Saratoga News

Photograph by George Sakkestad

Lynbrook's Belinda Rungsea won three of four matches at the De Anza Division tennis finals to finish third in singles play. Rungsea beat Camille Behnke of Saratoga in the third-place match.

Saratoga's Hooper, Wise second in league finals

Lynbrook's Rungsea nails third in singles

By Dick Sparrer

Belinda Rungsea of Lynbrook has won her share of matches in the De Anza Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League this fall.

But none were any more important than the three she won last week--because they came in the De Anza Division championship tournament.

Rungsea won three of four matches in the tournament to finish third in the division behind a pair of tennis stars from Los Altos.

In doubles play, Saratoga teams finished second and fourth in the division tournament.

Carolyn Hooper and Amanda Wise teamed up for a second-place finish overall. The Monta Vista pair of Liora Gelblum and Elizabeth Yu ended up third, with the Saratoga duo of Kelly Pisani and Lindsay Lightbody fourth.

Rungsea met up with rival Camille Behnke of Saratoga in the league third-place match, and she pulled out a 6-3, 6-4 victory.

The Lynbrook star had opened the tournament with a 6-0, 6-3 win over Tracey Hsu of Homestead, then knocked off Cari Nicholson of Monta Vista 7-5, 6-0 in the second round.

Rungsea lost a 6-0, 6-1 decision in the semifinals but came back with the win over Behnke to clinch third.

Behnke, meanwhile, had opened the tourney with a 6-0, 6-1 win over Kristi Maibaum of Los Gatos and beat a St. Francis foe 6-0, 6-1 in the second round. But Behnke lost a tough three-set decision to Los Altos in the semi-finals, 6-2, 0-6, 6-4.

Monta Vista's Nicholson had opened the tourney with a 6-7, 6-1, 6-1 win over a foe from Gunn before losing to Rungsea.

Homestead's Armanna Ramachandran opened the tournament with an exciting 6-2, 2-6, 6-4 win over an opponent from Gunn, but she lost to a Los Altos player in the second round 6-2, 6-4.

Nicki Cohn of Los Gatos was another first-round winner, beating Angi Chua of Saratoga 4-6, 6-2, 6-2, but she lost 6-0, 6-0 to a player from Los Altos in the second round.

Aileen Chen of Monta Vista dropped a 6-7, 7-6, 6-1 heartbreaker to a St. Francis netter, and Melinda Zimmerman of Lynbrook lost 6-1, 6-0 in first round play.

Hooper and Wise played their way into the doubles finals, but the Saratoga twosome lost 6-2, 6-4 in the finals to a team from St. Francis.

The Falcon pair opened the tourney with a 6-2, 6-2 win over a pair from Homestead, then beat a St. Francis team 7-5, 6-4 in the second round.

Hooper and Wise won their spot in the finals with an exciting 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 win over Gelblum and Yu in the semifinals. The Saratoga pair will now advance to the Central Coast Section tournament, opening on Nov. 20, 12:30 p.m., at Courtside in Los Gatos against Michele Alesch and Emily Short of Leland.

Gelblum and Yu got a little revenge by beating Saragtoga's Pisani and Lightbody 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 in the clash for third place.

The Monta Vista pair opened with a 6-0, 6-1 win over Ariella Perez and Gianne Cardinale of Los Gatos, then whipped a Gunn pair 7-6, 6-1 before losing to Hooper and Wise.

Pisani and Lightbody started the tourney off right with a 6-0, 6-2 win over Amy Giver and Kelly Kang of Monta Vista. They came back with a 6-2, 6-1 win over St. Francis, but lost 6-1, 7-5 in the semifinals to slip into the third-place match.

Rebecca Kane and Kim Holt of Los Gatos opened the league tournament with a 6-2, 6-1 win over a team from Gunn, but they lost 6-3, 6-4 to St. Francis in the second round.

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