Southern California Tennis Association

THE 2015 SCRAPBOOK

Year In Review

Table Of ContentsThe 2015 Scrapbook .................................................................. 1

Deserved Recognition .......................................................... 2

Around The Section ................................................................... 3

Annual Meeting & Awards ........................................................ 4

Service Awards ...................................................................... 4

Junior Awards Banquet ........................................................ 5

LA84 Foundation/NJTL – Thirty-Year Partnership............................................................. 5

Stellar Junior Performances ...................................................... 7

National Champions ............................................................. 7

And… ....................................................................................... 8

Intersectional Play ................................................................. 8

Maze Cup ................................................................................ 9

Competition Training Center (CTC) Cup ...................... 9

Zonal Play.............................................................................. 10

Pete Brown “First Serve” .................................................. 10

10s Exchange ........................................................................ 10

Community Tennis ................................................................... 11

Intercollegiate Tennis ............................................................... 11

All-Americans ....................................................................... 11

Division I Regional & National Awards .......................... 12

Guillermo & Wood Feted ................................................. 13

Magnificent Manasse ........................................................... 13

Scandalis Defines Student-Athlete .................................. 14

Summer Circuit ................................................................... 14

League Tennis ............................................................................ 14

League National Champions ............................................. 14

League National Finalists ................................................... 15

Sectional Champions .......................................................... 15Adult 18 & Over ............................................................ 15Adult 40 & Over ............................................................ 16Adult 55 & Over ............................................................ 1718 & Over Mixed Doubles .......................................... 1740 & Over Mixed Doubles .......................................... 18

Adult 65 & Over .................................................................. 18

Tri-Level Mixed Doubles Tournament .......................... 19

Wheelchair Tennis .................................................................... 19

San Diego District Tennis Association ................................ 20

Lopez Acclaimed ................................................................. 20

Youth Tennis San Diego .......................................................... 20

Senior Scene ............................................................................... 21

Tradition Continues ........................................................... 21

National Championship Focus ......................................... 23

National 65 Invitational ...................................................... 27

ITF Cup Play ......................................................................... 27

Inaugural Crabel Capital Men’s 60 Masters Invitational ........................................... 28

Intersectional Review ......................................................... 29

That’s Not All… ................................................................ 30

Senior News Now Online ...................................................... 31

In Memoriam .............................................................................. 31

Odds & Ends .............................................................................. 32

Conclusion .................................................................................. 33

2015 Results ............................................................................... 34

113th Junior Sectional Championships (June) ................ 34

113th Annual Jim Hillman Junior Sectional Doubles Championships (November) ............................ 35

35th Solinco Grand Prix Masters Championships ........ 36

29th Central Coast Grand Prix Masters Championships ..................................................................... 37

11th Desert Cities Grand Prix Masters Championships ..................................................................... 38

33rd Junior Satellite Masters Championships................. 39

Inland Empire Grand Prix Satellite Masters Championships ..................................................................... 40

Novice Jamboree Championships ................................... 41

US Open National Playoffs................................................ 41

129th Open Sectional Championships ............................. 42

129th Senior, Super Senior & Family Sectional Championships ..................................................................... 43

33rd Senior Grand Prix Masters Championships .......... 45

29th NTRP Sectional Championships .............................. 46

T H E 2 0 1 5 S C R A P B O O K 1

in January 2012, he left an in-delible mark. Tennis was his passion, but his family – wife, Sharon and daughters Kira and Nicole – was his life.

Wayne and Kathy Bryan brought the ceremony to a close, along with Mike, the el-dest of the famed twins, who attended the affair with his wife, Lucille. “When we got out of school (grammar school) we would go to the club and get to mom first,” he remembered. “That was so cool. We worked on things then we went to my dad’s court where there was more intensity.”

As the loquacious Wayne Bryan said, “I grew up in Southern California. It was like Camelot. As Jimmy (Connors) said, ‘We have everything right here, so you can realize your dreams.’ I feel blessed to be from the section.

“I am honored, appreciative and humbled to go into the Hall of Fame with Kathy (my special girl), Jerry and Jeanie, Bill, Brian and Pam. I am so happy to be part of this.”

The night’s honorees had their names added to an im-pressive list of Southern Cali-fornia Tennis Association greats that are engraved on an elegant silver trophy that is believed to have been presented to Bill Tilden after he won six con-secutive United States National singles titles from 1920 to 1925. In 1968, Perry Jones had a ped-estal built for the trophy, and along with that, he had a plaque

Looking back on Southern Califor-nia tennis in 2015 is akin to pag-

ing through a richly bound scrapbook filled with memories. This compendium contains reflections on individuals, programs and activities that, together, turned the section into the game’s fore-most Emoji.

Leading that smiley face list was the Southern California Tennis Associa-tion’s Hall of Fame induction ceremony and dinner. It was held on September 20th at the Riviera Country Club, in Pa-cific Palisades. “Family” was the theme of the affair, and the honorees included: Wayne and Kathy Bryan, Jerry and Jean-ie Buss, William “Bill” Rombeau, Brian Teacher and Pam Teeguarden.

“Those being honored are passion-ate and dedicated,” SCTA President, William (Bill) J. Kellogg, said in his introductory com-ments. “They have left their mark on tennis, and I don’t think anyplace in the country has had such an impact on the game.”

Pam Shriver, a 2002 International Ten-nis Hall of Fame & Museum inductee, and a member of the 2007 SCTA Hall of Fame salute, served as the Master of Ceremonies. She was smooth and insightful introducing the inductees, as well as those presenting each honoree.

THE 2015 SCRAPBOOK

Mark Winters

Buss, whose father, Jerry passed away in February 2013, admitting that she had to “Twist Jimmy’s (Connors) arm to get him here…” (to the Hall of Fame cer-emony) to introduce her.

Connors, one of the best players in the game’s history, is rarely seen at tennis activities these days. Yet he was on hand, admitting, “Imag-ine the place (the Forum); imagine the stories that can be told…To get two guys with bad attitudes (he and McEnroe) to come out and play could only have been done by my friend, Jeanie Buss.”

Rombeau, who was SCTA Presi-dent from 1997 through 2008, was fondly praised for constantly attempting to “Get more people playing tennis.” Having passed away

Pam Shriver and Pam Teeguarden

2015 Hall of Fame Inductees (Jeanie Buss not included)Photos Cynthia Lum

Jeanie Buss and Jimmy Connors

Nicole, Sharon and Kira Rombeau

Snippets of comments made by those being acknowledged included:

Teeguarden, who dedicated her award to her father, Jerry, who taught her to play at Cheviot Hills Tennis Center;

Teacher, after admitting he had lost his speech, then talked about working on his game, playing Bobby Riggs, and how Guy and Harry Fritz helped him learn to “manage the game; edge the score.”

T H E 2 0 1 5 S C R A P B O O K 2

designed on which the names of the original fifteen inductees were richly inscribed. Since then, a col-lection of players, coaches and special individuals have been added to the SCTA Hall of Fame honor roll. With this year’s celebration, (which is now an every other year event), there are eighty-three members in this very exclusive club.

In 2009, Kellogg stepped in when Rombeau stepped down to lead the SCTA. Two years later, he was named to the USTA Board of Directors, and Gregory (Greg) Hickey assumed the Presidency. Having left his mark, Hickey decided to pursue other tennis interests, and Kellogg again took the

Taylor Fritz had a year to remember. Play-ing in the “Bullring” (The historic Court 2 at Stade Roland Garros), Fritz made history, in the semifinals thoroughly dominating Coren-tin Denolly of France, the No. 4 seed, 6-1, 6-2. The victory earned him the top Inter-national Tennis Federation (ITF) Boys’ rank-ing. Though he lost in three sets to fellow American, Tommy Paul in the Paris final, he duplicated his 2014 Wimbledon performance reaching the semifinals, where he again came up short to the player, in this case, Reilly Opelka, who would ultimately win the event.

Everything came together at the US Open, where, in his final junior Grand Slam appear-ance, he faced Paul again in the trophy round. This time out, he solidified his No. 1 ITF posi-tion and realized a long-term goal. Fritz put his name on a Grand Slam singles trophy, win-ning 6-2, 6-7, 6-2. With the decision, Fritz

Taylor FritzPhoto Susan Mullane/camerawork usa

Wayne, Kathy and Mike Bryan

Joe Dorn and Warren WoodPhoto Paul Settles

Ben Press and Brian Teacher

helm at the SCTA Annual Meeting, on March 2nd at the Straus Clubhouse (Los Angeles Tennis Center-UCLA).

Deserved Recognitionbecame the first Southern Californian to win the ultimate US junior tennis title since Tim Trigueiro did it in 1985.

At the end of the year, Fritz became the first American since Donald Young, in 2005, to be named the top junior, and will be feted at the 2016 ITF World Champions Dinner on May 31st, in Paris, during Roland Garros. He admitted, “It feels amazing to be the ITF Junior World Champion. It’s been a goal of mine for many years and it feels great to ac-tually achieve it. I loved ITF junior tennis and I hope I can build on the great foundation it has laid for me.”

Kayla Day and Claire Liu, along with Mi-chaela Gordon of Los Altos Hills, led the US to the Junior Fed Cup, by BNP Paribas, final at the Caja Magica in Madrid. Having won the coveted championship in 2008, ’12 and ’14, the Czech Republic’s doubles strength led to a 2-1 victory over the defending champion.

Day was a Metropolia Orange Bowl Girls’ 18 finalist dropping a 7-6, 6-4 deci-sion to Bianca Andreescu. A Canadian, who is coached by former French star, Nathalie

Claire LiuPhoto ITF

Kayla DayPhoto ITF

Tauziat, Andreescu avenged a 7-5, 6-3 loss to the Santa Barbara resident two weeks before, in the final of the Yucatan Cup in Mexico.

The Men’s NCAA Division III National Championship was all about the strength of Claremont-Mudd-Scripps’ tennis program. After final round showings in 2014 and 2013, this year the team, coached by Paul Settles,

T H E 2 0 1 5 S C R A P B O O K 3

achieved the ultimate goal, shut-ting out Middlebury College, 5-0 in the title round. With the vic-tory, the college claimed its first national title in thirty-four years.

The success story continued in the singles final. Warren Wood defeated CMS teammate, Skyler Butts to earn his second NCAA tournament championship. The

top Division III singles competitor in the country, Wood added to his memorable tournament, winning his third NCAA trophy taking the doubles with another teammate, in this case, Joe Dorn (and finishing atop the Inter-collegiate Tennis Association doubles ranking). All in all, the tournament was a Claremont-Mudd-Scripps and Warren Wood season-ending spectacular.

AROUND THE SECTION

Sarah Hinton was the female winner of the USTA Foundation’s Eve Kraft

Education & College Scholarship, which is given annually to a high school senior who has excelled academically, meaning-fully served their community, played ten-nis in an organized program and resides in an economically disadvantaged commu-nity. This scholarship is named in mem-ory of Eve Kraft, a tennis pioneer who co-founded the USTA Center for Educa-tion & Research in Princeton, New Jer-sey. Because of her commitment, thou- sands of youngsters were introduced to the game.

Emma Arenas, Janelle Allison Pangan and Chad LeDuff were also awarded College Edu-cation Scholarships.

It is hard to exceed the history established by committed individuals and organizations in Southern California. In 2015, a number of these efforts drew recognition. Don Ackerly of Valhalla High School was named to the USTA’s No-Cut Coach All-Star Team be-cause his mission has been to give every stu-dent, who wants to do so, an opportunity to learn the game and not have to worry about “making the squad”.

Jovana Kuljanin, who played for Hector Arellano’s ACES Foundation team from Te-mecula, earned the Girls’ 18 Sportsmanship

Award at the Junior Team Tennis National Championships in late October.

Dr. Ann Lebedeff, Professor of Physical Ed-ucation and Athletics and the Women’s tennis coach at Pomona-Pitzer Col leges, received the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Merito-rious Service Award, presented by ConantLeadership, at the ITA Convention Membership & Awards Banquet. The gathering took place in mid-December in Naples, Florida.

Barbara Breit and Amanda Fink were inducted into the Southern California Jewish Sports Hall of Fame at the end of June. Breit was the National Girls’ 18 sin-gles and doubles winner in 1954 and ’55. The same year (’55), she had a No. 8 world ranking. In 1973, she wrote “Improving

Your Tennis Game”, which was designed to help recreational players correct basic mis-takes. In 2011, she became a member of the Los Angeles City Section High School Hall of Fame.

Fink was a four-time All-American, as well as a four-time Pac-10 singles and doubles selection. During her playing days she was one of a very few USC players to win over one hundred singles and doubles matches during their college career. In 2006, she was the top ranked freshman in the country, and the Pac-10 Freshman of the Year. In 2009, she became the first female competitor to win the Pac-10 singles and doubles, (in the same season), at Ojai since 1917.

At the Tennis On Campus National Cham-pionships, during the spring, the participat-ing teams were asked to select one of their

Sarah Hinton Emma Arenas

Chad LeDuff

Jovana Kuljanin Dr. Ann LebedeffPhoto Mark Winters

Barbara BreitPhoto Thelner Hoover

Amanda FinkPhoto USC Athletics

Claremont-Mudd-ScrippsPhoto Ellen Friedlander

number that exhibited exem-plary sportsmanship, and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo was the recipient.

Los Angeles hosted the 14th Special Olympics World Sum-mer Games in late July. More than 7,000 athletes took part in a variety of sports. The ten-nis competition was staged at the Los Angeles Tennis Center-UCLA.

ACEing Autism was one

T H E 2 0 1 5 S C R A P B O O K 4

of the forty-four programs across the country that received a grant from the USTA Foundation (the United States Tennis Association’s charitable organi-zation), grant to continue its standard-setting work using tennis to not only help youngsters physically, but give them an opportunity to broaden their lives.

The City of Calabasas received a Facil-ity Assistance Program grant from the USTA that will enable the Calabasas

Tennis and Swim Center to construct two new youth tennis courts.

During the first week of January, the USTA announced twenty Wheelchair Tennis Grassroots Grants. The West Coast Wheelchair Tennis Association (WCWTA), based in North Hollywood, was one of the recipients. Each Satur-day, WCWTA offers instruction and play opportunities at Warner Tennis Center.

ANNUAL MEETING & AWARDS

(Photos Madeline Segura)

Kellogg, the SCTA President, presided over the Annual Meeting, which Lauren Barnikow and Chanda Rubin, USTA Directors at Large, attended. They were among the tennis community and industry leaders at the March 2nd gathering, held in the Straus Stadium Clubhouse

at the Los Angeles Tennis Center-UCLA.Those recognized for all that they contributed to tennis during 2014 included:

University of California, San DiegoLong Ellis Intercollegiate

(Photo UCSD Athletics)

Greater San Diego City Tennis Council

Member Organization (Accepted by Geoff Griffin, Ben Press and David Gill)

LA84 FoundationOutstanding Service

(Accepted by Patrick Escobar and Anita DeFrantz)

Jason HarnettCurt Condon Spirit

Service Awards

Steve RiggsTen and Under Tennis

Gordon ZawtunJunior Competition

Pierre MareschalJunior Team Tennis

Rancho Cienega Recreation Center

NJLT (Accepted by Fred Williams and Terry Chambers; Richard Williams unable to attend.)

John Kessler (University High School, Irvine)

High School Tennis Coach(Photo Jeff Antenore –

Orange County Register)

Bob ShaferHenry Talbert Lifetime

Achievement

Brandon Yeoh and Gabrielle AndrewsEvelyn Houseman Junior Sportsmanship

(Brandon Yeoh Photo Brown University Athletics)

The Griffin FamilyFamily Of The Year

Cal Poly San Luis ObispoPhoto camerawork usa

T H E 2 0 1 5 S C R A P B O O K 5

University of California, Irvine Tennis ClubTennis On Campus

(Accepted by Zach Low,Tommy Luu, Ronald Kao and Iris Mark Fonseca)

Verdell AdamsEugene (Gene) Jung

Cari BuckWheelchair Tennis

Woody YocumSan Diego

Junior Awards Banquet

Awards Banquet Honorees

Annually, the largest junior tennis tournament in the country – in the world for that matter – takes place at the Los Caballeros Racquet & Sports Club, in Fountain Valley. This year’s version, the 113th Southern California Junior Sectional Championships

(Level I) was held June 20-22 and 25-29. As is always the case, the competition, in all divisions, was National Championship worthy. Those who played their way to victories didn’t win just an ordinary event. Each of these performers became someone very special – a Southern California Sectional Champion.

During the championships, the 22nd Junior Awards Banquet was held, and the following were the 2014 honorees:

Evelyn Houseman Lifetime Sportsmanship Award Brandon Yeoh and Gabrielle Andrews

Player Of The Year Reese Stadler and Ena Shibahara

Most Improved Player Connor Hance and Carson Branstine

Age Division Sportsmanship AwardsJoshua Ortlip and Risa Nakagawa – 18sBrandon Holt and Graveena Kingsley – 16sJun Nakamine and Lauren Sebastian – 14sKyle Overmayer and Elizabeth Bondy – 12sQuinn Brady and Iris Berman – 10s

Academy AwardDent Tennis Academy

LA84 Foundation/NJTL – Thirty-Year Partnership

For the thirtieth consecutive year, the LA84 Foundation renewed its pledge

to support the National Junior Tennis and Learning (NJTL) Program. “The SCTA and NJTL are very fortunate to again be partnering with the LA84 Foun-dation,” said Melanie Bischoff, Director of Community Tennis who is responsi-ble for organizing the program. “Thirty years of involvement is truly impressive and I am honored to have worked with the LA84 Foundation for many great years.

“Thanks to the LA84 Foundation, (which is responsible for disbursing funds realized by the successful 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games), there were 135 Summer locations and 42

Year-Round NJTL sites in the section. In my thirteen years of involvement, I have met some unique coaches who have a wonderful appreciation for what they are doing because they are mentor-ing kids and making a difference in their lives. They show up four hours a week and are (and this is so important), always there for the kids. They are dedicated to NJTL, and they are the reason it thrives. Their commitment is to the kids, and knowing they are making a difference in so many lives rewards them. Without these coaches, the outreach program, which has affected more than 200,000 youngsters, would not flourish.”

Patrick Escobar, the organization’s Vice President, Grants & Programs,

T H E 2 0 1 5 S C R A P B O O K 6

added, “The LA84 Foundation’s support of the NJTL program, continually for 30 years, is our acknowledgment of its success in intro-ducing thousands of youngsters each year to the sport of tennis. It is also a recognition of the amazing group of instructors who come back, year after year, to work with the young-sters. The implementation of this program at sites all over Southern California is not an easy task. We commend the efforts of the SCTA staff and its many partners for running one of the best introductory tennis programs in the nation.”

For several years, Belvedere Park has of-fered the USTA’s ACE (Academic Creative Engagement) Curriculum, as a component of the NJTL Program held at the site. Because of donations made in the name of Henry Tal-bert, in 2015, four additional locations were utilized: Saybrook Park, Salazar Park, Mon-tecito Heights Recreation Center and One All Tennis.

The inaugural Henry Tal-bert Leadership Award was presented at Belvedere Park, Saybrook Park and Salazar Park in East Los Angeles. The honor is named for the former SCTA Executive Di-rector, who passed away in January 2014 after sixteen years in the position. “The award acknowledges individ-uals who have demonstrat-ed leadership among their peers,” Bischoff said. “Andres Duran-Meneses from Salazar

Park, Yesenia Murana from Belvedere Park, Moises Rodriguez from Saybrook Park and Jas-mine Vazquez from Salazar Park, who earned the recognition, have shown a commitment to education and the community, along with tennis. It is part of Henry Talbert’s legacy.”

Fran Talbert, who was an integral part of her late husband, Henry’s efforts to make an impact, said, “The ACE Program is a great way for children to get an introduction to ten-nis and receive support with their academic goals. Henry was a true believer in grassroots tennis programs. His major leadership role at the USTA and SCTA, for thirty-nine years, was to develop tennis programs – like ACE – all over the United States. He would be ex-tremely proud that he could be the inspira-tion for this wonderful local effort for young tennis players. On behalf of the entire Talbert family, I want to wish my sincere congratula-

tions to the first recipients of the Henry Talbert Leader-ship Award. These students will serve as a wonderful ex-ample for what we hope will be hundreds of recipients in the years to come.”

Rayleen Esparza will never forget August. The thirteen-year-old who has participat-ed in the LA84 Foundation/NJTL Program at Belvedere Park in East Los Angeles for the past four years was se-lected to travel to the Billie Jean King National Tennis

Center in Flushing Meadow, New York. The opportunity resulted from the Southern Cali-fornia section winning, (for the second year in a row), the “Return The Serve” contest, organized annually by JPMorgan Chase, prior to the US Open.

“Los Angeles was one of ten chapters se-lected to be a part of the promotion,” Evan Smith, SCTA NJTL Coordinator, said. “It featured a Twitter contest with the winning chapter receiving a donation from JPMorgan Chase. Even more important, the winner was

able to select one of its NJTL students to fly to New York to meet Serena Williams.”

Not only did Esparza have an opportunity to spend time with Serena, (who happens to be her favorite player), she had a chance to hit with Williams and her coach, Patrick Mouratoglou.

Mike Casarez teaches at Salazar and Say-brook Parks, in East Los Angeles, along with Belvedere Park, where he works with Espar-za. He has focused on providing youngsters in the local Hispanic community opportunities to learn to play.

Yesenia Murana, Henry Talbert Leadership Award winner from Belvedere Park

Andres Duran-Meneses, Henry Talbert Leadership Award winner from Salazar Park,

with Anna Wells and Mike Casarez

Moises Rodriguez, Henry Talbert Leadership Award

winner from Saybrook Park

Henry Talbert and Melanie Bischoff

Rayleen Esparza and Serena WilliamsPhoto Jennifer Pottheiser

Rayleen Esparza traveled to New York with her mother, Adriana

Photo Jennifer Pottheiser

He told Smith that tennis has inspired Es-parza and has given her a bright future. “It (tennis) is going to be with her for her entire life,” Casarez said.

The ACE Curriculum, organized by Anna Wells, is an NJTL adjunct offering at Belve-dere Park. “At thirteen, meeting and playing tennis with her favorite player, Rayleen will have to pinch herself when she gets back home,” Wells noted. “I am thrilled she was selected for this great opportunity. She is both a hardworking student and player.”

T H E 2 0 1 5 S C R A P B O O K 7

Esparza’s New York adventure was thrilling as she noted, “I’m never going to forget the trip. It was such a memorable experience, and I want to thank Serena and Chase for making my dreams come true.”

Casarez added, “That something as simple as tennis brought so much to a youngster’s life is really special.”

Offering a final thought Bischoff pointed out, “NJTL is a program that really makes you feel good about the job that you do. To have kids in low-income and gang areas be able to learn a great sport makes me

Smith admitted, “We were ecstatic to find out that one of our NJTL students had a chance to go to New York. To be able to hit with Serena was the cherry on top of the perfect dessert. It was a great opportunity for Rayleen and it was a big moment for NJTL locally.”

very happy. I joined the SCTA and was so fortunate to work with Arlene Bar-co, who guided the program for many years. She had a passion for the game and for NJTL. When I took over, it be-came just as important to me to help the program grow.”

STELLAR JUNIOR PERFORMANCES

Brandon Holt and Riley SmithPhoto Susan Mullane/camerawork usa

Taylor Fritz wasn’t the only Southern Californian to play his way into the US Open Junior Boys’ spotlight at the Billie Jean

King National Tennis Center. Brandon Holt (who is one of Tracy Austin’s sons) and Riley Smith (whose father, Peter, coaches the USC men’s team) also had a tournament to remember. Given a wild card by the USTA, they were unseeded, but that didn’t matter. Holt and Smith reached the US Open Junior Boys’ Doubles final where Felix Auger Aliassima and Denis Shapovalov of Canada, who were also unseeded, edged them, 7-5, 7-6.

National Champions

At the National Junior Championships staged at venues across the country in late July, a collection of players from the section enjoyed success. They included:

Fritz and Reilly Opelka of Palm Coast, Florida – Boys’ 18 Doubles Champions (The victory earned the duo a spot in the US Open Men’s Doubles draw.)

Ena Shibahara and Jessie Aney of Rochester, Minnesota – Girls’ 18 Doubles FinalistsBryce Pereira and Ivan Thamma – Boys’ 16 Doubles ChampionsJacob Bullard and Alan Yim of Sammamish, Washington – Boys’ 14 Doubles FinalistsSaud Alhogbani and Samuel Landau – Boys’ 12 Doubles Finalists

Taylor Fritz and Reilly Opelka Jessie Aney and Ena ShibaharaPhoto J. Fred Sidhu

T H E 2 0 1 5 S C R A P B O O K 8

Jacob BullardPhoto instatagphoto

Saud AlhogbaniPhoto Al Arabiya

Ivan Thamma and Bryce Pereira

And…

Brandon Nakashima and Govind Nanda were a major reason the US was able to finish third at the 2015 ITF World Junior Tennis Finals in Prostejov, Czech Republic. Sixteen boys’ and girls’ international teams participated in the competition

that takes place annually each August to determine what country has the best players who are at least fourteen-years-old.

Brandon Nakashima and Govind Nanda

Intersectional Play

In a memorable showing, both the boys’ and girls’ teams won the Intersectional 18 Team

Championships. Barry Horowitz led the third seeds, a team that included Kalman Boyd, Connor Hance, Brandon Holt, Austin Rapp, Billy Rowe, Riley Smith and Reece Stalder, to the title at the Atkins Tennis Center on the University of Illinois campus.

At The Claremont Club, Debbie Shaffer coached the girls’ team whose members were Carson and Con-stance Branstine, Kelly Chen, Jada Hart, Ashley Lahey, Nicole Mossmer and Ena Shibahara.

“It was a Level 1 event involving sixteen of the USTA’s seventeen sec-

tions,” Shaffer said. “Only the Caribbean was miss-ing. Each section sent its six or seven best players. The tournament was a sixteen draw, and we played col-lege style, starting each match with three doubles that were eight game pro sets. Then we played six singles matches. Winning two of the three doubles matches earned one point going into singles.

“We played Southern, (who had

won the event three of the last five years), in the final and defeated them, 6-1. Most of the girls used the tournament as a warm up before they headed to San Diego to play the National Girls’ 18 & 16 Championships. Many top college coaches came during the week of the Team Championships to recruit players for their teams.”

Boys’ 18 Intersectional Team

Girls’ 18 Intersectional Team

T H E 2 0 1 5 S C R A P B O O K 9

The Southern California boys and girls put aside their individual aspirations and focused solely on achieving team suc-cess. Shaffer summarized the atmo-sphere saying, “As tennis players they are never in events like this, but I had a really great energetic team that worked really well together. They all fought hard for the team. They realized that there is more pressure in a team situation than when they play a tournament on their own.

Intersectional 16s Team

Maze Cup

At the 42nd Maze Cup, staged at the Stockdale Country Club in Bakersfield, Southern California defeated Northern California in the annual 18 and 16 confrontation, 13-7. Robert Baylon, Connor Hance, Jada Hart, Daunte Harris, Emma Higuchi, Brandon Holt, Riley McQuaid,

Nicole Mossmer, Kento Perera, Ryan Peus, Timothy Sah and Ivan Thamma represented the section. Higuchi received the Sportsmanship Award. Mark McCampbell and Hank Pfister, at whose facility the competition was contested, were the coaches. Jim Buck was the team captain.

Maze Cup Team

Competition Training Center (CTC) Cup

In mid-June, The Claremont Racquet Club showcased some of Southern California’s

top junior players, who were participating in the season-ending Competition Training Center Cup. The event is staged annually, featuring youngsters, between the ages of 10 and 13, representing the Central Coast, San Fernando Valley, San Gabriel Valley, South Bay, Orange County and San Diego.

From February through June, the CTCs offer high-level supplemental training to the best twenty players in specific geographic

locations. The programs include competition, fitness work and strategy development.

During the CTC Cup, the teams, com-prised of ten boys and ten girls, played a dual match singles, doubles and mixed format. At the end, the team with the most match wins is the champion.

In semifinal action on the second day, San Fernando Valley surprised No. 1 seed, San Gabriel Valley, 34-7. No. 2 seed, Orange County downed Central Coast. San Fernando Valley played very well and emerged with a

34-7 victory. Orange County triumphed by the same score over Central Coast to earn a spot in the trophy round.

After an hour of rest, the final began with doubles, and both teams earned five wins. The Orange County boys then captured the singles, six matches to four. But, the San Fer-nando Valley girls responded, winning nine of the ten matches, earning the team an 18-12 victory, and the area’s second consecutive CTC championship.

“It was truly one of the nicest teams I have ever had, and I feel very honored to have worked with such a great group of special girls.”

Robert Baylon, Carson Branstine, Jacob Brumm, Connor Hance, Taylor Johnson, Nicole Mossmer, Ryan Segger-man and Hannah Zhao were the reason Southern California scored an Intersec-tional 16s final round 5-4 victory over Texas, at Pierremont Oaks Tennis Club in Shreveport.

The CTC Program is a rousing success because of the commitment made by the coaches in the following areas:

Mark McCampbell, Dave McKinney, Brian Giffin, Thomas Brinkoff, Steve Becken dorf, Tracey Currie, Bill Dunkle and Vasyl Yazadzhiev – Central Coast

Gary Victor, John Quijano, Pat Cupo, Joel Dacay, Mike Gealer, Mike Guevara, Philip Siordia, Afshin Zand and Joseph Siron – San Fernando Valley

Barry Friedman, Darren Richer, Lionel Rival, Bren Auld and Darren Auld – San Gabriel Valley

Vasile Beches, Carlos Cruz Aedo, Nick Cote, George Sulc and Terry Chambers – South Bay

Hank Lloyd, Robert Chu, Kate Mortensen and Eduardo Reyes – Orange County

Eric Mann, Josh Jorgenson, Jose Torres, Jason Sinkoff, Marc Assaraf, Derrick Miller, Anna Yang – San Diego

T H E 2 0 1 5 S C R A P B O O K 10

Zonal Play

Teams from the section put on first-rate performances as the following results demonstrate.

16s – Salt Lake CityMavericks d. Sidewinder (from Northern

California)10-9Members of the Mavericks team included:

Julia Deming, Jennifer Kerr, Alexandra Kuo, Taylor Lallas, Cody Lin, Diego Nava, Alec Rabinowitz, Jake Sands, Neil Tengbumroong, Caroline Vincent, Casie Wooten and Weiyi Zhu.

14s – Colorado SpringsNighthawks d. Jayhawks10-9Mustafa Ansari, Daniel Cheng, Griffin

Daehnke, Patryk Kozlowski, Ashley Kua, Anessa Lee, Henry Lovett, Ethan Nguyen, Britney Pellouchoud, Yuka Perera, Rachel Wagner and Rachelle Yang played for the Nighthawks.

Max Cohen, Delanie Dunkle, Colby Grey, Michael Hao, Jerry Huang, Hina Inoue, Ca-mille Kiss, Olivia McIntosh-Adams, Emilio Nava, Kyle Pham, Kylee Shannon, Mikala Triplett, Lisa Wagner and Hellman Zhao were on the Jayhawks.

Sportsmanship Award winners included: Mustafa Ansari, Delanie Dunkle, Colby Grey, Luke Llaurado, Jordyn McBride, and Dylan Taylor.

12s – TucsonCougars d. Bobcats11-7JP Day, Sebastian Gorzny, Devyn Hunter,

Marika Jones, Kayla Meraz, Tenaya Moran-da, Ryan Morgan, Cory Pham, Hudson Riv-ers, Jillian Roa, Gabriella Soliman and Chase Thompson were on the Cougars team.

Kai Braver, Damian de la Loza, Chris Fok, Rachel Gailis, Alexis Golin, Katelyn Hart, Bryn Johnson, Colin Kang, Matthew Lana-han, Andrew Salu, Ayala Stephens and Winta Woldeab represented the Bobcats.

Sportsmanship Award winners were: Kyle Kang and Winta Woldeab.

Pete Brown “First Serve”

Corona del Mar and Northwood High Schools

Barnes Tennis Center participants

10s Exchange

The Southern California, Northern California, Pacific North-west and Intermountain sections participated in 10s team

exchange held at the StubHub Center, October 2-4. Each of the four areas sent their top six boys and girls to compete in the event showcasing players on the way up.

Southern California defeated Northern California in the fi-nal, 98-81. The boys who represented the section were Sufyan Ashraf, Perry Di Giulio, Lance Morgan, Steve Nguyen, Jacob Tapia and Alan Ton. The girls playing a role in the success real-ized included Mika Ikemori, Lillian Kelly, Jessica MacCallum, Katelyn Smith, Kayla Turalakey and Amelie Worring La-Torre. Nelson Alapi and Tiffany Mai coached the team to victory.

Southern California 10s Exchange Team

The Pete Brown “First Serve” Tourna-ment takes place for Boys’ High School

teams in the spring. The Girls’ competition is held in the fall. In the boys’ play at the Barnes Tennis Center, La Jolla Country Day School defeated Rancho Bernardo High School, 6-0. Northwood High School was 4-2 better than Corona del Mar High School at Edison High School. Martin Luther King High School downed La Quinta High School by the same

4-2 score at El Dorado High School. West High School hosted two events. At the first, Great Oak High School edged Rowland High School, 3-3 (38-26 games won). In the second contest, Valen-cia High School followed the 4-2 script dropping Simi Val-ley High School, 4-2.

In girls’ play, Valhalla High School slipped past La Jolla Country Day, 3-3 (27-24 games won) on its home courts. Northwood High School was a 4-2 winner over Corona del Mar at Edi-son High School. Simi High

School edged Martin Luther King, 3-3 (33-32 games won) at El Dorado High School. West Torrance High School was the site of two championships. In the initial contest, Mary-mount High School conquered Arroyo High School, 6-0. Valencia High School was a 5-1 winner over West High School in the closing contest.

T H E 2 0 1 5 S C R A P B O O K 11

COMMUNITY TENNIS

Melanie Bischoff and Evan Smith with the TSRs (Tony Chatfield not included)

Photo Cynthia Lum

On May 6th at the LA84 Foundation facility in Los Angeles, twenty-six

Community Tennis Associations (CTAs) received partnership grants for 2015.

“I was very pleased to hold the meet-ing at the Foundation, with whom the SCTA has such a long and strong rela-tionship,” said Melanie Bischoff, Director of Community Tennis. “Thirty people turned out for the gathering. These are the individuals who are doing some great things for tennis in their local commu-nities. The great thing is these groups come from all over Southern California. They are really making a difference in what is taking place when it comes to increasing participation and providing every-one with more opportunities to play tennis.”

The organizations, receiving assistance included:

ACEing Autism Inc.ACES Youth TennisBoys & Girls Club of Santa MonicaCalifornia Tennis Association For

Underprivileged YouthsCity of Rialto – Healthy RialtoFirst Break Academy – RAMP

TennisGrassroots Junior Tennis, Inc.Joy of Athletics Foundation, Inc./

The Dance of Tennis ProgramKern Community Tennis AssociationMariners ChurchMorningside Monarch Alumni

Association

Morongo Basin Tennis AssociationMountain View Sports & Racquet ClubNeighborhood Junior Tennis ProgramOjai Valley Tennis Club Inc.One All Tennis Association, Inc.Orange County Community Tennis

AssociationOrange County Top TennisPasadena Tennis Association, Inc.Pete Brown Scholarship FundSemurana Tennis AssociationTennis Patrons Association of

Santa BarbaraTierransanta Tennis Club of

San DiegoWest Coast Beach Tennis, Inc.West Coast Wheelchair Tennis

AssociationYouth Tennis San Diego

At the end of October, Com-munity Tennis held a variety of not to be missed workshops at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden. As always is the case, the two-day affair drew praise for the insight that was provided. This year’s activities included the Area League Coordinators Annual Meeting, Ten and Under Tennis Workshop, SCTA Strategic Plan-ning Session and the Community Development Workshop, along with a social round robin. Bischoff said, “It was great to see so many people there. Special thanks go

out to all the Tennis Service Representa-tives (TSRs), along with Tiffany Geller Reed, Evan Smith and Anette Padilla for all the help. Every one who participated made it a great and fun event.”

The TSRs, who did yeoman’s duty through-out the section during 2015, and their areas of concentration are:

D’Wayne Begay – Coachella ValleyTony Chatfield – Inland EmpireGina Havelka – Central CoastTiffany Mai – Long Beach/Los Angeles

CountyKaren Ronney – San DiegoPhilip Siordia – Los Angeles & Kern

CountiesSpencer Wayman – Orange CountyDonald Wong – San Gabriel Valley/

Los Angeles County

INTERCOLLEGIATE TENNIS

All-Americans(Photos provided by the Sports Information departments affiliated with the players’ school.)

An impressive list of performers from Southern California earned Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) All-American honors on the Division I, II, III, NAIA and Junior/Community College levels. Those recognized and the schools they represented included:

Division ILorraine Guillermo – PepperdineMaegan Manasse – CalSabrina Santamaria – USCJonny Wang – USC

Sabrina Santamaria Jonny Wang

Axel Boullin

Division IIAxel Boullin – UCSD

Division IIISkyler Butts – Claremont-Mudd-ScrippsMoises Cardenas – Cal LutheranSteven Chen – Wesleyan

Skyler ButtsPhoto Ellen Friedlander

T H E 2 0 1 5 S C R A P B O O K 12

Tiffany Cheng – BowdoinCarley Cooke – BrandeisNick Cummins – RedlandsBridget Etchegaray – La VerneNatalie Etchegaray – RedlandsSummer Garrison – Lewis & ClarkRebecca Ho – Washington UniversityJake Hoeger – WhitmanPatrick Lipscomb – RedlandsAndrea Madrigal – La VerneLaina Matsuda – La VerneBryn Raschke – Carnegie MellonBeatrice Rosen – EmoryWarren Wood – Claremont-Mudd-ScrippsLea Lynn Yen – Pomona-Pitzer

NAIALauren Stratman – Westmont

Moises Cardenas Steven Chen Tiffany Cheng Carley Cooke Nick Cummins

Bridget Etchegaray

Natalie Etchegaray

Summer Garrison

Rebecca Ho Jake Hoeger

Patrick Lipscomb Lea Lynn YenAndrea Madrigal Laina Matsuda Bryn Raschke Beatrice RosenLauren Stratman

(A special thanks is extended for the help in compiling the All-Americans list to USTA Georgia Executive Director, Darren Potkey, who during his years as SCTA Director of Junior Tennis became familiar with youngsters from the section now playing intercollegiate tennis. If anyone from the section has been overlooked, regrets are extended.)

Kimo Barrere Hali Dickson Mayra Jovic Corey Karen Bettina Olah

Community/Junior CollegeKimo Barrere – San Diego MesaHali Dickson – Orange CoastMayra Jovic – Santa MonicaCorey Karen – VenturaBettina Olah – Palomar

Division I Regional & National Awards(Photos provided by the Sports Information departments affiliated with the players’ school.)

Coaches and players from the section dominated the season-ending Division I Intercollegiate Regional and National Awards.Those honored included:

Men’s Wilson/ITA Coach of the YearBrett Masi, University of San Diego –

SouthwestDanny Westerman, University of

Denver – MountainDavid Roditi, TCU – Texas(Roditi was the National Award winner.)

ITA/Arthur Ashe, Jr. Men’s Sportsmanship & Leadership Award

Jonathan Hammel, UCI – Southwest Brett Masi Danny Westerman David Roditi Jonathan Hammel

T H E 2 0 1 5 S C R A P B O O K 13

Annually, the ITA fetes the Collegiate All-Star Team, along with the ITA/Arthur

Ashe Jr. National Leadership & Sportsman-

Danielle FloresAmanda Augustus Criss Rodriquez Natasha Smith

Guillermo & Wood Feted

Lorraine GuillermoPhoto Pepperdine Athletics

Warren WoodPhoto Ellen Friedlander

ship Award winners, at the Oracle/ITA Out-ing & Awards Luncheon held at the West-side Tennis Club in Forest Hills, New York. At this year’s affair, in late August, Lorraine Guillermo of Pepperdine was the Division I Arthur Ashe recipient, and Warren Wood of Claremont-Mudd-Scripps was the Men’s Division III honoree.

Wood advanced to the Division III NCAA Singles Championship for the second straight season. After coming up short in 2014, he prevailed, defeating teammate Skyler Butts, and finished as the No. 1 player in the coun-try. Teaming with Joe Dorn, he also won the NCAA Doubles Championship, securing the No. 1 doubles ranking. Since CMS took the NCAA team title, their first since 1981, Wood became the fifth Division III triple

crown winner in forty years of the champi-onships by winning NCAA team, singles and doubles titles in the same season.

Women’s Wilson/ITA Coach of the Year

Amanda Augustus, Cal – NorthwestRichard Gallien, USC – Southwest

ITA/Arthur Ashe, Jr. Women’s Sportsmanship & Leadership Award

Lorraine Guillermo, Pepperdine – Southwest

(Guillermo was, also, the National Award winner.)

Most Improved Senior Player of the Year

Danielle Flores, St. Mary’s – NorthwestCriss Rodriquez – California State

University NorthridgeNatasha Smith, University of

New Mexico – Mountain

Magnificent Manasse

The US was the Master’U Championship winner.

Maegan ManassePhoto Cal Athletics

The annual Riviera/ITA Women’s All-American Championships, which is

staged at the Riviera Country Club, opened the women’s intercollegiate tennis season. Showcasing the elite players from schools across the country, the event is unmatched.

That was certainly the case with the play of Maegan Manasse and her Cal teammate, Denise Starr of Brook-lyn, New York who defeated Hayley Carter and Whitney Kay of North Carolina, 6-1, 6-4 in the doubles final.

Manasse was also a member of the US team that included – Brooke Austin of Florida, Dani-elle Collins of Virginia, Tom Fawcett of Stanford, Mackenzie McDonald of UCLA and Austin Smith of Georgia – which won the Master’U Championship, in Rennes, France. Greg Patton and Amanda Augustus, both former Southern Californians now coaching at Boise State Univer-sity and Cal respectively, led the effort, which resulted in victories over inter-

collegiate teams from Great Britain, Germany and France. It was the US’s sixth tournament victory in the past seven years.

Richard Gallien

T H E 2 0 1 5 S C R A P B O O K 14

Scandalis Defines Student-Athlete

Zoë Scandalis earned an NCAA Post-graduate Scholarship, becoming the

first-ever USC women’s tennis player to earn the prestigious award. A Political Economy major, with a minor in Environmental Stud-ies, Scandalis was also a recipient of the 2015 Pac-12 Postgraduate Scholarship and Pac-12 Medal. The 2014 Female Trojan of the Year, a three-time Pac-12 All-Academic First Team honoree, and a 2014 Capital One Academic All-District Team pick, she was a two-time Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) All-American, the 2014 ITA Southwest Regional Singles Champion and was captain of the

team that was an NCAA semifinalist this past season.

In addition, Scandalis, a member of the Trojan Athletic Senate all four years, has been involved with the Community Bowl, the Rose Cup and Athletes in Action on campus. Her commitment to service extended beyond campus with her mentoring seventh and eighth grade girls at the 32nd Street School. Her passion for outreach brought about her involvement in “Girl Up”, the United Nations Campaign for Adolescent Girls, which she will continue while competing on the USTA Pro Circuit.

Zoë ScandalisPhoto ITA

Summer Circuit

The ITA Summer Circuit, the annual four-tournament competition, was again, a

huge success in the section. This was the re-sult of the focused effort by Laguna Niguel

Racquet Club Tournament Director Mark Spearman at his facility; Yolande Duron, who organized the La Verne event at The Clare-mont Club; Mark Bohren, who was in charge

at Azusa Pacific; and Sandy Kriezel at Cal State University Los Angeles. The circuit provided a perfect venue for players to improve their skills during vacation breaks from school.

LEAGUE TENNIS

League National Champions

Adult 18 & Over Women’s 3.5Irvine (Orange County)

Photo Andrew Ong

18 & Over Mixed 9.0Upland (Coachella Valley)

18 & Over Mixed 8.0Irvine (Orange County)

Women’s 40+ Open 40 & Over Mixed 8.0Fountain Valley (Orange County)

40 & Over Mixed 6.0Arcadia (Orange County)

Adult 55 & Over Men’s 7.0El Monte (San Gabriel Valley)

Adult 55 & Over Women’s 8.0Escondido (North County San Diego)

T H E 2 0 1 5 S C R A P B O O K 15

League National Finalists

Adult 18 & Over Men’s 4.5California State University, Los Angeles

(Los Angeles)

Adult 18 & Over Women’s 4.5La Habra (San Gabriel Valley)

Adult 18 & Over Men’s 3.5Arcadia (San Gabriel Valley)

Photo Andrew Ong

Adult 18 & Over 3.0Coronado (San Diego)

18 & Over Mixed 10.0Manhattan Beach (South Bay)

Sectional Champions

Adult 18 & Over

MEN’S 5.0+Laguna Niguel Racquet Club – Dream Killers (Orange County)

WOMEN’S 5.0+Nellie Gail Tennis Club (Orange County)

MEN’S 4.5Upland – Arroyo Smashers (San Gabriel Valley)

WOMEN’S 4.5La Habra – Advantage Players (San Gabriel Valley)

MEN’S 4.0Fountain Valley Tennis Club – McFadden Brothers (Orange County)

WOMEN’S 4.0Alta Vista Tennis Club (Beach Cities)

T H E 2 0 1 5 S C R A P B O O K 16

WOMEN’S 3.0Coronado Tennis Center (San Diego)

MEN’S 3.5Arcadia Park – iStringing (San Gabriel Valley)

WOMEN’S 3.5Lower Peters Canyon Park (Orange County)

WOMEN’S 2.5Coronado Tennis Center (San Diego)

Adult 40 & Over

MEN’S 4.5+Anaheim Hills Racquet Club (Orange County)

WOMEN’S 4.5+Lower Peters Canyon Park – Weekend (Orange County)

MEN’S 4.0Anaheim Racquet Club (Orange County)

WOMEN’S 4.0La Jolla Tennis Club (San Diego)

WOMEN’S 3.0Ventura Tennis Club – VTC Tidal Waves (Ventura)

MEN’S 3.5Cerritos Tennis Center – All Star Cerritos (Orange County)

WOMEN’S 3.5Flint Canyon Tennis Club (San Gabriel Valley)

T H E 2 0 1 5 S C R A P B O O K 17

Adult 55 & Over

MEN’S 9.0Racquet Club of Irvine – Team Vortex (Orange County)

WOMEN’S 9.0Balboa Tennis Club (San Diego)

MEN’S 8.0Rancho Bernardo Swim & Tennis Club (San Diego North County)

WOMEN’S 8.0Kit Carson (San Diego North County)

MEN’S 7.0Whittier Narrows Tennis Center – Balz of Fire (San Gabriel Valley)

WOMEN’S 7.0Deep Canyon Tennis Club (Coachella Valley)

WOMEN’S 6.0Rancho LaQuinta Country Club(Coachella Valley)

18 & Over Mixed Doubles

MIXED 10.0Mira Costa (Beach Cities)

MIXED 9.0Upland Tennis Center (San Gabriel Valley)

MIXED 8.0Lower Peters Canyon Park (Orange County)

T H E 2 0 1 5 S C R A P B O O K 18

MIXED 7.0Palm Park Tennis Center (San Gabriel Valley)

MIXED 6.0Whittier Narrows Tennis Center (San Gabriel Valley)

40 & Over Mixed Doubles

MIXED 9.0Balboa Tennis Club (San Diego)

MIXED 8.0Fountain Valley Tennis Center – Topspin Twins (Orange County)

MIXED 7.0Whittier Narrows Tennis Center – Balz of Fire (San Gabriel Valley)

MIXED 6.0Arcadia Park – Turbo (San Gabriel Valley)

Adult 65 & Over

WOMEN’S 7.0Indian Wells (Coachella Valley)

MEN’S 8.0Kaigu Invasion (San Gabriel Valley)

WOMEN’S 8.0Red Hots (Orange County)

MEN’S 7.0Turbo (San Gabriel Valley)

T H E 2 0 1 5 S C R A P B O O K 19

Tri-Level Mixed Doubles Tournament

MEN’S 4.5-3.5Arcadia Park – iSmashing (San Gabriel Valley)

WOMEN’S 4.5-3.5Lower Peters Canyon Park – Lets Tri Again (Orange County)

MEN’S 4.0-3.0Whittier Narrows Tennis Center – Racketeers (San Gabriel Valley)

WOMEN’S 4.0-3.0Griffith Park – Hard Core (Los Angeles)

WHEELCHAIR TENNIS

David WagnerPhoto ITF

Marguerite Tennis PavilionGreg Hasterok

Photo Dayle Thomas

Lauren Haneke-HoppsPhoto fox5sandiego

Marguerite Tennis Pavilion Hosts UNIQLO Wheelchair Doubles

Mission Viejo lived up to its “Home of Wheelchair Tennis” status by hosting the UNIQLO Wheelchair Tennis Doubles Mas-ters. The early November championship was played at the spectacular Marguerite Tennis Pa- vilion, where it will be played, again, in 2016.

Wagner The Best AgainDavid Wagner won the Quad singles title

at the 2015 NEC Wheelchair Tennis Masters at Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis Centre in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, London in November.

In the fifty-two team, (from twenty-eight countries, competition in four categories –

Men, Women, Quad and Junior), 2015 BNP Paribas World Team Cup wheelchair tennis event at the Club Ali Bey Manavgat in Antalya, Turkey, Wagner led the US to victory over Japan, 2-1. He teamed with Nick Taylor of Wichita, Kansas to win the de-ciding doubles match, which was the country’s ninth championship. He also won the singles title.

Hasterok & Haneke-Hopps PTR Champions

Greg Hasterok and Taylor, the standard setting stars, won the Quad Open Doubles at the PTR Wheelchair Championships held on Hilton Head Is-land, South Carolina. In the final, they defeated Gary Luker of Canada and Marc McLean of Cape Coral, Florida, 6-2, 6-0. Lauren Haneke-Hopps downed Stacey Rice of Suwanee, Georgia, 6-2, 6-4, to win the Women’s A Singles.

T H E 2 0 1 5 S C R A P B O O K 20

SAN DIEGO DISTRICT TENNIS ASSOCIATION

Early in the year, the Union- Tribune San Diego carried a

story noting the obvious – San Diego was the third best tennis city in the country. The top ten were Atlanta, Miami, San Diego, Los Angeles, Cin-cinnati, Houston, Raleigh, St. Louis, Nashville and Boston.

At its Annual Meeting held at the La Jolla Beach & Tennis Club the fol-lowing were honored:

Emmanuel Mensah – Male Player of the Year

Cathie Anderson – Female Player of the Year

Dave Rapp – Male Pro of the YearLaura Eyler – Female Pro of the YearJesse Steinberg – Men’s Sportsmanship

AwardHiromi Sasano – Women’s Sportsmanship

AwardDon Daniels – Community Service AwardFaillas – Family of the YearEast County Community Tennis

Association – Club of the YearMark Truscott – Sponsor of the YearSteve Kappes, District President, along

with Geoff Griffin and Mary Alice Hillier,

has focused, for some time, on develop-ing the Wounded Warrior Tennis Program (WWTP). At the USTA Development Work-shop, held in early November, the effort was acknowledged when San Diego received the 2015 USTA National Adaptive Tennis Com-munity Service Award.

WWTP, a storied partnership involving the Balboa Tennis Club and the Naval Medical Center San Diego, includes free weekly clin-ics and an annual national tennis camp. The goal is to utilize activities that will help rein-tegrate participants into the community, en-hance their quality of life and promote living

a fit and healthy lifestyle.SCTA President, Bill Kellogg, who nomi-

nated WWTP for the honor, said, “I have watched the program grow from its earliest days serving a handful of patients from Na-val Medical Center San Diego, to a first-class operation that has served more than 600 wounded, ill and injured service members and veterans from every USTA section. It was the first program of its kind when it began in 2009, and has become the USTA’s model for similar adaptive tennis programs at other military medical centers and Warrior Transi-tion Units across the country.”

Annual Meeting Award Winners

Geoff Griffin, Mary Alice Hillier and Steve Kappes

Lopez Acclaimed

The Professional Tennis Registry (PTR), at its annual awards ceremony held dur-

ing the 2015 PTR International Tennis Sym-posium, in February on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, named Angel Lopez the Cali-fornia PTR Member of the Year. The award is presented to an individual who has shown dedication and diligence in promoting and supporting tennis and the PTR.

A PTR Professional since 1987, Lopez has been the Director of Tennis/Head Profes-sional at San Diego Tennis & Racquet Club

since 1986. He began his career at SDTRC in 1980, as Director of Junior Development. He is a USPTA Master Professional and a USTA High Performance Coach.

Lopez, a member of the San Diego Tennis Hall of Fame, has been named United States Olympic Committee Development Coach of the Year, World TeamTennis Coach of the Year, and he received Professional of the Year honors from both PTR and USPTA. He also received the Latino Champions Award in San Diego.

Former PTR President, Jorge Andrew, Angel Lopez and USTA President, Katrina Adams

YOUTH TENNIS SAN DIEGO

Youth Tennis San Diego (YTSD), which owns and operates the George E. Barnes

Family Junior Tennis Center, celebrated the facility’s twentieth birthday in 2015 accord-ing to Kerry Blum, YTSD Executive Director.

It is the central site for After-School Tennis and Education, the twenty-six year-old acces-sible and affordable outreach program that serves 7,500 youngsters throughout San Diego County. The tennis and education effort is based on John Wooden’s Pyramid of Success principles. It serves many of the students who

participate in programs conducted at the cen-ter, during afternoon hours, providing them with homework assistance and tutoring from volunteers and credentialed teachers.

In 2015, Junior Aces, a unique program that offers three to five year olds tennis in-struction, along with educational programs, continued to grow. Lessons in listening, fol-lowing instructions and concentration lead to a transition from learning on the court to learning in the classroom. Participants are ex-posed to health, nutrition, and fitness, as well

as academic and arts programs appropriate for their ages.

In addition, Youth Tennis San Diego host-ed multiple local, national and international events and activities at the Barnes Tennis Center. Included on the list were the Girls’ 18 and 16 National Championships; CIF In-dividual and Team finals; First Serve for high school players; four Novice tournaments; five Satellite tournaments; eleven Open tourna-ments; twelve Barnes Cups; and six Special Events for After-School Tennis participants,

T H E 2 0 1 5 S C R A P B O O K 21

along with Intercollegiate Tennis Associa-tion matches, also held at the Barnes Center. Over 1,000 juniors participated in the Sum-mer Camps; eleven new Junior Team Tennis teams were established; high performance workout program expanded and more than 1,000 juniors participated in tennis classes throughout 2015.

In May, a fabulous “Under the Sea” theme transformed the Annual Junior Awards Ban-quet into an extraordinary evening. Young-sters and family members attended the pre-sentation, which recognized players who had distinguished themselves in a myriad of cat-egories such as the most improved, outstand-

Annual Junior Awards Banquet Honorees

Fairbanks Ranch Country Club YTSD Fundraiser

Barnes Bashers

ing sportsmanship and role models, among others.

In late July, the 2015 World Team-Tennis Junior Nationals, an invita-tional tournament featuring sixteen coed teams, representing twenty states, took place. The twentieth championships, created and hosted by WTT founder, Billie Jean King, gave boys and girls 18 & Under not ranked from 1 to 150 on the USTA Seed Selection List a chance to compete in a balanced setting.

Matches, involving three boys and three girls per team included eight contests. Two sets for the boys’ singles and girls’ singles, one set of boys’ and girls’ doubles, and two sets of mixed doubles were played.

At the end of another memorable tourna-ment, the Barnes Bashers, from Youth Ten-nis San Diego, was the trophy winner. Those who were formidable on the courts includ-ed: Gabriela Armas, Lindsay Brown, Valeria Corral, Martin Marin, Patrik Trhac and Peter Trhac. Coaching always plays a role in any success that is realized, which is the reason Wolf von Lindenau and his assistant, Jwany Sherif deserve praise.

On October 3rd, Fairbanks Ranch Country Club was the venue where over 250 friends, families, community leaders and tennis advo-cates turned out to support YTSD. It was a night filled with special stories, great food and amazing auction items. The funds raised will help support the AST programs, community outreach programs, tournaments and schol-arships. A special thank you is extended to Diamond Sponsor – Wendy McWethy.

Youth Tennis San Diego is a 501c(3) or-ganization that provided over $75,000 in fi-nancial assistance, grants and scholarships to juniors in 2015.

SENIOR SCENE

Tradition Continues

The four tournament Desert Circuit – Andy Scorteanu’s 26th Monterey Coun-

try Club Senior Tennis Classic; Plaza Se-nior Tournament, presented by Ken Agee of Union Bank and organized by Kurt and Ana Haggstrom; Glenn Erickson’s 33rd Palm Springs Racquet Club Senior Championships; and ASICS World Tennis Classic (Category II), staged by Ed Trost and Jayne Robertson – opened the tennis season like a late, but much appreciated holiday gift. Featuring sparkling competition, the events lived up to their “start the season spectacularly” standard.

“The weather was perfect and so was the vibe,” Kurt Haggstrom said. “The players were playing old friends, eating fresh tanger-ines, grapefruit and, of course, Ana’s Rum

Cakes all week long. The players’ party was very well attended, with over 120 players eat-ing Mexican food and dancing to music under the stars. It is so much fun for us to run this event because the players really appreciate everything we do.

“Entries were up by 10% and that always makes the draws so much better. This was also the first year since 2012 that we had enough entries to hold a Men’s 90 singles event. It is really inspiring to see guys that age continue to compete. I think most of us dream of being able to play tennis into our 90s.

“Our tournament was a huge success this year, and we want to thank our sponsors, Ken Agee of Union Bank, and Patty Service at Las Casuelas Terraza Restaurant.”

In the Men’s 40 Doubles final, Paul Wulf and Craig Horn downed Glenn Erickson and John Cockrell for Plaza Senior

Tournament honors.

T H E 2 0 1 5 S C R A P B O O K 22

Tifosi sunglasses and ASICS apparel.”Trost added, “Over 250 players and their

guests had a great time at the Italian buffet dinner banquet. A DJ helped everyone un-wind after a tough week of tennis.

“There were several new players who made their mark in their respective divisions and, despite two days of rain, the competi-tion was fierce. Some players had to endure

Dennis Nielson outplayed Saul Snyder in the Plaza

Senior Tournament Men’s 80 final.

Wally Vickery and Robert Foran went home with the Plaza Senior Tournament

Men’s 80 Doubles title.

a smattering of other foreign players. The competition is arguably the best of any tournament outside of the Cat-egory I’s.

“For the first time, a Category I (Gold ball event) was held in the 70 Mixed, joining in the 60 and 50 Mixed. As a result, the play and keen competi-tion rose to another level with a num-ber of perennial high-seeded players, in their respective events, entering the fray. But, it’s not always about being the best in a doubles event that matters. The key is how well a team plays together.

“In the 70 Mixed, Charlie Hoeveler and Linda Bucklin were the winners in three sets. Tom Rettenmaier and Jackie Heston, the final-ists in last year’s 60 Mixed, defeated the top

seeds, Geoff Cykman and Tina Kar-wasky for the 2015 title. Patrick Rea and Jodi Neuman-Rea, the husband and wife team who dropped a three set 50 Mixed decision, in the final a year ago, were victorious, in three sets, over defending champions, Mike Fedderly and Tracy Worley-Hagen.

“Besides the gold and silver balls that were presented to the winners and finalists in each age category, the women received bouquets of flowers, and along with the men, were given

Ed Trost, who organizes the ASICS World Tennis Classic with Jayne Robertson, said, “This year’s ASICS World Tennis Classic had 750 players from 28 states. There was a large contingent from British Columbia, and

Tom Olmstead and Michael Caro outlasted Kirk Terrell and Mark Peterson in the Plaza Senior Tournament Men’s 60 Doubles final.

Dean Corley and Mike Stewart defeated Jim Quilty and Craig Edgecombe for the Plaza Senior

Tournament Men’s 70 Doubles trophy.

Thomas Peek captured the Plaza Senior Tournament

Men’s 90 event.

Jackie Heston and Tom Rettenmaier claimed the ASICS World Tennis Classic 60 Mixed trophy.

Photo Jayne Robertson

Mariko Atoji earned the Women’s 40 ASICS World Tennis Classic title.

Photo Jayne Robertson

Tracy Houk was the ASICS World Tennis Classic Women’s 45 champion.

Photo Jayne Robertson

John Powless, who represents ASICS, reached the Men’s 80 doubles final with

Richard (Dick) Doss.Photo Jayne Robertson

ASICS World Tennis Classic Men’s 75 winner, Bill Cover with Tournament Director,

Ed TrostPhoto Jayne Robertson

playing four or more sets, which was a physi-cal test of strength and endurance, to make up for the rain delays.”

Trost concluded, “The title sponsor, ASICS, had a huge presence at the tourna-ment. All the winners and finalists received beautifully embroidered ASICS apparel. Oth-er major sponsors were Eisenhower Desert Orthopedic Center, Eisenhower Medical Center, Tennis View Magazine, Tifosi Optics and Reed’s Ginger Brew.”

T H E 2 0 1 5 S C R A P B O O K 23

National Championship Focus

Southern California hosts more National Championships than any of the other

USTA’s seventeen sections. The Tennis Channel National Husband & Wife 100, 120 & 140 Grass Court, and the Tennis Channel National Men’s 60 Hard Court Champion-ships, both Category I events, provided a stellar kick-off. The matches were played at Mission Hills Country Club, and Steve and Abby Solomon, again, were exemplary hosts.

The Solomons’ reputation is well estab-lished. Just as last year, Steve was forced to close the Husband & Wife draw due to a tsunami of entries. “On the first day sign-ups began in January, fifty-four teams entered an astounding two months before anyone stepped on the Wimbledon-like lawns at the facility,” Solomon said, “There was so much interest in playing, we had to open a waiting list in an attempt to take care of everyone.”

As the final results substantiated, the te-nacity exhibited fully matched the depth of the competitive fields. Jamil and Penne Atcha slipped past, Jennifer and John Lyons 7-5, 5-7, 7-5 to earn the 100 title. In another three set spectacular, Andrew and Ann Stanley earned the 120 trophy, scoring a 4-6, 6-2, 6-2 over Steven and Karen Haas. Don and Colleen Keenen scored a 6-1, 6-3 victory over Dave and Diane Willauer in the 140 final.

“The tournament dinner/dance was packed,” Solomon said. “This year, we sur-prised everyone with a complimentary drink as they entered the clubhouse. The players loved it and it set a great tone for the evening. After dinner, just before the dancing began,

Ken Solomon, Tennis Channel CEO & Chair-man, answered questions from the audience. Those on hand enjoyed having an opportunity to talk about tennis on another level, with the individual responsible for much of the tourna-ment coverage seen on television in Southern California.”

Solomon continued, “The event is really like two tournaments. The top teams in the country entered, and so did a number of peo-ple who were not as skilled. They did so be-cause they had heard that it is the best com-petitive and social event that can be found in tennis, and we, again, did our utmost to prove them right.”

Tournaments by the Solomons are unri-valed when it comes to the gift bags provided. “Everyone received an exclusive long sleeve performance shirt, along with a hat and a col-lection of quality items,” Steve Solomon said.

“Tickets to the first day of the BNP Paribas Open, at Indian Wells Tennis Garden, were also included.”

Already looking ahead, Solomon noted, “In 2016, the tournament will start on Sun-day, March 6th. We expect to be able to offer a minimum of three matches per team. Hope-fully, we can achieve this goal and make it the template for

the 2016 and future events.”From the Grass Court showcase, Steve

and Abby segued into the National Men’s

60 Hard Court Championship. “With a very competitive field, there were a number of upsets,” Solomon said. Arthur Lee defeated three seeds, including top seed, Christofer Bennett before being forced to retire in the second set against the eventual winner, Paul Wulf in the semifinals. Wulf faced Toby Cra-bel in the final and survived a tough three setter, 2-6, 6-4, 6-3.

“In the doubles, Len Woffard and Wulf, the top rated team in the country, was upset in

the semifinals, 7-5, 2-6, 6-4, by Sal Castillo and Mel Colizo. Tom Smith and Bennett defeated Castillo and Colizo for the trophy, 6-4, 6-3.

As part of the tournament tradition, in ad-dition to USTA honors, those who appeared in the finals were well rewarded. “The win-ners and finalists, including the back draw, re-ceived high quality luggage from the ASAKs company, and/or Maui Jim sunglasses,” Solo-mon said. “In addition, participants received a special long sleeve performance shirt, a Ten-nis Channel hat and other gifts.”

As is the case with the championships they stage, the Solomons, “looking to help these worthwhile charities,” matched up to $1,000 in donations for the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation and the United Service Organizations Inc. (USO).

In conclusion, Solomon offered, “Fortu-nately, we keep improving and that is evi-denced by the increased participation and great reviews that both the tournaments continue to earn.”

As is always the case, the national tourna-ments held in the section featured first-rate competition and matching hospitality. The National Women’s 50-90 Hard Court Cham-pionships (Category I), at the La Jolla Beach & Tennis Club, is an established tradition. Bill Kellogg served as the very able Tournament Director.

Ros Nideffer defended her Women’s 50 title, defeating Fran Chandler, 6-4, 6-0, in the final. Lisa Naumu and Judy Newman survived a 7-6, 4-6, 6-1 contest against Eleanor Ham-margren and Jennifer Lyons for the doubles title. In a three-hour, twelve-minute “leave it all on the court” struggle, Tina Karwasky stayed strong outlasting Carolyn Nichols, 3-6, 7-6, 7-5, in the Women’s 60 final. Nich-ols rebounded scoring a 6-0, 6-4 victory with Una Davis over Karwasky and Jan Kirkland-Cochran for doubles honors.

Dave and Diane Willauer with Colleen Burns Keenan and Don Keenan

Brent and Mai Ichikawa-Abel with Penne and Jamil Atcha and Jennifer and John Lyons

Toby Crabel and Paul Wulf

Ros NidefferPhoto J. Fred Sidhu

T H E 2 0 1 5 S C R A P B O O K 24

Cathy Anderson was seeking her fourth-straight Women’s 70 trophy, but Betty Wachob was 1-6, 6-4, 6-2 better. Peggy An-dry and Jane Pang were formidable against Carolann Castell and Judy Louie as the final, 6-1, 6-1, scores indicate.

Burnett Herrick ruled Women’s 80 play, slipping past Dorothy Matthiessen, 6-1, 5-7, 6-4, for the singles gold ball, and she earned an-other with Judy Smith in a 6-1, 6-0 final round victory over Jane Buffington and Bev Winans. In another exciting contest, Cathy Hall and Elaine Mason outlasted Betty Cookson/Betty Eisenstein 6-2, 6-7, 6-1 in the Women’s 90 doubles final.

“It was a fantastic week of national senior women’s tennis,” Kellogg said. “After watch-ing players competing in age divisions from 50 to 90, it is easy to see why tennis continues to be the sport of a lifetime.”

The Solomons teamed with Sheryl Hersch-man to stage the Tennis Channel National Father/Daughter and Mother/Son Senior, Su-per & Ultra Senior Hard Court Champion-ships. Moving from the Barnes Tennis Center in San Diego to the Springs Country Club, in Rancho Mirage, the tournament, held May 8-10, has found a luxurious new home.

“Pleasantly surprising cool days and clear skies set the stage for ex-ceptional play in all age divisions,” Tournament Director, Herschman, said. “The competition was out-standing, yet friendly, which was a plus for all. There were many young children present, which really add-ed to the family atmosphere of the event. The Settles family had three generations of players tak-ing part. The dilemma was trying to choose a match to watch because there were so many former national champions on the courts most of the days.”

Gerrit and Shene Disbergen defeated Bruce and Sabrina Man-Son-Hing, 6-0, 6-4 in the Father/Daughter final. Lisa Naumu and Miles Seemann were the Mother/Son win-ners, 6-1, 7-5 over Dina and Parker McBride. John and Hannah Holladay slipped past Jerry and Becky Morse-Karzen, 6-7, 7-5, 6-2 for

the Father (60)/Daughter title. William White and Stephanie Tolosa were resolute as they downed Herm Ahlers and Krista O’Connor, 6-3, 5-7, 6-2 in the Father (70 Super Senior)/Daughter trophy round. Ralph and Alissa Finerman closed the competition by closing out Enver Mehmedbasich and Susan Wright, 7-6, 6-0 for Father (80 Ultra Senior)/ Daughter honors.

In addition to the Gold, Silver and Bronze balls, the winners and finalists received, re-spectively, ASICS shoes and a large Ten-nis Channel tournament travel bag. Special crystal balls were given to the Consolation winners.

Tina KarwaskyPhoto J. Fred Sidhu

Steve Solomon and Sheryl Herschman

Gerrit and Shene Disbergen with Sabrina and Bruce Man-Son-Hing

Lisa Naumu and Miles Seemann with Parker and Dina McBride

Christian Settles with his grandfather, Elliott Rose and his mother, Kathy

Hannah and John Holladay

Jerry and Becky Morse-Karzen

William White and Stephanie Tolosa with Krista O’Connor and Herm Ahlers

Julie Gerken, working with her two-year old son, Evan, is getting ready for Mother/Son

competitions in the future.

Herschman added, “The tournament was well organized thanks to a team of volun-teers who focused on making everything run smoothly. A great deal of attention was paid to every detail, including presenting flowers to all the female competitors on Mother’s Day. Several players commented that it was the best tournament they ever had attended.

T H E 2 0 1 5 S C R A P B O O K 25

In 2016, our goal is to strive to make the tournament the premiere family event in the country.”

Ned Buckman organized the Verne Hughes Memorial National Men’s 75-90 Hard Court Championships (Category I), at the Laguna Woods Tennis Club. Joe Bachmann was 6-2, 6-3 solid against Rudy Hernando in the Men’s 75 final. The same can be said of long-time partners, Hank Leichtfried and George Sa-rantos, who defeated Robert Anderman and Thomas Brunkow, 6-4, 6-3, in the doubles title round. In the Men’s 80 singles, Neil Hurl-but stopped Seymour Moskowitz, 6-3, 6-0, but in the 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 doubles final Lenny Lindborg and Jim Nelson were better than Hurlbut and Dennis Nielson. Joe Russell was 6-0, 6-1 stronger than Wally Vickery in the Men’s 85 test, and with Clem Hopp, he won the doubles, over Wilson Fitzgerald and Rob-ert Foran by the same score. Anthony Franco got off to a great start and ended up leading 5-2 in the Men’s 90 singles when an injury forced Graydon Nichols to retire. But, Nich-ols and Franco joined forces to race past Neil Benner and W.T. Mathes, with nary a loss of a game for the doubles title.

“We had one hundred twenty-one players from all over the country,” Buckman said. “It was a good event.”

Calle Hansen was the National Men’s 45 Hard Court Championships (Category I) Tournament Director. “The Westlake Ath-letic Club celebrated its Twenty-fifth Anni-

versary hosting the tourna-ment,” he said. “We had a significant increase in partici-pants compared to 2014 with one hundred ten total en-tries, (fifty in the singles draw and thirty doubles teams).

“Oren Motevassel won the singles title 6-2, 6-3 over Jeff Tarango. The doubles title went to Derek Brooks and Gary Nadebaum who defeat-ed Carsten Hoffman and Art

Hernandez, 6-3,1-6, 6-3.“The National 45 is very important to the

club and we take great pride in hosting it. We had more than fifteen sponsors who made the tournament possible. Infiniti of Thousand Oaks was our title sponsor. In addition, many of our members helped throughout the week to make the event special. We also were able to have Radio Tennis air the semifinals and final.”

quite some time.Kevin and Chris Kearney edged Jerry and

Brett Morse Karzen, 4-6, 6-3, 7-5, in the Se-nior Father & Son final. Charlie and Charles Hoeveler took the Super Senior Father & Son, 6-0, 6-2, over Joseph and Joe Zerboni. Jeff and Ron Tonidandel stayed the course, downing Rafael and Rafael Nieto, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3, in the Father 80 & Son final.

Tournament sponsors included: Biszantz Family Foundation, Tennis Ware-house, Collins Company, Loma Linda University Health System – Department of Head & Neck Sur-gery, Solinco, US Sports Camps, Zaino Tennis Courts, Inc. and 42nd Street Bagel.

The National Men’s 65 & 70 Hard Court Championships (Cat-egory I), under Scott Spearman’s leadership, was held at the Racquet Club of Irvine. Brian Cheney, the top player in the Men’s 65 division, lived up to his reputation, downing John Chryst 6-2, 6-1, in the singles

final. Jared Florian and Marc Mazo were just 3-6, 6-4, 7-5 better than Dave Bohannon and Michael Caro in the doubles trophy round. The Men’s 70 finals were both three set tests. Hugh Thomson defeated Donald Long, 4-6, 7-6, 6-3, for the singles trophy. Dean Corley and Michael Stewart were tenacious in a 7-5, 1-6, 6-2 victory over Kenneth Dahl and Fred Drilling in the doubles final.

Robert Anderman and Thomas Brunkow with George Sarantos and Hank Leichtfried

Lenny Lindborg and Jim Nelson

Neil Hurlbut and Dennis Neilson

Seymour Moskowitz and Neil Hurlbut

Robert Foran and Wilson Fitzgerald with Ned Buckman, Joe Russell and Clem Hopp

Bob Seymour, Gradon Nichols, Ned Buckman, Tony Franco and W.T. Mathes

Mike Thoeresz, John Chryst, Marylinn Backer and Brian Cheney

Paul and Kathy Settles held the National Senior, Super Senior, Ultra Senior Father & Son Hard Court Championships (Category I) at the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps’ Biszantz Tennis Center. The tournament that benefit-ted the “Tennis in Our Schools” program (Kathy Settles is the Director), honored the late Jim McManus, an ATP Tour founder and an influential member of the organization for

T H E 2 0 1 5 S C R A P B O O K 26

title with a 7-6, 6-4 victory over Marcio Carls-son. Neel Grover and Peter Smith stopped Jared Jacobs and William (“Willie”) Quest, 6-1, 5-7, 6-3 in the doubles final.

Playing her first National Senior tourna-ment since ending her WTA career in 2006, Amy Frazier defeated Dina McBride, 6-1, 6-3 for women’s honors. Tracie Currie and Debbie Spence-Nasim captured the doubles, downing Jennifer Dawson and Jenny Keller, 6-4, 6-3, in the final. Currie doubled, winning the 40 Mixed title with Quest, 6-3, 7-5 over Desi and Dina McBride, 6-3, 7-5.

Smith teamed with his son, Riley for a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Brett and Brian Joelson in the Father & Son title round. Poh Seng Tan and Matthew Sah’s Grandfather/Grandson victory, 6-3, 6-3, over L. and Ian Freer was an-other chapter in this year’s tournament story.

prevailed, 6-1, 6-2.“Kong won over the crowd

when he donated his prize money back to the club whereupon club owner, Harvey Bottelson, donated it to the Tennis Patrons.

“Mark Wooldridge won the dou- bles crown for the third year in a row, teaming with Goldie to de-feat Jeff Burnett and Mitchel Per-kins, 6-3, 6-2 in the final. It was Wooldridge’s fourth straight ap-pearance in the doubles final, and

he hadn’t lost a set in his past two title runs.“Goldie definitely raised the bar to another

level and the crowds were treated to spec-tacular tennis all week. CathyAnn Simon and Ethel Byers, along with the really supportive club membership, did a fantastic job of making the event such a success.”

“This year’s Ted Smyth National Men’s 50 was arguably the best ever,” Tournament Di-rector, Larry Mousouris, said. “The tourna-ment, named for the longtime Santa Barbara Tennis Club member, USTA umpire and gen-erous donor to the Santa Barbara Tennis Pa-trons Association, has gotten better because of the Smyth family’s continued support of Ted’s legacy and the Patrons.

“Top players from around the nation filled out a very deep draw. The top four seeds all reached the semifinals. No. 1 ranked and top seed Ken White of New York went down 6-1, 7-5 to Tom Kong of Oxnard, while second seed, Dan Goldie, a former Stanford standout and NCAA champion, ousted No. 3 seed, Mitchel Per-kins of Seattle, 6-3, 6-3.

“Goldie, a one-time top 30 ATP per-former and quarterfinalist at Wimbledon, had put tennis aside for twenty-four years while he built his investment business in Palo Alto. He picked a racquet up again nine months prior to the event and trained with the Stanford men’s team. He had also stayed in great physical shape. His pedigree proved too much for Kong in the final, and Goldie

Tom Kong and Dan GoldiePhoto Michael Weinstein

Mitchel Perkins and Jeff Burnett with Dan Goldie and Mark Wooldridge

Photo Michael Weinstein

Dan GoldiePhoto Michael Weinstein

Tony BujanPhoto J. Fred Sidhu

Amy FrazierPhoto J. Fred Sidhu

Riley and Peter SmithPhoto Mark Winters

November featured three local “gold ball” Category I tournament opportunities. The first was the National Men’s 55 Hard Court Championships, which Tom Fey su-pervised, played at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in early November. David Seibel slipped past Mike Tammen, 7-5, 7-6 for singles honors. Tammen rebounded taking the doubles with Mike Fedderly, 3-6, 6-2, 6-4 over Ross Hessler and Jon Tyrell.

The National Husband Wife Mixed 100, 120 & 140 Hard Court Championships was the second of the month’s spectacu-lars. Held at the Palm Valley Country Club, Gordon Zawtun was the Tournament Di-rector. Brent and Mai-Ichikawa Abel de-feated Stuart and Gabriela Chase, 7-6, 6-3 for 100 honors. Mas and Susan Kimball sur-prised Andrew and Ann Stanley, 7-6, 7-5 in the 120 final. Harry and Brenda Carter were the 140 champions downing David and Diane Willauer, 6-3, 7-5.

The National 40, along with the Father & Son and Grandfather & Grandson, Hard Court Championships, brings the elite tour-nament season to a close. The masterful Kellogg directs the showcase competition at the La Jolla Beach & Tennis Club. Tony Bujan won his third consecutive Men’s 40

T H E 2 0 1 5 S C R A P B O O K 27

National 65 Invitational

The section was well represented at the National 65 Invitational in Surprise, Ari-

zona as five of the captains from the Coa-chella Valley teams detailed. Judy Louie, who led the Women’s 9.0 squad, said, “The tour-nament site was adequate, though warm-up courts were a problem.” Louie added, “The tournament desk was organized well and the people staffing it were very friendly. The Tee shirts handed out, and the medals awarded were nice. Southern California definitely had the strongest team and won.”

Hady Fleming, the Wom-en’s 8.0 team captain, noted, “I barely had six players, and the matches were tough and long. But, most important, it was quite an experience. We all had a lot of fun.”

Barb Bulifant, the cap-tain, was playing in her fourth Super-Senior 7.0 tournament on the national level. “There were four teams in our division and we came up on top, but because we lost to the team

below us, they went on to the semifinals. We had the same number of wins and losses as they did, and we had nineteen more games and two more sets, but because we lost to them 2-1 in the head-to-head they went on. Everyone on the team was upset by this.”

Al Sturges was the captain of the Sun City-Palm Desert Men’s 6.0 team. “Since those on the team are active tennis players and play every day, we managed to carve out one day a week to practice as a team leading up to

Women’s 8.0 Team

Women’s 6.0 Team

Men’s 6.0 Team

as preparation, the ladies practiced together daily and took lessons together from the time they found out we were going. They never stopped, and I am very proud of them.

“Patty Wolcott lost her son, who was a fireman, in an accident and she dedicated all her training and play to him. She took his picture with her to the tournament and said she feels that he is now proud of how she played. She did not lose a match during the tournament.

“The ladies want a 65 team again. I have had other players from other teams ask to be on our team when I was at the desk at the BNP Senior Cup. They are willing. I’m the one who has reservations.”

Bulifant admitted, “We are encouraging more teams to play Super-Senior 65s.” Al Sturges said, “Yes, we will be back. We are going for the Gold.” Louie concluded, “The overall experience was very good. If there is a 65 Women’s 9.0 team supported by the USTA, I would definitely participate on the SoCal team next year.”

ITF Cup Play

Six Southern Californians represented the US in the International Tennis Federation

(ITF) Young Seniors World Championships in Antalya, Turkey, in March. The tournament, the senior equivalent of the Davis/Fed Cup competitions, was played on terre battue (red clay).

Tracie Currie and Debbie Spence-Nasim were members of the third place Women’s 40 Young Cup. Gee Gee Garvin captained the Women’s 35 Suzanne Lenglen Cup team

that finished sixth. Ross Duncan was the play-ing captain, and Marcio Pepe was a member of the seventh place Men’s 35 Italia Cup team. Michael Chang captained the eleventh place Men’s 40 Tony Trabert team.

Four section residents participated in the ITF Team & Individual Senior Championships at the end of June, in La Baule, France. Ros Nideffer was responsible for two points in the Women’s 50 Bueno Cup 2-1 victory

over France. Mike Fedderly was a member of the Men’s 55 Austria Cup team that de-feated Spain, 2-1 in the final. Tina Karwasky and Carolyn Nichols were the reason that the US was 2-1 stronger than Great Britain in the Women’s 60 Marble Cup trophy battle.

In the Individual tournament, Fedderly and Mike Tammen were the Men’s 55 doubles champions. Nichols continued her marvelous La Baule run defeating Karwasky, 6-7, 6-4, 6-1 in the Women’s 60 singles and winning the

Tracie Currie Debbie Spence-Nasim

Gee Gee GarvinPhoto Carolyn Nichols

Ross DuncanPhoto Carolyn Nichols

Marcio Pepe Michael Chang

the tournament,” he said. “I managed to put together a diverse group of players. Compet-ing in a 65 division was a challenge for players who are well into their 70s and 80s. Still, we

lost the final in a Tiebreak.”Vicky Parkerson led the Wom-

en’s 6.0 team. “The team, who are all way past the 65 range, worked hard and they played well in the heat. They just missed being champi-ons when they lost a tight Tiebreak. The competition was tough. The winners of our division told us that they had won the title when it was the 60s five years in a row. As far

T H E 2 0 1 5 S C R A P B O O K 28

place. Cathie Anderson made an impact on the Women’s 70 Gibson Cup team that downed Australia, 2-1 for fifth place.

For the first time in recent memory, none of the Southern Californian participants went on to capture a title in the Individual Cham-pionships, which followed the first week of team play.

doubles with Lyn Mortimer of Australia.The 35th ITF Super-Seniors World Team

Championships took place in late Septem-ber in Umag, Croatia. The annual tourna-ment involved the best players representing their countries in the 65, 70, 75, and 80 age groups.

Kathy Bennett was a member of the

Ros Nideffer and Carolyn NicholsPhoto www.examiner

Tina KarwaskyPhoto Sherri Bronson

Mike Fedderly

Women’s 65 Godfree Cup team that de-feated Great Britain in the title round, 2-1. Lynn Little and Roz King teamed up for the final doubles victory in the US 3-0 shutout of Great Britain in the Women’s 75 Queens’ Cup final.

Chuck Nelson was on the Men’s 80 Mulloy Cup team that defeated France 2-1 for third

Chuck NelsonKathy Bennett Lynn Little and Roz King Cathie Anderson

Inaugural Crabel Capital Men’s 60 Masters Invitational

The inaugural Crabel Capital Men’s 60 Masters Invitational Championships was

played on the unrivaled grass courts at Mis-sion Hills Country Club. The best twelve sin-gles players and the top eight doubles teams in the country competed in the week long Round Robin. The winners and finalists of the four Men’s 60 National Championships were invited to play. Players who performed

exceptionally well during the year filled the remaining spots.

The participants included: Brent Abel, Chris Bennett, Chris Bussert, Sal Castillo, Robert Castorri, Toby Crabel, Geoff Cykman, Tim Garcia, John Holladay, Kevin Kearney, Rollin Rhone, Fred Robinson, Dave Sivertson, Tom Smith, Andrew Stanley, Dan Waldman and Len Wofford.

The competitive format was the same as the one used by the ATP Tour year-end final in London. Play-ers and teams were divided into Blue and Green groups and played match-es against every player/team in their group. The two players/teams, in each group with the best records, then faced the players/team with the best results in the other groups.

Waldman defeated Robinson, 6-4, 7-6, in the singles final. Castillo and Garcia downed Castorri and Smith, 7-6, 6-2, for the doubles trophy.

Crabel, the tournament sponsor, outlasted Cykman, in the third/fourth place playoff, 6-3, 2-6, 6-1. Cykman and Wofford earned third place in the doubles when Holladay and Kear-ney provided them with a walkover.

“Along with the ATP and WTA year-end finals, the Men’s 60 division will now have a Some of the Crabel Capital Men’s 60 Masters

Invitational Championships participants

Toby Crabel

T H E 2 0 1 5 S C R A P B O O K 29

similar Senior Masters Championships event that recognized the true 2015 Na-tional champion,” Steve Solomon, the event’s organizer, said. “In addition to the prestige of playing in the first event of its kind, $25,000 in prize money was provided by Crabel Capital. It was al-located to the players based on their performances.”

Given the location, the event’s profes-sional set-up and the funding available, praise for the tournament was unani-mous. The participants couldn’t have been more pleased.

Tom Smith, Robert Castorri, Tim Garcia and Sal Castillo

“The testimonials were genuine and glowing,” Solomon said. “What surprised me was the stated intent by each player to work hard to promote more of what they experienced. Typically, players at this level focus much of their time obsessing about their ranking and dwelling on ‘what if?’ moments in matches that might’ve gone their way. This group was different. Everyone wanted to give back, contribute in a big way and play a role in growing the sport in a better way. Hopefully, the USTA will gain and expand from this successful example.”

Intersectional Review

Annually in the second week of November, Southern California is

represented by a formidable collection of women competing at the National Intersectional Team Championships. This year’s event was held at The Swim & Racquet Center in Boca Raton, Flor-ida. As Colleen Clery Ferrell noted, “I was coordinator for all six teams, along with Annette Buck (Southern California Tennis Association Director of Adult & Senior Tennis). The section had great representation, winning one and being a finalist in three other events, along with a fourth-place finish in another.”

There is something special – magic may be a better word to use – about Boca Raton. Dori DeVries, Judy Janc, Roz King, Sheila Palmer and Norma Veal feel that way. “The Southern California 75 team did it again,” Veal, the captain, said. “It was the third time in a row that the team won the Intersectional title. Dori and Roz were the stars, sweeping their singles in a ‘Two singles/two doubles’ format. Midwest and Eastern were defeated 4-0 and the final was won, 3-1 over Texas.”

Amy Alcini, Nathalie Herremon- Bagby, Debbie Higa, Dina McBride and Millie Ya-blonicky were members of the 35 squad. “The tournament started great because the team won 5-0 against Eastern,” Yablonicky, the captain, brought out. “Although we won all the matches, it wasn’t easy because the weather was really hot and humid. After hav-ing a bye on Friday, everyone was fired up and ready to take on Florida in the Saturday

semis. But, right after the warm up, it began to rain. After a lengthy delay, play was sus-pended for the day.

“On Sunday morning, the tournament of-ficials decided to shorten the format to get all the matches completed. It was cloudy and the wind was swirling, but no rain. After three tough singles matches in the difficult conditions, the team was down 1-2 going into doubles. Herremon-Bagby and Higa won their doubles 8-6, so the match came down to Dina and me. We knew we had to win to keep the trophy hopes alive. After surviving five match points, we came back to win, 9-7, and vaulted the team into the final. In the championship match, the Southern team came away with a 4-1 victory.”

Clery Ferrell, Una Davis, Karen Haas, Jackie Heston, Tina Karwasky, Tracey Thompson and Tracy Worley-Hagen were members of the 55 team. In the event sum-maries provided by Kar-wasky, who served as the captain, and Clery Ferrell, it was noted

that Florida was defeated 4-1, in the first round, with the only los-ing point coming in doubles. Af-ter a day off, the tenacious team from Northern California was the semifinal opponent. Thanks to the singles play of Karwasky, a doubles victory by Davis and Heston, then a down-to-the-wire escape by Karwasky and Worley Hagen, who after losing the first set, clinched the 3-2 victory.

For the third year in a row, Southern was the final round op-ponent. Singles was their strength

and they proved it by winning all three match-es. Nonetheless, Haas and Tracy Worley- Hagen came back to win in the third set after being down two match points in a second set Tiebreak. Davis and Heston also earned a three set victory to make the final score, 3-2.

Southern California participants at tournament banquet

75 Team

35 Team

55 Team

T H E 2 0 1 5 S C R A P B O O K 30

Cathie Anderson, Kathy Bennett, Liane Bryson, Carol Gay, Judy Louie, Crys Ren and Ann Stanley were the section’s 65 represen-tatives. Gay, who was the captain, said, “The team prevailed in close matches and enjoyed the play so much that one of the members dubbed the players, on her Facebook page, ‘The Dream Team’. In addition to great fun and competitive tennis, the unique personali-ties blended together and contributed to the team’s cohesiveness.

“Seeded fourth, the team was impressive in its first round match, defeating Southwest, 5-0. The quarterfinal match against Mid- Atlantic came down to the ‘wire.’ Trailing after morning singles play, the doubles teams of Bennett/Bryson, and Louie/Stanley pulled the team through for the win by capturing very close matches, in the 3-2 win.

“In the semifinals, Southern, the second seed, was upset, 3-2. Ren kept Southern Cali-fornia in the match, winning a three and a half hour marathon at the number three position. Heading into the doubles, down 2-1, Bennett and Bryson won again. Louie and Stanley’s doubles victory, at number two, secured the win.

“The 65 team certainly met their match in the final against the top seed, Florida. Ren again came very close, but ultimately, she

was defeated. Louie and Stanley won at number two doubles, but Bennett and Bryson had to default at 5-5 in the first set because Liane injured her leg, giving Florida a 4-1 victory.

Nancy Kibbey, the experienced captain and player, was fully aware of the competitive level that her 80 team would face. For this reason, she summoned Patti Dodgen and Pat Giebink, who are also Balboa Tennis

Club members, to join her and Janet Hubbard in the quest for a title.

Kibbey said, “Though South-ern California was unseeded, Dodgen and Giebink pulled out a clutch three setter to defeat a seasoned Florida team and take the match 2-1. In the next round, they achieved another three set victory, this time against Middle States. I teamed with Hubbard to

win an exciting three set, 7-4, Tiebreak to spring into the final.”

Unfortunately, Kibbey was unable to com-pete in the next match, and the team came up short in the third-fourth place playoff. Still, she admitted, “The matches were played in 87 degree heat and 90% humidity. The resil-

ience of these 80 something senior women was amazing. It shows that tennis is, truly the sport of a lifetime.”

Overcoming health and scheduling issues faced by a group of players, Nancy Abler San-chez, Cynthia Delgado, Mary Graber, Rainy Miller, Lisa Naumu, Prentiss Van Den Berg and Ruth Young stepped up to represent the section in 45s play. Miller, who was co-captain with Van Den Berg, said, “Everyone enjoyed the competitive matches, meeting players from around the country, seeing old friends, and cheering for their fellow South-ern California teammates in other age divi-sions. Additionally, the high level of tennis made for some awesome matches, and the clay court surface made for some very long and exciting points. In working toward the

same goal, the camaraderie that resulted is something the whole team will always remember. It was a great experience.”

Adding to the tournament sum-mary, Clery Ferrell offered, “I was really proud of all the teams. The players were all very thank-ful for the support provided by the SCTA, and they are looking forward to next year’s event in San Antonio.”45 Team

65 Team

80 Team

That’s Not All…

Coming up with a count of national and international triumphs scored by South-

ern California seniors during the 2015 season requires sleuth-like investigative skills, and of course, all the research that it entails. Prac-tically speaking, a quest of this sort is sure to fall short. Local players accomplished far too much during the past year to tabulate in totality.

Still, there is an interesting back-story to tell. A number of competitors achieved dis-tinctive combinations. Ros Nideffer defended her National Women’s 50 Hard Court title, defeating Fran Chandler, 6-4, 6-0, in the final. She was also responsible for two points in the US Women’s 50 Bueno Cup 2-1 triumph over France.

Mike Fedderly was a member of the Men’s 55 Austria Cup team that defeated Spain, 2-1 in the final. The week following the event,

Ros NidefferPhoto J. Fred Sidhu

Mike FedderlyPhoto camerawork usa

he teamed with Mike Tammen of Portland, Oregon in the Individual World Champion-ships, to capture the doubles title in that

T H E 2 0 1 5 S C R A P B O O K 31

SENIOR NEWS NOW ONLINE

The SCTA has published the quarterly Senior News since 1999 and will con-

tinue to do so. Moving forward, the Senior News will no longer be mailed. It will con-tinue to be published on the website each

March, June, September and December. You will find it easily on the main website page. It is in a PDF format so that it will print easily. The site can be accessed at www.scta.usta.com

To receive a printed copy or to receive a directly emailed version, please contact Linda Milan at lmilan@scta.usta.com or by phone at 310-824-5139.

IN MEMORIAM

Annually, the game loses people who have played distinctive roles in making

Southern California tennis stand alone on the national and the world stage.

After having won Roland Garros in 1947, Patricia (Pat) Canning Todd was adamant about not accepting a secondary court assign-ment in the next year’s semifinal against her French opponent, Nelly Adamson Landry. As a result, she was defaulted. Not only was the courage displayed costly as far as gaining another Grand Slam tournament triumph, it also appeared to affect her year-end USLTA ranking. Nonetheless, she was in the World’s Top 10 from 1946 to 1952. Inducted into the San Diego Tennis Hall of

Fame in 2010, and a year later, the SCTA Hall of Fame, she passed away in early September.

During his twenty-three years as Director of Junior Tennis, Jim Hillman left an indelible mark on tennis programming. Having worked for the Los Angeles County Parks and Recre-ation Department, he became involved with the SCTA, running the Sectional Champion-ships in 1972. Five years later, Jack Kramer asked him to lead the junior effort in the section. And lead he did, establishing Junior Team Tennis, the Junior Satellite tournament program, and building a relationship with the LA84 Foundation that continues. He made an impact on League Tennis, along with launch-ing Grand Prix efforts for a variety of pro-grams. As teaching legend Vic Braden once said, “I thought Jim Hillman invented tennis.” Hillman made his exit in August.

LaRhonda Amos loved tennis. When she passed away in late February a void was cre-ated that is beyond Grand Canyon deep. She believed in the values that are part and parcel of the game, particularly when it came to ten-nis really making a difference in the commu-nity. Amos was “The Godmother”, in truth, the chaperone of programs and people in this setting. She made things happen; she was car-ing and made a difference.

Patricia (Pat) Canning ToddPhoto AP

Jim HillmanPhoto Cynthia Lum

LaRhonda Amos and Marty Woods

Carolyn NicholsPhoto Susan Mullane/camerawork usa

Tina KarwaskyPhoto J. Fred Sidhu

Nichols rebounded, scoring a 6-0, 6-4 victory with Una Davis over Karwasky and Jan Kirkland-Cochran of Tyrone, Georgia for doubles honors.

Together, Karwasky and Nichols led the US to a 2-1 victory over Great Brit-ain to claim the Women’s 60 Marble Cup in the trophy round. In the Individ-ual final, a reversal of their La Jolla Beach & Tennis Club meeting took place. This time out, Nichols edged Karwasky, 6-7, 6-4, 6-1 and added to her winning to-tal, taking the doubles with Lyn Mor-

timer of Australia. Karwasky, though, earned her 100th gold ball at the National Women’s 60 Clay Court Championships and finished 2016 with a total of 107 that included a singles Grand Slam.

same age group.In an epic marathon tussle, Tina Karwasky

outlasted Carolyn Nichols, 3-6, 7-6, 7-5, for the National Women’s 60 Hard Court title.

The same holds for Jack Darrah. He played a significant role in both Southern and North-ern California. An avid player, who would have become a member of the professional tour had Open Tennis been as strong as it is now, he taught high school, but during the summer was captain of the Junior Da-vis Cup team. In time, he became the owner

T H E 2 0 1 5 S C R A P B O O K 32

ODDS & ENDS

A fter twenty-eight years of leading the LA84 Foundation, Anita DeFrantz,

a staunch NJTL Program devotee, stepped down as President of the organization.

Johnson & Querrey – Davis CuppersIn the past, Sam Querrey played doubles

with John Isner, and though focused on singles, they became a solid big-serving pair. Later in the year, Steve Johnson, who also has a big serve, had been Querrey’s partner. Dur-ing the second week of the US Open, both players were named to the US Davis Cup team for the late September World Group Playoff against Uzbekistan in Tashkent. The duo went on to win the doubles in the US’s 3-1 victory. (Taylor Fritz served as a practice partner for the squad.)

Martin ElectedUCLA has a superlative academic-tennis

reputation. Over the years, the university has had a legion of outstanding players. Beginning in 1984, which was the inaugural year for the school’s Athletics Hall of Fame, Arthur Ashe was a charter member, and so was his coach,

Jack Darrah with his wife, JoanPhoto Jim Nelson Collection

of Westlake Tennis & Swim Club and used the venue for the National Men’s 50 & 55 Hard Court Championships. The long-serving member of the SCTA Board of Directors, who had an unwavering commitment and love of the sport, died at the end of March.

Bobby Perez, the son of Mexican immi-grants who became a tennis and business star because of his hustle and grit, passed away at the end of September. He began playing tennis as a ten-year-old at Exposition Park near the Coliseum. He attended USC and was a top player on the team that won the school’s first NCAA championship in 1946. He became a CBS Vice President and General

Manager in National Sales. But, the game was always an essential part of his life. He met Helen Pastall, a talented Southern Californian, while playing. She became the love of his life and his wife. After retiring, he continued to compete in national senior championships and also spent time working with the men’s team at the University of California, Irvine.

Additionally, Mary Brymer, Maria Denker, Bob Goodbody and Alina Kupchak were among those who were lost in 2015. Horst Ritter, Donald Scott and Ed Sukla, as well as Dick Van Patten, the multifaceted actor, who was a stalwart supporter of the sport, also left the tennis community.

Sam Querrey and Steve JohnsonPhoto www.zimbio.com

Billy MartinPhoto UCLA Athletics

Megan McCray

Henry CraigPhoto duclarion.com

J.D. Morgan. Since then, Jack Tidball (in 1987), Jimmy Connors (in 1995), Glenn Bassett (in 1998), Allen Fox (in 2005), Herb Flam (in 2006), Keri Phebus (in 2007), Larry Nagler (in 2011) and Charlie Pasarell (in 2012) have been acknowledged.

During halftime of the UCLA-Arizona State football game at the Rose Bowl, men’s coach, Billy Martin became the latest former Bruin tennis standout to join this exclusive group,

along with Annett Buckner Davis – volleyball; Danny Farmer – football and volleyball; Paul Nihipali – vol-leyball; Jan Palchikoff – rowing and swimming; Janice Parks – softball; Eric Valent – baseball; and Richard Washington – basketball.

Martin, the third-longest ten-ured active coach at the university, became a member of the South-ern California Tennis Association Hall of Fame in 2011 and the ITA Men’s Collegiate Hall of Fame in 1996. He won the NCAA singles and led the Bruins to the team title in 1975. In his 22 years as coach, he has an impressive (499-106)

rec ord, along with an NCAA title in 2005.The four-time Pac-12 Coach of the Year,

who has won 11 conference titles, told the Daily Bruin, “It’s a huge honor knowing how many great Bruins are in (the Athletics Hall of Fame) in all the different sports. To feel like I’m going to be part of that is very humbling.”

US Open National PlayoffHenry Craig, a Denver University senior,

represented Southern California at the US Open National Playoffs Men’s competition held, in conjunction with the Connecticut

Joel Kielbowicz and Haythem Abid

T H E 2 0 1 5 S C R A P B O O K 33

Open, in late August, in New Haven. Megan Mc-Cray, who attends Oklaho-ma State, was the Women’s champion at The Clare -mont Club event. Hay-them Abid, a former UCLA star, and Joel Kielbowicz, a UNLV alum, were the Men’s doubles winners. Lorraine Gui llermo and Danielle Lao, a Pepperdine and USC duo captured the Women’s doubles. Lao stayed true to form earning the Mixed doubles title with USC schoolmate, Johnny Wang. At the Northern California Sectional Playoffs, contested at the Chamisal Tennis Club, Salinas, Lester Cook teamed with Ayaka Okuno of Cupertino for the Mixed doubles trophy.

Futures EventsUSTA Futures tournaments at USC and

El Dorado Park in Long Beach kicked off 2015 play in Southern California. Peter Smith, the men’s coach at USC, and Cathy Jacobson-Guzy, the El Dorado Park General Manager, organized the tournaments.

Mitchell Krueger defeated Jason Jung, 6-1, 6-2 in the singles final at USC. Dimitar Kutrovsky and Dennis Novikov slipped past James Cluskey and Frederik Nielsen, 4-6, 6-1,

10-4, for doubles honors.Takanyi Garanganga edged Nielsen, 6-7,

6-3, 6-4 for the singles title at Long Beach. Nicolas Meister and Eric Quigley downed Kutrovsky and Novikov, 6-3, 6-2, in the dou-bles final.

Frances Tiafoe destroyed Maxime Taba-truong, 6-1, 6-2 in the final of Bakersfield Tennis Open at the Bakersfield Racquet Club. Sekou Bangoura and Darian King were just 6-4, 4-6, 10-7 better than Krueger and Con-nor Smith.

Novikov edged Tiafoe, 7-6, 7-6 in the final of the $15,000 Men’s Pro Championships of Calabasas at the Calabasas Tennis & Swim Center. Fabian Matthews and Hunter Nicho-las slipped past Adrian Forberg Sko geng and Wil Spencer, 6-1, 2-6, 10-6, in the doubles final.

SCTA Staff AdditionsDuring the year the

SCTA staff, which is the best in the country, became even better with the addi-tions of Tony Chatfield as a TSR, Mary Gastro as the Coordinator, Adult Com-petition, Megan Heneghan, Coordinator, Junior Com-petition and Trevor Kro-nemann, Director of Junior Tennis.

Chatfield assumed the position held by Evan Smith, who became the LA84 Foundation/ NJTL Coordinator.

SCTA Staff

CONCLUSION

Bob and Mike Bryan were the recipi-ents of the Arthur Ashe Humanitarian

Award for the philanthropic focus of the Bry-an Bros foundation. They also received the ATPWorldTour.com Fans’ Favorite Award, presented by Moët & Chandon, for a record eleventh time.

Southern California’s own Steve Simon, after earning kudos for his impressive work as Tournament Director of the BNP Pari-bas Open, often called the “Fifth Slam”, was named the CEO of the WTA Tour after Sta-cey Allaster stepped down.

The year came to a spectacular and for ten-nis, a seminal conclusion when Serena Wil-liams was named Sports Illustrated Sports-person of the Year. Having started to play in an LA84 Foundation/NJTL Program, in an area dominated by gangs, she overcame a va-riety of health issues to compile a 53-3 rec ord

Serena WilliamsPhoto Cynthia Lum

Mike and Bob BryanPhoto Susan Mullane/camerawork usa

in 2015. Winning Australia, Roland Garros and Wimbledon, after taking the 2014 US Open, she completed a “Serena Slam.” With her selection, Williams joined an illustrious group. Only Billie Jean King, (along with John Wooden), in 1972, Chris Evert in 1976 and Arthur Ashe in 1992 had been Sports Illus-trated Sportsperson of the Year.

Southern California tennis has an optimis-tic future. There will be more creative op-portunities to enjoy the game, whether it is programs, activities or tournaments. What is truly exciting, is that these elements will be woven into the existing fabric that en-ables everyone to find the perfect place to play.

Looking ahead, the expectations for 2016 match the excitement of Monmouth Univer-sity basketball team’s spirited celebrations that turned the games into a “Can’t wait to see what will happen…” sporting delight. As SCTA Executive Director, Bruce Hunt point-ed out, “Together, we can keep tennis vibrant and accessible for all. And, together we will keep the tennis pipeline growing in 2016.”

Danielle Lao and Johnny Wang

2015 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA SECTIONAL & GRAND PRIX MASTERS CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS

113th Junior Sectional Championships (June)

BOYS’ 18Brandon Holt d. Kalman Boyd 6-3, 6-4

BOYS’ 18 DOUBLESHolt/Riley Smith d. Billy Rowe/Reese Stalder4-6, 6-1, 6-2

GIRLS’ 18Jada Hart d. Ena Shibahara 6-2, 3-6, 6-4

GIRLS’ 18 DOUBLESJessica Failla/Shibahara d. Paulina Ferrari/Hart4-6, 6-3, 10-7

BOYS’ 16Cody Lin d. Ivan Thamma 6-2, 6-0

GIRLS’ 16Julia Haynes d. Allison Mulville 7-5, 6-3

BOYS’ 14Jacob Bullard d. Harry Yang 7-5, 6-4

GIRLS’ 14Britt Pursell (Pictured) d. Gracie Mulville 1-6, 7-6, 6-3

BOYS’ 12Griffin Daehnke d. Samuel Landau 2-6, 7-6, 6-1

GIRLS’ 12Winta Woldeab d. Katrina Scott 7-5, 6-3

BOYS’ 10Kenan Rizvanbegovic d. Steve Nguyen 6-2, 6-3

GIRLS’ 10Iris Berman d. Lillian Kelly 6-1, 6-1

T H E 2 0 1 5 S C R A P B O O K 34

113th Annual Jim Hillman Junior Sectional Doubles Championships (November)

BOYS’ 10 DOUBLESAndy Nguyen/Steven Nguyen d. Grant Gallagher/Alan Ton 7-6, 6-7, 11-9

GIRLS’ 10 DOUBLESIsabella Chhiv/Natalie Gorzny d. Mika Ikemori/Jessica MacCallum 5-7, 6-3, 10-8

MIXED 10 DOUBLESLillian Kelly/Carson Lee d. Gorzny/Ton 6-4, 6-2

BOYS’ 12 DOUBLESSebastian Gorzny/Colin Kang d. Hudson Rivera/Andrew Salu 6-3, 6-0

GIRLS’ 12 DOUBLESKayla Meraz/Katrina Scott d. Taylor Cataldi/Kaytlin Taylor 6-4, 6-3

MIXED 12 DOUBLESSamuel Landau/Scott d. Gorzny/Ayala Stephens 6-2, 6-4

BOYS’ 14 DOUBLESMiles Jones/Zachary Svajda d. Alexey Lunin/Boris Lunin 6-6, 6-3

GIRLS’ 14 DOUBLESAmanda Chan/Amy Huang d. Christine Canete/Mae Canete 6-2, 2-6, 6-0

MIXED 14 DOUBLESChan/Jones d. Tristan Boyer/Britt Pursell 5-7, 7-5, 10-6

BOYS’ 16 DOUBLESCody Lin/Jake Sands d. Benjamin Gollin/Connor Lee 4-6, 6-2, 6-4

GIRLS’ 16 DOUBLESMichelle Deng/Rena Lin d. Emilee Duong/Cali Jankowski 6-2, 6-3

MIXED 16 DOUBLESJulia Deming/Sands d. Lin/Ryan Nuno 7-6, 6-7, 10-5

BOYS’ 18 DOUBLESNicholas Borchenko/Connor Hance d. David Goulak/Ivan Thamma 7-5, 6-3

GIRLS’ 18 DOUBLESPaulina Ferrari/Jada Hart d. Annette Goulak/Emma Higuchi 6-2, 6-2

MIXED 18 DOUBLESHiguchi/Bryce Pereira d. Goulak/Goulak 3-6, 6-3, 10-4

T H E 2 0 1 5 S C R A P B O O K 35

35th Solinco Grand Prix Masters Championships

GIRLS’ 10Bianca Molnar d. Stacey Samonte 4-6, 7-6, 10-1

BOYS’ 10Rio Ishikawa d. William Schwartzman 6-3, 6-4

BOYS’ 12Jack Casey d. Trey Shomo 6-3, 6-0

GIRLS’ 12Seychelle Balog d. Katherine Hui 6-1, 6-1

BOYS’ 14Alexander Petrov d. Leo Wang 6-3, 6-3

GIRLS’ 14Jennifer Kida d. Cami Brown 6-3, 6-3

GIRLS’ 16Skyler Grishuk d. Emily Ackerman 6-4, 6-2

BOYS’ 16Ryan Dehmoubed d. Eshan Talluri 6-3, 6-3

BOYS’ 18Kento Perera d. Matthew Lee 6-3, 6-0

GIRLS’ 18Emilee Duong d. Kristina Evloeva 6-4, 6-2

T H E 2 0 1 5 S C R A P B O O K 36

29th Central Coast Grand Prix Masters Championships

GIRLS’ 12Phoebe Peus d. Ania Snissarenko 6-0, 6-0

BOYS’ 10Griffin Marcus d. Will Steinberg (Pictured) 7-5, 3-6, 1-0

BOYS’ 12Masato Perera d. Tristan Messerli 6-4, 6-4

BOYS’ 14Colby Grey d. Ethan Ha 6-4, 6-2

GIRLS’ 14Yuka Perera d. Kelly Coulson 6-0, 6-2

GIRLS’ 16Zlata Bobyr d. Avery Aude 6-7, 6-4, 6-1

(Photo Not Available) (Photo Not Available)

GIRLS’ 10Amelie Worring La-Torre d. Kayla Turalakey 6-4, 6-4

(Photo Not Available)

BOYS’ 16Dustin Kua d. Mike Mkrtchian 7-5, 3-6, 7-5

BOYS’ 18Kento Perera d. Isaiah Volk 6-3, 6-1

GIRLS’ 18Mahli Silpachai d. Jennifer Richards 1-6, 6-4, 6-4

(Photo Not Available) (Photo Not Available) (Photo Not Available)

T H E 2 0 1 5 S C R A P B O O K 37

11th Desert Cities Grand Prix Masters Championships

BOYS’ 18Alex Kuperstein d. Bradley Cummins 6-3, 6-2

GIRLS’ 18Natalia Munoz d. Libby Jubas 6-0, 6-1

BOYS’ 14Eshan Talluri d. Ethan Nguyen 6-4, 6-1

BOYS’ 16Corey Lunsford d. Roy Chao Walkover

GIRLS’ 14Faith Pearson d. Shekinah Daffon 6-2, 6-1

GIRLS’ 16Amanda Chan d. Odessa Stork 6-0, 6-1

(Photo Not Available)

(Photo Not Available)

(Photo Not Available)

BOYS’ 10Drew Hayduke d. Adam Bain 6-2, 6-2

BOYS’ 12Eduardo Gonzalez d. Dylan Ojeda 7-6, 6-3

GIRLS’ 10Natalia Gorzny d. Katelyn Smith 6-3, 6-3

GIRLS’ 12Alexis Golin d. Cara Hung 6-0, 6-0

(Photo Not Available)

T H E 2 0 1 5 S C R A P B O O K 38

33rd Junior Satellite Masters Championships

BOYS’ 10Jack Hanna d. Hunter Lynch 6-1, 6-1

BOYS’ 12Soomin Lee d. Konrad Ulich 6-1, 6-1

BOYS’ 14Jonathan Park d. Luis Moros 6-1, 6-1

BOYS’ 16Jeremy Chung d. Dylan Rabin 6-4, 6-2

BOYS’ 18Alex Gibson d. Brandon Go 6-3, 1-6, 6-1

GIRLS’ 10Jolie Morgan d. Katie Moorhead 6-3, 6-2

GIRLS’ 12Jenna Sabile d. Madison Kane 6-2, 6-3

GIRLS’ 14Katherine Wu d. Angela Liu 6-0, 6-2

GIRLS’ 16Soleil Zsibrita d. Tatum Phillips 7-6, 2-6, 7-5

GIRLS’ 18Sayuri Cheng d. Chloe Wight 6-0, 6-2

T H E 2 0 1 5 S C R A P B O O K 39

BOYS’ 10Ethan Gomulka d. Ronith Sreeram 6-0, 6-2

BOYS’ 12Alyan Ashraf d. Joseph Anagnos 6-2, 7-6

BOYS’ 14Bryce Chieu-Chin d. Justin Mann 2-6, 6-4, 10-8

BOYS’ 16Charles Keller d. Miles Clark 6-1, 6-4

BOYS’ 18Joaquin Castruita (Pictured) d. Zachary Ambrosio 6-4, 7-6

GIRLS’ 10Hannah Mann d. Haley Kielty 6-1, 6-1

GIRLS’ 12Layla Jimenez d. Carissa Park 6-3, 6-1

GIRLS’ 14Sydney Tran d. Shreya Pavani 2-6, 6-4, 10-5

GIRLS’ 16Miranda Cardenas (Pictured) d. Iberia Velasquez 6-4, 6-3

GIRLS’ 18Dahlys Ang d. Deena Khoury 6-0, 6-0

Inland Empire Grand Prix Satellite Masters Championships

T H E 2 0 1 5 S C R A P B O O K 40

US Open National Playoffs

MEN’S DOUBLESHaythem Abid/Joel Kielbowicz d. Nicholas Borchenko/Smith 6-2, 7-5

MEN’SHenry Craig d. Errol Smith 7-5, 6-3

Novice Jamboree Championships

BOYS’ 8-10Krish Gupta – Winner Thomas Lynch – Finalist

GIRLS’ 8-10Kristina Kruglova – Winner Selina Wu – Finalist

BOYS’ 12Alex Herrada – Winner Alexander Weyer – Finalist

GIRLS’ 12Halie Chan – Winner Thelma Sepulveda – Finalist

BOYS’ 14Lucas Fortt – Winner Robert Gerschultz – Finalist

GIRLS’ 14Ashley Yoo – Winner Lucia Uribe – Finalist

BOYS’ 16-18Bryan Tapley – Winner Anthony Garcia – Finalist

GIRLS’ 16-18Jaclyn Gerschultz – Winner Clarke Taylor – Finalist

T H E 2 0 1 5 S C R A P B O O K 41

129th Open Sectional Championships

WOMEN’S DOUBLESLorraine Guillermo/Danielle Lao d. Sophie Bendetti/ Kalani Soli 6-2, 7-5

MIXED DOUBLESLao/Jonny Wang d. Liz Carpenter/Ian Ross 6-0, 6-0

WOMEN’SMegan McCray d. Ena Shibahara 6-2, 7-5

MEN’S DOUBLESJayson Amos/Garrett Auproux (Pictured) d. Joel Kielbowicz/Rylan Rizza 6-4, 6-2

MEN’SMichael Genender d. Jayson Amos 6-3, 6-4

WOMEN’SLorraine Guillermo (Pictured) d. Ashley MacKey 3-6, 6-3, 6-0

MIXED DOUBLESAndy Chang/Guillermo d. Micheline Aubuchon/ Errol Smith 7-5, 6-3

WOMEN’S DOUBLESRebecca Harris/Keri Preng d. Genny Francis/ Hannah Wampler 6-2, 6-0

T H E 2 0 1 5 S C R A P B O O K 42

129th Senior, Super Senior & Family Sectional Championships

MEN’S 45Kevin Quinn d. Albert Altuna 6-4, 6-2

MEN’S 30Brian Matek (Pictured) d. Jacob Jensen 6-4, 6-2

MEN’S 40Ramsey Gerber (Pictured) d. Billy Casas 2-6, 6-2, 6-2

MEN’S 50Rob Horsch d. Jason Guillen 3-6, 7-6, 6-2

MEN’S 50 DOUBLESGary Salazar/Doug Mathews d. Horsch/ Ron Schmeltzer 6-3, 4-6, 7-6

MEN’S 55Bill Moss d. Barry Swan 6-2, 6-0

MEN’S 55 DOUBLESNick Schleif/Ken Landis d. Glenn Teixeira/Swan 4-6, 6-4, 6-4

MEN’S 60Toby Crabel d. Emmanuel Acholonu 6-0, 6-1

MEN’S 60 DOUBLESDuane Hale/Greg Washington d. Phil Hubbard (Pictured)/Vincent Brown 6-3, 6-4

MEN’S 65Bill Matthews d. Haig Bedrossian 4-6, 6-4, Retired

T H E 2 0 1 5 S C R A P B O O K 43

MEN’S 65 DOUBLESTom Bozarth/Gary Doi d. Ron Moore/Paul Mullis 6-4, 6-4

MEN’S 70Jack Metalsky (Pictured) d. David Dollins Default

MEN’S 75Lloyd Goldwater d. Bob Jones 6-2, 6-2

MEN’S 80 DOUBLESChuck Nelson/Nielson d. Jack McGinty/Rich Haskell 7-6, 7-6

MEN’S 80Saul Snyder d. Dennis Nielson 6-1, 7-6

MEN’S 85John Bennett d. Lew Stephenson 6-1, 6-0

WOMEN’S 70Janice Tom (Pictured) d. Barbara Pflanz 6-1, 6-0

HUSBAND & WIFEAngie and Jason Cook d. Maria and Curt Cochran 2-6, 6-4, 6-1

FATHER & SONRamsey and Jack Gerber d. Cor and Rohan Lageweg 6-2, 6-4

T H E 2 0 1 5 S C R A P B O O K 44

33rd Senior Grand Prix Masters Championships

MEN’S 45Kevin Quinn d. Steve Wilde 6-2, 6-4

MEN’S 50Tom Schlack d. Rob Horsch 6-1, 6-0

MEN’S 50 DOUBLESEugene Jones/Robert Simmons d. David Porte/Schlack 2-6, 6-2, 6-2

MEN’S 55Brian Turner d. John Appleby 6-2, 6-1

MEN’S 60David Saad (Pictured) d. John Rhodes 6-7, 6-4, 7-5

MEN’S 65Jim Upton (Pictured) d. Logan Jenkins 4-6, 6-3, 6-4

MEN’S 70David Dollins d. Karel Placek 6-4, 6-2

MEN’S 75Jerry Singer d. Bob Jones 6-2, 3-6, 6-4

MEN’S 75 DOUBLESJones/Art Wahl d. Cliff Kiener/ Josef Wida 6-1, 6-2

MEN’S 80Saul Snyder d. Dennis Nielson 6-0, 1-6, 6-2

MEN’S 80 DOUBLESChuck Nelson/Nielson d. Roger Hing/Snyder 3-6, 6-4, 6-2

MEN’S 85John Bennett d. Marvin Maxwell 6-1, 6-1

T H E 2 0 1 5 S C R A P B O O K 45

29th NTRP Sectional Championships

MIXED 3.5 DOUBLESWendy Chen/Melvin Nocum d. Stacy Becker/Alfred Ross 6-1, 6-1

MIXED 4.5 DOUBLESLaurie Manley/Colin Tang (Pictured) d. Masami Hashimoto/George Matsumoto 6-2, 3-6, 10-6

MEN’S 3.0Alfred Ross (Pictured) d. Paul Ruben 5-7, 3-2, Retired

WOMEN’S 3.5 DOUBLESAmireh Ghorob/Ahdeyh Soltani d. Amber Godinez/Jessica Klinger 6-3, 6-4

WOMEN’S 3.5Larissa Tan d. Evelyn Irving 6-2, 2-6, 10-8

MEN’S 3.5Carlos Figueroa d. John Tuppal 6-4, 6-4

MEN’S 4.0Anthony Gilbert d. Geoffrey Rauen 6-3, 7-5

WOMEN’S 4.0Christine Stinson d. Rebecca O’Neill 6-1, 6-1

MEN’S 4.5Carl Flint d. Joel Diaz 5-7, 6-3, 10-5

MEN’S 5.0Toby Crabel d. Tony Hsu 7-6, 6-3

WOMEN’S 5.0Stephanie Newell d. Mindy Tiu 6-4, 5-7, 10-8

(Photo Not Available)

T H E 2 0 1 5 S C R A P B O O K 46

USTA – Southern California @ustasocal@ustasocal