Palisadians Move On at Ojai Tennis Tournament

The 111th Ojai Valley Tennis Tournament got underway Thursday in Ventura County and local players are still alive in junior, high school and collegiate divisions.

Playing in the CIF division, had mixed results on Thursday's first day. Top singles player won his early morning first-round match at Thacher School, 7-5, 6-2, over Troy Chavez of Temecula Valley.

In the second round, Thornton was well on his way to victory, leading 6-0, 4-0 when Nicolas Pollero of Santa Barbara retired with an injury. Thornton plays Johnny Wang of San Marino in the round of 16 Friday at 8 a.m. at Thacher.

Palihi did not fare nearly as well in doubles. and were eliminated in the first round, suffering a 6-4, 7-5 defeat to Adam Schwartz and Victor Vu of Brentwood School on Thursday afternoon, also at Thacher. 

Pacific Palisades resident , the No. 1 player at Brentwood, is into the third round in the CIF singles draw after recovering to beat Jake Douglas of Palos Verdes, 4-6, 6-2, 6-2, in his first match, then making short work of Devin Barber, 6-2, 6-1, in the second round.

Pura will face Jack McCullers of Mission Hills in the round of 16 Friday at 9:30 a.m. at Thacher.   

In the boys' 16s singles, Palihi's has advanced to the round of 16 after two victories Thursday. In the morning, he swept Corey Karen of Oxnard, 6-2, 6-3, and in the afternoon he overcame a poor first set to post a 1-6, 6-4, 6-2 win over another Oxnard player, Ethan Lopez, at Ojai Valley School's upper campus. Silvers takes on fourth-seeded Kei Ezaka of Ojai on Friday at 8 a.m. at Thacher. If victorious, he would play again at 2 p.m.

In the girls' 16s singles, Palisadian has also advanced to the round of 16. She had a first-round bye, then eliminated Samantha Hodges of Encinitas, 6-2, 6-1, Thursday afternoon at Meiners Oaks. Oleynik will play Ojai's Aurora Garrison at 8 a.m. Friday at Villanova School, with the winner advancing to the quarterfinals at 2 p.m.

Three Palisadians were in the boys' 14s singles draw, but none advanced beyond the second round of the 64-player draw. lost a close first round match to Vatsal Bajpai of Long Beach,  4-6, 6-1, 6-4, at Rancho Matilija. was awarded a bye into the second round, where he lost to Connor Hance of Torrance, 6-1, 6-4, at Ojai Valley School's upper campus. On the opposite side of the 14s draw, dropped his first-rounder, 6-1, 6-1, to Garrett Kurtz.

After receiving a first-round bye in the girls' 14s singles, Palisadian played Mattea Kilstofte of Santa Barbara in the round of 32 and lost, 6-1, 6-1, at Rancho Matilija.

In the Pacific-10 men's Invitational singles division, Stanford sophomore prevailed 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 in the round of 16 against California's Katsarov Bozhidar. He will take on Matt Stith of Washington on Friday at noon at Libbey Park South.

Kehrer, who grew up in Pacific Palisades, is also vying for a repeat in the Pacific-10 Invitational doubles division. He and partner Daniel Ho got a quarterfinal bye and will play Cal's Bozhidar and Riki McLachlan in the semifinals Saturday at 2 p.m. at Libbey Park South.