Two-time defending state champion Alyssa Tobita of Mililani breezed into the girls quarterfinals after the first day of the Carlsmith Ball/Hawaii High School Athletic Association state tennis championship at Mauna Lani Bay.
Tobita lost just one set all day, beating King Kekaulike’s Michaela Thompson 6-1, 6-0 and Kahuku’s Rachel Christensen 6-0, 6-0.
Tobita faces seventh seed Diana Wong of Hilo in today’s quarterfinal.
All other top-seeded players advanced to today’s quarterfinals. No. 2 Ashley Ishimura of Punahou will play Kamehameha’s Kahala Companion (8); Mid-Pacific’s Skyla Alcon (3) will face Punahou’s Serena Le (5); Hilo’s Emily Soares (4) will take on Punahou’s Scout Shutter (6).
In doubles, Katie Kim, a member of last year’s doubles state championship team with Ishimura, teamed with Dani Young to advance to the quarterfinals. They are seeded third. Top seed Kara Okazaki and Kristen Poei of ‘Iolani also advanced.
In boys singles, top-seeded Kawika Lam of Punahou, a doubles champion last season, advanced to the quarters, as did defending state singles champion Marcel Chan of Kamehameha.
Today, Lam will play Mililani’s Sage Leaman (5); Chan (2) will meet Punahou’s Zander Kim (7); Hawaii Baptist’s Jeffrey Liang (3) will face ‘Iolani’s Daisuke Nakayama (8); and Waiakea’s Isaiah Brilhante (4) will play Mid-Pacific’s Hideto Kitagawa (6).
In doubles, Mililani’s Ryan Hirokane and Davin Lee were the only unseeded team to advance to the quarterfinals. The top-seeded team of Travis Lau and Matt Perez of Punahou started off hot, winning its first three sets by love scores.
All quarterfinal singles matches will start at 8:30 a.m. today, with the semifinals at noon. Doubles quarters are 10 a.m., with semifinals at 1:30 p.m. The finals for singles and doubles will be held Saturday.
