Juniors busy on the court

From one city to its neighbor, the busy season for junior tennis

continued in the Newport-Mesa area.

Three days after the conclusion of the War by the Shore at the

Balboa Bay Club Racquet Club, the Costa Mesa Summer Junior Classic

began Monday at the Costa Mesa Tennis Center and Orange Coast

College.

Play got underway in all 10 singles divisions and doubles play

will begin today.

Most of the top seeds had first-round byes Monday, but there were

plenty of others in action, including a slew of competitors from the

Newport-Mesa area.

In girls 18s, locals produced a pair of first-round victories.

Newport Beach’s Jamison Steele was a 6-1, 6-0 winner over Michelle

Van Oppen and Diana Khoury, also of Newport Beach, was victorious by

the same score against Erica Lin.

Steele advances to the second round to take on No. 2 seed Amy Beck

today, while Khoury will face Natalie Kelley. Also in the draw are

No. 3 seed Vanessa Dunlap and her Newport Harbor High teammate Bonnie

Adams. Both had first-round byes.

There was one all-local matchup Monday in girls 16s. Jill Casserly

and Megan McKay, both of Newport Beach, needed three sets to

determine a victor in their first-round match. Casserly eventually

prevailed, 5-7, 7-6, 6-3. Other winners Monday in the 16s bracket

included sixth-seeded Jillian Braverman (6-1, 6-0), Katie McKitterick

(6-3, 6-4) and Cassidy Grandstaff (default). Brittany Sturgess and

No. 2 seed Jill Damion had first-round byes.

In girls 14s, there was another all-local meeting, with Newport

Beach’s Christina Schwartz defeating Costa Mesa’s Alexandra McIntosh,

6-1, 6-4. Schwartz will face Newport Beach’s Elizabeth Van’t Hof in

the second round.

Kelly McKitterick also advanced in girls 14s, defeating MacKenzie

Ogle, 6-1, 6-0. Van’t Hof, Michelle Atkins, Alexandria Walters,

Whitney Griffith and Sasha Dunlap all had first-round byes and will

commence action today in the second round.

Only three local players are entered in the girls 12s division.

Cierra Gaytan-Leach, a finalist last week in the War by the Shore, is

the fifth seed and had a first-round bye. Newport Beach’s Natalie

Small also had a first-round bye and will face Hailey Hogan of Balboa

today in the second round. Hogan defeated Candace Wu, 6-2, 6-4,

Monday.

Spencer Reitz, the boys 18s singles champion at last week’s War by

the Shore, is the only local entered this week in the boys 18s

bracket. He had a first-round bye and will battle Geoffrey Hsu today.

In boys 16s, second-seeded Fabian Matthews and No. 3 seed Ryan

Caughren, both from Newport Beach, had first-round byes, as did

Corona del Mar’s Jon Kroopf. Corona del Mar’s Lance Ning advanced by

default.

A pair of local players had first-round matches in the boys 16s

singles, but neither could make it to the second round. Corona del

Mar’s John Leonard fell in straight sets to Gorelysher Sergy and

Costa Mesa’s Bradley Fisher lost in three sets to Rishi Jhunjhnuwala.

Henri Chomeau of Newport Beach and Will Wilkerson of Newport Beach

had first-round byes.

In the boys 12s division, three local players were victorious.

Omeed Ghassemi defeated Steve Hwan, 6-1, 6-1. Chris Damion was a 6-2,

6-4 winner against Eugene Kang. Matt Wilkerson also survived,

prevailing over Blake Eggleston, 6-3, 0-6, 6-4.

Charlie Corum, C.J. Chomeau and Erik Heimstaedt had first-round

byes and will begin play in the 12s today.

The only two Newport-Mesa players entered in the boys 10s bracket

both fell out of the competition. Corona del Mar’s Hayden Tremper

lost by default, while Newport Beach’s Brecht Van’t Hof lost in

straight sets to Tevin Smith.