Sharpsburg’s Natalie Pluskota recently competed in the National Hard Courts tennis tournament in San Diego, Calif. She was unseeded entering the tournament and ranked 125th. Her performance in the tournament boosted her to a ranking of 83rd in the nation.

She won her first three matches, defeating players ranked 150th (6-1,6-2), 161st (6-1,6-1) and 216th (6-3,6-4). In the round of 64, Pluskota lost to Rosalia Alda, the 25th seed ranked 27th in the nation, 5-7,6-3, 3-6 before winning her next three matches against Marianna Milchutske, ranked 72nd, 6-3,6-0, Arianna Colffer, seeded 28th and ranked 47th, 4-6, 6-1, 7-6 (1) and Coco Vandewegh, the 18th seed, ranked 34th in the nation, when Vandewegh withdrew dur to injury.

The tournament ended for Pluskota with a loss to Stephany Chang, ranked 22nd in the nation and seeded 15th in the tournament, 2-6,3-6. Pluskota, currently ranked second in Georgia and only 10 points behind number one, is also ranked seventh in the south. A number of college scouts flew out to the tournament to watch her play. Pluskota’s first choice is the University of Tennessee but scouts from Auburn, Virginia, Princeton and ohio State were among the many people watching her play.