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Two area adult leagues move on to state tourney

By NANCY MORGAN
Published July 19, 2006

Two St. Petersburg/Clearwater teams advanced a step closer toward a national contest in last weekend's Central Regional Adult League Championships held in Daytona Beach.

The Seminole Lake Tennis Academy 4.5 men's team and Countryside Country Club's 3.0 women won regionals and qualified for the Aug. 11-13 state championships.

Five teams placed second, including Feather Sound Country Club 2.5 women, McMullen 4.0 women, Countryside 3.0 men, Shipwatch Tennis Club 3.5 men and McMullen 4.0 men. Countryside 3.5 women were third, and Royal Racquet Club 4.5 women placed fourth.

Seminole opened its six-team round-robin competition with a 4-1 win over Tampa on the singles play of captain Mike Hooper and Marvin Wilhite and doubles wins from Scot Monette and Rick Workman in No. 2 and Steve Baccich and Craig Gordon in No. 3.

A 3-2 loss to Orlando in the second match sparked a critical need to produce victories in the remaining three.

"We knew we had to win the rest of our matches after Orlando beat us," said Hooper, 26. "Based on our match with Tampa, we thought they were the strongest and would help us out by beating Orlando, but they didn't. We thought if Orlando got a loss and with our then beating Space Coast 5-0, we would have a slight lead."

Posting wins against Space Coast were Hooper and Wilhite in singles, Mark Curran and Chris Rivera in No. 1 doubles, Workman and Monette (No. 2) and Gordon and Craig Hajdich (No. 3).

To Seminole's surprise and relief, Daytona Beach pulled out a 3-2 win over Orlando to balance the win-loss records 2-1.

"After Daytona beat Orlando, we were definitely pumped up," Hooper said, "and realized Daytona was better than we thought. We knew we better set up our strongest lineup against them."

The lineup worked, and Seminole won 4-1 on wins in singles by Hooper and in doubles by Curran and Rivera (No. 1), Workman and Monette (No. 2) and Baccich and Gordon (No. 3).

When Hooper did the math - counting team win-loss records, individual position wins and losses and even sets results - he knew Seminole had a chance if it beat Polk County in the last match and if Tampa would take at least one win off Orlando.

Hooper played his fourth singles match in three days and lost his first in No. 1, and Wilhite got a win by default to even the team score 1-all with Polk County.

In doubles, Bill McMahon and Rivera won in straight sets in No. 1, as did Baccich and Gordon in No. 3. Workman and Monette collected their fourth win of the tournament with a 7-5, 6-4 score in No. 2.

Seminole and Orlando finished with identical records (4-1) and individual wins and losses (19-6). The difference was Seminole losing fewer sets, 15 compared to Orlando's 17.

For the Countryside 3.0 women's squad, their third trip to regionals was the best. Having finished second by a point last year, the team won four matches 5-0 and one 4-1 to assure their first trip to state.

In Feather Sound's first trip to regionals, the 2.5 women's team beat Space Coast 3-0 and Daytona Beach 2-1 in its four-team round robin. The team's only loss was 2-1 to eventual champ Polk County.

Shipwatch was unbeaten (3-0) heading into its final match with Daytona Beach, but a 4-1 loss gave Daytona the title.

McMullen 4.0 women lost their first match 4-1 to eventual champion Orlando, but won their remaining four to finish second among six teams.

McMullen 4.0 men lost their first and last matches (Tampa and Polk County) with 3-2 scores and beat Orlando 5-0 and Space Coast and Daytona Beach 4-1 for its second-place 3-2 record.

Countryside's 3.0 men opened with a 3-2 win over Tampa before falling 4-1 to eventual champ Daytona Beach. Countryside won its final match 3-2 over Space Coast.

NET SHOTS: Kirsten Willis defended her top seeding to win the 3.0 singles and Philip Isham collected the men's 3.0 in this month's Summer Designated NTRP Tournament at Countryside Country Club.

Doubles winners included Stephanie Ladell and Donna Roberts (women's 4.5), Susan Hobbs and Ann Worthington (4.0), Barbara Brown-Emery and Gigi Mashburn (3.5), Craig Emery and Harry Johnson (4.0), and James Stearns and John Rosenquist (3.0).

- Jorge Guerra won the boys 18-and-under in this month's Summer Super Series at Royal Racquet Club. Guerra beat Bradenton's Peter Coulis 6-5, 6-7 (11-13), 6-4. Kirk Kucin teamed with Fabio Pagani to claim the 18 doubles.

- Scott Smith, former tennis director at Treasure Island Tennis and Yacht Club, accepted the executive director position at the Vineyard Youth Tennis Center in Martha's Vineyard, Mass. Smith will coordinate tennis events for more than 400 youths.

COMING UP: The Summer Classic Too for junior singles players begins Saturday at Safety Harbor Spa. Call 724-7729 today. ...The Back to School Bash for Kids is at the Tampa Convention Center 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday and noon-4 p.m. Sunday. Among the activities include the Bobby Curtis Tennis on the Move traveling tennis carnival. For details, call 360-6543.

News for this column may be faxed to Nancy Morgan, 445-4119; e-mailed to namorgan@tampabay.rr.com or sent to 710 Court St., Clearwater, FL 33756. Please include phone number.

[Last modified July 18, 2006, 19:59:37]