Play heats up in Costa Mesa

Several Newport-Mesa junior tennis players advanced with victories

Monday while three top seeds begin play today in the 12th annual

Costa Mesa Summer Junior Classic at the Costa Mesa Tennis Center.

Play began Monday and concludes Friday for boys and girls singles

divisions (10-18s).

Newport Beach’s Sarah Geocaris, who will be a sophomore at Sage

Hill this fall, and Joseph Di Giulio, along with Corona del Mar’s

Cierra Gaytan-Leach, hold the top seeds in girls 16s, boys 12s and

girls 12s singles divisions, respectively, and begin play today. An

All-Newport Beach matchup will pit Geocaris against Jill Casserly in

the round of 16 at 11 a.m. Casserly defeated Newport Beach’s

Elizabeth Van’t Hof, 7-6, 6-4, Monday.

Di Giulio, who claimed the boys 12s title in last week’s War by

the Shore tournament, will face Irvine’s Kona Luu in the round of 16

at 10 a.m. Gaytan-Leach, who won the girls 14s singles crown in the

War by the Shore, faces Glendale’s Sevana Zargarian at 1 p.m. Newport

Beach’s Jungyeun Lee defeated Desiree Tran of Lake Elsinore, 6-0,

6-0, to reach the round of 16 and a match against Mission Viejo’s

Christina Hansen at 1:30 p.m. today.

Four Newport Beach residents won their matches in the girls 16s

division to reach today’s quarterfinals. Michelle Atkins earned a

match against third-seeded Miranda Young, a sophomore-to-be at Corona

del Mar, with a 6-0, 6-4 victory over Los Alamitos’ Bridget

Nottingham. Sasha Dunlap defeated Rancho Palos Verdes’ Katie Barth,

6-2, 7-5, and will face San Clemente’s Olivia Muesse at 11:30 a.m.

today. Brittanny Sturgess, who will be a junior at Newport Harbor

this fall, defeated Katherine Debowski from Laguna Niguel, 6-2, 6-1,

and will face Capistrano Beach’s Taylor Ann Mannix at 9 a.m. at

Orange Coast College today.

In boys 14s Monday, Costa Mesa’s Brad Fisher defeated Hesperia’s

Austin Karosi, 7-6, 6-4, to earn a round of 32 matchup against

Nicholas Galang at 4:30 p.m. today.

In girls 14s singles, Costa Mesa’s Eleanor Edles defeated Long

Beach’s Kiah Generette, 6-1, 6-1, and will face Anne Russell from CdM

in the round of 32 at 8 a.m. today. Vanessa Dunlap a senior at

Newport Harbor last season who will continue her career at Pepperdine

University, is seeded second in the girls 18s singles and will face

Santa Ana’s Becky Duesler in the round of 16 at 3 p.m. today while

Diana Khoury, a teammate of Adams at Newport, will play Celeste Voce

at 2:30 p.m. today.

Sean Pham, who will be a senior at CdM this fall, is the only

Newport-Mesa player in the boys 18s singles and will face Anaheim’s

Douglas Taylor at 12:30 p.m. today.