Heat kicks up at Tiburon tennis courts
The action settled down — a little — Wednesday after the favorites in the singles bracket took a hit the day before in the Tiburon Challenger at Tiburon Peninsula Club.
Third-seeded Zachary Svajda rallied past unranked Steve Johnson, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, in the round of 16. No. 5 Alexis Galarneau fought off Aziz Dougas, 7-6 (5), 1-6, 7-5, to advance. No. 8 seed Tennys Sandgren retired while trailing in the second set against qualifier Nishesh Basavareddy. In a thrilling matchup between two unranked foes, Alexander Ritschard held off Johannus Monday, 6-3, 6-7 (5), 7-6 (2).
While the top two seeded doubles teams advanced easily Wednesday, the same was not true for everyone. Unseeded Americans Evan King and Mitchell Krueger upset No. 3 Christian Harrison and Mikelis Libietis, 7-6 (13), 6-3.
Another pair of unseeded Americans, George Goldhoff and Alfredo Perez, surprised No. 4 Hans Hach Verdugo and Artem Sitak, 7-5, 7-6 (5).
Girls tennis
The Branson School defeated Novato, 6-1, Wednesday on the courts at College of Marin as Katie Warren, Paloma Vano-Rice and Gabby Steele, each moving up on the singles ladder for the match, posted solid wins for the Bulls. The Hornets’ Bridget Lauder regained her footing for a narrow win, 6-3, 5-7, 1-0, at No. 4 singles over Sadie Winter to prevent the sweep.
Girls golf
Terra Linda had its best outing of the season, but Tamalpais still came out ahead, 172-187, at McInnis Park on a warm Wednesday afternoon. Lola Spendova took low medalist honors with a 34 for the Red-tailed Hawks.
The Trojans’ Zoe Betts fired a season-best 37, and teammate Mia Schlotman turned in a career-best 38.
• Lexi Ferguson earned low medalist honors with a 41 to lead Marin Catholic past San Marin 192-221 Wednesday at Indian Valley. The Mustangs’ Sammy Low shots 46.
There was little change in the MCAL standings Wednesday with the playoffs fast approaching as rivals Marin Catholic and Redwood played to a scoreless stalemate.
University (13-1-3, 8-0-2) holds a slim lead over second-place Marin Catholic (9-1-3, 8-0-3), with Redwood (10-2-3, 8-1-2) and Tam (8-5-1, 7-3-1) rounding out the top four. The playoffs are scheduled to begin Wednesday, Oct. 25.
• Tam defeated Berkeley, 5-1, Wednesday to bounce back from a difficult loss earlier in the week. The Red-tailed Hawks fell to Redwood, 1-0, in a hardfought matchup on Monday.
Girls volleyball
Malia Parsons went on a 14-point service run to lead off the second game as Tam picked up a 2518, 25-8, 25-7 win against Novato on Tuesday. Parsons had 13 digs, five kills and five aces for the Redtailed Hawks (18-5, 4-2 MCAL). Grace Widdifield put together a 10-point run in the third game, finishing with six digs, four kills and five aces. Ada Holmes-Hidalgo added nine digs and Jade Curtin-Savala had seven digs and five aces.
• Kristen Wang had a team-high 21 digs as Marin Academy swept Urban, 25-14, 25-19, 25-23 on Tuesday night. Ellie Corsello and Kayla Saxon combined for 14 kills, 10 digs and eight aces for MA (13-12, 7-1 BCL West).
Boys water polo
Junior Reed Hanna scored four goals and senior Quin Concannon added three goals to lead Tam past Terra Linda, 8-5, in a key MCAL showdown Wednesday in Mill Valley. Goalie Felix Clarkson, who Tam coach Steve Lacy called the “player of the game”, made 10 saves and Concannon drew four kickouts to help the Red-tailed Hawks (11-2, 5-1 MCAL).
Terra Linda (9-3, 3-2) is currently fourth in the MCAL standings and in a close fight for playoff position with Novato and Marin Academy. Tam strengthened its position at No. 2, behind undefeated Redwood, which plays powerhouse rival Archie Williams on Thursday.