Austin Tennis Academy News

January 3, 2010

ATA Competes in JTT State Championships; 14s Advanced Team Takes State Title

Austin Tennis Academy’s 14 and under Advanced team earned a Junior Team Tennis State Championship. The 14 and under Intermediate team finished 5th, while the 18s Advanced team took 3rd in New Braunfels on Nov. 21-22.



The 14 and under Advanced team, known as the Austin ATA Gold White Dream Team, went 4-0 as a team while winning 18 of 20 individual matches. The championship team consisted of Allie Burak, Ben Smith, Carli Knezevich, Dylan Ritter, Jake Berber, Maggie O’Meara, Sydney Young and Zane Ritter.



The Dream Teams first match pitted them against the Amarillo Los Tenistas. Led by Dylan Ritter’s 8-2 victory in singles over Andrew Everett, the team earned a clean sweep. Allie Burak defeated Rebecca Ritchie 8-0 in singles. Zane Ritter and Jake Berber teamed up for an 8-0 victory in doubles over Zavala and Garrido. Sydney Young and Maggie O’Meara beat Manchee and Bruton 8-0 in doubles and Ben Smith and Carli Knezevich took down Cnossen and Cnossen 8-1 in mixed.



In the second round the Dream Team faced Dallas DCC 14 open team, who they defeated 3 matches to 2. ATA earned wins at the male singles spot where Dylan Ritter beat Drake Turnbull 8-1. At the male doubles spot, Berber and Smith defeated Howard and Grey 8-2, while Knezevich and Zane Ritter thumped McCullugh and Nash 8-1 in mixed.





McAllen ACES met ATA in the third round, where the Dream Team worked for another 5-0 sweep. Berber stepped in at the singles spot to Gerardo Kamel 8-3. Knezevich, playing singles, took down Maria-Camila Gonzalez 8-2. The Ritter brothers teamed up to dominate Quesada and Alhalel 8-1, while O’Meara and Young defeated Gonzalez and Gonzalez 8-0. Smith and Burak beat Perkins and Arizola in mixed, 8-4.



In the Dream Team’s final match they faced the Ft. Worth Tennis Nuts, and again finished without dropping a match. In singles, Dylan Ritter defeated Isaac Harrell 8-1 while Burak beat Isabelle Bergman 8-1. In doubles, Berber and Smith worked for an 8-1 victory over Mueller and Rodgers, while O’Meara and Young beat Bramlett and Stout 8-2. Knezevich and Zane Ritter joined forces for an 8-3 win over Stout and Harrell in mixed.



The 14 and under Intermediate team, known as the Austin ATA Comp 1 Aces, went 2-1 as a team, taking 5th place. The team consisted of Ankith Kandikonda, Cierra Yudell, Danielle Cuteri, Smrithi Mahadevan, Tyler Wilkie, Tyler Anson and Zach Knezevich.

The Aces opened play against the McAllen Top Guns. Cierra Yudell edged out Stephaniel Saracho in singles, 6-5, while Smrithi Mahadevan and Danielle Cuteri connected for a 6-3 win in doubles. The Top Guns inched past the ATA Aces in the other matches to earn a 3-2 victory.



The Amarillo Canyon Crushers met the Aces in their next match. Smrithi Mahadevan stepped up again to beat Sierra Ybarra 6-3 in singles. The twosome of Zach Knezevich and Tyler Wilkie worked for a win over Chris Reid Cornelius and Rusty Hartman 6-2, while Daniel Cuteri and Cierra Yudell defeated Shannon Giles and Cheyann Schott 6-5. Anson and Yudell rounded out a 4-1 team victory by taking the mixed doubles match, 6-2.



The Aces third match of the round robin pitted them against SW Houston St. Laurence Varsity. The team fought for wins in three matches to beat St. Laurence Varsity, 3-2. Cierra Yudell shut out Taylor Ysaguirre 6-0, Zach Knezevich and Tyler Anson took down Erik Michael Swanson and James Patrick Brown 6-2 while Danielle Cuteri and Smrithi Mahadevan and Elizabeth Popp and Mary Margaret Pizzitola 6-1.



Earning 3rd place in the section, ATA’s 18s Advanced team, went 3-1 over the weekend. The team, referred to as the Gold Team, is made up of Allie Carlisle, Garrett Callen, Mikaela Pope, Neel Kumar, Nicole Karaklis, Ryan Burak and Liam Leddy.





Their first victim was the Lubbock Tigers. Ryan Burak out-worked Landon Roberts 8-6 while Nicole Karaklis beat Marnie Lemonik 8-2, to sweep the singles. Liam Leddy and Garrett Callen defeated James McCormick and Davis Ordorizzi 8-4 in doubles. Neel Kumar and Nicole Karaklis took the mixed match with an 8-4 win over Tiffany Benson and James McCormick.



The Gold teams second match faced them against the Ft. Worth WC Ball Busters. ATA’s 18s Advanced team sprinted threw the finish with a clean sweep over the Ball Busters. Ryan Burak beat Skip Gabbin 8-6 while Mikaela Pope pounded Miriam Ohakam 8-3 in singles. On the doubles court, Garrett Callen and Neel Kumar combined forces for an 8-3 win over Austin Megli and Hayden Dalley. Allie Carlisle and Nicole Karaklis took down Vannessa Lam and Emma Otleno 8-2, while Liam Leddy and Karaklis won 8-3 in mixed doubles over Megli and Lam.



The 18s Advanced team’s next match faced them against another Ft. Worth squad. This time it was the Ft. Worth 2 WC Big Ballin who took a tight duel match from the Gold team, 3 matches to 2. Ryan Burak fought for a win in singles, 8-6 over Spencer Basham. Nicole Karaklis and Allie Carlisle earned the other victory for the team, 8-5 over Canelos and Matyastik in doubles.

In the Gold team’s final match of the weekend, they met East Texas Longview in what was another duel match where the difference was only one win. This time, ATA’s 18s Advanced finished on top. Neel Kumar stepped up in singles to beat Elliot Deese 8-2. Nicole Karaklis kept up her winning ways with a hard fought 8-7 victory over Caitlin Coelho. The deciding match came down to the mixed court where Garrett Callen and Karaklis teamed up for an 8-3 win over Cameron and Alm to seal the duel match and cement the teams 3rd place result overall.

Congratulations to these three ATA Junior Team Tennis teams, for their continued hard work and success as they move forward.

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