Novikov doubles title, college tourneys, USTA 30 Indoors

Dennis Novikov of Milpitas in the San Francisco Bay
Area won the doubles title in the Tallahassee (Fla.)
Challenger with Julio Peralta of Chile. 2015 photo
by Paul Bauman

   Dennis Novikov of Milpitas in the San Francisco Bay Area and Julio Peralta of Chile on Saturday won the doubles title in the $50,000 Tallahassee (Fla.) Challenger for the second consecutive year.
   The top-seeded pair edged unseeded Peter Luczak, a former Fresno State star, and Marc Polmans of Australia 3-6, 6-4 [12-10] in the final on green clay.
   Novikov also won the Maui Challenger doubles crown in January with Jason Jung, a Los Angeles-area native who plays for Taiwan.
   Quentin Halys of France won the Tallahassee singles title in a battle of top teenage prospects. Halys, 19, defeated Frances Tiafoe, 18, of Boca Raton, Fla., 6-7 (6), 6-4, 6-2.
   Halys and Tiafoe reached the semifinals of the Tiburon and Fairfield Challengers, respectively, in Northern California last October.
   In the Estoril (Portugal) Open doubles semifinals, fourth-seeded Eric Butorac and Scott Lipsky, a former Stanford All-American, beat second-seeded Treat Huey, a Washington, D.C., native who plays for the Philippines, and Max Mirnyi of Belarus 6-4, 7-5.
   Butorac, who played for the now-defunct Sacramento Capitals of World TeamTennis in 2008, and Lipsky will take on top-seeded Lukasz Kubot and Marcin Matkowski of Poland.
   Huey and Lipsky won the 2015 title.
   Colleges -- The No. 1-seeded Fresno State women beat No. 4 San Jose State 4-2 to reach the final of the Mountain West Conference Championships in Fort Collins, Colo. The Bulldogs, ranked 47th, will face UNLV, seeded third and ranked 72nd, for the title.
   The No. 8-seeded Fresno State men lost to No. 4 UNLV 4-2 in the Mountain West semifinals in Las Vegas.
   The Pepperdine women, seeded first and ranked eighth, pounded third-seeded Saint Mary's 4-0 in Claremont, Calif., to win their fourth straight title in the West Coast Conference Championships.
   The host Sacramento State men and women lost in the semifinals of the Big Sky Conference Championships at the Gold River Racquet Club. The No. 5-seeded Hornets men fell to No. 1 Weber State 4-1, and the No. 2 Hornets women lost to No. 3 and defending champion Idaho 4-2.
   The Sac State women had reached the Big Sky final for 14 consecutive years, winning 13 straight titles before falling in last year's final.
   USTA 30 Indoors -- Vittorio Fratta of Walnut Creek upset fourth-seeded Thomas Morton of Citrus Heights 7-6 (5), 6-2 in the quarterfinals of the USTA National Men's, Women's & Mixed 30 Indoor Championships at the Spare Time Indoor Tennis Center in Gold River.
   In today's men's semifinals, Fratta will face No. 2 seed Calle Hansen, 36, of Newbury Park at 9 a.m., and No. 1 seed and two-time defending champion Jan Tiilikainen, 44, of Reno will play No. 3 Tyler Browne, 30, of Walnut Creek at noon.
   Browne, a former Cal standout and now the associate head coach of the Bears men, eliminated 2015 runner-up Ryan Sablan of Martinez 6-4, 6-2.
   Both women's semis are scheduled for 9 a.m. No. 1 seed Evgenia Dockter of Atlanta will face Brooke Biddle of Dallas, and No. 2 seed and defending champion Marisue Jacutin-Mariona of Los Altos will meet Francesca LaO of San Francisco.

Oh, brother: Fresno State men stun Utah State

   In a matchup of coaching brothers, the eighth-seeded Fresno State men stunned top-seeded Utah State 4-2 on Friday in the quarterfinals of the Mountain West Championships in Las Vegas.
   Jeremy Moser clinched the victory for Fresno State, coached by Luke Shields, on Court 6. Moser, a freshman from Switzerland, defeated Andrew Nakajima of Utah State, coached by Clancy Shields, 7-5, 6-4.
   The Bulldogs will play fourth seed and host UNLV today. The Rebels beat fifth-seeded New Mexico 4-2.
   Fresno State also reached the women's semifinals in Fort Collins, Colo. The top-seeded Bulldogs will face fourth-seeded San Jose State after both teams won easily.
   Meanwhile, the top-seeded Pepperdine and third-seeded Saint Mary's women reached the final of the West Coast Conference Championships in Claremont, Calif., with 4-0 victories.
   The Waves, ranked eighth, whipped fourth-seeded Santa Clara, and the Gaels blitzed second-seeded Gonzaga.
   In the quarterfinals of the Big Sky Conference Men's Championships, No. 5 seed and host Sacramento State beat No. 4 Montana 4-2 at the Gold River Racquet Club. The Hornets will take on No. 1 Weber State today.

Santa Clara women win thriller in conference tourney

   The Santa Clara women overcame a 2-0 deficit to stun BYU 4-3 on Thursday in the first round of the West Coast Conference Championships in Claremont, Calif.
   Chelby Cooke, saving four match points, kept the fourth-seeded Broncos alive with a 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (5) victory over Savannah Ware on Court 3 to tie the score 3-3. Daniella Silva then won it for Santa Clara, outlasting Mayci Jones 3-6, 7-6 (3), 6-4 on Court 1.
   In today's semifinals, the Broncos (13-9) will play No. 1 seed and eighth-ranked Pepperdine (19-2), and No. 3 seed Saint Mary's will face No. 2 Gonzaga. The Gaels eliminated No. 6 USF 4-2, while the Waves and Zags received a bye.
   On the men's side, No. 5 seed Portland defeated No. 4 Pacific 4-2 in the first round in Claremont.
   Meanwhile, the UC Davis men and women were eliminated in the Big West Championships in Indian Wells, Calif. The No. 3-seeded Aggies men lost to No. 2 Cal Poly 4-2, and the No. 7 UCD women fell to No. 2 UC Santa Barbara 4-0.

Fresno St. woman named top Mountain West player

   Fresno State's Sophie Watts was named the Women's Player of the Year in the Mountain West Conference this week.
   Watts, a junior from England, is ranked 75th nationally. She is 21-2 in singles with a 21-match winning streak.
   Watts' teammate, Maiar Sherif Ahmed, was chosen as the Freshman of the Year. Ahmed, from Egypt, is 20-3 in singles.

ALL-MOUNTAIN WEST CONFERENCE

(Northern California players only)

Women

   Singles -- Sophie Watts, Fresno State; Maiar Sherif Ahmed, Fresno State; Rana Sherif Ahmed, Fresno State; Sybille Gauvain, San Jose State; Marie Klocker, San Jose State.
   Doubles -- Anneka Watts and Sophie Watts, Fresno State; Maiar Sherif Ahmed and Rana Sherif Ahmed, Fresno State; Marie Klocker and Gaelle Rey, San Jose State   

Men

   Singles -- Euan McIntosh, Fresno State. 

   Doubles -- Adam Glynn and Euan McIntosh, Fresno State

ALL-WEST COAST CONFERENCE

(Northern California players only)

Men

   First-team singles -- Miguel Diaz, Pacific; Bernardo Saraiva, USF.
   Second-team singles -- Ashot Khacharyan, Santa Clara; Ilya Osintsev, Santa Clara.
   Singles honorable mention -- Jose Chamba, Pacific; Arthur Weber, Saint Mary's; Nils Skajaa, USF;  Thomas Takemoto, USF.
   First-team doubles -- Bernardo Saraiva and Nils Skajaa, USF.
   Second-team doubles -- Sam Bertram and Ilya Osintsev, Santa Clara; Mikheil Khmiadashvili and Ashot Khacharyan, Santa Clara.
   Doubles honorable mention -- Miguel Diaz and Jose Chamba, Pacific; Marlon Brand and Daniel Alameh, Pacific.

Women

   First-team singles -- Andrea Ka, USF.

   Second-team singles -- Hana Ritterova, Pacific; Danielle Flores, Saint Mary's; Thyra Taune, USF; Delphine Rouvillois, Santa Clara.
   Singles honorable mention -- Iveta Masarova, Pacific; Jana McCord, Saint Mary's; Jamie Pawid, Saint Mary's; Kareena Manji, Saint Mary's; Millica Hadzi-Tanovic, USF.
   First-team doubles -- Andrea Ka and Marina Nikolic, USF.
   Second-team doubles -- Kareena Manji and Jamie Pawid, Saint Mary's; Parminder Kaur and Jana McCord, Saint Mary's; Iveta Masarova and Hana Ritterova, Pacific.
   Doubles honorable mention -- Nabila Farah and Daniella Silva, Santa Clara. 

NorCal teams go 0-4 in West Coast tourney openers

   All four Northern California teams in action today lost in the first round of the West Coast Conference Championships in San Diego.
   The seventh-seeded Santa Clara women (7-12) dropped a heartbreaker, 4-3 to 10th-seeded Loyola Marymount (5-19). With the overall match tied 3-3, Anna Romeka outlasted Danielle Silva 2-6, 6-3, 6-3 at the No. 3 position.
   Also, the ninth-seeded San Diego women (4-14) triumphed 4-2 against eighth-seeded Pacific (8-13). 
   On the men's side, seventh-seeded BYU (10-17) rolled to a 4-1 victory over Saint Mary's (4-18), and ninth-seeded Gonzaga (11-10) romped 4-0 against eighth-seeded Santa Clara (9-13). It was the Bulldogs' first win in the WCC Championships since 2008.
   In Thursday's quarterfinals, the third-seeded USF women will face sixth-seeded Gonzaga, the fourth-seeded Saint Mary's women will take on fifth-seeded BYU, and the fourth-seeded Pacific men will meet fifth-seeded Portland.
   The top six seeds in both the men's and women's draws received first-round byes.

Jullien of Saint Mary's repeats as WCC Player of Year

   Jenny Jullien of Saint Mary's was named the West Coast Conference Women's Player of the Year for the second consecutive season, the league announced this week.
   Jullien, a senior from France, finished the regular season with a 16-2 record at No. 1 singles (7-1 in WCC play).
   Ranked ninth nationally, Jullien became the first competitor to repeat as the WCC Player of the Year since USF's Jenni Heinser earned the honor three times in a row from 2008 to 2010.
   Also named to the All-WCC women's first team in singles were Saint Mary's sophomore Jamie Pawid of Castro Valley, USF sophomore Andrea Ka of France and Santa Clara senior Katie Le of Milpitas. Thyra Taune of Sweden became the second straight USF player to earn WCC Freshman of the Year honors, following Ka.
   On the men's side, Santa Clara senior John Lamble of Saratoga and USF junior Bernardo Saraiva of Portugal were named to the All-WCC first team in singles. Pacific's Miguel Diaz of Castro Valley was chosen as the Freshman of the Year.
   The West Coast Conference men's and women's championships are scheduled for Wednesday through Saturday in San Diego.