
By Robert Balajadia
The Island-Wide Tennis Tournament went through it’s quarterfinals Tuesday evening, featuring one upset in the women’s singles, setting up an exciting battle for Wednesday’s semifinals.
Defending champion and #1 ranked Tara Usita-Lee from Academy had to dig deep to get through a tough opponent in Keina Yoo from Harvest after Yoo tied the match 3-3. Usita-Lee, who hasn’t played a tennis match in over a week, had to shake off game-time some rust plus a nagging injury and in the end, Usita-Lee would win the next five games to get the 8-3 match win.
“I was a little rusty and I’m still recovering from a shoulder injury. I only really started hitting yesterday, but [Yoo] was hitting really well and she was returning shots that I thought were getting away. I just tried to lessen my errors. I really had a lot of unforced errors today.”
The top three seeds had a first round BYE. Being two wins away from another title, Usita-Lee has sharpened her focus.
“I try not to think of having the title and instead focus on each game and to make sure I’m doing my best each time,”added Usita-Lee.
The biggest upset of the day came from Sanchez Shark Alea Bonto who took out the #3 ranked Cougar Victoria Smith 8-4. Bonto played extra motivated due to it being her senior year and she admitted that playing in the opening round on Tuesday helped get her into form.
“I tried to look for her weaknesses. I didn’t really have a strategy heading into this, I just tried to let her make the mistakes,” said Bonto.
Bonto’s next opponent is the second ranked Anika Sachdev and Bonto knows she’s going to need another strong game.
#2 ranked St. John’s Knight Anika Sachdev defeated JFK Islander Megan Babauta 8-2 and Harvest Eagle Lily Xu denied fellow Eagle Selah Chong in an 8-4 battle.
The Girls Semifinals will feature a showdown between:
Tara Usita-Lee vs. Lily Xu
Anika Sachdev vs. Alea Konto
Wednesday Semifinals Showdown
Check out some of the exciting action in store for Wednesday, including an All-Star battle in the boys singles.
Boys Singles
Camden Camacho (FD) vs. Derek Okuhama (STJ)
Mason Caldwell (HCA) vs. Sidney Gadsden (GHS)
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GPS Sports Calendar
January 2023
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11th
Events for January
12th
Events for January
14th
Events for January
15th
Events for January
16th
Events for January
17th
Events for January
20th
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL
IIAAG BOYS BASKETBALL
TRITONS BASEBALL INVITATIONAL
Events for January
21st
LIFT HEAVY + LIFT FAST – BFF SERIES
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL
Events for January
23rd
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL
ISA BOYS BASKETBALL
ISA GIRLS SOCCER
Events for January
24th
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL
IIAAG TENNIS LEAGUE
IIAAG BOYS BASKETBALL
ISA BASEBALL LEAGUE
Events for January
25th
ISA GIRLS SOCCER
ISA BOYS BASKETBALL
Events for January
26th
ISA TRACK & FIELD MEET
ISA BASEBALL LEAGUE
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL
IIAAG TENNIS LEAGUE
Events for January
27th
ISA TRACK & FIELD MEET
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL
ISA GIRLS SOCCER
IIAAG BOYS BASKETBALL
GLORIFIED SPARRING X
TRITONS BASEBALL INVITATIONAL
Events for January
28th
5K DASH FOR ASH
ISA BASEBALL LEAGUE
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL
Events for January
29th
MONSTER ENERGY MOTOCROSS ROUND 1
TRITONS BASEBALL INVITATIONAL
Events for January
30th
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL
ISA GIRLS SOCCER
ISA BOYS BASKETBALL
Events for January
31st
ISA BASEBALL LEAGUE
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL
IIAAG TENNIS LEAGUE
IIAAG BOYS BASKETBALL

Running/Track
’23 TRACK SEASON OPENS

Basketball
TAKUMI SIMON MAKING THE BEST OF PRO LIFE

Volleyball
H.S. BEACH VOLLEYBALL IN FULL SWING
COMING SOON …
- 3rd Quarter Sports