Erina Digby Reaches Quarterfinals at Ojai

Palisadian Erina Digby advanced to the quarterfinals of the girls’ 18s singles division at the 104th annual Ojai Valley Tennis Tournament last weekend. Digby, a junior at Marlborough, received a first-round bye, then outlasted Keba Baird of Templeton, 4-6, 6-3, 6-1, in the second round. She ousted Maria Malec of Laguna Beach, 6-4, 0-6, 6-0, in the round of 16 before falling to Irvine’s Ashley Williams, 6-3, 7-5, in the quarterfinals. Last fall, Digby led the Mustangs to their third consecutive Sunshine League title and was the league’s undefeated singles champion. In the same division, Palisadian Ashley Alpert got a first-round bye but lost her round of 32 match to Cheyenne Inglis of Encinitas, 6-0, 6-1. The largest and one of the most prestigious amateur tennis events in the United States, Ojai attracts most of the top junior players from Southern California and this year was no exception. In the boys’ 16s singles division, Ariel Oleynik had the misfortune of playing Palisades High teammate Stephen Surjue in the first round and Surjue won, 7-5, 6-1. Surjue lost his second round match to Hunter Lee of Bermuda Dunes, 6-0, 6-1. Two other Palisades High players were in the 64-player draw. Daniel Burge lost his first-round match to Neil Gehlawat of Bakersfield, 6-0, 6-0, while Sepehr Safii, who received a first-round bye, was defeated by Silvio Chiba of Brea, 6-2, 7-6 (8), in the round of 32. After winning the boys’ 16s division last year, PaliHi’s Chris Ko had hopes of doing the same in the boys’ CIF singles division, but the Dolphins’ No. 1 player lost in the first round, 6-2, 7-5, to Sean Tan of Lakewood. Sam Querry of Thousand Oaks won the division with a 6-2, 1-6, 7-6 (5) victory over Kaes Van’t Hof. In the boys’ CIF doubles division, PaliHi’s duo of Darya Bakhtiar and Taylor Robinson played top-seeded Eric Riley and Steven Forman of Torrey Pines in Thursday’s opening round and lost, 6-4, 6-1. PaliHi last won a share of the team title in 2000. In the girls’ 16s, Kelly Stewart, who lives in Malibu but sometimes trains at Palisades Tennis Center, reached the finals, losing to Kristen Flower of Ojai in a tough three-setter, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4. Brittany O’Neil was the lone PaliHi competitor, but she had to default her first-round match. Ex-Palisadian and longtime Ojai participant Sean Brawley vyed for the men’s Open championship, but another player with ties to the Palisades, Michael Joyce, took home the $10,000 winner’s check with a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Travis Rettenmeir in the finals. Joyce trained at Palisades Tennis Center while he was on the pro circuit and participated in a Prince clinic at PTC in 1998. The Ojai was founded in 1896 by NCAA doubles champion William L. Thacher to promote amateur tennis in California. In addition to boys’ and girls’ junior and CIF, the event includes men’s and women’s community college divisions and PAC-10 men’s and women’s championships.