Natalie Rogers looks to play tennis at next level

It wasn't the outcome she would have liked, yet Natalie Rogers was able to smile and look ahead to another day after losing her match at the Carson City Tennis Club's annual City Tournament early Friday evening at Centennial Park.

Rogers and her partner, Diane Baker-Roberts, lost their quarterfinal match in the women's 4.0 doubles bracket to Samantha Garlock and Yvonne Ferguson 6-2, 7-5 as part of the opening day schedule of a tournament that continues through Sunday at Centennial Park.

"I was a little off tonight," Rogers said with a shrug.

The good news for the recent Carson High School graduate is that she hopes to continue playing when she heads off to Brigham Young University-Hawaii later this month.

"I'm LDS and I wanted to go to BYU so I applied to all three schools - Utah, Idaho and Hawaii - and I was accepted by all three. I wanted to try and play tennis in college; I didn't think I could make it in Provo (NCAA Division I), Idaho doesn't offer tennis and Hawaii does, so I'm going to Hawaii," Rogers said. "I've emailed the coach (David Porter) and he said he'd look at my game when I get there."

Rogers enjoyed four productive years at Carson High, capped by a senior season in which she led the Senators to the Northern 4A Regional team playoffs. She advanced to the girls singles quarterfinals at the regional tournament before losing to eventual champion and 2002 state champion Julie Burgarello of Galena.

Still, it will be a challenge to make the cut for the Seasiders, who have won three straight NCAA Division II national championships and five titles in the last six years. But don't count her out, says Baker-Roberts, the head girls tennis coach at Carson High.

"I think that's great she's going to try and keep playing," said Baker-Roberts, who worked with Rogers the last two years. "I don't know much about their program over there, but she's the type, she's always willing to learn. She's a good player, and at the same time, academics are very important. She's a very good student."

Rogers is looking forward to having the opportunity to try and play at the next level.

"I think it would really be fun to play collegiate tennis," she said. "That would give me the chance to get better, and if I work hard, I think I can do it. If I'm on a team where I get to hit with people who are better than me, that's only going to make me better."

Also on Friday, Wine Kortemeier and Laura Wiggins of the Carson Tennis Club won a closely contested Women's 4.0 quarterfinal over Cheri Arbuckle and Laura Hale 6-1, 4-6, 7-6. The Carson Tennis Club's Louisa Vanderlinden and Richard Moore defeated Sandy Bivens and Jim Brown 6-4, 6-2 in a Century Mixed Doubles quarterfinal match.

Another standout junior, Scott Oberly of Incline Village, bested Robert Jones of Reno 6-2, 1-6, 6-3 in their men's singles match on Friday. Oberly, a senior-to-be at Incline High School, finished fourth in boys singles at the Northern 4A Regionals last year, missing a trip to state when he lost on a tie-breaker to Orion Ashmore, a Bishop Manogue student who lives in Carson City.

TAHOE CLASSIC

The 22nd Tahoe Classic doubles tournament got under way Friday with a field of 102 teams at the Zephyr Cove tennis complex.

Action resumes this morning at 7:45 a.m. and continues through Sunday. The finals are scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. on Sunday.

"The Men's A division is the most watched and most highly anticipated of all divisions," said tournament founder and director M.J. "Hersh" Herschman. "The big bangers will have the toughest competitors and most evenly matched teams in the history of the Classic."

Former champion Rob Medeiros of Reno and teammate Chris DeGraff of Carson City are seeded No. 1.