NorCal's Volynets pulls off big comeback in Eddie Herr

Katie Volynets, shown last year, beat Angelica
Blake 0-6, 7-5, 6-2 in the girls 16 quarterfinals
in the Eddie Herr International Championships
in Bradenton, Fla. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Katie Volynets of Walnut Creek in the San Francisco Bay Area staged a remarkable comeback on Friday to reach the girls 16 semifinals in the Eddie Herr International Championships.
   The seventh-seeded Volynets, who will turn 15 on Dec. 31, beat 11th-seeded Angelica Blake of Boca Raton, Fla., 0-6, 7-5, 6-2 on a hardcourt in Bradenton, Fla.
   Volynets, a 16s semifinalist in the USTA National Championships in San Diego in August, next will face third-seeded Margaryta Bilokin of Ukraine. Bilokin clobbered Volynets' doubles partner, 10th-seeded Lauren Stein of Paradise Valley, Ariz., 6-0, 6-2.
   In the other semifinal, fourth-seeded Victoria Hu of Northborough, Mass., will meet ninth-seeded Emma Navarro of Charleston, S.C.
   Volynets also advanced to the doubles semifinals. Stein and Volynets, seeded third, topped fifth-seeded Willa Breunich of Port Saint Lucie, Fla., and Renata Lombera of Mexico 7-5, 7-5.
   USTA National 40 Hard Court Championships in La Jolla, Calif. -- Two Bay Area men will play in today's semifinals, though not against each other.
   No. 4 seed Oren Motevassel of San Jose will meet No. 5 Jesse Walter of Mercer Island, Wash., and No. 6 Jeff Greenwald of San Anselmo will take on No. 1 Stuart Duncan of Laguna Beach.
   Greenwald won the title in 2009, Motevassel took the crown in 2011 and 2012.
   In today's women's final, No. 1 seed Dina McBride of Stevenson Ranch will face No. 4 Hiromi Sasano of San Diego.