Saturday, 10/29/2011

MALIBU, Calif. – The two remaining Waves left in the USTA/ITA Div. I Men’s Southwest Regional, Finn Tearney and Hugh Clarke, ended their run today in the semifinals at the Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center. Meanwhile at the women’s regional in San Diego, Megan Moore and Tara Panu earned a doubles victory.

Tearney (Wellington, New Zealand/Wellington College) and Clarke (Brisbane, Australia/Brisbane Boys’ College) opened the day on the doubles court against Francis Alcantara and Remi Boutillier of Fresno State. The Bulldogs got the upper hand, and advanced to tomorrow’s championship match following an 8-5 win.

In the singles semifinal, Tearney, ranked #19 in the Campbell’s/ITA took on #15-ranked Ray Sarmiento of USC. Tearney claimed an early lead, but Sarmiento captured a late break and rode the momentum to a 7-5 win the opening frame. Tearney was never able to regain his rhythm and suffered a 6-1 loss in the second set.

Tomorrow’s doubles final is scheduled for 10 a.m. and features Alcantara and Boutillier versus San Diego’s Nikola Bubnic and Thibaut Visy. Alcantara continues in the singles final at 11:30 a.m. against Sarmiento.

In San Diego, Panu (Los Altos Hills, Calif./The Harker School) and Moore (Portland, Ore./Jesuit HS) concluded regionals on a high note, logging an 8-1 victory versus Rebecca Faltusz and Aglae VandenBergh of Hawaii.

The women are back in action next weekend, Oct.28-30, for the Jack Kramer Invitational in Rolling Hills Estates, Calif., while the men return to the courts on Nov. 3-6 when they compete at the Southern California Intercollegiate Championship.

USTA/ITA Div. I Men’s Southwest Regional (Malibu, Calif.)
Sunday, Oct. 23, 2011
Doubles – Semifinals
Nikola Bubnic/Thibaut Visy - USD (9) def. Patrick Pohlmann/Clarke Spinosa - USD (4), 8-5
Francis Alcantara/Remi Boutillier - Fresno State (6) def. Hugh Clarke/Finn Tearney - Pepperdine (2), 8-5

Singles - Semifinals
Ray Sarmiento - USC (2) def. Finn Tearney - PEP (3), 7-5, 6-1
Francis Alcantara - Fresno St (15) def. Yannick Hanfmann - USC (12), 6-3, 6-3

USTA/ITA Div. I Women’s Southwest Regional (San Diego, Calif.)
Lucky Losers Draw - Sunday, Oct. 23, 2011
Tara Panu/Megan Moore – Pepperdine def. Rebecca Faltusz/Aglae VandenBergh – Hawaii, 8-1
Paola Cos – UCSB def. Megan Moore – Pepperdine, 6-1, 6-1