Tradition takes center stage

Rick Devereux

The 16th annual Balboa Bay Club Racquet Club Junior Tournament, also

known as the War by the Shore, starts today at the Balboa Bay Club

Racquet Club. Several locals enter the tournament with high

expectations.

Melissa Matsuoka, a Newport Beach resident, is the top seed with

her partner, Laguna Beach’s Hayley Miller, in girls 14s doubles.

Matsuoka and Miller won the girls 12s doubles title last year. The

duo begin play Thursday at 3:30 p.m. in the semifinals after a

first-round bye.

Also receiving the top seed is Corona del Mar’s Omeed Ghassemi in

boys 16s doubles. He and partner Ryan Agbayani from Yorba Linda open

up the tournament Thursday at 3:30 p.m. in the semifinals after a

first-round bye.

Parker Rhodes, a Corona del Mar resident, is paired with Irvine’s

Jason Lin. They are the No. 2-seeded team in boys 16s doubles and

also play a semifinal match Thursday at 3:30 p.m. after a first-round

bye.

Jillian Braverman, a former Corona del Mar High star tennis

player, is the No. 2 seed in girls 18s singles, attempting to defend

her title in the division. Braverman, who claimed the girls 16s

singles crown in 2003, was the girls 12s singles runner-up in 2000

and won the girls 14s doubles title in 2002 with Claire Rietsch.

Braverman faces CdM senior-to-be Katie McKitterick in the round of 32

today at 6:30 p.m.

Along with earning the top seed in girls 12s doubles, Matsouka is

the No. 3 seed in girls 14s singles. She opens up the singles

tournament Tuesday against Newport Beach resident Christina Cooley at

12:30 p.m. in the round of 32.

Newport Coast resident Jungyeun Lee is the No. 8 seed in girls 14s

singles. She reached the semifinals of the girls 12s singles

tournament last year. Ghassemi, the top-seed in boys 16s doubles, is

the No. 3 seed in boys 16s singles. He starts the singles tournament

Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. after a bye from the round of 64.

Rhodes, seeded No. 2 in boys 16s doubles, is the No. 7 seed in

boys 16s singles. He opens the singles tournament Tuesday at 6:30

after a bye from the round of 64.

Newport Beach’s Joseph Di Giulio, last year’s boys 12s singles

winner, will try his hand in boys 14s singles this year.

Other local talent competing in the tournament include: Newport

Beach’s Carly Adams (girls 18s singles and doubles), Brittany

Sturgess (girls 18s singles and doubles), Jill Casserly (girls 18s

singles and doubles), Brittany Cluck (girls 18s singles and doubles),

Roxanne Kaiden (girls 18s singles and doubles), Caroline Claure

(girls 18s doubles), Kelli Kawabe (girls 18s doubles and girls 16s

singles), Andrea Zamucen (girls 18s singles and doubles), Whittney

Griffith (girls 16s singles and doubles), Katie Kittrell (girls 16s

singles and doubles), Christie Mead (girls 16s singles and doubles),

Avalon Sigalos (girls 16s singles and doubles), Brittany Sowers

(girls 16s singles and doubles), Danielle Kaiden (girls 14s singles

and doubles), Kay Lin Connolly (girls 14s doubles), Casey Kawabe

(girls 14s doubles), Megan Chomeau (girls 14s singles and doubles),

Nima Mehr (boys 16s singles), Henri Chomeau (boys 16s singles), Grant

Gerdau (boys 16s singles), Hootan Mehr (boys 16s singles), Andrew

Singer (boys 16s singles), Connor Curry (boys 14s singles), , C.J.

Chomeau (boys 14s singles), Ridge Kennington (boys 12s singles), Alex

Carlis (boys 12s singles), Brecht Van’t Hof (boys 12s singles),

Andrew Nguyen (boys 10s singles), Matthew Mead (boys 10s singles),

Lauren McPhee (girls 18s singles), Elizabeth Van’t Hof (girls 16s

singles), Auriel O’Niell (girls 16s singles), Ariana Cernius (girls

14s singles), Christina Cooley (girls 14s singles), Nicole Wagner

(girls 14s singles), Suzy Strutner (girls 14s singles), Natalie Small

(girls 14s singles), Megan Chomeau (girls 14s singles), Lexy Longman

(girls 14s singles), Rebecca Arnold (girls 12s singles), Sara Cluck

(girls 12s singles), Kristi Kawabe (girls 12s singles), Elizabeth

Nguyen (girls 12s singles) and Sarah Craig (girls 12s singles).

Representing Corona del Mar are Elyse Murphy (girls 16s singles

and doubles), Lindsay Zotovich (girls 14s doubles), Jonathan Kroopf

(boys 18s singles), John Leonard (boys 16s singles), Tremper Hayden

(boys 12s singles), Katie McKitterick (girls 18s singles), Anne

Russell (girls 16s singles), Kelly McKitterick (girls 16s singles)

and Neda Ghassemi (girls 14s singles).

Representing Newport Coast are Ara Demirjian (boys 18s singles),

Erik Mutzke (boys 14s singles), Thomas Dialynas (boys 16s singles),

Christina Dialynas (girls 14s singles), Jessica Yi (girls 12s

singles) and Erika Fateri (girls 12s singles).

Representing Costa Mesa are Bradley Fisher (boys 16s singles),

John Dang (boys 16s singles), Dante Saleh (boys 10s singles), Evelyn

Wallace (girls 18s singles) and Alexandra McIntosh (girls 16s

singles).

The tournament runs through Friday.