Welcome back folks for our Week 3 recap from the Continental Pickleball League.  Last night proved to be the largest display of pickleball this town has ever seen with 6 matches taking place.  There was everything from eagerly anticipated debuts, colossal upsets, and ringers from all parts of town.  Let’s see how things all shook out:

Match 1: Van Ham’s vs Wagner’s

Back after the wildly popular Bonus Match last week, Mark brought his wife along to take on the Wagner’s who were searching for their first win of the season.  Subbing in for Sarah, Kelly “The Duchess” Coble looked to break in her new paddle with another win after helping The Keck’s in their debut last week.  Thankfully Mark decided to wear shoes this week which allowed more of the crowd to move indoors.  Despite some early excitement, Game one proved to be all Wagner’s with Juice and The Duchess showing no mercy to the newcomers en route to a 11-2 win.  Sides were switched for game 2 and the Van Ham’s started to get into their groove battling back and taking the game 11-4 behind some impressive shots by Mark and Kelly both.  Both teams went on big runs throughout the match and Game 3 was no different.  In the end, however, the back and forth affair went the Wagner’s way 11-7, giving them their first win of the season. 

Match 2: Keck’s vs Horstman’s

First of all, we need to give a big shout out to Dawn for starting the league year out while expecting.  What no one was expecting was that there were double the blessings in there.  In the best interest of the future pickleballers, the doctor recommended against vigorous racket activity which we all know Pickleball is.  Also shout out to Super-Ringer (more on that later) Allison Schmidt for coming in on short notice to join Neil and create a team of Left-Handed Bandits.  It took a little bit for team chemistry to get going, which the Keck’s capitalized on with power hits by Scott and precision returns by Stephanie leading to the Keck’s taking Game 1; 11-8.  The intensity and sweat level went up a bit in game 2 with both teams diving all over the unrelenting concrete pitch in the spirit of friendly competition.  Smashing returns deep into the opponents’ area on both sides led to some impressive shots.  Game 2 would go back and forth throughout, however, Team Horstman would prevail 11-9 to set up the pivotal third game.  Game 3 was also a high scoring, back and forth affair that was dominated by the women at times.  Stephanie put her claim on the weekly MVP award to finish the game 11-9 keeping the Keck’s undefeated on the year.  Overall, this was a great match separated by just 3 points and was just a preview for the rest of the evening.

Match 3:  Morgan’s vs Schmidt’s

  The Morgan team once again down was being assisted by Janet Coble who recently changed in her Viper moniker (by bringing in a new paddle) to become the Dragon Slayer(seriously, it says it on the paddle even).  Before it was all said and done, the Morgan’s would embody the Dragon Slayer paddle-spirit to topple the AP and coaches poll top-ranked Schmidt’s in stunning fashion.  Game 1 looked like it was going to be all Schmidt’s as they steamrolled out to a 10-3 lead.  A huge kill shot to prevent the game point turned the momentum the other way as Team Morgan rattled off 9 unanswered points to take Game 1.  Visibly shaken from such a turn of events, the Schmidt’s were stuck in the mud in Game 2 as well as it was all Team Morgan at the net and with the serve taking the match in straight games 11-3.  Perhaps it was fatigue from an inspiring 30 mile run earlier in the week by Damon, but they are already working on securing practice times this week to get back on top as Team Morgan is looking forward to having Catlyn in action for the first time, next week.

Match 4: Winkle’s vs Brown’s

This week’s marquee match-up featured the only 2 teams yet to drop a game in league play.  It was like the proverbial unstoppable force vs the immovable object in this hard-hitting affair.  To be honest though, ESPN we have a great loft for your cameras to set up and The Pickleball Gods know the ratings would be through the stratosphere compared to your dart/cornhole tapings…  Back to the action though.  Game 1 proved to be a game of runs with both teams able to capitalize when they held serve leading to a tight game.  Some big-time smashes and defenses ended up giving the Brown’s Game 1 by a final margin of 11-7.  Game 2 proved to be more of the same with big hits and terrific defense by both teams.  Katie even had glimpses of Serena-like power and precision helping ensure the Winkle’s took Game 2 11-5.  With all the chips on the table, Game 3 didn’t disappoint either with both teams producing Top 10 worthy plays (seriously ESPN, we are just trying to make you money).  When Gertrude started to sing through, it was the Winkle’s pulling out the 11-6 Game 3 win and re-assert their position at the top of the League rankings after 3 weeks of league play.

Match 5: Zimmerman’s vs Streicher’s

  The next 2 matches of the evening featured the highly anticipated debuts of a couple teams and the Streicher’s were featured in our 5^th match of the evening.  Eager to make up for the short-comings of playing with team Horstman, Allison became the ringer of the night, joining Rob on Team Zimmerman to take on her brother and sister-in-law.  Game one saw an impressive barrage of spinning shots by Jordan and Jill as they raced out to a 10-0 lead.  Team Zimmerman prevented the shutout, but could not come back from such a deficit and fell 11-4 in Game 1.  During the side switch, Rob wondered allowed if Allison had money on this game, and this inspiring, team-building experience would alter the history of the evening.  By trying to hit their shots away from the Spinmeister Jordan, Team Zimmerman would prevail to take Game 2 by a score of 11-2.  Sensing their first Match win of the season, Team Zimmerman would not be denied in Game 3, picking up their first match win of the season with a 11-3 win in Game 3.

Match 6: Sullivan’s vs Donaldson’s

  The final match of the evening brought out the debut of the Sullivan’s in a matchup featuring parents of twins.  The Sullivan’s came out with a few tricks up their sleeves, donning matching sweat-repellant headbands in a show of intimidation.  The tactic worked as the Donaldson’s both muffed their first serves into the net.  After regaining the footing though, Game 1 went to the Donaldson’s 11-0.  Despite the score, “Smashing” Jami Sullivan had some impressive kill shots to hold defense in Game 1.  Game 2 started out a little slow before the Donaldson’s went on a run capped by a slam by Sarah that hit the “Smasher” herself.  (Sarah says sorry if there is a bruise, Jami.)  A final score of 11-2 gave the Donaldson’s the match win to conclude the evening festivities.

Week 4 will feature some schedule time changes due to Father’s Day time conflicts.  The updated schedules should be released Monday evening for all.  See you next week for more action in the most intense sports league currently being played professionally.