Atherton teen CiCi Bellis began her quest to win the girls’ division of the US Open by posting a 6-1, 6-3 victory over Mexico’s Renata Zarazua on Monday at Flushing Meadows, N.Y.
Bellis, 15, the top seed, was never threatened in her opener. She played on the grandstand court, the third-largest venue at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, to accommodate her following after her performance in the main draw.
Bellis next will face Natalia Vikhlyantseva of Russia.
Bsllis became the youngest player to win a US Open match since 1996 with her first-round upset of 12th-seeded Dominika Cibulkova last Tuesday. Hundreds of fans waited in line for hours to see her play her second-round match, which the 1,208th-ranked Bellis lost in three sets to Zarina Diyas of Kazakhstan.
Baseball
Palo Alto High grad Joc Pederson made his Major League debut with the Los Angeles Dodgers on Monday, going hitless in his one at-bat as a pinch-hitter during his team’s 6-4 loss to the visiting Washington Nationals.
Pederson was called up from Triple-A Albuquerque on the weekend after he was named the Most Valuable Player in the Pacific Coast League and the PCL’s Rookie of the Year.
The Dodgers hold a two-game lead over the San Francisco Giants in the NL West. The rivals will meet next week for a three-game series in San Francisco (Sept. 12-14).
Women’s volleyball
Three former local prep standouts all were named to the all-tournament team at the Pacific Coast Classic that was hosted this past weekend by Pomona-Pitzer, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps and La Verne.
Palo Alto High grad Megan Coleman helped lead Claremont-Mudd-Scripps to a 4-0 finish by producing 83 digs from her libero position. The senior made the all-tourney team as her squad swept Texas-Tyler, Kean, UC Santa Cruz and held on for a 3-2 win over St. Scholastica.
Also playing for CMS was freshman Sarah Bruml from Menlo School and Regina Mullen from Menlo-Atherton. Each started three matches. Bruml had seven kills and four block assists against Santa Cruz with Mullen adding six kills and four digs.
Menlo School grad Allie Frappier helped Pomona-Pitzer to a 3-1 finish and was named to the all-tournament team after producing 60 kills and 42 digs. She helped the Sagehens reach the NCAA Division III Tournament last year for the first time since 1997.
Frappier led the nation (for all divisions) in kills per set at 5.96, and was named a first-team All-American by the American Volleyball Coaches Association.
Also named to the all-tournament team on Saturday was Palo Alto High grad Shelby Knowles, a sophomore at Wheaton (Ill.) College. Knowles had 50 kills and 38 digs as Wheaton opened its season 1-3.
By Palo Alto Online Sports
By Palo Alto Online Sports
By Palo Alto Online Sports