No. 2 Miller, No. 5 Hu upset in NorCal Girls Sectionals

No. 2 seed Alaina Miller, who has a two-handed
forehand, lost to Katya Tabachnik at Arden Hills
in Sacramento. 2014 photo by Paul Bauman

   No. 2 seed and defending champion Alaina Miller and No. 5 seed Sarah Hu were ousted Saturday in the 18-and-under round of 16 in the NorCal Girls' 18 & 16 Sectional Championships at the Arden Hills Resort Club & Spa in Sacramento.
   Katya Tabachnik of San Francisco edged Saratoga's Miller, who uses two hands on both sides, 0-6, 6-4, 7-5. Seriana Saltzen of Cameron Park downed Hu, from Oakland, 6-4, 6-7 (2), 6-2.
   Tabachnik will meet fifth-seeded Jessi Muljat, playing on her home courts, today at noon in the quarterfinals. Muljat crushed AiMarie Asai of Saratoga 6-0, 6-0.
    Saltzen will face fourth-seeded Rachel Eason of Union City at 1:30 p.m. Eason dismantled Lise Swain of Greenbrae 6-0, 6-1.
   At 12:30, No. 1 seed Camille Favero of Sacramento will play No. 5 Allison Chuang of Albany, and No. 3 Darya Possokhova of San Francisco will meet No. 5 Jenna Friedel of Mill Valley.
   In the girls 16-and-under round of 16, Anna Campana of Hillsborough dismissed No. 5 Jessica Tsukiji of San Jose 6-3, 6-4. Campana will take on fourth-seeded Jillian Taggart of Fair Oaks today at 11:30 a.m. in the quarterfinals.
   Meanwhile, in the boys 18s at Sacramento State, Mayson Xue of San Ramon followed his upset of No. 1 seed Lane Leschly of Atherton by eliminating No. 9 Dominic Barretto of Tiburon 3-6, 6-1, 6-1 in the round of 16.
   Also, No. 9 Jayson Fung of San Francisco oulasted No. 5 Ajai Shekhera of Campbell 6-2, 4-6, 6-3.
   Today's quarterfinal matchups (8 a.m.) are Xue vs. No. 5 Gabriel Owens of Los Altos, No. 4 Riley Scott of Salinas against No. 5 Paul Barretto of Tiburon, No. 3 Austen Huang of Elk Grove vs. No. 5 Amit Batta of Los Altos, and Fung against Mitchell Iwahiro of Granite Bay.   
   In today's boys 16 semifinals at 9 a.m., No. 1 Andrew Ton of Milpitas will face No. 5 Chethan Swanson of Folsom, and No. 2 Daly Meinert of Fresno will play No. 3 Keenan Mayo of Roseville.

NORCAL 14 JUNIOR SECTIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS

At Fremont Tennis Center

Today's singles semifinals

Boys (10:30 a.m.)

   Aditya Gupta (1), Los Altos, vs. Stefan Leustian (3), Mather.
   Aidan Mayo (4), Roseville, vs. Ryan Ali (5), Mill Valley, or Zachery Lim (9), Fairfield.

Girls (11:30 a.m.)

   Jennamarie Gordon (1), Saratoga, vs. Muskan Mahajan (5), San Ramon.   
   Connie Ma (2), Dublin, vs. Katherine Duong (9), Cupertino.

NORCAL 12 JUNIOR SECTIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS

At Sunnyvale Tennis Center

Today's singles semifinals

Boys (10:30 a.m.)

   Luke Casper (1), Santa Cruz, vs. Max Fardanesh (3), Albany.
   Aryan Chaudhary (2), Santa Clara, vs. Alexander Chang (4), Berkeley.

Girls (noon)

   Vivian Ovrootsky (1), San Jose, vs. Maryia Lucia (6), Roseville.
   Claire Galerkin (2), San Francisco, vs. Tiffany Boudagian (3), South San Francisco.