Volynets becomes lone NorCal survivor in Eddie Herr

Katie Volynets, shown last year, reached today's girls 16
quarterfinals in the Eddie Herr International Champion-
ships in Bradenton, Fla. Photo by Paul Bauman

   It's down to the aptly named Katie Volynets.
   Volynets, from Walnut Creek in the San Francisco Bay Area, is the only remaining Northern Californian in the prestigious Eddie Herr International Championships in Bradenton, Fla.
   The seventh-seeded Volynets, who will turn 15 on Dec. 31, on Thursday advanced to the girls 16 quarterfinals in singles and doubles.
   Volynets, a girls 16 semifinalist in the USTA National Championships in San Diego in August, overwhelmed unseeded Alexandra Mikhailuk of Canada 6-3, 6-0.
   Volynets will play 11th-seeded Angelica Blake, a resident of Boca Raton, Fla., who ousted second-seeded Alexandra Vagramov of Canada 6-3, 7-5.
   In doubles, third-seeded Lauren Stein of Paradise Valley, Ariz., and Volynets crushed Narela Burigotto of Argentina and Nada Ostojic of Serbia 6-1, 6-0.
   Wild cards Anna Campana of Hillsborough in the Bay Area and Petra Miszczak of Blaine, Wash., lost to fifth-seeded Willa Breunich of Port St. Lucie, Fla., and Renata Lombera of Mexico, 6-3, 4-6 [10-6].
   In boys 18 singles, seventh-seeded Sam Riffice, who grew up in the Sacramento suburb of Roseville, fell to 12th-seeded Ergi Kirkin of Turkey 6-4, 6-1 in the round of 16. Riffice won the boys 16s two years ago and repeated in the Orange Bowl the following week.
   Stefan Leustian of Mather in the Sacramento area bowed out to top-seeded Bu Yunchaokete of China 6-1, 6-2 in the boys 14 quarterfinals.
   Also, fourth-seeded Spencer Brachman of Commack, N.Y., and Aidan Mayo, a former neighbor of Riffice's in Roseville, succumbed to sixth-seeded Juan Torres and Santiago De La Fuente of Argentina 6-4, 6-1 in the boys 14 quarters.
   USTA National 40 Hard Court Championships in La Jolla, Calif. -- Two former tournament men's champions from NorCal reached Saturday's semifinals.
   No. 4 seed Oren Motevassel of San Jose whipped No. 13 Joshua Prager of Yuba City 6-0, 6-0. Also, No. 6 Jeff Greenwald of San Anselmo beat No. 3 Marcio Carlsson of Newport Beach 3-2, retired.
   Motevassel, who won the title in 2011 and 2012, will face No. 5 Jesse Walter of Mercer Island, Wash. Walter outlasted No. 2 Tony Bujan, the three-time defending champion from Tustin, 6-7 (8), 6-4, 6-3.
   Greenwald, the 2009 champion, will take on top-seeded Stuart Duncan of Laguna Beach. Duncan held off No. 8 Leon Bax of Mountain View 6-4, 7-5.
   In today's women's final, No. 1 seed Dina McBride, a two-time tournament champion from Stevenson Ranch, will face No. 4 Hiromi Sasano of San Diego.
   McBride demolished No. 3 Fanny Gamble of San Rafael 6-0, 6-0. Sasano, a 41-year-old Japan native, topped No. 2 Ros (Fairbank) Nideffer of San Diego 6-7 (7), 6-4, 6-4 in 3 hours, 25 minutes.
   Nideffer, a 56-year-old South Africa native, reached the Wimbledon quarterfinals in 1988 and 1989 and peaked at No. 15 in the world rankings in 1990.