The girls 18 tennis team from Courtside beat Tennis Los Angeles 6-3 to claim the state title. Team members included (front row, l-r) coach Mark Roberts, Liora Gelblum, Melanie Lavaute and Camille Behnke, and (back row, l-r) Kathy Fawcett, Sarah Delva, Natalie Ackerman, Amanda Wise, Vanessa Zinn, Emily Najour and Laura Chen.
Courtside leads North past South
Three area teams with Glenney Cups
By Dick Sparrer
The Gar Glenney Cup tennis championships annually pit the best of the North against the best of the South in age group tennis competition.
But this year it was just a little different.
Oh, the top USTA Junior League teams in the state were still on the courts at Stanford deciding championships over the Aug. 21-22 weekend. But the competition looked more like the Courtside Tennis Club of Los Gatos against the state of California.
Four of the six Northern California teams in the competition hailed from Courtside, and three of them came out winners as the North aced the South 5-1 in the six matches that make up the Gar Glenney Cup.
The girls 15 squad from Courtside dropped a 5-4 heartbreaker to Cabrillo of Southern California, but that tight defeat was the only loss for Northern California in the tournament.
Courtside's girls 18, girls 12 and boys 15 teams all came up winners to lead Northern California to a second straight victory over the South after the SoCal teams had dominated the competition for 15 years.
Courtside, made up of players from throughout the Santa Clara Valley, sent four teams into the state competition, the first time that any one club had sent as many teams to the Gar Glenney Cup.
The boys 15s came through with the most impressive win of the tournament, blanking Spanish Hills 9-0. Courtside posted three three-set victories in the team win.
Adam Fauvre of Saratoga was involved in two of the three-setters. Fauvre posted a 6-1, 5-7, 7-6 win at No. 3 singles, then teamed with Rohin Das for a 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 win at No. 2 doubles. Das, from St. Francis, had won 6-0, 6-0 at No. 6 singles.
Bastian Bartels of Cupertino and Steven Golod of Saratoga combined for a 6-1, 4-6, 6-1 victory at No. 1 doubles. Bartels, who plays for Monta Vista during the high school season, won 6-2, 6-2 at No. 1 singles, and Golod, of Menlo School, won 6-2, 6-2 at No. 2.
Slavy Elenkov posted a 6-0, 6-3 win at No. 4 singles, and Garrett Wyatt of Saratoga won 6-2, 6-3 at No. 5. Mike Wu and Charles Moreton won 6-3, 6-2 at No. 3 singles.
The boys 15 team had beaten the Future Stars of Modesto 8-1 to win the Northern California championship.
Courtside swept all three doubles matches in straight sets to take the state title in the girls 18 division, the club's first state championship in the age group in five appearances.
Liora Gelblum (Monta Vista) and Amanda Wise (Saratoga) teamed for a 7-6, 6-4 win at No. 1 doubles to get Courtside started. Camille Behnke (Saratoga) and Emily Najour (St. Francis) won 6-4, 7-6 at No. 2 doubles, and Kathy Fawcett (Harbor) and Melanie Lavaute won 6-3, 6-3 at No. 3.
Wise came through with a hard-earned 7-5, 7-5 win at No. 3 singles. Fawcett won 7-5, 6-1 at No. 5, and Laura Chen (Leland) won 6-3, 6-1 at No. 6.
Behnke had lost a 5-7, 6-2, 7-5 heartbreaker at No. 2 singles. Gelblum fell 6-3, 6-2 at No. 1, and Najour lost 6-4, 7-6 at No. 4.
The Courtside girls had clinched the NorCal title with a 6-0 win over Silicon Valley.
Courtney Hull of Los Gatos battled for three hours before pulling out a thrilling 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 win at No. 4 singles to give the girls 12's a 4-2 lead and help them to a 6-3 win over Cabrillo.
Hull also teamed with Maddie Rozwat to post a 5-7, 6-2, 6-4 win at No. 3 doubles. Rozwat was a 0-6, 6-2, 6-2 winner at No. 5 singles.
Serena Lin nailed a 7-6, 6-1 win at No. 2 singles and also combined with Michelle Watson for a 7-6, 7-6 victory at No. 2 doubles. Julie Cone came through with a 6-3, 6-2 win at No. 6 singles.
Caroline Stege lost 6-1, 6-4 at No. 1 singles, and Chelsea Green fell 6-0, 6-4 at No. 3. The two dropped a tough 6-4, 2-6, 6-1 nod at No. 1 doubles.
The girls had won the NorCal crown with a 6-3 win over Alpine Hills of East Palo Alto.
The Courtside girls 15 squad lost a tight 5-4 nod to Cabrillo, despite a brilliant 4-6, 7-6, 6-1 come-from-behind win by Alicia Hull and Cristy Green at No. 3 doubles.
"They came back after losing the first set, knowing their team had already lost the overall match to Cabrillo," said coach Tim Sunderland of the two Los Gatos girls.
Belinda Rungsea (Lynbrook) posted a 6-1, 6-0 win at No. 2 singles, and Megan Kawahara (St. Francis) won 6-2, 6-0 at No. 6 singles. Kawahara teamed with Laura Boskovich (St. Francis) to win 6-2, 7-5 at No. 2 doubles.
Boskovich dropped a tough 6-4, 1-6, 7-5 decision at No. 1 singles, Cindy Manit (Woodside) lost 6-3, 2-6, 6-3 at No. 3, Hull fell 6-1, 6-4 at No. 4, and Green was beaten 7-6, 6-4 at No. 5. Rungsea and Manit dropped a 7-5, 6-3 nod at No. 1 doubles.
The Courtside girls 15 team had beaten Sierra Sport & Racquet of Fresno 8-1 to claim the NorCal title.
USTA Adult League
Teams from Courtside of Los Gatos, and Las Palmas of Sunnyvale and Cupertino were among the champions from Northern California at the USTA Adult League Sectional Playoffs held recently in Carmel Valley.
The local teams will be among the 12 NorCal squads to compete in the national championships.
The Courtside men's 5.5 team edged the Olympic Club of San Francisco 2-1 in the championships and will advance to the national finals Sept. 23-26 in Springfield, Mo.
The Cupertino men's 3.5 team nipped Mt. Tam of Larkspur 3-2 to win a berth in the nationals set for Oct. 21-24 in Tucson, Ariz.
The Las Palmas men's 3.0 team will head to Tucson Oct. 7-10 for the nationals after blanking Vintage of Napa 5-0.
Courtside will also send two women's team to the nationals.
The Courtside women's 5.0 squad beat Golden Gateway of San Francisco 2-1 to move on to the nationals Sept. 30-Oct. 3 in Flushing, N.Y.
The Courtside women's 3.5 team lost 4-1 to Burlingame, but finished first overall on fewer sets lost so will move on to the nationals Oct. 21-24 in Tucson.
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