Xiong finishes in top 8

Yang Xiong reached the quarterfinals of the Northern Section tennis tournament before falling to Shasta’s Simon Hundeshagen on Monday, 6-3, 6-4. He finished as one of the top eight players in the Northern Section.

Xiong, the tournament’s No. 5 seed, opened singles play with a bye and then beat Orland’s Josh Olivarez, the Butte View League champion, 7-5, 7-6 (7-3) to reach the quarterfinals.

In doubles, Xiong and Brandon Boyd defeated Mercy’s No. 1 team of Kevin Thibert and Michael Estrada, 6-3, 6-1 in a rematch of the Sacramento Valley League doubles championship. The Honker duo then lost in the second round to the No. 2 team from Chico, 6-3, 6-3.

Vadym Samoylov lost his singles opener to Olivarez 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 and teamed with Awaaz Patel in doubles, losing to Orland’s Cody Wackerman and Phelipe Pereira 6-3, 6-3 in the first round.

Boyd won his first match against the No. 2 player from Anderson, 6-4, 6-1, but then fell to the tournament’s No. 3 seed, Justin Archer, 6-0, 6-0.