St. Croix's own Super Saturday!

Rain delayed matches from Friday night were continued at the Club on Saturday morning.  First up was the continuation of Bartasius/Kelly and Logie/Rosas.  Elizabeth Bartasius drew the attention of virtually everyone watching as "the new girl" made her debut.  With a nice chip and charge style she paired well with Les.  Flavia served extremely well with solid ground strokes, Carlos had difficulty figuring out the new game.  Well fought but Bartasius/Kelly take the first set 6-1 on Friday night.  Flavia and Carlos rebounded in the second set but lost 4-6. 

Patsy Knight and Al Baptiste took on an inspired Gabrielle Armstrong and Depak Bansal.  Cheer to Depak for holding his own with consistant play.  Gabs was serving and striking the ball well and mananged to take the first set to a tie brake, but Patsy and Al turned up the heat taking the tie brake. 

OH NO!  More rain!  Once again the effects of the tropical storm affect play with a downpour!  Ken Mashburn and our kids come to rescue by immediately hitting the courts with squeegies.  Two other matches were postponed right before start up...but no worries...Bloody Mary's magically appeared and everyone waited it out.  Great breakfast goodies were out, homemade jams...everyone was fine.  An hour later...play resumes. 

Debbie Woodson and Michael Armendariz took on Jerri Farrante and Andre Galiber.  By far the LOUDEST match of the day (we all know Debbie and Michael!) but screams of "OH NO!" by Andre kept the crowd entertained.  With a barrage of drop shots on Debbie, she quickly moved up and lobbed over Andre eliciting screams by Andre.  Great aggressive play by Jerri, crafty play by Andre but solid returning by both Debbie and Michael they take control of the match and they win 6-3, 6-3. 

Next up was Sherry "I'm Just A Girl" Mansfield and Mike Petievich taking on Kelly and Alec "I'm Just a Kid" Kuipers.  Sherry making her tournament return after a long foot surgery hiatus, take the first set 6-3 with great forehands by Sherry and booming serves by Mike.  Kuiper dem turn the tables in the second set and return the score with a second set win.  Riding a wave of solid play and some untimely errors, Kuipers take the third and final set by a score of 6-0. 

Bartasius and Kelly return to take on Team Motoodle (Heckman/Motta).  Elizabeth and Les continued their respective serve and volley games but Karen was playing inspired tennis with passing shot after passing shot to the ever smiling newcomer Elizabeth.  Karen and Kevin take the match in straight sets.  Karen and Kevin returned to the court AGAIN to take on Shelby Cruz and Zach Armstrong.  Great to see Shelby back on the courts where her solid agressive game was fun to watch.  Zach played smart tennis against Coach Kevin but Motoodle were still riding the high of the first round win.  Motoodle takes the match in straight sets. 

Finishing up their rain delayed match was Julie Mielleur and Phil Holzman taking on Barbara Robbins and Marcel Galiber.  The new pairing of Julie and Phil fought well against the experienced duo of Robbins and Galiber who take the match in straight sets.

Later on in our rain delayed Super Saturday (who says the US Open only has one!), Lee Rohn and Jerry Adames played the ever smiling married team of LaToya and Alex Elizee.  Don't let the score fool you.  Elizee's take the match 6-1, 6-1...but the fast wheels of Alex got some incredible shots by Jerry.  LaToya proved again to be the backboard that wore down so many opponents in years past.  It is SO GREAT to have LaToya back in the tennis mix! 

Lisa Adams-Mahepath and her coach and tennis partner took on the team team of Flo Logan and her very own student, Julian Depersio.  Seems like we always learn something from watching these matches.  Greg James once again, showed us how to play singles on a double court!  Good for Lisa to be playing up to the A's...perhaps Greg will allow you to hit a few more balls next time!  Lisa held her own at the net several times with the excellent shot placement by Flo and the big returning, big serving, big game of Julian.  Julian and Flo go down in straight sets, but this was a very entertaining match.  Great playing by Julian and Flo!

Robbins and Galiber return to the courts to take advantage of the dry courts and played #2 seeds, Joanie and Larry Kupfer.  Scoring the first upet of the tournament, the big returns by both Barbara and Marcel wore down our #2 seeds, and they advance to the next round.  Next up the them...Kuipers!

The final match of the evening was literally a display of youth versus experience.  Our STT friend Fennella Cooper and Stan Myrie-G (seriously...did he lose his last name somewhere?!) took on Trudy "I Wannabe Serena" Fenster and Jr. Bannis.  With big games by both of the men, both Trudy and Fennella were fearless in their defensive play and took advantage of opportunities to be offensive as well.  Stan showed why he is still a force to be reckoned with as our most seasoned entry in the field (wasn't that a nice way of saying...never mind...lol).  Experience PREVAILS and Fennella and Stan take the match!