Staggs reaches boys 18 semis in Winter Nationals

   Fifth-seeded Logan Staggs of Tracy defeated 15th-seeded Walker Duncan of Atlanta 6-4, 6-1 on Tuesday to reach the boys 18 semifinals in the USTA National Winter Championships in Scottsdale, Ariz.
   Staggs -- a 5-foot-7 (1.70-meter), 135-pound (61.2-kilogram) left-hander who's headed to Northwestern -- will play 17th-seeded Felix Corwin of Elm Grove, Wis., today. Corwin beat Robert Seby, a resident of Oro Valley, Ariz., also seeded 17th, 7-5, 6-3.  
   Third-seeded William Griffith of Fresno lost to seventh-seeded Aron Hiltzik of Wilmette, Ill., 7-6 (8), 6-4 in the boys 18 quarterfinals. Griffith signed a letter of intent last month to attend Cal.
   Two doubles teams featuring Northern California players reached Winter National finals in Tucson, Ariz.
   In the boys 14s, ninth-seeded Randy Cory of Salinas and Andrew Ton of Milpitas topped Ryan Seggerman of Coronado and Sangeet Sridhar of Simi Valley 7-5, 6-1. Seggerman and Sridhar also were seeded ninth.
   Cory and Ton will meet third-seeded Trent Bryde of Suwanee, Ga., and Danny Thomas of Pickerington, Ohio, today for the title.
   In the girls 12s, unseeded Isabella Harvison of Cardiff and the appropriately named Katie Volynets of Walnut Creek downed fourth-seeded Amanda Chan of Pasadena and Amy Huang of San Diego 6-2, 7-5.
   Harvison and Volynets will take on top-seeded Gianna Pielet of El Paso, Texas, and Caty McNally of Cincinnati for the crown.