Men's and women's tennis gear up for Ojai Valley Tournament

OJAI, Calif. – Seven Chapman University tennis players will represent the school in the 111th Ojai Valley Tennis Tournament.  The tournament, which runs from April 28-May 1, will have three representatives from the Panthers’ men’s team and four from the women’s squad.

On the women’s side, seniors Liz Lewis and Kelly Fox will be capping off their collegiate careers by making their fourth-consecutive trip to the tournament. The duo, which is ranked No. 4 in the West Region, is the No. 8 seed in the tournament and will receive a first round bye. In the second round they will face Jessica Kwan and Rachel Owens of Pt. Loma Nazarene, who also received a bye, at 3 p.m. on Thursday.  The Pt. Loma pair has a 9-5 record on the year. Lewis and Fox finished the year with an 11-8 but have excelled in the Ojai Tournament years past. In 2008 they reached the round of 16 then the semifinals in 2009 before losing in the quarterfinals last year.

Junior Melissa Boyer and sophomore Genna Ford will be making their first appearance in the Independent College Doubles Bracket. Boyer and Ford have a 7-4 record and are ranked No. 15 in the West Region. A last minute withdrawal by a doubles team from Sonoma State has Boyer and Ford advancing to the second round. They will face Yumiko Justin and Christina Valladares, the tournament’s No. 3 seed, in the second round on Thursday at 3 p.m.

In the singles bracket Lewis, ranked No.3 in the West Region, is the No. 11 seed and will face Alexandra Scotten from UC Santa Cruz. Lewis made it to the quarterfinals of the singles tournament in 2010. Fox who is ranked No. 16 in the West Region will open against Rachael Miller of Redlands. Both Lewis and Fox will play their opening matches at 8 a.m. on Thursday.

Sophomore Dylan Tevlin will be making his second-straight appearance representing the men in both singles and doubles.  Last year Tevlin made it to the round of 16, with partner Christian Isip, before losing. This year he will be playing with senior Giovanni Villicana and the two will play Russell Brockett and Robbie Erani from Claremont-Mudd-Scripps. The opening match will take place Friday at 3:30 p.m.

Tevlin will face Linfield’s Brent Kingzett in the opening round of the Men’s Division III Singles Tournament at 9 a.m. Friday. Also representing Chapman in singles is freshman Andre Herd. Herd’s opening round draw is Troy Zuroske of Pacific Lutheran Friday at 10:45 a.m.

For more information on the tournament, please visit the Ojai Valley Tennis Tournament’s website.

by Bryan Ziebelman
Sports Information Intern