War by the Shore will commence

The 17th annual Balboa Bay Club Racquet Club Junior Tournament, also known as the War by the Shore, begins today at the Balboa Bay Club Racquet Club with a draw packed with Newport-Mesa players.

Many of the area’s top girls’ high school players are competing in the 18 singles draw, including Newport Harbor High seniors-to-be Chrissy Schwartz and Sasha Dunlap, as well as 2006 graduate Jill Casserly.

Corona del Mar High is also well-represented in the draw, with incoming seniors Michelle Atkins, Hayley Young and Kelly McKitterick all participating.

Young, the No. 2 seed, has a first-round bye and plays in the round of 16 on Tuesday at 2 p.m.

Schwartz, McKitterick and Atkins all open with round-of-32 matches today at 8 a.m., while Dunlap and Casserly take the court today at 11 a.m.

Corona del Mar resident Omeed Ghassemi, who attends Mater Dei High, is the No. 1 seed in boys’ 16 doubles, along with teammate Ryan Agbayani of Yorba Linda. The duo, who lost in the boys’ 16 doubles final last year, have a quarterfinal match on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m.

Corona del Mar High’s Parker Rhodes, who beat Ghassemi in the boys’ 16 doubles final last year with Irvine’s Jason Lin, is now paired with Sea King teammate Chris Damion. The duo is the No. 2 seed and also opens in the quarterfinals Wednesday at 6:30 p.m.

Ghassemi, the No. 2 seed in boys’ 16 singles, has a round-of-32 match tonight at 6:30.

Damion, the No. 4 singles seed, opens in the round of 64 today at 12:30 p.m.

Rhodes is the no. 15 seed in boys’ 16 singles, opening today at 12:30 p.m. against Sea King teammate Brent Pham.

Alistair Hurry of Corona del Mar is the No. 1 seed in boys’ 10 singles. He has a first-round bye and opens his tournament in the quarterfinals on Wednesday at 8 a.m.

Christian Ball of Newport Beach is seeded No. 5 in boys’ 12 singles, also receiving a first-round bye. He opens in the quarterfinals Tuesday at 5 p.m.

Costa Mesa resident Alexandra McIntosh, who attends Newport Harbor High, is the No. 6 seed in girls’ 16 singles. She opens Tuesday at 8 a.m. in the round of 32.

Also notable is Newport Beach’s Melissa Matsuoka, who finished second in the War by the Shore girls’ 14 doubles last year and made it to the semifinals in singles. This year, Matsuoka is concentrating on doubles with her teammate Elizabeth Nguyen, also from Newport Beach.

Matsuoka and Nguyen have a first-round bye and open in the quarterfinals Wednesday at 6:30 p.m.

Sage Hill School’s Ashley Adams, who finished third in Academy League singles last year as the Lightning won the CIF Southern Section Division V title, is active in both singles and doubles. She opens in girls’ 16 singles in the round of 64 today at 2 p.m. She opens in doubles Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. in a quarterfinal match with teammate Jaclyn Smrecek of Irvine.

Other locals competing in boys’ 10 singles include Tyler Gaede of Corona del Mar, Matthew Mead of Newport Beach and William Tenney of Newport Beach.

In the boys’ 12 singles, Stephen Tenney of Newport Beach and Alexander Murray of Corona del Mar are both entered.

In girls’ 12 singles, other locals include Madison Kate Watrous of Newport Beach and Jessica Yi of Newport Coast.

In boys’ 14 singles, Ryan Peyton, Pierce Stemler and Erik Heimstaedt of Newport Beach are competing, along with David Vu of Newport Coast and Hayden Tremper of CdM.

Girls’ 14 singles, locals include Megan Chomeau, Francesca Nestande, Ariana Cernius, Kristina Funahashi and Marie Rodolfa, all of Newport Beach, and CdM residents Neda Ghassemi, Niki Cochran, Elizabeth Murray and Kelsey Davis.

Other boys’ 16 singles locals include Bradley Fisher and Ely Zaidler of Costa Mesa, Erik Mutzke and Daniel Vu of Newport Coast and Bryan Buchert of Corona del Mar.

Newport Beach residents competing in the age group include Alexander Allione, Jeff Lobel, Andrew Singer, Henri Chomeau, Spencer Moss and Brandon Clary.

In girls’ 16 singles, Allie Shea, Kristina Heimstaedt, Lexy Longman and Suzy Strutner of Newport Beach will all be participating, as will Rachel Cox and Elyse Murphy of Corona del Mar and Nandi Shah of Newport Coast.

Newport Beach residents Blake Haymond, Bryan Ngo and Ryan Caughren are all competing in boys’ 18 singles.

Other locals include Neda Ghassemi of Corona del Mar in girls’ 14 doubles, Ryan Peyton of Newport Beach in boys’ 14 doubles, C.J. Chomeau of Newport Beach in boys’ 16 doubles and Jeff Lobel of Newport Beach, also in boys’ 16 doubles.

The tournament runs through Friday. Finals are Thursday and Friday.dpt-17-damion-kt-BPhotoInfoM01T0DME20060717ikd2npncCredit: KENT TREPTOW / DAILY PILOT Caption: (LA)CdM High’s Chris Damion is the No. 4 seed in boys’ 16 singles and, with Parker Rhodes, the No. 2 seed in 16 doubles. dpt-17-casserly-mcd-BPhotoInfoM01T0DQM20060717iobsmiknCredit: MARK DUSTIN / DAILY PILOT Caption: (LA)Recent Newport Harbor High graduate Jill Casserly is entered in the girls’ 18 singles draw in the event that begins today.