Five local entries advance to state tennis tournament semifinals

Howard County's top entries in each of the five brackets at the state tennis tournament won their first two matches on Friday at the University of Maryland's Cole Field House tennis courts, ensuring at least a top-four finish.

Atholton's Matt Sklar and Victoria Kogan, in boys and girls singles; River Hill's Nick Zhu and Prateek Swamykumar, the defending boys doubles state champions; Mt. Hebron's girls doubles team of Serene Mathew and Tess Weber; and Centennial's mixed doubles team of Andrew Tsai and Jazmin Walle are all scheduled to compete in the state semifinals on Saturday morning starting at 10 a.m.

Winners from the semifinal round will play for the state championship scheduled to begin at 1 p.m., while losers will compete for third place.

Centennial freshman Rom Kotnana (boys singles), Marriotts Ridge sophomore Abby Thornton (girls singles) and the Mustangs boys doubles team of Connor Bivens and Christian Tringali all won their opening round matches before falling in the quarterfinals.

SEMIFINAL SCHEDULE

Boys singles: Matt Sklar (Atholton) vs. Alex Cauneac (Severna Park); Michael Quang (Bel Air) vs. Dennis Wang (Poolesville).

Girls singles: Victoria Kogan (Atholton) vs. Asmara Rose (Randallstown); Miranda Deng (Wootton) vs. Beatrice Chaudoin (Severna Park).

Boys doubles: Nick Zhu/Prateek Swamykumar (River Hill) vs. Jack Welch/Andrew Leung (Whitman); Robert Rider/Alex Bach (South River) vs. Luke Blackman/Eric Dubrow (Bethesda).

Girls doubles: Serene Mathew/Tess Weber (Mt. Hebron) vs. Molly Halprin/Kaitlyn Heo (Churchill); Katie Gauch/Sriya Movva (Churchill) vs. Alisha Adkins/Taylor Nuse (South Hagerstown).

Mixed doubles: Andrew Tsai/Jazmin Walle (Centennial) vs. I-Shiun Kuo/Ruchi Nando (Wootton); Brad Schug/Abbie Springer (F.S. Key) vs. Jake Gordon/Kelly Chen (Wootton).

QUARTERFINAL RESULTS

Boys singles

Sklar def. Conor Smyth (Bethesda), 7-5, 6-1.

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Quang def. Rom Kotnana (Centennial), 6-2, 6-1.

Girls singles

Kogan def. Catrina Coyner (Kent Island), 6-3, 6-0.

Deng def. Abby Thornton (Marriotts Ridge), 6-0, 6-1.

Boys doubles

Zhu/Swamykumar def. Lance Jewell/Bruno To (Eleanor Roosevelt), 6-0, 6-2.

Rider/Bach def. Connor Bivens/Christian Tringali (Marriotts Ridge), 6-1, 7-6 (9-7).

Girls doubles

Mathew/Weber def. Andrea Huston/Courtney Shrider (Linganore), 4-6, 6-1, 6-2.

Mixed doubles

Tsai/Walle def. Bryan Harris/Carly Logeman (Easton), 6-1, 6-0.

OPENING ROUND RESULTS

Boys singles

Sklar def. Andrew Abell (Dulaney), 6-2, 6-2.

Kotnana def. Matt Ryan (J.M. Bennett), 7-5, 6-4.

Girls singles

Kogan def. Alexis Sacedo (Bethesda), 6-1, 6-1.

Thornton def. Bridgett Blowe (Frederick), 6-3, 6-1.

Boys doubles

Zhu/Swamykumar def. Etienne Utinger/Daniel Yoon (Urbana), 7-6 (7-3), 6-3.

Bivens/Tringali def. Christopher White/Brett Carmean (North Caroline), 6-3, 6-1.

Girls doubles

Mathew/Weber def. Nana Mansa Essilfie-Mensah/Sarika Walia (Roosevelt), 6-1, 6-1.

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Gauch/Movva def. Lexi Hackerman/Gabby Schito (Centennial), 6-2, 6-1.

Mixed doubles

Tsai/Walle def. Daniel Sun/Helen Sun (Dulaney), 6-1, 6-0.

Gordon/Chen def. Will Chanmugam/Stephanie Carroll (Mt. Hebron), 6-1, 6-2.

Five local entries advance to state tennis tournament semifinals

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