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Tennis

Three local leagues return with state crowns

By NANCY MORGAN
Published January 18, 2006

Pinellas senior tennis dominated at last weekend's USTA Florida Combo Doubles League Sectional Championships.

Shipwatch Tennis Club's 7.5 senior women, Treasure Island Tennis and Yacht Club's 6.5 senior women and Feather Sound Country Club's 6.5 senior men brought home championships from the competition in Daytona Beach.

"I felt we had great balance on our team and were able to put together teams that worked well," Shipwatch senior 7.5 captain Lynne Norring said. "The strength of our 3.5 players was a big factor in our doing well both in the regular season to qualify for state and in sectionals. At first I was skeptical, but as the season went on, I felt we had a pretty good chance at getting to state."

Shipwatch opened with a 3-0 win over Gainesville on the play of Pat Colacchio and Gail Pierce in No. 1, Mickie Gelestor and Norring in No. 2 and Vicky Tuller and Sue Magnus in No. 3.

Two matches in a day proved no problem for the Shipwatch teams as they defeated Gainesville a second time with wins from Colacchio and Pierce in No. 1 and Elizabeth Proctor and Nancy Morgan in No. 2. Colacchio and Pierce teamed in No. 1 and Proctor and Morgan in No. 2 to win 2-1 over Lakeland. The Lakeland win clinched the sectional title for Shipwatch, even with a fourth match yet to play.

"We had strong players across the board," Colacchio said. "In Pinellas, there are a lot of league opportunities and that was a factor, too. Our competition in Pinellas was as strong, if not stronger, than at state."

In the second match with Lakeland, Gelestor and Norring collected a third-set tiebreak win.

Treasure Island took the minimum players to their first-ever sectional and posted wins over Gainesville and Winter Haven to claim the championship.

"It was so wonderful to win and to bring back a title," captain Victoria Hess said. "I can't say enough about our team. We did a lot of preparation for this tournament, and it paid off. I know this team so well, I knew that if we got in a tiebreak situation, they'd pull it out."

The TI squad won all six of its third-set tiebreakers.

TI opened its competition with a 2-1 victory over Gainesville with third-set tiebreak wins from Susan Barnes and Dolores Hayman in No. 2 and Elaine Keen and Patsy Voightmann in No. 3. TI beat Winter Haven 2-1 with Barnes and Hayman in No. 2 and Keen and Voightmann in No. 3 pulling out two more third-set tiebreakers.

In a second match with Gainesville, Keen and Voightmann won again in No. 3 on a third-set tiebreaker, but the team lost 2-1.

The determining match with defending champion Winter Haven resulted in Barnes and Hayman in No. 1 and Keen and Voightmann in No. 3 posting straight-set wins and Hess and Denise Reaves collecting a third-set win in No. 2.

Feather Sound men's 6.5 senior team jumped to a quick start with two 3-0 wins. First, David Smith and Blane Sherk in No. 1 and Bob Hicks and Pat Augustine in No. 2 posted straight-set wins over Lakeland, and George Ditzel and Phillip Sealund recorded a win by default in No. 3. Smith and Sherk followed with a three-set win in No. 1 against Gainesville, and Hicks and Augustine in No. 2 and Ditzel and Bob Bream in No. 3 added straight-set wins.

A second match with Lakeland resulted in a 2-1 victory on the play of Smith and Sherk in No. 1 and Sealund and Tom Schultz in No. 2.

With a 3-0 record headed into the final match, Feather Sound only needed to win one match to clinch the title, said Augustine. Augustine and Hicks posted a win in No. 2 for the win.

[Last modified January 18, 2006, 01:10:21]