Champions crowned in both boys’ and girls’ singles/doubles tournaments
MURRIETA – With the coronavirus pandemic causing so much uncertainty everywhere this past year, high school tennis coaches, players and fans were excited to get to the end of their shortened season, as six teams wrapped things up for the local boys’ and girls’ tennis teams from the Southwestern League last week.
Playoffs for the individual girls’ players started May 3 at Temecula Valley School, as did the doubles playoffs. Playoffs for the boys’ players started on May 4, also at Temecula Valley High School. Upon completion of the playoff rounds, the finals were held at the Murrieta Valley Tennis Club May 5 and May 6, where Great Oak took two of the four top finishes.
Each Southwestern League school sent their top three players and doubles teams to the playoffs, which included:
Individual Girls
Brandy Babcock-Hannah (Vista Murrieta, No.1), Elli Westrich (Vista Murrieta, No. 2), Miranda Molina (Vista Murrieta, No. 3).
Stephanie Levias (Temecula Valley, No. 1), Emma Little (Temecula Valley, No. 2), Sophia Lopez (Temecula Valley, No. 3)
Maya Eamolarn (Murrieta Valley, No. 1), Gabby Guerrero (Murrieta Valley, No. 2), Anjali Koudes (Murrieta Valley, No. 3).
Jewel Brathwaite (Great Oak, No. 1), Nico Kuntjoro (Great Oak, No. 2), Vanessa Sato (Great Oak, No. 3).
Emma Soratos (Murrieta Mesa, No. 1), Avery Steele (Murrieta Mesa, No. 2).
Bethany Masterson (Chaparral, No. 1), Neha D‘Souza (Chaparral, No. 2).
Girls Doubles
Murrieta Valley – Pearson/Lee (No.1), Irwin/Cullen (No. 2), Todd/Diegan (No. 3).
Vista Murrieta – Busch/Nguyen (No. 1), Morales/Kahihikolo (No. 2), Enriquez/Sannipoli (No. 3).
Great Oak – Rezentes/Herrera (No. 1), Noel/Kankowski (No. 2), Kim/Madan (No. 3).
Temecula Valley – Driesbach/Matthew (No. 1), Anderson/Ran (No. 2), Brown/Huser (No. 3).
Chaparral – Rangel/Nechay (No. 1), Hill/Adelman (No. 2).
Murrieta Mesa – Flute/Torrez (No. 1), Smith/Booker (No. 2).
Individual Boys
Nick Huang (Great Oak, No. 1), Ian McGowan (Great Oak, No. 2), Luke Moore (Great Oak, No. 3).
Max Myers (Vista Murrieta, No.1), Connor Westrich (Vista Murrieta, No.2), Pierce Macken (Vista Murrieta, No.3).
Aidan Hever (Murrieta Valley, No. 1), Florian Mueller (Murrieta Valley, No. 2), Evan Hamrick (Murrieta Valley, No. 3).
Ian Eventov (Temecula Valley, No. 1), Micheal Massarani (Temecula Valley, No. 2), Nick Pinero (Temecula Valley, No. 3).
Matthew Munoz (Murrieta Mesa, No. 1), Anthony Martinez (Murrieta Mesa, No. 2).
Alex Qiu (Chaparral, No. 1), Ved Talla (Chaparral, No. 2).
Boys Doubles
Great Oak – Arabshahi/Rutz-Robbins (No. 1), Zhao/Aguinaldo (No. 2), Stock/Cherry (No. 3).
Vista Murrieta – Finch/Yang (No. 1), Arroyo/Lowe (No. 2), Walmer/Ohm (No. 3).
Murrieta Valley – Aranda/Fernandez (No. 1), Bell/ Travis Geske (No. 2), Bunch/Trent Geske (No. 3).
Temecula Valley – Guzman/Denham (No. 1), Le/Schneeloch (No. 2), Mertzel/Alexander (No. 3).
Murrieta Mesa – Hasumuna/Rieder (No. 1), Agas/Shalikar (No. 2).
Chaparral – Weldon/Suemnick (No. 1), Pai/Wilmer (No. 2).
In the first round of girls’ individual play, Vista Murrieta’s Brandy Babcock-Hannah and Murrieta Valley’s Maya Eamolarn continued their winning ways taking out their opponents with clean sweeps, which continued into the quarterfinals. Babcock-Hannah would take on Great Oak’s Jewel Brathwaite in the quarters, winning 6-1, 6-1, and Eamolarn would run into Chaparral’s Bethany Masterson, who would win in three sets (1-6, 7-5, 10-8). The two met in the finals, where Vista Murrieta’s No. 1 finished business taking out Masterson in two sets (6-1, 6-1). For the girl’s doubles teams, it would be Murrieta Valley’s pair of Pearson and Lee and Great Oak’s Rezentes and Herrera that ran through the brackets, meeting in the finals where Pearson and Lee won 7-6 and 6-4.
On the boys’ courts, in individual play, things came down to Great Oak’s No. 1, Nick Huang, and Murrieta Valley’s No. 1, Aidan Hever. The final match went the way of Huang, who won 6-3, and 6-4. On the double’s courts it was a Great Oak finish as their No. 1 team of Arabshahi and Rutz-Robbins would take on their teammates and No. 2 team for the Wolfpack, Zhao and Aguinaldo. Arabshahi and Rutz-Robbins would leave little doubt as to who holds down the fort, winning 6-1 and 6-3 in their two sets.
With the Southwestern League tournament wrapped up, the top finishers await the brackets for the CIF Southern Section tournament, which will be out later this week. That information will be provided at www.cifss.org.
JP Raineri can be reached by email at sports@reedermedia.com.
