Junior Leo Canales knocked off the #2 seed in the Men's Open Singles division and will play in the semifinals on Saturday at the United States Handball Association National Collegiate Championships. Five other Foresters are also still alive in singles play.
Canales will earn Handball All-America honors after posting a pair of singles victories on Friday. He prevailed 21-5, 21-9 in the round of 16 before pulling off the 21-10, 21-18 upset of the #2 seed in the quarterfinals. Forester senior Anthony Collado was defeated in the Open round of 16 and also fell in the Open 9-16 quarterfinals.
Junior Ricardo Palma also won twice on Friday, needing a tiebreaker victory in the A1 round of 16 before posting a more convincing 21-17, 21-10 win the the quarterfinals. Both of classmate Max Roberts' matches in the same bracket wetn to a tiebreaker. He came out on top of a 20-21, 21-9, 11-6 decision in the round of 16 before falling 21-16, 6-21, 11-9 in the quarterfinals.
One of two Foresters also advanced to the semifinals in the A2 bracket. After junior Carter Kounovsky and freshman Chandler Straw were both victorious in the round of 16, Kounovsky added a 21-13, 21-8 triumph in the quarterfinals and will play again on Saturday. Straw was defeated 21-12, 21-11. in the quarterfinal round.
The only other Lake Forest male to win on Friday was sophomore Carter Ostrander in the C3 round of 16. He was then eliminated in the quarterfinals. Junior Jon Vargas (A3), sophomore Xavier Higa (B1), sophomore David Carrillo (C1), junior Steve Lee (C2), and freshman Brandon Sanchez (C3) were defeated in their respective rounds of 16.
On the women's side the Foresters' top player, junior Kyra Vidas, dropped a heartbreaking 21-13, 13-21, 11-10 decision in the Open Singles round of 16 but rebounded for a 21-7, 21-17 triumph in the Open 9-16 quarterfinals.
Senior Sophia Goss and junior Frankie Corrado were each victorious in the A2 round of 16 on Friday but fell in tiebreakers during the quarterfinal round. Junior Bethany Fyffe was knocked off in the bracket's round of 16.
Freshman Annabeth Gibbons advanced to Saturday's B2 singles semifinals after winning 21-13, 21-12 in her quarterfinal match. Classmate Marketa Riley will also be in action on day four of the event in the semifinals of the C1 bracket. Sophomore Quinn Matuschek was eliminated in the B1 quarterfinals and freshman Madison Drake in the B2 round of 16.
Saturday's matches include the semifinals in each singles bracket as well as quarterfinal and semifinal play in doubles. All the finals will be played on Sunday.
As for the team standings, the Forester men have clinched at least a share of second place while the women will finish fourth. Lake Forest has already secured third place in the combined category.
National Collegiate Championships on USHA Website
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