ITA Indoor Fields Announced; USTA Names Players Competing in International University Challenge

The ITA website today revealed the players who will be competing in the ITA Indoor next week, and I have to admit, I'm a bit confused by some of the inclusions and omissions. The at-large men selected are Daniel Vallverdu of Miami, Denes Lukacs of Baylor, Austen Childs of Louisville, Andrei Daescu of Oklahoma, JP Smith of Tennessee and Brett Helgeson of Notre Dame. Sanam Singh of Virginia was given the host wild card. To get an at-large bid, you are required to reach the quarterfinals of your regional. All of the above, save for Lukacs, did that and were selected based on their preseason rankings. I'm assuming that Lukacs, the preseason No. 2, received the ITA wild card. Notably absent from the men's field in Virginia will be Florida State's Jean-Yves Aubone, preseason No. 13, who was winning a Futures event during his team's regional qualifying and Dimitar Kutrovsky of Texas, the preseason No. 7. Preseason No. 16 Harel Srugo of UCLA, who received another year of eligibility from the NCAA, did not play this fall.

The women's field includes wild card Jennifer Stevens of Virginia and six others not previously qualified. Csilla Borsanyi of Baylor, Claire Ilcinkas of Cal, Katie Rybakova of Florida State, Megan Falcon of LSU and Katrina Zheltova of Sacramento State all fit that quarterfinal, pre-season ranking criteria. Anastasia Petukhova of Fresno State does not, so is she the ITA wild card? But at No. 16 in the preseason rankings there were others ahead of her--Lenka Broosova of Baylor, Sanaz Marand of UNC to name two--who were more obvious choices. I'm also stumped by Arkansas's Anouk Tigu being listed in doubles but not singles, when she was a finalist in the region and should have qualified. Maria Sanchez of USC, who won the West regional, is nowhere to be found. Preseason No. 4 Hilary Barte of Stanford would have been the first at-large selection--she made the semis of her regional--but she is not listed, meaning that there are no Stanford women in the field, in singles or doubles. Has the balance of power in the Bay area shifted to Cal, who has three in singles? Northwestern also has three players in the women's singles field, if you are looking for early favorites for the national team titles this winter and spring.


The USTA announced the players competing in December's International University Challenge in France, with All-American champions Michael Venus and Kelcy McKenna leading the teams. Amanda McDowell and Alex Clayton, who were eligible based on their preseason rankings, will not be going, with Amanda Fink and Nate Schnugg taking their spots. The Division III small college champions, John Kauss of Gustavus Adolphus College and Jennifer Kung of the University of Chicago, complete the squads. For more information on the competition and the players, see the ITA website.

Tags: college tennis, ITA National Indoor, Nate Schnugg, International University Challenge of Tennis, Colette Lewis

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The Glamorous Life of a Mom

When I used to dream of being a mom, I am pretty sure that it didn't include a lot of what happened today. I think I used to dream of sweet-faced, giggling babies or cute, silly, playful toddlers or even smart, witty preschoolers.

I knew it wouldn't all be easy. That there would be challenges. But I still don't think you ever imagine some things.

What you see in the picture above is what happens when a 3 year old needs to go potty so bad but is not quick at taking off shoes and jeans, then he can't decide what potty he wants to use and. . . well, he didn't make it to either one in time.

This all happened about 15 mins before bedtime. And Kyle was at practice. I was sort of stunned for a second. I had to swoop up rhody and put him on the potty (made a huge mess on the potty), threaten Bo with his life if he went near the poop, and figure out what to do with poop on the carpet--oh yeah, and Rhody crying on the potty.

The problem is that Daddy wasn't home--specifically because he pretty much has nasty bodily fluids duty at this house. I figured that since I expelled plenty of those during pregnancy that once the child is out of my body, it is Daddy's job to clean up after them. Practically speaking, I wasn't sure what to use to make sure the poop came out of the carpet. I called Kyle and my sister-in-law hoping for some sound advice. I couldn't get in touch with either one.

I won't bore you (or totally gross you out) with more details. I did the best I could with the tools I had. We will be calling Stanley Steamer tomorrow!

However, it was cute to see Lainey jump into action as my right-hand mommy when it all hit the fan. I put her on Bo duty. She got his pj's on, helped brush his teeth and played with him in a room away from the poop. She even tried to get both boys to help clean up the mess they made while mommy was scrubbing the carpet. She spoke in a stern voice, she gave them warnings, and then came running to me to make sure they got a consequence for not obeying her. She actually helped me out a lot!


The above picture is a spoon from Chick Fil A. We went there for dinner tonight--need I remind you of the title of this blog? We turned in our kid's meal toy for some ice cream. The kids were finished and headed to the play area. I sat down next to Bo and he showed me his spoon. I asked Bo what happened to the spoon. Not much of a response. I asked him where the piece from the spoon is. His response smiling, "In tummy. In tummy."

I am not sure if that is true or not. He has definitely been known to lie before. I am hoping that the piece is not somewhere in his tummy, but rather on the floor of Chick Fil A. Stay tuned for more details.


We went to Toys R Us a few days ago to do some pre-shopping for Christmas. What up with Lainey & Rhody picking the Escalade?

I just wanted you to see the price of this little vehicle. Do you know how much make up and hair products I could get for that? How many GOOD jeans I could get? Not to mention the shoes. And of course what I meant to mention first, how it could help the needy and less fortunate of our city!


While today wasn't really the stuff dreams are made of, I think I have a great life. I almost wrote that I wouldn't trade it for the world, but that's not true. I don't enjoy, nor will I ever enjoy cleaning poop out of carpet.

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October Aces; Kantarian Leaving USTA; Tennis Australia Maintains Status Quo

It's still October, but I decided to put together my aces at the end of the month, instead of the beginning November, and all 16 are available today on The Tennis Recruiting Network.

The big news today was the stepping down of Arlen Kantarian, the CEO of Professional Tennis at the USTA. Kantarian, who recently took control of Elite Player Development, hiring Patrick McEnroe as General Manager, was the face of the US Open this decade, and is being widely praised for the income he has generated for the USTA, primarily from that event. Several prominent tennis journalists have provided detailed accounts beyond the USTA press release. Matt Cronin of Foxsports.com and Tennisreporters.net has sources telling him that it was about money. Richard Pagliaro at Tennis Week mentions the possibility of a rift between the community and professional sectors of the USTA and Kantarian accruing too much power. Bonnie Ford at espn.com doesn't speculate on the reasons for his departure, but details how much Kantarian has changed the sport in his nine years at the helm.

Gordon Smith, the Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer of the USTA since last November, is said by Cronin to have been "at odds" with Kantarian and in the frequently byzantine politics of the USTA, that may have been enough to assure his departure. Smith is the author of a column in the latest issue of Racquet Sports Industry that alludes to financial belt-tightening.

We in the national office need to decrease expenses. We must begin to spend the USTA’s money as if it were coming from our own checking accounts. But that alone is not enough. We can’t ask others to sacrifice until we’ve gotten our act together. And I want to hear from you about what you think we could do better, more efficiently and with less cost.
Maybe this is unrelated to Kantarian's departure, but certainly it sounds the warning that the USTA is feeling the pinch of the economic downturn.

In Australia, there was speculation that Geoff Pollard, the president of Tennis Australia since 1989, might be in trouble in the recent board elections, which would spell the end of the Steve Wood-Craig Tiley regime. But thanks to a mention in On The Baseline website, a great women's professional tennis resource, I learned that Pollard was elected unopposed. Tennis Australia has the entire story here.

Tags: junior tennis, Arlen Kantarian, USTA, Gordon Smith, Tennis Australia, Colette Lewis

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Oprah and some pics

Yesterday on Oprah, one of Rob's videos was shown. It literally brought Oprah to tears--almost to the ugly cry as she would call it. Please go to Rob and Haley's blog to see a clip from it! I am so proud of you Rob! I am excited that baby Eliot's life could have such a huge impact on so many.

I also took some pics of the kids this weekend. It is time to update the grandkid wall at Nana and Pops house. (Eleven grandkids total!) The pictures are about 1 1/2 years old. Kids change a lot in that amount of time.

Taking pics of kids is not so easy. Rhody is into the fake smile phase. Lainey is in to the over smile phase and Bo is into the no smile phase. Good times. I still think they turned out pretty cute--but who am I to judge? Just their biggest fan.

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Kandath to Stanford; SoCal High School Tennis; Northwestern Women Have New Assistant

If you went to the Tennis Recruiting Network this morning, you saw that Matt Kandath has chosen Stanford over Duke, Princeton and Virginia for his college tennis. Blue chip Walker Kehrer is also listed as committed to the Cardinal, while Denis Lin and Fillip Pogostkin are also interested, so it looks like another good recruiting year for John Whitlinger.

Kandath is a two-time New York state high school tennis champion, which segues into this story from San Diego's North County Times about the pros and cons of high school tennis in Southern California. The reporter, Scott Bair, centers the story on Gabrielle DeSimone, but he talks with many local high school coaches about the challenges that level of competition presents for nationally ranked players. Unlike college tennis, which will always offer stiffer competition to a junior player, high school tennis can often involve players with much less skill, so the social and community aspects become more important.

2008 ITA National Coach of the Year Claire Pollard of Northwestern announced last week that Jackie Holden, her former doubles partner when they won the NCAA title in 1989 at Mississippi State, will join the Wildcats as assistant coach. Holden, a highly regarded national coach at the LTA for the past three years, replaces Dave Mullins, who accepted the head coaching position at Oklahoma this summer. Pollard's team have won the Big Ten title all ten of the years she has been head coach.

And finally, the ITF Grade 2 in South Carolina is well underway. See the TennisLink site for complete draws.

Tags: college tennis, junior tennis, Jackie Holden, Gabrielle DeSimone, Matt Kandath, Stanford, Colette Lewis

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Fields for ITA Indoor Nearly Set after Completion of Regional Play; Aggies Pollock and Krajicek Play Golden Set/Match

The last ITA regional champions were crowned today, with only a few at-large bids remaining to fill the singles draws of 32 at the National Indoor next month in Charlottesville, Va. I'm told the complete fields will be announced on Friday, when, by my calculations, five men and four women who have otherwise not qualified will be extended invitations (there is one more man because the defending champion, Somdev Devvarman, is not eligble to return). It actually may be six men, since Texas A & M's Conor Pollock qualified two different ways.

Here are the regional results and the explanation of other qualifiers:

Regional Women's results:

MIDWEST: Samantha Murray of Northwestern over Kelcy Tefft of Notre Dame

EAST: Ragini Acharya of William & Mary over Bianca Aboubakare of Brown

SOUTH: Chelsey Gullickson of Georgia over Marritt Boonstra of Florida

WEST: Maria Sanchez of USC over Alison Ramos of USC

SOUTHEAST: Josipa Bek of Clemson over Laura Gioia of Furman

SOUTHWEST: Nina Munch-Soegaard of TCU over Taylor Ormond of Baylor

CENTRAL: Wiveca Swarting of Nebraska over Anouk Tigu of Arkansas

NORTHWEST: Melanie Gloria of Fresno State over Bojana Bobusic of California

Delia Sescioreanu of Auburn-Montgomery (Small College Champion)
Aurelija Miseviciute of Arkansas (defending Indoor champion)
One wild card to host UVA

All-American qualifiers:
Kelcy McKenna Arizona St
Fani Chifchieva Auburn
Maria Coussou Cal
Maria Mosolova Northwestern
Laura Vallverdu Miami
Amanda McDowell Georgia Tech
Ani Mijacika Clemson
Georgia Rose Northwestern
Amanda Fink USC (consolation winner)

Regional Men's results:

CENTRAL: Arnau Brugues of Tulsa over Matt Hogan of Arkansas

NORTHEAST: Chris Clayton of Harvard over Bogdan Borta of Columbia

MIDWEST: Bryan Koniecko of Ohio State over Justin Kronauge of Ohio State

MIDEAST: Dom Inglot of Virginia over Cory Parr of Wake Forest

SOUTHEAST: Nate Schnugg of Georgia over Bruno Agnostinelli of Kentucky

MOUNTAIN: Clancy Shields of Boise State over Martin Zimmerman of Denver

SOUTH CENTRAL: Connor Pollock of Texas A&M over Bruno Rosa of Rice

WEST-SOUTH*: Bassam Beidas of Pepperdine over Omar Altmann of Pepperdine

WEST-NORTH*: Alex Clayton of Stanford over Bradley Klahn of Stanford
*Only winner advances from these regionals

Fabio Silva of Fresno Pacific (Small College Champion)

One wild card to host UVA

All-American qualifiers:
Michael Venus LSU
Oleksandr Nedovyesov Okla St
Robert Farah USC
Enrique Olivares East Tennessee St
Conor Pollock Texas A&M
Blake Strode Arkansas
Michael Shabaz Virginia
Steven Moneke Ohio St
Guillermo Gomez Georgia Tech (consolation winner)

There are many new faces. By my count, only nine men and nine women who competed in singles last year have qualified this year. I'll link to the ITA list of all competitors, including doubles, once it is available.

For those of you not familiar with the terminology, a golden set refers to a set in which the victor wins every point. According to Wikipedia, it has happened only once in professional tennis when Bill Scanlon did it back in 1983.

As amazing a feat as that is, Conor Pollock and Austin Krajicek exceeded even that, playing a golden match in the first round of the South Central Regional doubles. Although a college doubles match at the regional level is only one eight-game set, it is hard to imagine winning 32 points in a row. But that's what Pollock and Krajicek did against Prairie View A&M's Jose Garcia and Kudakwashe Nyatoti last week. Pollock and Krajicek went on to win the regional title, beating three different Texas Longhorn teams en route.

Tags: college tennis, ITA National Indoor, Conor Pollock, Austin Krajicek, Texas A & M, Colette Lewis

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Oudin Beats Bammer in Quebec; College Showdown Schedule; Carleton Joins Babolat

Melanie Oudin scored the biggest win of her young professional career this evening, downing No. 2 seed Sybille Bammer of Austria 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 at the WTA Bell Challenge in Quebec, a Tier III event. Although Oudin, now ranked 209, had won a WTA main draw match in Indian Wells back in March, beating Maret Ani, then ranked 123, this is by far the highest-ranked opponent she has defeated. Bammer is currently ranked No. 26. For more on this match and others, click here.

The College Showdown schedule has been revised a bit, so click here to see the latest on these one-day events organized by the ITA and USTA to give young players a chance for more competition at low cost. I'm excited that the one I'll be attending this Saturday, in East Lansing, is now coed, so it should be a lively day of tennis. If you live in the area where one is scheduled, please email the coach for information. Weeks of advance planning is not necessary. The cost is only $10 or so, making it a real bargain now that indoor court time season is upon us in the Northern half of the country.

Jackie Carleton, who was previously employed as the Adidas junior rep, is now working for Babolat. The release, which can be found here, also announces the promotion of Seth McKinley to Sports Marketing Manager for the Americas and Australia. Carleton's two younger brothers, Reid and Frank, will be teammates at Duke in the fall of 2009.

I recently spoke with Matt Kandath, who has made his college decision. Look for the announcement Wednesday at the Tennis Recruiting Network.

Tags: college tennis, junior tennis, Melanie Oudin, College One-Day Showdowns, Jackie Carleton, Babolat, Colette Lewis

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State High School Tennis in Midwest; Glatch Takes Second Straight $50,000 Challenger in Canada

The high school tennis season in the Midwest culminates in the state championships this time of year, and I've located four stories detailing results in Illinois and Ohio, which contests its girls championships in the fall, and Michigan and Indiana, which have boys championships this time of year.

Elizabeth Epstein of Chicago won her second straight state title defeating Nida Hamilton in the final. It was an exceptionally strong field in Illinois this year, featuring blue chips Rachael White, Courtney Dolehide, Kristen Dodge and Jasmine Minor, but Epstein triumphed again. The Chicago Tribune had this story on her victory.

I had linked to a story last month about freshmen Kyle McPhillips and Lauren Davis playing high school tennis in Ohio. Davis did win a state championship, in Division II, but McPhillips was upset in the semifinals of Division I and Kara Sherwood won that championship. The complete News-Herald article is here.

In boys action, Aaron Pfister of Grand Blanc won the Division I boys championship in Michigan last weekend, and the Flint Journal followed his quest for the championship, no doubt much sweeter after failing to take a title in the two previous state competitions where he reached the final but lost. And in Indiana, sophomore Nick Chappell capped an undefeated season with a state title, according to this story in the Indianapolis Star.

In pro news, 19-year-old Alexa Glatch won her second consecutive $50,000 event in Canada and the Tennis Canada website immediately posted this account. The downside for Glatch (a double downside for the finals loser, Alberta Brianti of Italy) is having to give up a qualifying spot in the Bell Challenger, the WTA event in Canada that started this weekend.

Tags: junior tennis, high school tennis, Elizabeth Epstein, Alexa Glatch, Colette Lewis

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Hagedorn Back on Court, Sacks Leaves USC, Smith & Begley Win El Paso, Little Mo Results

Marc Lucero, a fellow contributor to The Tennis Recruiting Network, sent me a link to this San Diego Union-Tribune story on University of San Diego coach Tom Hagedorn, who was gravely ill with leukemia last year. Today's news that Frederico Luzzi of Italy, a former ATP top 100 player who was only 28 years old, died suddenly of the disease after taking ill only last weekend, makes Hagedorn's recovery story even more miraculous.

There was other, less weighty, news from Southern California this week, with the word that Gary Sacks has left USC. A participant at the All-American just two weeks ago, Sacks is striking out on the pro tour.

The ITF Grade 5 in El Paso finished today, with unseeded Connor Smith of Florida winning the boys event and No. 2 seed Elizabeth Begley of Texas taking the girls title. For complete draws, visit the TennisLink site.

And while I was in my final weekend in Tulsa, the Little Mo national tournament was held in Austin, Texas. For 8, 9, 10 and 11 year olds, the competition is a look at the future stars of the junior tennis circuit. The winners are (seeding in parenthesis):
Boys 8s---Perry Gregg
Girls 8s--Alyvia Jones (1)
Boys 9s---Noah Schachter (1)
Girls 9s--Ryan Peus
Boys 10s--William Blumberg (2)
Girls 10s-Sofia Kenin (2)
Boys 11s--Grayson Broadus (1)
Girls 11s-Carolyn Xie (2)

For complete results, see the TennisLink site.

Tags: college tennis, junior tennis, Tom Hagedorn, Gary Sacks, El Paso ITF, Little Mo Nationals, Colette Lewis

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"Horror Show" in British Junior Tennis; Broadys Say No to LTA Funding

Just how much more important the sport of tennis is in Great Britain than here in the U.S. is illustrated by these three recently published newspaper stories about junior tennis and its governing body.

The first, with a rather sensational tabloid-style headline from the respectable Independent of "Junior tennis serves up a horror show" is a discussion, prompted by the comments of former British greats Annabel Croft and Jo Durie, of the pressure and misbehavior that accompanies junior tennis matches in that country. I can't dispute anything that any of the quoted people have to say--I've witnessed blatant cheating and unbecoming behavior by parents and children (although little I would classify as violent); I agree that there needs to be more supervision (which means more money spent), especially at the younger ages, and I also agree that this is hardly an issue confined to junior tennis. But tennis's one-on-one nature does contribute to the ugliness, just as it plays a major role in the sport's appeal. Croft describes her daughter's decision to quit junior tennis, saying:

"I think my daughter just wasn't cut out for it; she's incredibly laid back. Either you're cut out for it or you're not – if you're rather sensitive it's not really for you."

Again, I agree, but it only serves to enhance my admiration for those young players who do continue, who take the best from it, reject the worst, and emerge wiser without surrendering their integrity.


The other story, brought to light by Neil Harman of the Times, in his must-read weekly column, details the history and consequences of the rift between the Broadys and the LTA. Liam, the 14-year-old Les Petit As finalist, and his older sister Naomi, a quarterfinalist at Wimbledon Juniors this year, are not accepting funding from the LTA. The Daily Mail also had coverage of this spat.

As for the U.S., I'm still awaiting any newspaper or magazine mention of the major changes at the USTA, which now include the naming of Ola Malmqvist as head of women's tennis, and Jay Berger as head of men's tennis.


Tags: junior tennis, Annabel Croft, Liam Broady, Jay Berger, Ola Malmqvist, Colette Lewis

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Lainey Update

I don't think I have written much about Lainey lately. I am with the boys so much more now but there is never a shortage of information and stories about Lainey!

She is really loving kindergarten. She adores her teacher. Lainey writes her notes and we drive by Mrs. Barnes house a lot so the kids can yell, "Hi Mrs. Barnes!!!" I guess it sounds a little like stalking but she's only 5! When I start helping her write notes with letters cut out of a newspaper and park outside of her house for hours --then let's get worried.

They are learning so much in kindergarten. They are writing sentences! I am pretty sure that we did not do that in Mrs. Walker's kindergarten in 1979.

In my previous post, I noted that Lainey looks exactly like her dad. That I am not in the gene pool. But actually, Lainey does have a lot of my mannerisms. I just wanted to tell you a few.

The other day after school, 4 boys came up to Lainey and said, "Lainey, come chase us!" To my surprise, she actually did go chase them! Later that night, I asked her who some of the boys were. She said, "Daniel, and Jackson--you know the one with the really cute hair." That's my girl. He did have cute hair.

Here is some of her sentences. They are learning to use the words more and less.

It says, "I like to eat more bread. I like to eat less green beans."
For those of you who know me, bread is my favorite food!




This one says, "I like to eat more Mac N Cheese. I like to eat less oranges."
Now who wouldn't prefer Mac N Cheese over oranges--or anything for that matter.


If you look closely, you can see that Lainey has a tooth coming in behind her baby teeth. She is thrilled to lose a tooth! That is the thing in kindergarten to do evidently. Let's pray that the baby teeth come out before that big one comes in. I can't imagine that will be very comfortable!

We love Lainey!

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Pan-American Wrap; Koz at the U.S. Open; Georgia Bulldog Update

My weekly story for the Tennis Recruiting Network is a wrap-up of the ITF B1 Pan-American Closed, and although it is the biggest ITF tournament in the U.S. until the Grade 1 Eddie Herr in December, there are three U.S. events in between--the El Paso Grade 5 going on now, the Grade 2 in South Carolina next week and the Grade 4 at the Evert Academy the following week. The acceptances for those two are available here, and as of now, the South Carolina tournament looks to have a girls field equal to, if not better, than Tulsa.

Dave Kozlowski, a/k/a the Koz, was at the U.S. Open last month and his show, which includes brief interviews with Madison Brengle, CoCo Vandeweghe, Melanie Oudin, Devin Britton and Grigor Dimitrov, as well as Patrick McEnroe and Paul Roetert of USTA High Performance, can be watched online at indietennis.com.


It was confirmed in Tulsa that Matt Reid will not be joining the Georgia Bulldogs in January, as he has decided to pursue the professional path instead. He was a semifinalist in a $10,000 tournament in Australia last week, and has reached the quarterfinals of this week's Australian Futures, as has 16-year-old Bernard Tomic.

The RedandBlack profiled Georgia's two outstanding additions to the women's team, Chelsey Gullickson and Nadja Gilchrist, in advance of Friday's Regional in Athens. Gullickson is the top seed, based on her performance so far in the fall, but unfortunately Gilchrist is injured and will not play the rest of this year, according to the article.

Tags: junior tennis, The Tennis Recruiting Network, ITF Pan-American Closed, Matt Reid, Nadja Gilchrist, Chelsey Gullickson, Inside Tennis with the Koz, Colette Lewis

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Wednesday fun.

We had a fun day today.

My cousin Will and his wife Allison moved to Dallas this week. They actually moved into Aimee's old house and so is next-door neighbor to Erin! How fun for me! Will and Alli have 4 young children that I am excited to get to know better now that they are in town.

Rhody and Bo and I got to spend the afternoon with the oldest of Will's kids--David and Peter. We had such a good time with our cousins (second cousins, third cousins, cousins once removed?) The conversation in our minivan with 4 young boys was hysterical! Bo kept chiming in with his one word, extremely loud commentaries.

David (5 years old) is full of personality and talked to me a ton! He told me all about the solar system and made all the planets out of playdough! He then named all the planets and included Pluto--then said, "just kidding, Pluto is not a planet anymore."

For those of you who didn't know, he is right. Pluto is no longer considered a planet. I know that because of my addiction to Matt, Meredith, Al and Ann and the Today show. I am betting that is not how David knew it. He could have been reading it in the encyclopedia--his uncle Sam memorized all the state capitols at age 4 by reading the encyclopedia. But I am not sure they have made a set of encyclopedias since Al Gore invented the internet.

This is why we refer to Will and his two brothers as the "smart" cousins.


Rhody and Peter chillin' out!


Today at Lainey's school was Dad's Lunch Invasion! The cafeteria was full of kids and dads! Most Dad's brought in fast food for themselves and their kids. Chris Bone took one for the team and ate the Tetrazini--by Addie's request. Lainey got chick fil a (of course).

I volunteered to take pictures for the yearbook. I just wanted to relive the glory days of the LHHS Fang (I was the editor-n-chief of the high school newspaper--I know, pretty impressive). I grabbed my camera and Rhody and Bo and ran up to the school to get a few pics of kids and dads! Rhody was thrilled because he really wanted to see Lainey's school on the inside.


Cute sister and brother pic at school.


It was also crazy tie day at school. Lainey got this one from Pops. You know he is a great resource for crazy ties, Bill Cosby-like sweaters and bright colored sweatsuits. Way to go Pops!


Do these two look alike or what? Am I even in the gene pool here?


Tomorrow is Thursday. That means school day. I am riding bikes with my team tomorrow (as I type this with ice on my swollen knees). I hate to say it, but I have to give the bike back to the sweet girl who loaned it to me for the triathlon. I will be sad to see it go!

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Nike Junior Tour Crowns Champions; Coaching Changes; Capra Defeats Brengle

The Nike Junior Tour is one of the premier international events for 12s and 14s, and this year the finals were held for the first time in the United States, Port St. Lucie Fla., to be specific. Although there were no U.S. players in the four finals, it is an opportunity to become familiar with some of the names that will no doubt surface in the upcoming Eddie Herr and Junior Orange Bowls.

The boys 14s winner was unseeded Carlos Bautista of Spain, who beat No. 1 seed Kevin Kaczynski of Germany 6-4, 6-4. According to this article on the Nike Junior Tour website, his performance was a surprise to nearly everyone who knew Bautista from European competition. The girls 14s winner was No. 2 seed An-Sophie Mestach of Belgium, a semifinalist at Les Petit As, who beat top seed Petra Uberalova of Slovakia 2-6, 7-6(1), 6-4.

The boys 12s champion is 11-year-old Bollettieri student Gianluigi Quinzi of Italy, who was a semifinalist at last year's Eddie Herr. Quinzi, the No. 1 seed, defeated unseeded Omar Salman of Belgium 6-1, 1-0, ret. inj. The girls 12s winner was unseeded Yan Wang of China, who downed unseeded Virginia Pena of Spain 6-4, 6-3.


A few bits of coaching news to report from my conversations in Tulsa. Pat Harrison will be leaving the John Newcombe Academy in New Braunfels, Texas for the IMG/Bollettieri Tennis Academy beginning next month. The entire family is planning on settling in Bradenton. Ryan is not playing in any of the major junior tournaments in the next few months, however. He has a stress fracture in his back and is not expected to play competitively until next year.

USTA High Performance coach Mark Merklein, who was traveling with James Blake, is back with the juniors, and he was shepherding the 1993 birth year players in Tulsa. Mike Sell was with the 1992s. Whether this is permanent probably depends on the still evolving elite development scene. Jose Higueras and Patrick McEnroe are in Boca Raton now for the twice-yearly coaches meetings. The U.S. is not the only Grand Slam country to lose its head of men's tennis in the past two weeks. Paul Hutchins of Great Britain will vacate his position at the LTA by year's end. Neil Harman of the Times reports on this development, as well as Laura Robson's three-set loss to Iveta Benesova in Luxembourg.

In Augusta today, ITF Pan-American champion Beatrice Capra continued her excellent play, battling past No. 4 seed Madison Brengle 7-6(5), 6-4 in the $25,000 Pro Circuit's first round. Pan-American singles semifinalist and doubles champion Lauren Embree also won, defeating No. 6 seed Agustina Lepore of Argentina, ranked 249th, 6-2, 6-0. The two wild cards played doubles together, but lost, to Brittany Augustine and Tiya Rolle, 3-6, 6-3, 14-12.

For complete results, see the Pro Circuit page on usta.com.

Tags: junior tennis, Nike Junior Tour, Pat Harrison, Paul Hutchins, Colette Lewis

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ITA Regional Results; Noble Decides on North Carolina, Krajicek Wins Battle of 2008 Kalamazoo Champions

Although it seems like the Men's All-American just finished, most of the Men's Regionals that will decide the participants in next month's ITA Indoor Championships in Charlottesville were completed yesterday and today. The bulk of the Women's Regionals are late this week. I've come up with a list of those who have qualified in singles to date (assuming that the criteria for selection is the same as last year), with both finalists earning a berth in the draws at the Indoor with two exceptions. There will be at-large selections to fill in the remaining spots in the 32-draw singles.

Regional Men's results:

CENTRAL: Arnau Brugues of Tulsa over Matt Hogan of Arkansas

NORTHEAST: Chris Clayton of Harvard over Bogdan Borta of Columbia

MIDWEST: Bryan Koniecko of Ohio State over Justin Kronauge of Ohio State

MIDEAST: Dom Inglot of Virginia over Cory Parr of Wake Forest

SOUTHEAST: Nate Schnugg of Georgia over Bruno Agostinelli of Kentucky

MOUNTAIN: Clancy Shields of Boise State over Martin Zimmerman of Denver

WEST-SOUTH*: Bassam Beidas of Pepperdine over Omar Altmann of Pepperdine

WEST-NORTH*: Alex Clayton of Stanford over Bradley Klahn of Stanford
*Only winner advances from these regionals

Fabio Silva of Fresno Pacific (Small College Champion)

One wild card to host UVA

All-American qualifiers:
Michael Venus LSU
Oleksandr Nedovyesov Okla St
Robert Farah USC
Enrique Olivares East Tennessee St
Conor Pollock Texas A&M
Blake Strode Arkansas
Michael Shabaz Virginia
Steven Moneke Ohio St
Guillermo Gomez Georgia Tech (consolation winner)

Regional Women's results:

Delia Sescioreanu of Auburn-Montgomery (Small College Champion)

CENTRAL: Wiveca Swarting of Nebraska over Anouk Tigu of Arkansas

NORTHWEST: Melanie Gloria of Fresno State over Bojana Bobusic of California

All-American qualifiers:
Kelcy McKenna Arizona St.
Fani Chifchieva Auburn
Maria Coussou Cal
Maria Mosolova Northwestern
Laura Vallverdu Miami
Amanda McDowell Georgia Tech
Ani Mijacika Clemson
Georgia Rose Northwestern
Amanda Fink USC (consolation winner)
================================================
Ryan Noble of Fayetteville, NC has announced he will be staying in his home state. McCarton Ackerman talked with Noble about his decision for The Tennis Recruiting Network. In the next few weeks there will be many players making their decisions. I spoke to three of them in Tulsa, and Matt Kandath, Evan King and Bo Seal are still undecided, but plan to make a choice by mid-November.

In first round action today in the $15,000 Pro Circuit event in Mansfield, Texas, 18s Kalamazoo champion Austin Krajicek defeated 16s Kalamazoo champion Jordan Cox (who received a wild card into the main draw) 7-5, 4-6, 6-4 in what appears to have been a fantastic contest. But Cox, who won the doubles title at the Tulsa ITF with Evan King, did get a win in doubles. He and Devin Britton took out former Texas A&M teammates Brett Joelson and Bryan Wooten, who won the doubles title in last week's Pro Circuit event in Louisiana, 6-3, 6-4.

In first round action at the $25,000 women's event in Augusta, Ga., CoCo Vandeweghe, who qualified, repeated her US Open Junior finals win, taking out Gabriela Paz of Venezuela 6-3, 6-3.

For complete results, see the Pro Circuit page at usta.com,


Tags: college tennis, junior tennis, Ryan Noble, ITA Regionals, Colette Lewis

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Aubone, Hardenbergh win Pro Circuit Titles; Robson Makes WTA Debut Tuesday

After 23 days in Tulsa this year, I'm certainly feeling comfortable there, but it's good to back in Kalamazoo, even with rain dampening the spirits and bringing down the dramatically colored leaves. I've got a lot of news to catch up on, so stay tuned this week as I work through it all.

Jean-Yves Aubone of Florida State won his second Pro Circuit title Sunday in Louisiana, a $15,000 level event, and I think it clearly demonstrates the level of men's Division I tennis. Aubone, a junior who was ranked 13th in the preseason, lost in the third round of the All-American in Tulsa, to Robert Farah of USC. The following week he wins a pro event over what I would consider a typical field in the U.S. when there is a challenger also on the schedule. If you are playing D-I tennis in a major conference, you are facing competition as least as strong as most $10,000 Futures. Whatever the arguments against college, the level of competition isn't one of them. The Florida State athletic website has this story on Aubone's victory.

Another college website was called into action as qualifier Lindsey Hardenbergh, who is just beginning her college career at Virginia, won the $10,000 event in St. Louis Sunday. The field wasn't particularly strong due to the $50,000 in Lawrenceville and the Pan-American ITF in Tulsa, but even so, Hardenbergh has to be considered a surprise winner. A five-star, not a blue chip, on The Tennis Recruiting Network, Hardenberg failed to win a match in Mobile at the Spring Nationals and at the Hard Courts in Berkeley this summer, but she certainly stepped up her game last week. See this story on the Virginia Cavalier website for more.

See the Pro Circuit page at usta.com for complete draws.

Last week Jacqueline Cako won the Southlake, Texas Pro Circuit $10,000 event, beating Ashley Weinhold in the final. Although she downed one Vanderbilt grad in Texas, Amanda Taylor, Cako couldn't get by another in St. Louis, where Taka Bertrand beat her in the first round. The Fort Worth Star-Telegram covered the tournament, and posted this story on Cako's win, and her plans for the future. It's interesting that she's considering Vanderbilt among her choices for college, if she goes.

Laura Robson plans don't include college, at least not college tennis, as she signed with Octagon several years ago, but the 14-year-old Wimbledon girls champion, now ranked in the 500s on the WTA computers after the obligatory three events, will no doubt get some vocational training in Luxembourg on Tuesday, when she plays in her first tour event. Amelie Mauresmo, a former Wimbledon girls champion, has some advice for Robson in this story by the Telegraph, as does Annabel Croft, the last British girls Wimbledon champion, in this story that appeared in the Times.

Tags: college tennis, junior tennis, Jean-Yves Aubone, Lindsey Hardenbergh, Jacqueline Cako, Laura Robson, Colette Lewis

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ITF Pan-American B1 Slide Show

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Domijan and Capra Take Pan-American Titles

©Colette Lewis 2008--
Tulsa, OK--

Double digit seeds Alex Domijan and Beatrice Capra took their first ITF Grade 1 titles Saturday on another calm and crystal clear day at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center on the University of Tulsa campus.

Domijan, seeded No. 12, outlasted No. 4 seed Ryan Lipman 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 in a well-played match that featured an intriguing contrast of styles, while Capra, the tenth seed, trumped No. 1 Pamela Montez of Mexico 7-6(2), 6-2.

Lipman, who woke up with a sore throat and headache, suffered a heavy fall in the third game of the first set, tweaking his knee, and seemed slightly off his game during the remainder of the set, which quickly went to Domijan.

When the 6-foot-6 Floridian took a 3-1 lead in the second, there was no question who controlled the match, when all of a sudden, Domijan went off the boil and Lipman heated up.

Domijan was broken at love to immediately give back the break, Lipman held at love for 3-3 and in the four consecutive games that Lipman won in that stretch, he dropped only two points. With his forehand the go-to shot from the baseline, Lipman volleyed well and finished any high or short balls with easy putaways. Domijan missed an overhead during that four game stretch, a rare occurrence, and even more rare, dropped his racquet in disgust at his play during that run. The usually placid 17-year-old could be heard muttering to himself between points by the few spectators in attendance.

"I don't feel like we both played well at the same time," Domijan said. "It was up and down. I was up and he was down and vice versa."

After Lipman closed out the second set, he was the player with the momentum, but after Domijan held in the first game, Lipman was broken in a four deuce game, when Domijan found the range on a couple of passing shots. But Lipman broke back and pulled even, only to miss two crucial volleys serving at 3-4 that contributed to the break.

"I was real positive after I got the break back," said Lipman, who turned 18 this month. "But then I made three or four unforced errors and kind of handed it to him. It was kind of frustrating to go out like that."

Lipman's strategy was to bring Domijan into the net, but the results were mixed as Domijan acquitted himself well when drawn forward. Domijan admitted that he rarely comes in of his own volition, and yet Lipman, who is much more comfortable there, complimented his opponent on his composure.

"He executed his shots well at the net," said Lipman.

The confidence that Domijan felt was evident when serving out the match, as he made two nice pickups coming forward, one off a drop shot that he stroked by Lipman for a winner. Domijan's forehand, always a fearsome shot, also contributed, the last one handcuffing Lipman at the net on match point.

For Domijan, it was a welcome result.

"It's good to win any tournament. I haven't won a tournament in a long time," Domijan said. "I've been in a couple finals--in the Futures (final in June) I was kind of unlucky because I played Devvarman--but it's good to win any tournament."



Beatrice Capra, known as Trice (pronounced Treecee) to her friends, would agree to that. Although she has won several doubles titles on the Pro and Junior Circuits, getting that final win in singles has been difficult.

"I'm really happy I was able to close this one out," said Capra, who lost in both the ITF Grass Court and USTA Clay Court finals this summer. "I don't think I ever really had the confidence to actually close it out. But throughout this tournament I felt I was playing really well, and when I was beating those girls pretty easily (in the first three rounds), it pumped me up."

Capra got off to a good start, going up 4-1, but Montez came back to even the first set at 4-4. A series of four consecutive breaks led to the tiebreaker, where the string of failing to hold serve continued for Montez, who lost all four points she served to give a relieved Capra the set, 7 points to 2.

"When I got up 4-1, I was like, oh my god, I could actually win the tournament," Capra said. "I started thinking about all this other stuff when I should have been focusing just on the points. I got really tight, but I was happy I was able to close it out."

An hour and 45 minutes after the match had begun, Capra and Montez were only midway through the second set, but the end came relatively quickly when Capra held for a 4-2 lead. Montez, who uses the drop shot as a major weapon, continued to employ it against Capra, who was by now expecting it after seeing it often in the first set. Running down each one and usually responding with an excellent version of her own, Capra broke Montez at love and played superb defense in the final game to capture the win.

Montez admitted that dropping the first set took a psychological toll.

"I think I was really bummed about the first set," said Montez, who lives and trains in the Palm Spring, Calif. area. "I had a lot of chances there. Overall it was an okay tournament considering the amount of tennis I've been playing lately. So I'm not completely disappointed."

The day didn't get any better for Lipman and Montez in the doubles, as both dropped those finals too.


As the No. 2 seeds, Montez and Cierra Gaytan-Leach were up against the formidable pairing of Jessica Alexander and Lauren Embree, who play together at every opportunity. Seeded No. 6, Alexander and Embree were forced into only one deciding tiebreaker, in the quarterfinals against No. 4 seeds Capra and Alexandra Cercone, and in Saturday's final they secured a 6-3, 6-2 win, The "deciding point" in the no-ad scoring used now in ITF Grade A and Grade 1 tournaments often went to Montez and Gaytan-Leach, but it was usually when they were serving. Alexander and Embree were not broken in the match, a rarity in girls doubles.

"With Jessica we usually always win it because she has such a big serve, and the return we just kind of poach off of," said Embree, who was speaking for her teammate due to Alexander's laryngitis. "I think that's what made the difference, our serving."


In contrast the boys doubles final was filled with breaks, with No. 2 seeds Jordan Cox and Evan King overcoming No. 1 seeds Lipman and Matt Kandath 1-6, 6-3, 10-7 to end the top seeds' nine-match winning streak in Grade 1 competition.

There were ten breaks in the 16 games played in the first two sets, with Cox failing to hold the first three times he served and Lipman 0 for 3 in the second set. In the tiebreaker, that changed, with only one break, against Cox, in the first nine points. Cox got it back, and evened the tiebreaker at 5-5 with a forehand winner, but surrendered the advantage with a forehand error to give Kandath and Lipman a 7-5 lead.

But then the netcord bestowed its blessings on Cox and King, as two consecutive points on Lipman's serve were decided in their favor after the ball caromed off the netcord.

"We got a couple of lucky net cords," said Cox. "A couple in a row really helped us," King agreed. "I have to say that helped out a ton," said Cox. "We just focused on every single point, took it one by one, and got it done," said King.

For complete draws, visit the TennisLink site. For brief videos of the finals, see the post below.

Tags: junior tennis, Pan-American Closed, Alex Domijan, Beatrice Capra, Evan King, Jordan Cox, Jessica Alexander, Lauren Embree, Colette Lewis

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Pan-American Finals Videos

Tags: junior tennis, ITF Pan-American Tennis Championships, Alex Domijan, Ryan Lipman, Beatrice Capra, Pamela Montez, Colette Lewis

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Go Wildcats!

We went to the Lake Highlands Homecoming game tonight. We got together with some friends for a tailgate dinner and then headed on over to the stadium for the homecoming festivities. By the way, we actually did have a tailgate thanks to Christman! One tailgate and a some minivans!

The weather was perfect and we all had a great time. The kids loved it. Plus it was the 10 year reunion of the class of 1998 so I got to see a lot of old YL kids. (amanda lewis' class).

We didn't have any sort of run in with the mascot--so Rhody had a great time. A little boy in Lainey's class found her during the 2nd quarter and wanted to sit with her. It was so cute. He then took her to see their teacher. She is getting so big!


Abby, Lainey and KK eating dinner in Xman's truck. They were all so excited to eat in there.



The other side of the truck! Gracie, Rhody, Sam and Lily.



The little girls: Kylie and Kingsley eating some frosting off the cookies!



Sweet girls eating their cookies.



I promise, Sam had a good time. Not all of his pictures capture it!



Group pic of all the precious kids!



GO WILDCATS!!!!


We had such a good time. We will definitely be making this a tradition. Hope you can join us next year!

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Domijan Meets Lipman, Capra Faces Montez in Finals of Pan-American B1

©Colette Lewis 2008--
Tulsa, OK--

No. 10 seed Beatrice Capra avenged her loss in this year's 18 Clay Court finals, downing No. 2 seed Lauren Embree 6-4, 6-1 in the most compelling match of the singles semifinals at the ITF Grade B1 Pan-American Championships.

Capra and Embree played four games in the late stages of the first set that were as fiercely contested as they were high in quality. After taking a 3-0 lead to open the match, Capra was in danger of losing her fourth straight game after her 40-0 lead melted away when she was serving at 3-3. Embree won four straight points but could convert on neither of the break points she earned, and Capra took a 4-3 lead with a rare ace.

The six deuce game that followed was filled with punishing groundstrokes, swinging volleys, confident overheads and multiple twenty-stroke rallies, with neither player showing any signs of fatigue or nerves. Embree held for 4-4 and yet another deuce game followed, when Capra dug herself out of a 15-40 hole to take a 5-4 lead. But given the duration of the three previous games, the set ended quickly, with Embree broken after only one deuce, when she made a rare unforced forehand error on Capra's first set point.

Embree was broken at love in the second game of the second set, and although she had two chances to get it back in Capra's next service game, she couldn't seize either opportunity. Capra took a 4-0 lead with yet another break, her fourth straight, and was able to close out the always tenacious Floridian three games later.

"I felt like I was playing a lot more agressive than I was at the Clay Courts, handling her ball a lot better" said Capra, who lost 6-4, 6-2, on a Memphis Sunday as hot and hazy as the Tulsa Friday was crisp and blue. "On clay, she can run down anything, it's like playing a ball machine kind of. On hard courts, I was able to hit a lot more winners."

One of Capra's most effective shots was her overhead, and even though she missed a few, it was important for her to keep Embree on the defensive.

"I was focusing on what I needed to do, attacking the ball," said the 16-year-old Capra, from Ellicott City, Maryland. "I knew if I kept doing that, I was going to be fine. Either way, if I won or lost, it was okay, because I'm improving my game."

Neither Capra nor her opponent in the finals, No. 1 seed Pamela Montez of Mexico, has lost a set in the tournament, but Montez, who easily handled No. 6 seed Sachia Vickery 6-2, 6-1, isn't entirely satisfied with her play this week.


"I've been playing okay, better as the tournament goes along," said Montez, who said she wasn't aware just how young the 13-year-old Vickery was. "I was just more consistent than her, and that was pretty much the main thing, keeping the ball in play."

Vickery again struggled with her serve and even her court speed failed to produce any errors from Montez. The drop shot that Montez has displayed this week would normally not be considered a great tactic against Vickery, but the young Floridian couldn't do anything creative with the ball when she got to it, making errors when retrieving that seemed to spill over into her usually lethal ground game.

Errors also played a major role in No. 4 seed Ryan Lipman's 6-1, 6-0 rout of No. 11 seed Denis Kudla, but not many of them were Lipman's. Kudla failed to hold his serve even once in the first set, while becoming increasingly frustrated by Lipman's high standard of play.

"I think I got under his skin a little bit with the way I played," said Lipman, who needed less than an hour to dispose of the Junior Davis Cup hero and Kalamazoo 16s finalist. "And then he just kind of didn't know what to do, he just kind of fell apart, which helped me a lot."

No. 12 seed Alex Domijan also breezed through his first set with qualifier JT Sundling, jumping out to a 5-1 lead in a matter of minutes. After losing the first set 6-2, Sundling was broken the first two times he served in the second, falling behind 3-0, but he got back in the set with a break of Domijan, at love, in the next game. After holding for 3-2, Sundling had a chance to put pressure on the 6-foot-6 Floridian, but he couldn't sustain any momentum.


"In the second set he started changing and coming into the net," said Domijan, who will play in his second Grade 1 final on Saturday. "He had me at 3-2, it was 0-15, and he kind of fell back a little bit, I thought."

Domijan won the next four points and broke Sundling for the fifth time in the match to take the second set 6-3.

Lipman and Domijan have not played in over three years, but they are well aware of what to expect from each other.

"I imagine he's going to slice everything because I'm so tall" said Domijan. "But if I can handle that, I think I can do pretty well."


"They'll be a pretty good bit of slicing going on," Lipman agreed. "I'll try to mix it up. He does really well side to side, but I don't know how well he does up and back. So we'll find out tomorrow."

Capra and Montez have never played. "I've never even heard of her," said Capra. "I'm just going to wing it tomorrow."

The doubles titles will be decided Saturday, with the top two seeds in the boys reaching the final. Both needed tiebreakers to get there, however; No. 1 Matt Kandath and Lipman won the last four points of their tiebreaker to take a 6-2, 4-6, 10-6 decision from unseeded Sekou Bangoura Jr. and Nathan Pasha, while No. 2 seeds Jordan Cox and Evan King stopped No. 4 seeds Mauricio Astorga and Jose Gerardo Meza Paniagua of Mexico 6-1, 2-6, 10-2.

No. 2 seeds Cierra Gaytan-Leach and Montez barely survived the unseeded pairing of Ester Goldfeld and Ellen Tsay 6-4, 4-6, 11-9. After trailing 8-5 in the tiebreaker, Gaytan-Leach and Montez won the next four points, but Tsay saved the first match point with a forehand winner in the alley. At 9-9, Montez broke a string early in the point, and Tsay and Goldfeld each hit a shot to her, but Montez somehow controlled two touch volleys to earn her team a second match point, which they converted when Goldfeld netted a backhand. Gaytan-Leach and Montez will face No. 6 seeds Jessica Alexander and Embree, who dispatched No. 7 seeds Kate Fuller and Monica Yajima 6-2, 6-1.

For complete results, visit the TennisLink site.

Tags: junior tennis, Pan-American Closed, Ryan Lipman, Alex Domijan, Pamela Montez, Beatrice Capra, Colette Lewis

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Just some pics!

Here are some recent pics of the kids. Have a great weekend! We are headed to LH homecoming tonight. GO WILDCATS (no mascots allowed)!


Here is Rhody posing for the iPhone. This is his new favorite pose. So angelic. You can't hear his whining while starring at his pretty eyes.





Lainey went over to her friend Abby's house for a fall party. Abby invited some church friends that don't get to see each other much during the week. Sarah (abby's mommy) had fun crafts for them to do, cookies to decorate and invited siblings to enjoy the treats after the party. Aren't they cute? Sarah is the hostess with the mostess!



Rhody has his eye on Lilly Claire! They went for a drive together!

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