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Tuesday, Nov. 03, 2009
Top seeds beware: No. 2s could impact today's tennis singles tourney
ATWATER -- Judy Douglas has a feeling who should advance to Thursday's championship final of the Central California Conference singles tournament.
Lynn Barcellos does too.
However, neither tennis coach would bet the farm on their guesses.
Los Banos Enterprise - Photo by JOHN-JOEL GRIFFITHS/LOS BANOS ENTERPRISE
Los Banos' Alexis Barcellos is considered a favorite to reach the Central California Conference singles championship.
Los Banos Enterprise - Photo by JOHN-JOEL GRIFFITHS/LOS BANOS ENTERPRISE
Los Banos senior Kelsey Wormstall shook up the conference singles tennis tournament last season. Can she do it again?
"It could be anyone. When you get to this point, you start from scratch," said Barcellos, on the eve of her 15th conference tournament as the Los Banos girls coach. "Records no longer matter. It's a whole new ball game."
The singles tournament gets underway today at 9 a.m. at Buhach Colony with two clear-cut favorites: Turlock's Elise Cusenza and Los Banos freshman Alexis Barcellos.
Cusenza advanced to the Sac-Joaquin Section individual tournament last year after falling to Buhach Colony's Saskia Benter in the CCC final.
Alexis Barcellos finished 10-2 in conference duals this season, with both losses coming to Cusenza.
The final match will be played simultaneously with the CCC doubles tournament on Thursday at Buhach Colony. Both players automatically advance to the section tournament.
"I'm guessing it'll be a Turlock-Los Banos final, based just on record," said Douglas, who coached Merced to a second-place finish in conference play.
"Elise is really favored. She even beat the LB gal in straight sets. She could be dominant, but you just never know when there will be an upset."
And there's the rub.
Potential traps could be waiting for each player in the second or third round, depending on how the tournament is seeded.
Of great concern to Douglas and Lynn Barcellos, Alexis' mother and coach, are a strong crop of No. 2 players: Los Banos' Kelsey Wormstall, Turlock's Aubree Brenda, Merced's Stephanie Isenberg and Atwater's Kayla Spangler.
"Some of these No. 2s can upset people," Douglas warned.
Wormstall finished third in the 2008 conference tournament and advanced to the section tournament, upsetting Merced's Lizzie Sofranek.
The Los Banos senior was 10-2 this season, falling to Merced's Stephanie Isenberg and to Buhach Colony's Megan Ballard in tiebreakers.
Isenberg was also 9-3, frustrating opponents with her patience and relentless return game.
"She gets to a lot of balls and stays in the points," Douglas said. "She doesn't have any big weapons, but when you think you've got a winner she hits it back one more time."
Spangler split time in the No. 1 and 2 positions for Atwater, while Brenda was the second-best singles player on a Turlock team that went undefeated in conference duals.
Brenda was also one part of the 2008 doubles champion, pairing Elizabeth Olson to win the CCC tournament.
"They'll seed them by their records and rankings, but I don't put anything into the rankings whatsoever," coach Barcellos said.
"Somebody could show up and not be at their best or not feeling good, so for any of the top players, it could be a bad day."
James Burns is sports editor of the Sun-Star. He can be reached at jburns@mercedsun-star.com.
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