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Parting proved to be sweet happiness Thursday at the Texas Summer Grand Slam.
Teal Vosburgh said farewell to Girls 16 competition by winning the division championship at the Mitchell Tennis Center. A couple of hours earlier, Anik Cepeda put the finishing touches on her junior career and turned her attention to collegiate tennis after taking the consolation title in Girls 18.
The Grand Slam will conclude Friday, with championship matches scheduled in Boys 18, Boys 16, Boys 12 and Girls 12.
Vosburgh and Cepeda finished with meaningful victories on another hot, windy day at the state's biggest junior tennis tournament.
The 15-year-old Vosburgh plans to move up one division to Girls 18. She will make the jump on a high note after outlasting Kenna Kilgo 6-3, 4-6, 6-1 in the Girls 16 final.
Vosburgh has been climbing the state's junior ranks since joining the John Newcombe Tennis Academy near New Braunfels last fall. She expects to move up one spot and become the No. 1-ranked player in Texas 16-and-under after winning the Grand Slam, where previously top-ranked Nicole Long of Plano lost in the second round.
"It really means a lot," Vosburgh said. "It's not just a big tournament. I've been wanting to get to No. 1 for so long, and I think this may give me enough points for that.
"This was going to be my last 16s tournament, and I really wanted to finish off winning. It feels so good to get it done."
Vosburgh is home-schooled like many of the top players at the Newcombe Academy. She will begin 10th grade in the fall.
Both Girls 16 finalists produced their highest finish at the Grand Slam. Kilgo, a 15-year-old who will be a sophomore at Waco Midway, missed last year's Slam because of a broken foot.
Kilgo, a No. 5 seed, emerged from a half of the bracket that saw the second and third seeds eliminated before the quarterfinal round.
"I'm happy with the week, getting this far and playing a lot of good people," Kilgo said.
Vosburgh and Kilgo have faced each often in junior events. Vosburgh won the two meetings coming into the Grand Slam, but Kilgo pulled out a three-set victory when they played each other at the Mitchell Center in a Super Champ zone tournament in November.
"It's always fun to play her, because we both hit for the lines and it's aggressive and a fun way to play," Vosburgh said.
Vosburgh never trailed in the first set and never led in the second set. The players escaped the broiling sun during a 10-minute break before the last set. When they returned, Vosburgh came out cooking.
Working the baseline and driving the ball from both sides, Vosburgh broke Kilgo's serve to open the third set. Then came the biggest game of the match.
Vosburgh fell behind 0-40 and faced three break points, but she recovered to hold her serve on the way to taking the first four games. What was she thinking at 0-40?
"I try not to overanalyze too much," Vosburgh said. "My mind can overload, so I try to take it one point at a time and play it out. It worked pretty well. It was big to win that one, because it's nice to have an extra game when you start out in a set. It made me feel a lot better."
Kilgo saw the momentum she gained by winning the second set evaporate after letting the break chances slip away.
"I kind of lost focus a little bit," Kilgo said. "I tried to go too close to the lines. It happens."
College Station's Cepeda finished off an impressive run through the Girls 18 consolation bracket by outlasting BethEllen Keeler of Bee Cave in the final, 6-4, 5-7, 1-0, taking the super tiebreaker 13-11. Cepeda reached Thursday's final by rallying for a pair of three-set victories Wednesday.
It was Cepeda's first win over Keeler after several losses. It also represented an end to a phase of Cepeda's career: She will play only in a small tournament or two this summer before starting her college career at William & Mary in the fall.
"It means that mentally I've improved tremendously," Cepeda said. "I've taken the necessary steps to win these matches, where before I felt like I couldn't. Finally I beat her. It was a good closing to junior tennis for me."
Three other divisions crowned champions Thursday. Lilly Kimbell captured the championship in Girls 18 with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Elizabeth Begley, extending Kimbell's successful spring run that included a win over Cepeda in the UIL Class 5A state final.
Peggy Porter took the title in Girls 14 with a 6-2, 6-0 victory over Brittany Brewster. The Boys 14 champion is Christian Vieira, who defeated William Jou 6-4, 6-4.
NOTES -- The score for College Station's Kristina Raphael was incorrect in Tuesday's paper. Raphael lost the third-round consolation match in Girls 14 to Emily Draughon 7-5, 1-6, (10-5).
