In a smaller, 15-team field like the CA Challenge one might expect a smooth Day 1 ride but that was not the case Friday in San Diego as teams contended for one of the eight spots for Saturday’s gold bracket. While the four top seeds all advanced by winning their respective pools, it wasn’t so simple for one of them.

La Costa Canyon (CA)– the No. 1 team in Pool 2 – was upstaged by Kahuku (HI) in the 1 v 4 match and had to battle back against Santa Fe Christian (CA) in the 1 v 2 contest. LCC’s head-to-head victory over SFC afforded the Mavericks first place in the pool after both finished 2-1 and advanced.

Top-seeded Torrey Pines (CA), No. 3 San Marcos (CA) and No. 4 Eastlake (CA) combined to go 8-0 with only Eastlake dropping a set along the way. Torrey Pines was part of a three-team pool and played just two matches, though they were best-of-five.

Great Oak (CA) moved on along with Torrey Pines out of Pool 1. In Pool 3, the No. 3 team Buchanan (CA) finished 2-1 to make the gold bracket with San Marcos. And in Pool 4, there was a three-way tie at 1-2 behind Eastlake. Los Gatos (CA), Mission Vista (CA) and Frontier (CA) knotted up but Los Gatos received the tiebreaker for second place to stay in contention.

***

UNDER THE RADAR PLAYERS

We’ll have our normal Show Stoppers after the tournament concludes highlighting the top players we saw during the two days of action. Below, we bring you players who have flown under the radar but caught our eye on Day 1.

Isabella Akanoa SR S/RS Kahuku (HI)

Meghan Kagehiro JR L St. Mary’s (CA)

Keely Hummel JR OH St. Mary’s (CA)

Avery Banaag SR L Eastlake (CA)

Lily Stewart JROH Eastlake (CA)

MJ Martin JR S Mission Vista (CA)

Kristine Zhou SR S Santa Fe Christian (CA)

Kate Phillips L Santa Fe Christian (CA)

Emma Bambe SR L La Costa Canyon (CA)

Sienna Manning JR MB La Costa Canyon (CA)

Portia Zeidler FR MB Los Gatos (CA)

Stevie Yursik SR OH Frontier (CA)

Emma Heckman SR RS Point Loma (CA)

Kathryn Cherrington SR OH Ironwood Ridge (AZ)

Melanie Merrill SR OH Ironwood Ridge (AZ)

Sarah Wilson SR OH Great Oak (CA)

Zayda Fuertez JR L Great Oak (CA)

Sophia Duguid FR RS Great Oak (CA)

Lauren Feller SO RS San Marcos (CA)

Charlee Ellena JR OH San Marcos (CA)

Cameron Holcomb FR L San Marcos (CA)