Tennis Notebook: Local Pair Still Alive in Prestigious Easter Bowl

The following is a group of notes from the local high school and junior tennis scene in the area. Several players and teams have had a number of impressive performances of late.

Monrovia’s Madregallejo Moves On in Easter Bowl

Monrovia resident Nikko Madregallejo, the fifth seed in the boys’ 16-and-under division, has advanced to the round of 16 in the prestigious Easter Bowl in Rancho Mirage.

Wednesday he defeated 17^th-seeded Elliott Okrin of Marietta, Ga., 5-7, 6-3, 6-0. Madregallejo defeated Joshua Yablon of New York 6-4, 6-4 in the second round and Brett Moorhead of Midlothian, Va., 6-3, 6-1 in the first round.

Madregallejo is scheduled to face ninth-seeded George Goldhoff of Woodlands, Tx., on Thursday at 2 p.m. in a round of 16 match at Rancho Las Palmas Resort. A victory would move Madregallejo to the quarterfinals.

Arcadia’s Dean Advances in Easter Bowl

Arcadia sophomore Francis Dean, the Pacific League singles champion, has advanced to the round of 16 in the girls’ 16-and-under division at the Easter Bowl. Dean defeated Sierra Stone of Powell, Ohio in the third round, 3-6, 6-2, 7-5. She defeated Adi Milstein of Boca Raton, Fla. 1-6, 6-3, 6-3 in the second round and upset 14^th-seeded Josie Kuhlman of Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., in the first round 6-1, 6-4. Dean is expected to play top-seeded Jamie Loeb of Ossining, N.Y., at 10:15 a.m. at Rancho Las Palmas Resort on Thursday.

Mak Out in Easter Bowl

La Salle freshman Garrett Mak, who lives in Arcadia, was defeated in the second round of the Easter Bowl’s boys’ 14-and-under division. Mak, who was seeded 17^th in the 128-player draw, fell to Emanuel Llamas of Irving, Tx., 2-6, 6-2, 6-2. Mak defeated Jasper Koenen of Saint Charles, Ill. 7-6(8-6), 6-1 in the first round.

Arcadia Nears Title

With a 15-3 victory over Glendale, Arcadia is now 14-0 overall and 8-0 in Pacific League play. The Apaches, who are ranked No. 2 in the CIF-Southern Section Division 2 poll, swept the visiting Nitros in singles play thanks to fine efforts from

Travis Tu, Andrew You, and Albert Chen.

“We feel comfortable with where we are,” Apaches coach Jerry Dohling said.

The Apaches need just one more win to gain at least a share of the Pacific League title and two wins in their final four matches would give them the title outright.

Last year Arcadia shared the title with Burroughs. A league title this season would give the Apaches three consecutive. 

Triple Trouble

The Arcadia tennis program is getting a special contribution from one family in particular.

Sophomore Dustin Lieu, who plays on his team’s No. 3 doubles team, is a triplet.

His brother Donovan plays on the junior varsity No. 1 doubles team and his sister Elizabeth is on the Apache girls No. 1 doubles team.

Despite the busy schedule, their father Damon Lieu is always keeping up on the progress of his trio. 

La Salle Moving Closer to Securing Playoff Berth

The La Salle boys’ tennis team is moving closer to securing a playoff berth out of the Del Rey League.

The Lancers are 7-2 in league heading into Thursday’s match with St. Monica .The match will take place at 3:15 p.m. at Live Oak Park in Temple City.

Three More Local Athletes to Play in Ojai

Since high schools are only allowed to submit one singles and one doubles team for the CIF tournament in Ojai, some players are forced to play in the open version of the tournament.

San Marino sophomore James Wade falls into that category. The Titans’ regular No. 2 singles player will participate in the open boys’ 16-and-under bracket.

La Canada’s No. 1 singles player Joshua Kim’s entry has also been accepted in the open boys’ 16-and-under bracket.

Flintridge Prep junior Kira Lee has been accepted to play in the open girls’ 16-and-under bracket. She is a three-time Prep League MVP.

St. Francis Hoping for Playoff Spot

The Golden Knights defeated Notre Dame 13-5 Tuesday to move to improve 4-4 in the Mission League and 6-5 overall.

But the bad news is that the Golden Knights’ final two league matches are both against Harvard-Westlake, which is ranked No. 4 in the CIF-Southern Section Division 1 poll.

Coach Ron Zambrano is hoping that its strength of schedule will help his team win an at-large berth into the playoffs.

St. Francis will have a chance to pick another win next Thursday when it hosts Hoover of Glendale, located right up the street from the Fremont Tennis Center. The Golden Knights practice and play home matches at Fremont.

Jim Riggio's "Boys Tennis Notebook" appears weekly across the Patch sites in the San Gabriel Valley.