College Update: Rachel Fox helps make history for Chapman tennis

The following are updates on local athletes at the collegiate level.

Rachel Fox (La Cañada High, 2011) Chapman tennis junior: The former All-Area singles player turned in a season to remember in doubles alongside teammate Andrea Hammer.

The tandem made a run to the NCAA Division III quarterfinals, concluding their season May 23 in a loss to second-seeded Jordan Brewer and Gabby Devlin of Amherst College (Mass.), 6-1, 6-1, in Claremont.

It was a history-making effort for Fox and Hammer, who became the first Chapman doubles squad to ascend so far in the NCAA championship tournament. The duo concluded their season with a 20-6 record and were just the second tandem in Panthers’ history to post a 20-win season.

A day before their quarterfinal match, Fox, a junior, and Hammer, a sophomore, swept Patricia Kirkland and Sonja Meighan from Washington & Lee (Va.), 6-4, 6-3.

Hammer, who was also in the singles tournament, and Fox were the first Panthers to receive NCAA berths since 2011.

In singles, Fox was the No. 2 player on the squad, and finished with an 8-9 overall record, going 3-5 in Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play.

David Olmedo-Barrera (St. Francis High, 2012) Cal State Fullerton baseball sophomore: Olmedo-Barrera finished the season as hot as he’s ever been since reaching the college level, but, unfortunately, the Titans didn’t follow suit, as they lost to Oklahoma State in the final game of the Stillwater Regional on June 1.

Olmedo-Barrera came off the bench and went one for two to finish his season on a five-game hitting streak. He went five for 11 in three regional games.

Fullerton opened with a 5-1 win over Nebraska on Friday in which Olmedo-Barrera went one for four and drove in a run on a single to tie the game at 1. In a 13-7 loss to Oklahoma State on May 31, Olmedo-Barerra went three for five with a run and a run batted in. His three hits were a career-high.

However, perhaps surprisingly, the designated hitter wasn’t in the starting lineup and did not play in a 4-3 win over Nebraska. He then came off the bench against Oklahoma State.

Olmedo-Barrera became an everyday starter for the Titans in late April and had started in nine consecutive games and played in 21 in a row before sitting against Oklahoma State.

Olmedo-Barrera played in 38 games over the season for Fullerton (34-24), which won seven in a row to earn a berth in the tournament, finishing with a .273 batting average (27 for 99) with five doubles, 21 runs, 14 runs batted in and a .314 on-base percentage.

Josh Kim (La Cañada High, 2013) Pomona-Pitzer tennis freshman: The former All-Area selection made an instant impact for Pomona-Pitzer, earning a spot in the singles lineup and producing a 7-3 overall record.

He was used primarily in the No. 6 singles spot, where he went 5-1. In Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play, he posted a 3-2 mark.

He played just two doubles matches, one with Sam Crawford and another with Graham Maassen, but won both.

Kim was swept, 6-3, 6-4, in singles against Claremont-Mudd-Scripps on May 10 in Pomona-Pitzer’s 5-1 loss in the NCAA Division III Regional finals. The Sagehens finished their season at 17-8.

The Sagehens lost to Claremont in the SCIAC team finals, as well, but still earned an at-large bid to the regionals, where they defeated Texas-Tyler, 5-1. In the SCIAC tournament, Kim likely achieved his biggest highlight with a 6-0, 6-0 singles win in the SCIAC semifinals over Cal Lutheran.

Anna Edwards (La Cañada High, 2011) Northwestern University softball junior: For a third straight season, Edwards was a mainstay in the Northwestern starting lineup.

Started all 53 games for the Wildcats, hitting .274 (43 for 157) with 34 runs batted in, 32 runs and 13 extra-base hits, including five home runs. His 24 walks helped lead to a .375 on-base percentage.

Northwestern (35-18) advanced to the NCAA Division I postseason, but fell in the NCAA Seattle Regional final to Washington, 9-0. Previously, Northwestern rebounded from a 7-2 opening loss to Brigham Young to defeat Iona, 14-4, and then BYU, 8-3.

Edwards hit safely in each of the last three games of the regional, highlighted by a two-for-four day with a run and a pair of RBI against Iona, in which she hit her final roundtripper of the season.

Lauren O’Leary (La Cañada High, 2011) Georgetown University softball junior: O’Leary concluded her third season with the Hoyas sporting an 11-11 record with a 3.65 earned-run average.

Her best outing came in an April 5 win over St. John’s in which she threw a two-hit shutout to lead her team to a 1-0 win in 10 innings.

A March 29 win over Creighton saw her strike out a season-high eight batters and was part of a span from March 9 to April 1 in which she won five straight games.

She struck out 90 to 38 walks over 142 innings.

Georgetown went 26-22 with a 12-8 record in the Big East Conference.
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Follow Grant Gordon on Twitter: @TCNGrantGordon.