KING INTO THE SEMIFINALS IN ITF 18s;
EMBREE-McHALE TO BATTLE IN GIRLS’ 18s FINAL

Gold balls up for grabs Saturday in boys’ and girls’ 14s finals

April 17, 2009, Palm Desert, Calif. — It’s just something about the Easter Bowl that brings out the best in Evan King. The 2006 Easter Bowl boys’ 14s champion from Chicago made another small step to reaching another final on Friday as King beat one of his best friends Jordan Cox, 6-4, 6-4, to advance to today’s semifinals in the boys’ 18s at the 42nd annual spring nationals.
“I just love playing here,” King said. “It’s just so fun to have all the age divisions. I mean, win or lose and it’s just a great tournament.”
King will meet his USTA national training partner and former roommate Raymond Sarmiento in Saturday’s semifinals. In the other semifinal, Johannes Vanoverbeek, the No. 10 seed from Boca Raton, will meet top-seeded Tennys Sandgren, the No. 2 seed from Gallatin, Tenn.
The girls’ 18s finals are set with Christina McHale facing off against top-seeded Lauren Embree, last year’s 18s runner-up and the 2005 14s champion. The No. 4 seeded McHale upset fellow North Jersey resident Kristie Ahn, 6-4, 6-3, in one semifinal. Embree beat fellow Floridian Alexandra Cercone giving up just four games, 6-3, 6-1.
The boys’ and girls’ 16s USTA national semifinals will take place Saturday with players going after the coveted gold balls. Jeremy Efferding of Lake Worth, Fla., is the only unseeded player to advance this far as he prevented the top four seeds to meet in the semfinals with his straight-set defeat over No. 3 Evan Song of Henderson, Nev. Efferding joins Shane Vinsant (No. 1), Marcos Giron (No. 2) and Spencer Newman (No. 4) as the other semifinalists.
In the boys’ 14s semifinals, No. 3 Mackenzie McDonald of Piedmont, Calif., upset top-seeded Daniel Trey in three sets with a 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 win. He meets doubles partner No. 4 seeded Nikko Madregallejo in Saturday’s final at 11:30 a.m. “I know it’s just the 14s and I have a lot bigger goals in life but it’s still pretty big to make the final,” McDonald said.
The top two seeds will meet in the girls’ 14s final as top-seeded Julie Elbaba of Oyster Bay, N.Y., will play No. 2 Brooke Austin of Indianapolis Saturday at 9:30 a.m. Both needed three sets to make the final. “I’m just playing with a lot of confidence,” Austin said. “I just have to remember to keep drinking my water. It was hot out there.”
Elbaba got off to a slow start and fell down 5-0 in the first set but came back to record a
3-6, 6-2, 6-1 win over her doubles partner, Laguna Niguel’s Alyssa Smith. “I started off so slow,” Elbaba said. “My balls were flying everywhere. But I was able to make some adjustments and come back.”

FRIDAY’S SCORES
Boys' 18 Singles (Quarterfinal Round)
Johannes Vanoverbeek (10), Boca Raton, FL def. Harry Fowler (3), Houston, TX 6-3, 6-4
Raymond Sarmiento, Fontana, CA def. Frederick Saba, Ft. Lauderdale, FL 6-3, 6-1
Evan King (4), Chicago, IL def. Jordan Cox (6), Duluth, GA 6-4, 6-4
Tennys Sandgren (2), Gallatin, TN def. Lawrence Formentera, Colton, CA 6-4, 6-0
Girls' 18 Singles (Semifinal Round)
Christina McHale (4), Englewood Cliffs, NJ def. Kristie Ahn (2), Upper Saddle River, NJ 6-4, 6-3
Lauren Embree (1), Marco Island, FL def. Alexandra Cercone (9), Seminole, FL 6-3, 6-1
Boys' 16 Singles (Quarterfinal Round)
Jeremy Efferding, Lake Worth, FL def. Evan Song (3), Henderson, NV 6-2, 6-4
Shane Vinsant (1), Keller, TX def. Dennis Mkrtchian (7), Reseda, CA 6-2, 6-3
Spencer Newman (4), Miami, FL def. Billy Pecor (11), Ojai, CA 6-0, 6-4
Marcos Giron (2), Thousand Oaks, CA def. Chase Curry, Wichita Falls, TX 6-4, 6-2
Girls' 16 Singles (Quarterfinal Round)
Kristen Dodge (7), Barrington, IL def. Shayne Austin, Oak Park, CA 6-0, 6-4
Caroline Price (5), Duluth, GA def. Belinda Niu (1), Portland, OR 6-3, 1-0 Ret (inj)
Giuliana Olmos (4), Fremont, CA def. Caitlyn Williams (8), Knoxville, TN 7-5, 6-2
Whitney Kay (2), Alpharetta, GA def. Lorraine Guillermo (6), Walnut, CA 1-6, 6-2, 6-3
Boys' 14 Singles (Semifinal Round)
Mackenzie. McDonald (3), Piedmont, CA def. Trey Daniel (1), Leawood, KS 2-6, 6-3, 6-4
Nikko Madregallejo (4), Duarte, CA def. Luca Corinteli, Alexandria, VA 7-5, 0-6, 6-2
Girls' 14 Singles (Semifinal Round)
Julia Elbaba (1), Oyster Bay, NY def. Alyssa Smith (4), Laguna Niguel, CA 3-6, 6-2, 6-1
Brooke Austin (2), Indianapolis, IN def. Kimberly Yee, Las Vegas, NV 6-7(6), 6-3, 6-4
Boys' 18 Doubles (Quarterfinal Round)
Frederick Saba / Sock Jack def. Sekou Coker Bangoura / Nathan Pasha (8) 2-6, 6-2, 1-0(4)
Denis Kudla / JT Sundling (3) def. Ken Mkrtchian / Matthew Siow 3-6, 6-2, 1-0(3)
Tennys Sandgren / Johannes Vanoverbeek (2) def. Raymond Sarmiento / Jose Sierra-Short 5-7, 6-3, 1-0(7)
Mitchell Frank / Ore Junior (4) def. Matthew Kandath / Denis Lin (5) 3-6, 6-4, 1-0(8)
Girls' 18 Doubles (Semifinal Round)
Kristie Ahn / Monica Puig (2) def. Kyle McPhillips / Chanelle Van Nguyen 4-6, 6-3, 1-0(8)
Mallory Burdette / Lauren Embree (1) def. Jojo Sanford / C.C. Sardinha 6-2, 6-2
Boys' 16 Doubles (Semifinal Round)
Jeremy Efferding / Bjorn Fratangelo (4) def. Robbie Mudge / Ashok Narayana (8) 6-4, 6-3
Eric Johnson / Calvin Mark def. Andrew Korinek / Jose Martinez (9) 6-4, 6-2
Girls' 16 Doubles (Quarterfinal Round)
Jasmine Minor / Olmos Giuliana (4) def. Joanna Smith / Deborah Suarez 6-4, 7-5
Ashley Dai / Riko Shimizu (9) def. Kristen Dodge / Hanna Yu (5) 6-4, 6-3
Whitney Kay / Caroline Price (1) def. Molly O'Koniewski / Kaitlin Ray 6-0, 6-2
Lorraine Guillermo / Desirae Krawczyk (3) def. Megan Horter / Aria Lambert (8) 6-1, 6-2
Boys' 14 Doubles (Semifinal Round)
Roy Lederman / Ryan Smith (9) def. Jose Gracia / Stefan Kozlov 6-3, 7-5
Nikko Madregallejo / Mackenzie McDonald (1) def. Grayson Goldin / Alexander Saltiel 6-0, 7-5
Girls' 14 Doubles (Semifinal Round)
Julia Elbaba / Alyssa Smith (1) def. Kiah Generette / Jessica Perez 6-4, 6-2
Spencer Liang / Jamie Loeb (2) def. Alexandra Morozova / Alanna Wolff (5) 6-4, 6-3