Gatos and Sami Kawahara of Willow Glen were the only Courtside winners in a 7-2 loss to Alpine Hills in the girls 12's.
Athavale nailed a 6-0, 6-4 win at No. 4 singles and Kawahara won 6-3, 6-7 (4), 6-0 at No. 5.
Courtney Hull (6-2, 5-7, 6-2), Vaiana Guittet (7-5, 6-0) and Chelsea Green (6-2, 6-3), all from Los Gatos, lost in the first three singles spot, and Mary Chamaki (7-5, 6-3) lost at No. 6 singles.
Courtside was swept in doubles play in the division.
Junior Fall Classic
The Bartels brothers, Benjamin and Bastian, each won titles at the Alpine Hills Junior Fall Classic in Portola Valley in early August.
Benjamin Bartels knocked off Kevin Casey of Mt. Shasta 6-0, 6-2 to take the boys 18's singles title, and Bastian Bartels edged Dan Duong of Sunnyvale 6-4, 6-3 to win the boys 16's crown.
Benjamin had won 6-1, 6-1 in the semifinals to earn the place in the finals of the boys 18's division.
Bastian nailed a 6-3, 6-2 win over Adam Fauvre of San Jose in the semifinals and Duong won 6-4, 6-4 over Nial Brash of Menlo Park to set up the championship match in the boys 16's class.
Courtside's Audrey Wingo was third in the girls 16's, winning her last match 6-1, 6-2 over Gabbi Hernandez of Palo Alto.
Other local players competing in the Junior Fall Classic included Daniel Solomon and William McAlister of Los Gatos in the boys 18's, and Ashley Lester of Los Gatos and Christi Green of Monte Sereno in the girls 16's.
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