Exon, Hol, Moore to Battle in Ojai Tennis

The boys’ 16s figures to be the most competitive of all age divisions when the 96th Ojai Valley Tennis Tournament begins today. Freshmen Chase Exon of Woodbridge, Joost Hol of Foothill and Ryan Moore of Servite are a few of the division’s top-seeded players.

Moore won the Ojai boys’ 14s two years ago, and Hol and Exon, each having excellent high school seasons, are highly ranked in Southern California. Another threat to win the division is Newport Beach’s Taylor Dent, 14, who finished fifth in this month’s Easter Bowl tournament in Palm Springs. Jonny Biorkman, Exon’s teammate, and Villa Park’s B.J. Chang are other highly ranked players in the field.

The boys’ interscholastic singles tournament will feature top-seeded Joseph Gilbert, a junior from Sunny Hills who reached the boys’ 18s round of 16 at the Easter Bowl, Dana Hills sophomore Brandon Fallon, Mater Dei junior Brett Hankey and Villa Park senior Ryan Hollis.

Foothill’s Ryan Thompson and Lance Stern figure to be favored to win the boys’ interscholastic doubles title. The girls’ 18 division features Laguna Beach’s Michelle Bray and Amanda Hastings-Phillips, Irvine’s Natalie Exon, El Modena’s Brandi Freudenberg and Newport Harbor’s Sarah Hawkins.

In the Pacific-10 Conference women’s singles, Keri Phebus, a UCLA junior, is top-seeded. Phebus is a former Corona del Mar High star.