Matthews highlights tennis locals at Ojai tournament

Fabian Matthews goes back to Ojai today, but this time he’s alone.

Well, not really. The Corona del Mar High senior will have Coach Tim Mang there, and teammates Chris Damion and Shane Korber are in the CIF doubles draw that Matthews won with CdM graduate Dustin Hladek a year ago.

But, this year, Matthews will attempt to add another prestigious title at the 108th annual Ojai Valley Tennis Tournament in the CIF singles division. The top seed, he begins in the Round of 64 with a match against Francesco D’ Arcangelo of Cathedral Catholic today at 9:30 a.m.

“It brings back some memories,” the UC Irvine-bound Matthews said of returning to Ojai. “I play well on these courts. It gives me some confidence.”

Also entered in the tournament are Estancia High senior Bradley Fisher in CIF singles, and Eagles’ juniors Danny O’Neil and Ely Zaidler in CIF doubles. Fisher advanced to the second round in singles last year at Ojai.

Newport Beach resident Ali Walters is the No. 3 seed in the girls’ 18s division, and begins today at 12:30 p.m. against a to-be-determined opponent. Also in that draw is Estancia’s Ellie Edles and Corona del Mar resident Rachel Cox, who attends Mater Dei.

CdM juniors Danielle Kaiden and Paige Polizois are the top seeds in the 16-team girls’ 18 doubles draw, which begins Friday. That draw also includes CdM’s Karen Ishii and Kelli Feeley, as well as the Estancia teams of Misha Brown and Natalie Plascencia, and Kendra Fisher and Jennifer Johnston.

Estancia’s Kevin Thomas and CdM’s Ryan Peyton are both in the boys’ 16 singles draw. Costa Mesa resident Laurel Hinson is in the girls’ 14 singles draw, and Newport Beach resident Dante Saleh is in the boys’ 14 singles draw.

Corona del Mar resident Cierra Gaytan-Leach is the No. 4 seed in the women’s open division, which features 16 players, also including former UC Irvine player Izabela Mijic of Newport Beach. Gaytan-Leach is also teaming with Pamela Montez of La Quinta in the women’s open doubles draw.

Former UC Irvine player Aaron Yovan is in the men’s open singles draw.

The tournament also features Orange Coast College players competing in the small college events. They include Brittnie Furuvald and Brittany Bass on the women’s side. Furuvald and Bass, the Orange Empire Conference doubles champions, are also teamed in doubles, along with the Pirates’ Kalin Eshelman and Evelyn Wallace

For the OCC men, Landon Draper and Giovanni Villicana are competing in singles. Villicana is teamed with Pat Lam in doubles, and the Pirates also have the duo of Kevin Kordestani and Andy Ong competing.

— Matt Szabo