Palomares players flex muscle
Singles player, two doubles teams reach semifinals at CIF-SS individuals
CLAREMONT >> “What a day for the Palomares League!” Claremont boys tennis coach Kathy Settles exclaimed Tuesday.
The strength of the Palomares League indeed was shown as two doubles teams and a singles player reached the semifinals of the CIF Southern Section individual tournament at Biszantz Family Tennis Center on the campus of Claremont-Mudd-Scripps.
The Palomares League will have three semifinalists playing today, the most of any league in the section this season.
“It shows you don’t have to be from Orange County or from a beach school to make it this far,” said Lance Lao, who reached the semifinals with doubles partner Mateen Ghafarshad. “We work hard just as hard and believe we should be here.”
Claremont’s David James “D.J.” Brownlee reached the semifinals in singles, and the Ayala doubles team of Brandon Vu and Nikolas Abu-Wishah also advanced to the final day of the tournament with strong efforts Tuesday.
Lao and Ghafarshad dropped the opening set 6-3 of their quarterfinal match against Christopher Koeberle and Kyle Shigekawa of Peninsula, but the Claremont duo rallied to capture the second set 7-5 and tiebreaker 10-4. Lao and Ghafarshad used the momentum from winning that second set and took a big lead in the raceto-ten breaker.
“They (Koeberle and Shigekawa) were a little tight after that second set,” Ghafarshad said. “It really helped getting that lead and putting some pressure on them. We just stepped up and took advantage of their errors.”
Lao and Ghafarshad won their opening match of the day against Murrieta Valley’s Owen Pearson and Aiden Hever (6-4, 6-3).
Brownlee won a Round of 32 match against Kimi Basamakov of Westlake (60, 6-3) and received a walkover into the quarterfinals because No. 3-seeded Mason Bui of Yorba Linda withdrew from the tournament. With the tournament being in Claremont, Brownlee said he went home to rest up before playing his quarterfinal match.
Brownlee squared off against Ronith Sreeram of King in an all-Inland showdown. Brownlee led 5-2 in the opener, but Sreeram rallied to get back on serve. Brownlee broke Sreeram’s serve to take the opener and cruised in the second set to win 6-4, 6-1.
“I think my serve really was the key for me today. It helped give me a lot of free points,” Brownlee said.
Vu and Abu-Wishah had no issues winning their Round of 16 doubles match against Colin Kennedy and Andrew Kurgan of Harvard-Westlake (6-1, 6-1). The Ayala duo faced Colin Bringas and Eddie Feuer of Peninsula in a quarterfinal match that saw both teams celebrate each point with vocal outbursts.
Vu and Abu-Wishah cruised in the first set (61), but the two sides held serve for the first nine games of the second set. Vu and Abu-Wishah finally broke serve at the end to win 6-4 and advance to the semifinals. Vu and Abu-Wishah only started teaming together late in the season. Vu was Ayala’s No. 1 singles player this season.
“We’ve known each other for a long time, so the chemistry never has been a problem for us,” Vu explained.
Sreeram and Michael Chang of Arlington staged great comebacks to win their opening matches of the day.
Sreeram dropped the opening set to Thiago Canessa of Ventura 6-0 but rallied to win the second 6-2 and the tiebreaker 10-6. The breaker was deadlocked at the second changeover, but Sreeram won the final four points to prevail.
Chang had to play a Round of 32 singles match against Julian RousseauTuan
of Geffen Academy, the same player who beat him in straight sets at the prestigious Ojai Tournament earlier this season. Chang lost the opening set before rallying to win the match 4-6, 7-6, 105. Chang fought off three match points in second set.
Avery Tallakson of Woodbridge beat Chang in the Round of 16 1-6, 7-5, 10-7 and later advanced to the semifinals.
Claremont’s Caleb Settles came up short in his Round of 16 singles match against Jack Cross of Corona del Mar. Cross won the first set 6-4. Settles rallied and forced a tiebreaker in the second, but Cross prevailed 7-3.
Diamond Bar’s Solon Chi Chit Au had to retire during the first set of his Round of 32 match against Amrith Kodumuri of Burbank.
JUSTICE MEPHORS
School: North
Sports: Track and field
Year: Senior
Noteworthy: No Inland track and field athlete has seen their stock rise more in recent weeks than Mephors, who claimed the CIF Southern Section Masters Meet title in the boys discus with a throw of 184 feet, 7 inches, the No. 5 mark in the state this season. This is the fourth straight week Mephors has improved his personal best. He threw 153-11at the Ivy League finals, 164-9 at the CIF-SS Division 2 preliminaries and 175-4 at the CIF-SS Division 2 finals.
Mephors
HALEY KITZEROW
School: Liberty
Sports: Softball
Year: Sophomore
Noteworthy: Kitzerow had an afternoon to remember, as she knocked in all five runs to help the Bison defeat Irvine 5-2 in the CIF Southern Section’s Division 5 championship game. Liberty captured its first section title in the school’s second year. Kitzerow, a transfer from Temecula Valley, gave the Bison an early lead with a three-run home run to center field in the first inning. It was her first homer of the season. Kitzerow added a tworun double in the third inning.
Kitzerow