Much to the dismay of literally billions worldwide, the Olympic games in Tokyo failed to bring you the excitement of the fastest growing game in the world. No worries mates, that’s where the CPL comes in and boy did we have a slate for you this past Sunday eve!
Match 1: The Morgan’s vs The Schmidt’s
Sunday evening began with an intense matchup between Ross and Catlyn Morgan and Damon and Erin Schmidt battling it out for seeding in the upcoming tournament of champions. Neither team could establish their gameplan and the score was tied at 3-3, 5-5, and 8-8. Catlyn and Ross were able to break through for 3 straight to end Game 1 ahead 11-8.
Game 2 started out much like the first. Catlyn had some poetic shots landing just inside the out of bounds line, keeping Damon and Erin on their toes. Damon and Ross traded barbs at the front line with the ladies serving as backup to the onslaught near the kitchen. Damon and Erin were able to breakthrough for a little run and rode the momentum to a 11-5 win in game 2 to force a third game.
In the final stanza, both squads were visibly spent. Was it the humidity or the tension in the air? Despite the grueling conditions, both squads battled on in a defensive stalemate. In the end, the shifty lefty, Damon, was able to squeeze just enough past the Morgan defense to earn their second win of the season picking up the match with an 11-5 victory in game 3.
Match 2: The Brown’s vs The Keck’s
Coming off of a 3-week hiatus, the Brown’s were facing the undefeated team of Scott and Stephanie Keck in the next match of the evening. The Keck’s had no regard for the fact that Chelsea was still recuperating from a nasty Bronchitis bout and took advantage at every opportunity that presented en route to an 11-2 win in Game 1.
Game 2 saw the Keck’s once again pounce on an early advantage. Despite a valiant effort to close the gap down the stretch by Kurtis and Chelsea, Scott and Stephanie were able to slam the door on an 11-5 win to take the match.
Match 3: The Miller’s vs The Morgan’s
The Morgan’s were playing double duty on the evening and had just enough time to catch their breath to take on Mayor Miller with Janet Coble filling in for an injured Renee for the evening. Janet has history with Ross as the two toppled many teams together in Year 1 while Catlyn was recovering from a foot issue. For the Pickleball purist, this game was a masterpiece of how to play defense. The crowd marveled as we saw 14 consecutive serves in play without a single point being garnered by either team. After 27 minutes and a brief discussion on whether or not to begin rally scoring, both teams broke out. Some terrific volleys back and forth kept the match close. However it would be Janet and Matt teaming up down the stretch to earn the Game 1 win by a final of 12-10.
The teams switched sides, but again were as close as peanut butter and jelly throughout the match. Fatigue began to creep in on Team Morgan from 4 intense games already, but they would not go down without a fight. Matt and Janet again needed extra points, but did pick up the victory with a 12-10 win in Game 2 to earn the match.
Match 4: The Wiesenburger’s vs Team Van Vennekotter
Finally playing as the official Wiesenburger’s, Curtis and Rose were celebrating their Florida vacation kickoff with a match against Team Van Vennekotter. Jessica and Mark were looking to celebrate the arrival of Mark’s newest baby boy with a win to welcome him home. It did not take long for Jessica and Mark to get rolling, streaking out to a big lead in Game 1, which they ended up winning 11-1. Game 2 started out similar to the first. Despite the newlyweds best efforts, Mark and Jess powered to a dominating 11-3 win to earn the match.
Match 5: The Zimmerman’s vs The Donaldson’s
The next match of the evening featured a rematch of the quarterfinals in last year’s tournament with Rob and Lisa looking to change the outcome against Brian and Sarah. The Zimmerman’s drew first blood, literally, with a titanic blow from Rob that caught Sarah right in the chest. After prying the ball out of the cavity in her sternum, Sarah spearheaded a relentless assault the rest of the way to earn the Game 1 victory 11-1. Game 2 saw a little more back and forth volley action, but the Zimmerman’s were just off enough to give the Donaldson an advantage. Brian and Sarah took Game 2 11-3 to earn the match victory.
Match 6: The Wagner’s vs Team Van Vennekotter
In the evening’s final bout, the Wagner’s took on Team Van Vennekotter in what turned out to be one of the hardest hitting matches of the year. Knowing he had to bring his “A-game”, Mark transformed in to Benjamin Johns (World’s #1 pickleballer-Don’t worry, I had to look this up too) for 25 minutes and played lights out at the net against the onslaught of Juice’s offensive repertoire. Both games were extremely close throughout, but both saw Team Van Vennekotter catch fire at the right time of the match to win the game 11-9 and 11-8, respectively, to earn the win. Word on the street was big-name Pickleball brands Baddle© and Onix© were both trying to track down the cow farmer after this performance for potential endorsement deals.
Join us this coming Sunday for the final regular season matches with teams looking for one last chance to tune up their strategies for the tournament on August the 7th.