179 participate in Fallbrook Jr. Satellite Tourney

The 23rd annual Fallbrook Fall Junior Satellite Tournament attracted a total of 179 players for the matches at the Fallbrook Tennis Club September 8-16.

One championship remains to be determined as one match in the Mixed 18 Doubles division has not yet been played, but 16 singles and doubles divisions produced champions through bracket or round-robin play.

“It was a really good turnout and a lot of really good tennis,” said tournament organizer Dorothy Roth.

Because one of the Mixed 18 Doubles players had participated in the maximum number of matches for the day, the scheduled September 16 match was postponed and will be played when all four players are available. The Mixed 18 Doubles consists of a round-robin format.

The Mixed 16 Doubles championship went to San Diego’s Nathaniel Balmert and La Jolla’s Kelly Haggerty, who defeated the Fallbrook duo of Beau Albright and Leah Perri in the finals. The first set was tied at six games apiece before Balmert and Haggerty won the tiebreaking set, and Balmert and Haggerty took a 7-5 victory in the second set to win the match.

The Mixed 14 Doubles competition was played in round-robin format and saw Troy Chavez of Temecula and Kylie Haviland of Murrieta earn the championship.

Fallbrook residents Walter Henderson and Austin Pardo captured the Boys 18 Doubles title. Henderson and Pardo faced Ryan Lank of Carlsbad and Bryan Tietge of Encinitas in the finals and prevailed in a 6-4, 6-3 match. The Fallbrook duo of Stuart Henderson and Spencer Merchat took home the Boys 14 Doubles championship after round-robin competition.

The Girls 16 Doubles championship went to Patty and Gabriela Velasco of Escondido, who faced the Escondido duo of Tori Bohart and Joanna Sterngold in the finals and triumphed in a pair of 6-3 sets.

Sterngold was the winner in the Girls 16 Singles competition. In the finals she faced Beth Dunckel of Fallbrook and lost the first set, 6-4, but came back with 6-3 and 6-1 victories to win the match. Bohart also placed second in the Girls 14 Singles after facing Maika Adair of San Diego in the finals. Adair took 6-4 and 6-1 victories to earn the championship.

The Girls 8 Singles final also saw a three-set match. Jadie Acidera of Anaheim took the first set against Carlsbad’s Jennifer Kerr by a 6-4 score, but Kerr produced a 6-4 victory in the second set to send the match to a third and final set. Acidera earned a 7-5 victory in the third set to win the championship.

The Girls 18 Singles division consisted of round-robin competition and saw Angela Maddock of Fallbrook emerge as the winner. Victoria Robertson of San Diego won the Girls 12 Singles division after a 6-1, 7-5 victory in the finals over Skyler Schaar of Fallbrook.

James Bragg of Sun City won the Boys 18 Singles. Bragg faced Murrieta’s Kenneth Rabe in the championship match and prevailed with a pair of 6-2 sets. Josh Isaacs of San Diego won a pair of 6-4 sets in the Boys 16 Singles finals to defeat Maxwell Bjoin of Temecula. Alec Connelly defeated fellow San Diego resident Luke Meoli in the Boys 14 Singles final by a 6-4, 6-2 score. La Jolla’s Jack Barber captured the Boys 12 Singles title with a 6-2, 6-0 victory over San Diego’s Brandon Prussak in the championship round. In the Boys 10 Singles finals Liam Caruana of La Jolla battled Poway’s Zachary Cohen and prevailed with a 6-1, 7-5 victory. Gavin Spencer of San Juan Capistrano won the Boys 8 Singles based on the round-robin play results.