Lake Forest sophomore Leo Canales defeated junior Anthony Collado in the Open Singles final at the Circle City Tournament in Indianapolis on Sunday.
Canales prevailed 21-7, 21-3 to claim the title. Both players also defeated teammates in tiebreaker fashion to reach the final. Canales eliminated sophomore Ricardo Palma 21-10, 19-21, 11-5 while Collado defeated senior Matthew Chu 21-11, 12-21, 11-0.
Senior Christi Valicenti reached the Open Singles final on the women's side. She also needed a tiebreaker victory against a teammate along the way, defeating senior Lisa Ledvora 21-15, 20-21, 11-9 in the quarterfinals.
The Men's Open Doubles bracket consisted of three teams competing in a round robin format. Canales and Palma won their first match, as did Collado and Chu, setting up an outstanding battle between the two teams. Canales and Palma took the first game 21-7, fell 21-14 in the second, and took the tiebreaker 11-7 to claim the title.
Ledvora and senior Marina Alessi reached the Open Doubles final on the women's side but were defeated 21-20, 12-21, 11-1.
Sophomore Max Roberts had a successful weekend in the lower brackets, finishing as the runner-up in B Singles and Doubles. Senior John Snider reached the B Singles semifinals and was Roberts' partner in doubles. Sophomore Carter Kounovsky advanced to the quarterfinals in B Singles and, with sophomore Jon Vargas, the semifinals in B Doubles.
Alessi was the runner-up and fellow senior Jessica Chang a semifinalist in the Women's A Singles. Junior Sophia Goss, sophomore Bethany Fyffe, and freshman Billie Rodman were each victorious in the bracket's round of 16 before falling in the quarterfinals. Chang and Goss also won the A Doubles title in a field of four Forester teams.
It was a final tune-up before the team's most important competition of the year, the United States Handball Association National Collegiate Championships at the University of Minnesota February 24-28.
