Keith's Korner Archives
Division
1 Round Up - Week 1
It finally stopped raining in Philly long enough for the opening week
of paddle. Aronimink,
the reigning CHAMPIONS,
defeated
Overbrook 3 - 1. Overbrook's lone victory coming on court 1 as the
team of Simon Peppiatt and Greg Eger posting an
upset over the veteran team
of Andy
Sorrentino and John Stefanik. Last
years runners up and new look
Waynesborough
1 team opened their season with a win over Greenville
while leaving time to enjoy the great food and beverage in the
incredible new paddle facility
over at Greenville. Even if you do not
have an away match there this year, it is worth the trip!! Kennett
Square
made their Division 1 debut by posting a win over Waynesborough 2.
WCC 2 is already looking forward to their rematch with Kennett Square on January
10th. The much improved Martins
Dam team took down Philly Cricket as Martin's added Presidents Cup
veteran Scott Falatek and the talented Gregg Friggerio
to their already formidable line-up.
Philly
Country took their opening match with Merion who was missing a
few players from their line-up. All the teams are busy practicing now
that the weather has changed now that paddle season has begun.
UP NEXT:
WCC1 vs. Kennett, AGC vs. WCC2, Cricket vs. Greenville, Merion vs. Overbrook
And the SPOTLIGHT MATCH OF THE WEEK: Philly Country @ Martin's
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Division 1 Round Up - Week 2
Division
1 Round Up - Week 2 - by Keith Studnick- MAPTA
Staff writer
And then there were
3 (teams left undefeated). Martin’s
Dam made a
loud and clear statement in sweeping Philly Country on Thursday
that
they were going to be a team to be reckoned with this season.
Captain
Dan Greenwood is excited as to his
team’s start this year and expects
great things throughout the remainder of the season. Aronimink
kept up
their winning ways by defeating Waynesborough 2. Waynesborough
1 took
all 12 sets over Kennett (welcome to D1 Kennett) and rumor has it
that
several WCC1
teams were seen on the paddle court after playing their
match to get ready for next weeks battle with Philly Cricket. Tom
Safford playing in a Cameo appearance in the first spot to
team up with
Tim McAvoy felt no pressure and took
all three sets off of Greg Stipa
and Ken Goddu. Tom’s last
appearance in the first spot was sometime
during the Ronald Regan
presidency. Tom’s son Brian, made his
maiden
appearance in the D1 league and proved that his dad will not be missed
(on the court that is) when he hangs up his paddle as he teamed up
with
the wily veteran Mark Ray and also
won in straight sets (way to go
Brian). Philly
Cricket gets their first W on the board by taking down
Greenville. Merion
also gets their first win as they win by a margin of
7 sets to 5
over Overbrook. Overbrook’s #1 team of Greg Eger and
Simon
Peppiatt continued their torrid play with a straight sets
win over Chaz
Burkhart and Jeff Lyon. Eger has laid down the challenge to
all #1 teams
out there to try to take him and Peppiatt down this season. The
weather
was perfect for Week 2 and the paddle has been improving as well
with
more teams hitting the practice courts.
UP NEXT:
Merion at WCC2, PCC at Greenville, Aronimink at Kennett, Overbrook
at
Martins Dam (look for the Eger/Peppiatt vs. Greenwood/Busch results
next
week)
The SPOTLIGHT TEAM MATCH OF
THE WEEK: WCC1@
Philly Cricket
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Division 1 Round Up - Week 3
The three undefeated teams from last
week (WCC1, Aron1, MD1) continued
their winning ways in week 3.
Martin’s
Dam took down Overbrook 3 courts to 1. Overbrook’s only win
came from the paddles of Greg Eger and
Simon Peppiatt with their victory
over Captain Dan Greenwood and Aiden Busch.
Although team Eger and
Peppiatt remain undefeated in the #1 position, their
squad has yet to pull
out a team match. Earlier this week as an Emergency Precaution,
“The
Dam” had their door on Court #1 widened to fit the ego’s of the
Overbrook Duo. After this weeks win, other clubs hosting the
Overbrook
squad may want to think about doing the same. Captain Dan was heard
stating to his squad that “this year, the MAPTA D1 title goes
through
The DAM”.
Aronimink
also continued their quest for another Championship as they
won their third consecutive team match this season by defeating
Kennett
this week.
The big question of the night was how did WCC1 sweep
Philly Cricket without
McAvoy and Oberly in the #1 court?
Team Vlatko and Safford (Tom not
Brian), stepped up their play and took down Bruce
Redpath and Larry Hyde.
For those keeping track, that
is Safford’s second win in the #1 court
this season and he is not going to give up his spot to just any “monkey”.
With
McAvoy out for the evening, Hank Oberly moved
down to court 4
and according to the detailed records
that MAPTA keeps, won his first
match without Tim on the same side of the net!
Philly
Country defeated Greenville in a 8 sets to 4 victory as Country
took the first 2 courts in straight sets while Greenville’s 3
& 4 teams
won their matches 2 sets to 1. While Greenville
has started off the year
with three straight losses, they look forward to next week’s
match
against the also winless Overbrook
squad.
WCC2’s
team also remains winless as Merion
defeated them this week. WCC2
is looking forward to next weeks match against “The Dam” and
want to see
Captain Dan eat his words.
“Quote of the
Week ?”
Jim Ryan, a perennial fourth court
player for WCC1 was overheard stating
that “the best thing about Cricket’s new 4th court is that I do
not have to
wait until 8:30 to win my match, which leaves me with more
time to drink their beer,
eat their food and enjoy
the evening with my winning
teammates.”
UP NEXT:
Merion at Aronimink, Philly Country at Way1, Martins at Way2,
and
Philly Cricket at Kennett.
The SPOTLIGHT TEAM MATCH OF THE WEAK:
Greenville at Overbrook.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Division 1 Round Up - Week 4
Can anyone stop WCC1, Aronimink, or The Dam? All three remain undefeated
after last night in
another perfect evening for paddle.
Waynesborough had the double treat of having both of their D1 teams
home
last night with WCC1 playing Philly Country and
WCC2 playing The Dam.
Each match had three courts going the distance
into the third set but
with vastly different outcomes for the two Waynesborough teams.
WCC1 remained undefeated but not
without their #3 and #4 teams dropping
their first set but ultimately pulling out
the next two sets to seal
their victories. A highlighted match was
between PCC’s Justin Poletti and
partner Brian Crochere against Steve Beers and Keith Studnick.
The first
point of the match went on for over 70 shots and the first set took
almost 90 minutes as the PCC team won the tiebreaker. Spectators
during
the match mentioned that they had not seen that many “moon
balls” coming
off the PCC paddles since the last time Eddie Dibb’s
played Harold
Solomon in an ATP match. After having their necks manipulated,
Beers and
Studnick went on to win the next two sets 2 and 2.
The
Dam’s #1, 2, and 3 teams all lost
their first sets but all managed
to pull out the 2nd and 3rd sets to seal their fourth
consecutive team
win. WCC2 was up in one match 4 - 1 in the third set and
another 3 – 1
also in the third set but could not finish the match off.
Hats off to
captain Dan and his squad for their historical start.
Next up for The Dam is at Aronimink. Captain Dan speaking quite
candidly
at the WCC hut last night stated that his team was up for the task
and
that he personally “wants a
piece of Stefanik and Sorrentino” even
though he admittedly has never defeated them. His partner Aidan
does not
share his sentiments and just wants everyone to play a good match.
This
match has all of the hype of this years Patriots vs.
Colts game. The
TennisChannel will be at Aronimink setting up on
Monday to film the
contest. The Vegas odds makers have Aronimink being a
one court
favorite. I concur with Sorrentino, that while The Dam’s
squad is young
and talented, The Dam will be lucky to take a court if everyone
from his
squad shows up.
Aronimink
continued their winning ways by defeating Merion 3 – 1.
Merion’s victory came at the #3 position in which Roger
Korfmann and Ed
Saxman laid a hurting on Cliff
McLaughlin and Pete Pijawka.
In the “Match of the Weak”,
where one of the teams would walk away with
their first victory, the
winner was ….. Overbrook.
Overbrook won 3
courts to 1 over Greenville. Eger and Pepiatte once again remain
unbeaten. Pepiatte is taking side-bets that the duo will not lose
an
interclub match this season.
This marks the first time in the history of MAPTA D1 paddle that
Greenville has gone winless in their first four outings which sets
up
next weeks “Match
of the Weak” between the Dolphins, I
mean Greenville
and WCC2. I am certain that
these teams will use their week off to
improve their games. Rumor has it that the WCC2 boys are going to 2
a
day practices over the Thanksgiving weekend led by none other than Scott
Bassett. Both teams need this victory if they are going to
stay up with
the big boy’s next year. Don’t be too surprised to see both
teams pull
out all the stops to take home a victory. Mark
Ray has already spoken
with MAPTA officials to have a linesmen on-call for this battle.
The
Vegas odd makers are making the WCC2 squad a 64 games to 63 games
favorite.
Next Matches – November 29th
Philly Cricket at Philly Country, Overbrook at WCC1, Greenville at
WCC2,
and Kennett at Merion
Highlight Match of the Season to Date: Martin’s at Aronimink
**** As of press time there
was no known result of the Philly Cricket/Kennett match
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Division 1 Round Up - Week 5
The more things stay the same… the more they
change. The scoreboard
shows WCC1 staying undefeated with a 3 – 1 victory over OVB on
Thursday.
Way 1 took on Overbrook who was coming of their first win high from
the
prior week. With both T-Mac and Simon out for the two squads, Way
took
courts 2 & 3 while OVB defaulted the 4 court sealing the
victory. The #1
teams of Dickie Dunkel and Bruce Sopko squared off against Greg
Eger and
Tom Burt in a match that was all about pride. The team of Dunkel
and
Sopko has not been defeated in anyone’s recent memory in
interclub
competition at the #2 spot and it took a 8-6 tie-breaker for OVB to
seal
their only court for the week. According to Peppiatt who is sitting
out
with an injured calf, “Burt is on fire and if I could get a few
of the
Philadelphia Wings lacrosse players to join Overbrook we could be
contenders.”
In the battle of the titans, the scoreboard currently shows
AGC also
remaining undefeated with a 3 courts to 1 win over The Dam. With
Stefanik out, the MAPTA runner’s up team of Andy Sorrentio and
Drew
Friel took on Captain Dan Greenwood and Aidan Busch. The Sorrentino
and
Friel combination proved too much for The Dam squad and AGC earned
court
#1. The Dam evened up the match at the #2 position with Scott
Falatek
and Gregg Friggirio decisively taking all three sets. AGC took all
three
sets in the third court and fourth court for their W.
HOWEVER - their seems to be some controversy swirling on
which MAPTA
rules apply, who they apply to and will the commish rule
differently -
STAY TUNED to what Simon, Paula, and Randy have to say about
this???
Thursday proved to be “a date which will live in infamy” for
Greenville
as they earned their first win over Way2. The night started off
with
both the #1 and #2 teams splitting sets but once again the Way2
squad
was unable to win any of the third sets which gave Greenville an
insurmountable advantage. Greenville’s #3 and #4 teams then
continued
the sweep of Way2 in a dominant fashion. The Greenville squad was
proud
to point out that although this was their first team win, Dana
Walker
and whomever he has partnered up with has remained undefeated this
season. As the member-guest dates around the various clubs are
being
set, Dana mentioned that he is available for the right partner.
In the battle of the Phillys', Country took down Cricket 3 courts
to 1.
All of Country’s wins at #1, #3, and #4 came in three set
battles.
Merion took down Kennett 3 courts to 1. Kennett’s sole win came
at #3,
where Matt Alicknavitch & Doug Mainwaring played solid to win 3
sets
over Ed Saxman & Roger Korfmann.
Next Matches – December 6th
Martins at Merion, Cricket at Ovb, Aron at Green, Way1 at Way2,
Country
at Kennett
Individual Match of the Week
Dana Walker and his partner vs. anyone that Aronimink puts on the
4th
court
------------------------------------------
Division
1 Round Up - Week 6
- by Keith Studnick- MAPTA Staff
writer
The stage is set for the two undefeated D1 paddle behemoths
Aronimink
and Waynesborough 1 next week in the repeat match of last years
tournament championship.
This week featured one of the largest upsets in D1 paddle memory as
the
Overbrook team took down the once almighty Philly Cricket team. It
literally came down the slightest of margins as the Ovb squad won
by one
game. This match illustrates the importance of every game in the
interclub league as this huge win cantilevers the OVB squad into a
tie
for sixth place with the Cricket squad.
The two Waynesborough teams went at it with Way1 getting their
sixth
consecutive win while Way2 suffered their sixth consecutive defeat.
Way2
won court 1 with Vlatko and Paul (what day is the M-G) Ridder
handed
Bruce Sopko and Dick Dunkel their second consecutive loss in
interclub
play at the #1 position. Some of the Way2 players were heard later
that
night stating that “ If you thought the teams moving up party was
big….
Wait till you see the moving down party!!!!” Few teams know how
to party
like those boys. The W1 team hunkered down late into the evening
strategizing for their revenge match next week against Aronimink.
Aronimink defeated Greenville 3 courts to 1 with Greenville taking
court
3. Wheeler Neff and Bob Harrison from Greenville took all three
sets
from the once invincible team of Cliff McLaughlin and Pete Pijawka.
The
Aronimink team looks forward to maintain their winning ways next
week as
well. On a sad note, Dana Walker’s win streak unfortunately ended
this
week after being on a mini-tear to kick of the season. Dana and his
partner Shaw Taylor were downed by Gerry Farley and Greg Hillyard
in
straight sets. According to Dana, “the match was well played and
sportsmanship abounded”. He later stated that “Shaw smoked the
tape so
many times; he started channeling Cheech and Chong”. Although I
did not
receive a direct quote from Dana regarding the loss of his streak -
- to
be honest I would never have been able to interpret it anyhow for
the
readers. Good Luck next week Dana in quest of your new streak.
Coming fresh off their first defeat of last week, Martins shuffled
their
line up which apparently paid off as they defeated Merion 3 courts
to 1.
It is probably not coincidental that the shake up happened within a
week
of their controversial loss. Captain Dan which has never been shy
for a
quote was unavailable at the time we went to press but I am sure he
is
quite confident in this shake up and he looks forward to playing
one of
the big boys again with his new line up.
Joe Williamson teamed up with Greg Stipa from Kennett at to play
his
former teammates Andrew Hocker and Pat Nolan from Philly Country.
Pat
and Andy did not take any pity on a former teammate taking all 3
sets as
Philly Country swept all four courts from Kennett to earn their
fourth
team win.
This has proven to be a challenging first six weeks for most teams,
as
only 4 teams has more wins than losses. Currently Aronimink and
Waynesborough each have 6, Martins has 5, and Philly Country has 4.
Five
teams are close to facing a demotion as Philly Cricket and
Overbrook
each have only 2 wins, Greenville and Kennett each have 1 win and
Waynesborough 2 has not earned their first win of the season.
Merion has
three wins to match their three losses. D2 awaits the last place
team
next season.
Next Matches – December 13th
Martins and Kennett, Overbrook at Philly Country, Merion at
Greenville,
Way2 at Philly Cricket
Highlight match of the week in the battle of the undefeated
Waynesborough 1 at Aronimink
-------------------------------------------
Week 7 RAINED OUT
------------------------------------------
And then there was just ONE team remaining undefeated.
The Aronimink machine just keeps rolling (over their opponents) as
they
take down Philly Cricket 3 courts to 1 giving them their 7th
straight
victory. The loss gives Cricket their fifth loss of the season. I
remember when it used to take Cricket 3 years to post 5 losses. The
Aronimink team appears unstoppable without some divine intervention
taking place.
Waynesborough showed up to Merion missing their #1 team but still
had
plenty of confidence in their squad to keep their win streak in
tact.
Little did they know that the Merion squad was well prepared and
handed
WCC their first loss of the year. The feature match had to be on
Court
#1 which highlighted over a combined 100 years of paddle in the
Philadelphia area. WCC’s team of Tom Safford and Vlatko Najdek
lost to
Chaz Burkhardt and Chip Morrow in straight sets. Since Safford,
Burkhardt and Morrow each have close to 30 or more year’s
experience,
Tom chalks up the loss to Vlatko’s inexperience in playing in
these big
matches. Great win Merion.
The Martin’s shake up continues to pay dividends as they defeated
Greenville 3 courts to 1. This match was closer than it sounds as
three
of the four courts went to three setters with Martins winning two
of
them. Martin’s true test with this squad will be January 3rd
against
WCC1 as WCC1 looks to rebound from their first loss and Martin’s
tries
to hold onto their second place spot. Captain Dan was quoted
regarding
the upcoming match with WCC1 "Bring them on..... No one is
going to take
us down on our Turf!!!!!" Good luck Dan.
Kennett splits courts with Overbrook but wins in sets earning them
their
second victory of the season. The Overbrook squad was missing quite
a
few players but still manage to challenge the Kennett squad. The
second
win for Kennett may have ensured a D1 spot for the next year. Nice
win
Kennett.
Philly Country traveled to Waynesborough and kept the WCC2 squad
"0" for
2007 taking 3 courts to 1. WCC2 looks forward to 2008. Captain
Scott
Bassett stated “Hey the Dolphins won last week didn’t they”.
We will try
to have the video of the match posted sometime soon.
That’s it for this year. Have A Merry Christmas and a Happy and
Healthy
New Year. The matches on January 3rd should be one of the most
competitive weeks of the year. Still time to sign up for the PA
States
being held on January 12th and 13th featuring the one of the best
parties in town.
Next Matches – January 3rd
Way2 at Ovb, PCC at Aron, Way1 at Martins, Philly Cricket @ Merion,
Kennett @ Greenville
--------------------------------------
WEEK 9
A Changing of the Guard and a Tie??
Captain Dan’s Martins Dam (7-1) squad has continued their winning
ways
as they took down Waynesborough-1 (6-2) (3 courts to 1). It should
be
noted that team leader and unofficial pied piper of Philadelphia
Paddle,
Tim McAvoy tweaked his calf while on serve in the first set and was
forced to
default the remainder of the match. Scott Falatek stated
"while
this unfortunate turn of events, he hopes that Tim is back in time
to
defeat again in the PA States". This win has moved The Dam
into sole
possession of 2nd place and moved WCC-1 down to 3rd place for the
first
time in this millennium. Captain Dan after the match stated that
“His
boys have been up to the task this season and that this was
probably the
first time in 5 years that WCC1 had to play Martins on their home
turf”.
He also looks forward to his revenge match with Aronimink later
this
season to knock them down a peg or two…. Stay tuned for that
match.
D1 has witnessed the first tie of the season as the Merion (4-3-1)
and
Philly Cricket (2-5-1) teams equaled each other in matches, sets,
and games.
Statistically, each player would have had a better chance to get
hit by
lightening - - twice, then play in a match that ended in a tie. As
of
yet, there are no other tie breakers other than sets and games.
Some
suggestions I have heard from the various players are points, a
team
drinking contest, a shoot out similar to the NHL, thumb wrestling,
and
for those possessing superior intellect a game of Trivial Pursuit.
Feel
free to email the MAPTA board with other suggestions. This league
deserves better than to end a contest in a tie, what are we FIFA
soccer????
Greenville (2-6) gained their second win of the season as they
defeated
Kennett (2-6) placing each of them seemingly out of way of harms
reach
for a D2 demotion for next year.
The Waynesborough 2 (0-8) squad lost its eighth consecutive match
as the
Overbrook (3-5) team won in a # of sets tie breaker. The #1 team of
Greg
Eger and Simon Pepiette survived the loss of a first set scare and
carried their 2007 win streak alive into 2008. Way 2 has their
backs
against the wall next week as they play Kennett in a must win match
to
save any chance of playing with the big boys next season. Can
anyone
take Eger down, unless the records are incorrect, he is the only
undefeated player in the #1 spot this year. In an unconfirmed
sighting,
a BALCO truck was seen leaving the Eger household earlier in the
week.
Eger had no comment.
Aronimink has their record up to 8-0 as they defeated Philly
Country
(5-3) by sweeping all four matches in tight three setters. Is it me
or
are you bored reading about the Aronimink team..... Many
prognosticators
have them completing their perfect season this February .
Next Week Matches: Way1 at Ovb, Philly Country at Cricket, Kennett
at
Way2, Greenville at Aronimink, Martins at Merion
Match of the week: Martins at Merion
-------------------------------------------------------------
WEEK 10
Waynesborough 2 gets off the Schnied!!
Way2 (1-8) in a battle to remain relevant in D1 got their
first victory
off their arch rival and sometimes fellow bottom dweller Kennett
(2-7)
in a 7 sets to 5 battle of the ages. Team Vlatko and Paul Ridder
saddled
up to win the first court in straight sets. On court 3, the Way2
squad
of David Goldberg and Bill Delaney also took all three sets. After
Kennett won court 2 in straight sets, all eyes were set on court 4
which
featured the perennial sub Paul McCabe and former CYO Hoops star
and
Current D5 gladiator Marty Stenson. The Stenson and McCabe duo lost
the
first two sets but then won the all important and game deciding 3rd
set
to seal the first win of Way2 season and now gives them a
legitimate
shot to get out of the cellar with one more victory over the next 4
weeks. The Way 1 squad could hear the loud cheering as Stenson
placed
the winning drive all the way at Overbrook.
The Way1 (7-2) vs. Overbrook (3-6) battle was no less exciting as
at the
half way mark the teams were dead even in matches, sets and games.
With
Courts 3 & 4 left to play, 3 of the 4 players for Way1 were
subbing in,
and it was anybody’s match. Captain Tom Safford, fresh off his
loss with
Jim Ryan at Court 2 informed both his remaining squads that they
had to
buckle down and seal the victory or Way1 would be staring down
their
third consecutive loss of the season. It was at that point that Ed
Gieske walked into the OVB hut wearing his finest Cords, Healy’s,
and
dark sunglasses and announced that he just came back from a visit
with
the eye doc that told him that due to a recent mishap at home, he
was
advised not to play. Captain Safford would hear none of that, told
him
get on the court, hit some lobs and win a few games and let his 16
year
old son Scotty run around like a wild banshee. To say the least,
the
pressure was on the winless interclub duo of Mark Ray and myself to
win
as many games as possible while losing very little to give Way1 a
shot
at winning the match. To make this long story short, Mark played
the
most inspired paddle that anyone has seen and we went on to win 18
out
of the 19 games played (our opponents will remain nameless to
protect
the innocent). Now all the one eyed Gieske and Scotty Safford
had to do was win 2 games to seal the victory for the Way1 squad.
Even
with one eye, E.T “the pirate” Gieske and his 16 year old
shipmate Scotty
Safford took home the first set to end the 2 match losing streak
for
Way1. Next up for Way1 is Aronimink.
Captain Dan’s squad changes once again and it proved to be the
difference as Martins (8-1) defeated Merion (4-4-1) 7 sets to 5.
Dan is
feeling quite confident about his squad’s chance of running the
table
and his eyes are set on the January 24th rematch with Aronimink.
Philly Cricket (3-5-1) made a bold statement last night in
defeating
Philly Country (5-4) 3 courts to 1. This win moves them into sole
possession of sixth place as we near the play-offs.
Aronimink (9-0) defeated Greenville (2-7) 3 courts to 1 with 2 of
the
losses being decided in the third set. The Aronimink machine keeps
on
rolling and also looking good to have a 16-0 season.
All eyes are set for these weekends PA States. Can the team of Todd
Marvin and Scott Falatek pull off the Triple Crown (reportedly
first
time ever) over an impressive line up of teams ready to do battle?
Sign up forms are available on-line for the annual Mixed MAPTA
event
being held on February 9th and 10th. We only have 40 spots open
this
event has had a waiting list for years. Don’t miss out on the
fun. Let
me know if you need a partner and we can match you up.
Next Week’s Matches
Way2 at Cricket, Philly Country at Overbrook, Merion at Kennett
(played
at Vic Mead), Martins at Greenville
Match of the Week
Aronimink AT Waynesborough 1
----------------------------------------------
Division
1 Round Up - Week 11-
by Keith Studnick- MAPTA Staff writer
Martins on TOP!!!! No Snow or Rain could stop
Martins Dam (9-1) from taking over first place with two weeks
remaining
in the regular season with a commanding win over Aronimink (9-1) by
taking courts 1, 2, and 4. At the end of Week 11 they have
identical
team records but Martins has a 1 court advantage for the season.
Captain
Dan’s squad seems to be peaking at the right time for the
play-offs and
continues to look forward to running the table and winning the
regular season. Stay tuned for
February madness as the top squads pair off for the D1 play-off
championships in three weeks.
Overbrook (4-6) may have put the last nail in Waynesborough 2’s
(1-9) D1
coffin as they also took courts 1, 2, and 4 to earn their fourth
win.
Way2’s #1 and #2 teams once again jumped on the first set but
could not
close out the pesky Overbrook squad in what has been the story
replayed
through the Way2 season. In what may be a new paddle record, one of
the
teams in last nights contest had 11 consecutive add points to win a
set
serving at 6-5, only to lose the game and then the set after also
being
up 6-5 in the tie-breaker for their 13th set point of the set. On a
lighter note, the 7 year old son of the Way2 player who watched his
dad
serving for that set commented to his mom (and everyone else in the
hut)
that “Dad has been playing paddle for 40 years and he still hits
the
dumbest shots.” Upon entering the hut after the loss of the set,
his
partner commented that he could not agree more.
Waynesborough 1 (7-3) was missing a player from each of its top 3
courts
in which Philly Country (6-4) took full advantage of and secured
their
sixth win of the season. Team Andrew Hocker and Pat Nowlan took all
three sets at #1 over the Tim McAvoy and Tom Safford duo.
Waynesborough then went on to win courts 2 and 3 only to drop all
three
sets on court 4 giving Philly Country an 8 sets to 4 win.
Although all of the details were not in at the time of this
article,
Merion (5-4-1) split courts again with Philly Cricket (3-5-1) but
this
time was able to win one of the tie breakers. As some of you
remember
the last time these two teams squared off it was a dead heat and
this
match’s competitiveness proved to be no different.
In the battle of the South, Greenville (3-7) earned their third win
of
the season as they swept all four courts off of Kennett (2-8) and
almost
assured them a spot in the play-offs.
Sign up forms are available on-line for the annual Mixed MAPTA
event
being held on February 9th and 10th. We only have 40 spots open and
this
event has had a waiting list for years. Don’t miss out on the
fun. Let
me know if you need a partner and we can match you up.
There have been 40 courts played this year and only 3 teams have
more
wins than losses (see unofficial standings below). This may be one
of
the most balanced leagues in years.
Standings (unofficial)
1. Martins (9-1) 30 courts won
2. Aronimink (9-1) 29 courts won
3. Waynesborough1 (7-3) 28 courts won
4. Philly Country (6-4) 20 courts won
5. Merion (5-4-1) 19 courts won
6. Overbrook (4-6) 18 courts won
7. Philly Cricket (3-6-1) 18 courts won
8. Greenville (3-7) 20 courts won
9. Kennett (2-8) 9 courts won
10. Waynesborough2 (1-9) 10 courts won
Next Week’s Matches
Overbrook at Philly Cricket, Matins at Philly Country, Greenville
at
Merion, and Kennett at Aronimink
Match of the Week
Waynesborough 1 at Waynesborough 2
------------------------------------------------------------
Division
1 Round Up - Week 12- by Keith Studnick- MAPTA
Staff writer
Unofficial standings with 1 week to go:
1 Aronimink 10-1 (33 courts won)
1 Martins 10-1 (33 courts won)
3 Way1 7-4 (29 courts won)
4 Philly Country 6-5 (21 courts won)
5 Merion 5-5-1 (21 courts won)
6 Philly Cricket 4-6-1 (21 courts won)
7 Overbrook 4-7 (19 courts won)
8 Greenville 4-7 (22 courts won)
9 Way2 2-9 (13 courts won)
10 Kennett 2-9 (9 courts won)
Division
1 Round Up - Week 14- by Keith Studnick- MAPTA
Staff writer
The Final 4 are Set and a Double Secret
Probation match was held!!
The #1 seeded team of Martin’s Dam started their play-off season
right
where the left off their regular season with a demonstrative
victory
over Overbrook 3 courts to 1. Overbrook’s single win reminded me
of that
wedding day theme “something old and something new…” as Tim
Brooke and
the high flying Mike McGrath took down Captain Dan Greenwood and
Aiden
Busch at the #2 spot. From what I have heard, Mike has easily
earned the
Most Improved D1 player for 2007-08. Captain Dan while disappointed
in
his personal loss was excited about his team’s chances of earning
a
berth into the finals.
The #2 seeded team of Aronimink was without two of their star
performers
managed to defeat Philly Cricket by a score of 7 sets to 5.
Aronimink
won courts 2 and 3 with Drew Friel and Cliff McGlaughlin wining all
three sets at court 2 over Jeff Rexford and Tom Harris to seal the
victory for Aronimink.
The #3 seeded team of Waynesborough posted one of their most
decisive
wins of their season taking all four courts from Merion while only
surrendering 2 sets. Waynesborough’s teams of Bruce Sopko with
Tom
Safford and Paul (I am not retired yet) Yeakel with Jim Ryan each
won
all three sets in this victory. The Merion players left the
Waynesborough hut stating that this Waynesborough team is looking
mighty
tough and next weeks match against Aronimink should shape up to be
a
Philly classic.
The #4 seeded team of Philly Country defeated Greenville 3 courts
to 1
to move Philly Country into the final 4. No week would be complete
unless I included the fact that Greenville’s perennial star Dana
Walker
teamed up with Brian Marvin to continue their winning ways and
ended up
their season with yet another victory for Greenville. Great season
Dana!!!
The match ups for the Final 4 are as follows:
#4 Philly Country at #1 Martins Dam (Vegas has Martins as a 1 court
favorite)
#3 Waynesborough at #2 Aronimink (Vegas has Aronimink as a 2 games
favorite)
----------------------------------------
Division 1 Round Up - Week 15-
by Keith Studnick- MAPTA Staff writer
Upsets
rule the night!!!!!!
Philly Country takes down Martins Dam in one of the most exciting D1
championship semi-final matches in recent memory. The final score had Philly
Country winning by “1” game. I think there will be a lot of sleepless nights
for this Martins team as they never saw this loss coming and losing by “1”
game is a hard pill to swallow. Captain Dan should be proud of his team’s
accomplishments this season, as they most definitely made a statement through
the first 14 weeks of the season, only dropping one “highly contested” match
to Aronimink earlier in the season. The match played out with Martin’s taking
courts 1 & 2 and Philly Country taking courts 3&4. Nice win Philly
Country. Philly Country looks forward its first Championship match this decade
on Thursday.
The
match scores were as follows:
#1
Scott Falatek/ Greg Frigerio (MD) def. Andrew Hocker/ Pat Nowlan Sr. (7-5, 7-5,
6-1)
#2
Captain Dan/ Aiden Busch (MD) def. Pat Nowlan Jr./ Brian Crochiere (6-3,
6-4,6-7)
#3
Peter Hill/ Justin Poletti (Philly C) def. Brian Aguilar/ Carter Devol (6-4,
6-1, 7-5)
#4
Clay Hardon/ JD (Philly C) def. Chris Packer/ Jay Siegfried (3-6, 6-3, 6-1)
Waynesborough
continues its torrid play and appears to be peaking at the perfect moment in
taking all four courts from an injury riddled Aronimink team. In the past three
weeks, Waynesborough has won all 12 courts against Philly Cricket, Merion and
Aronimink. Like Martins, Aronimink too should be complimented on their season as
this was only their second loss. As much as they would have loved to defend
their championship on Thursday, the injuries to key players John Stefanik and
Pete Pijawka were too much to overcome against the Waynesborough Squad. With #2
player Dick Dunkel traveling aimlessly somewhere in the Orient for the past two
weeks, the team has had to make do with its first Sub of the bench, Vlatko to
fill in. Waynesborough looks forward to revenging their earlier season loss to
Philly Country and taking home the championship for the first time since 2002.
The
match scores were as follows:
#1
Tim McAvoy/ Hank Oberly (Way) def. Andy Sorrentino/ Drew Friel (2-6, 7-5, 6-2)
#2
Vlatko Najdek/ Bruce Sopko (Way) def. Greg Hillyard/ Brendan Kirk (6-2, 6-1,
6-2)
#3
Keith Studnick/ Steve Beers (Way) def. Cliff McLaughlin/ Rick Craft (6-4, 6-2,
6-1)