PV, Chico take care of business at EAL tournament Singles semis on Saturday; final Monday OROVILLE — Pleasant Valley High freshman Chelsea Hall’s one and only match in the opener of the three- day Eastern Athletic League individual tennis championships looked like a formality. Hall, the Vikings’ No. 1 and second overall seed in the tournament, easily dispatched Paradise senior Danielle Hubbard 6-0, 6-0 to move into Saturday’s third round, alongside teammates Annabelle Lewis, Zhi George, crosstown rivals Taylor McGowan, India Joslyn, Morgan Henry (Chico) and a pair of Oroville players, Shisha Yang and Karen Yang (no relation) Thursday afternoon at Las Plumas High. “My game is mostly consistency, but once I get the right shot I like to put it away,” Hall said. These eight players — all of whom are officially all-league — return to LP beginning at 11 a.m. Saturday for the quarterfinals and semifinals, while singles and doubles championship matches are set for noon Monday at either the Chico Racquet Club or Community Park in Chico. Hall, one of eight players to receive a bye in the first round Thursday, said she’s preparing to eventually meet up with McGowan, the top overall seed and 6-0, 6-0 winner over teammate Samantha Wheeler in her only match of the day. Hall opens up quarterfinal play against Lewis, a 6-0, 6-1 winner over PV’s Remi Long in the second round, while McGowan also begins the day against a teammate, Chico No. 3 Joslyn. McGowan, just a sophomore, and Hall won’t meet again till the finals on Monday. “I lost to her (in) a really close match, then I beat her the last time we played,” Hall said. Shisha Yang and Karen Yang, the lone Oroville representatives in the quarterfinals, will play each other following a pair of wins on Thursday. Shisha Yang, Oroville’s No. 3, eliminated Chico’s Maddy Mikles in split sets 4-6, 6-2, 6-1 in the first round and Paradise’s No. 1 Andrea Lawrie in the second round 6-3, 6-3. Shisha Yang said the key against Lawrie was outdueling the fellow junior from the baseline. “The key in this game was to be on your feet a lot, to have some nice forehands — because she had some really nice forehands — and to do clean shots,” she said. Karen Yang, the Tigers’ No. 4 player, upset LP’s No. 2 Vicky Thao 4-6, 6-1, 6-3 to move into the second round against Oroville’s No. 1 and overall fourth seed Paja Saykhu. Karen Yang continued the surprise trend with a 6-4, 6-0 win over Saykhu to get to Saturday’s quarterfinal round. In doubles, PV and Chico dominated victories in the top half of the bracket, while Paradise and LP filled the openings in the bottom half on Thursday. Chico’s No. 3 consisting of Wheeler and Ali Peterson swept PV’s Pa Xiong and Jessica Simms 7-5, 6-4 to earn all-league and move into a third-round matchup against Hall and George on Saturday. Chico’s No. 2 team of Mikles and Joslyn had its second- round match against Karen Yang and Mayci Whiteman postponed due to darkness, with Chico leading 5-3 in the third set. It will resume on Saturday. The bottom half featured Lawrie and Hubbard teaming up and avenging their losses in singles with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over LP’s Thao and Sheala Saelee. Lawrie and Hubbard, the Bobcats’ No. 1 team, faces fellow No. 1 Shisha Yang and Saykhu of Oroville in the third round at approximately 2 p.m Saturday. LP had a team move into day two of the league championships when Kenna Soudan and Maddie Mattos joined forces to beat Paradise’s Madi Hassel and Annabelle Taylor 6-4, 6-2. Soudan and Mattos meet McGowan and Henry of Chico, who received a bye along with three other doubles teams.
Posted on: Fri, 25 Oct 2013 14:50:13 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015