Californians, 16, to meet in Spring quarterfinals

   Two promising 16-year-old Californians will meet today in the girls 18 quarterfinals at the USTA International Spring Championships in Carson.
   No. 2 Kayla Day of Santa Barbara wore down Ann Li of Devon, Pa., 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 on Thursday to set up a showdown against No. 6 Michaela Gordon of Saratoga. Gordon dominated Elysia Bolton of Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y., 6-3, 6-1.
   Day, a left-hander, was the girls 18 runner-up in the Orange Bowl in Plantation, Fla., last December. She is ranked No. 13 in the world among girls and No. 685 among women. Gordon is No. 44 and No. 605, respectively.
   Both players have reached the quarterfinals of $25,000 professional tournaments. Day did so in Wesley Chapel, Fla., in January and, as a qualifier, in Surprise, Ariz., in February. Gordon gained the quarters in Redding in 2014 at 15 years old.
   Day is 1-0 against Gordon, having won 3-6, 6-1, 7-5 on clay in the round of 16 in the 2014 Orange Bowl. 
   In the boys 18s in Carson, Sam Riffice of Granite Bay advanced to the singles quarterfinals and doubles semifinals. Seeded No. 4 in singles, Riffice dismissed No. 14 Trent Bryde of Suwanee, Ga., 6-3, 6-1. Riffice, who hasn't lost more than three games in a set in his three matches, will play No. 5 Duarte Vale of Portugal. 
   No. 5 Riffice and Brian Cernoch of North Bethesda, Md., knocked off No. 2 Ulises Blanch of Deerfield Beach, Fla., and Liam Caruana of Italy 5-7, 7-5 [10-6].
   A pair of Northern Californians, meanwhile, reached the girls 16 singles semifinals.
   No. 14 seed Jessi Muljat of Sacramento defeated No. 6 Peyton Stearns of Mason, Ohio, 6-4, 6-4, and No. 15 Katie Volynets of Walnut Creek beat her doubles partner, No. 12 Cali Jankowski of Carlsbad, 6-4, 4-6, 4-0, retired.
   Muljat, 15, will play unseeded Eryn Cayetano of Corona, and Volynets, 14, will take on No. 19 Hailey Baptiste of Takoma Park, Md. Cayetano ousted No. 1 Kacie Harvey of Braintree, Mass., in the second round.
   In the doubles quarterfinals, No. 6 Baptiste and Mackenzie Clark of Bernardsville, N.J., edged No. 4 Harvey and Muljat 6-4, 2-6 [10-6].