Week 6 is in the books as the players got in their last matches before the Turkey Break. We welcomed back Patrick Nowlan (on court 3???) as he is never one to miss out on a revenge match against WCC. Lots of good matches being played but the bottom six could not pull out the third set in many matches which looks to be the difference.
P-Country welcomes back Patrick and somehow thought pairing him up with Norm would bring out the best in him after his 11 week recovery from his injury. Captain Hocker was looking like a genius early in the night as he and Pat Nowlan, Sr. had taken their first two sets off of Captain Tom and Tim McAvoy, while on court 3 the Norm and Pat train split sets with the forever unbeaten duo of Oberly and Ridder. Norm and Pat came within 2 points in the third set to seal the victory but could not pull out the set and the court went to WCC. On Court 4, Gardner and Mark Carson jumped out to a 5-2 lead in the first set over Studnick and Ryan. The WCC duo fixed what was ailing them and won the next 5 games to secure the first set and only dropped 4 more games in the final two sets. A battle ensued on court 2 as Thomas and Peter Hill split sets with Beers and Sopko with PCC needing the third set to secure a point. Unfortunately Beers and Sopko stepped up their games in the third set and did not allow the PCC team to secure a single point.
In the Battle of the Dam, Martins-2 edged out Martins-1 in a tie-breaker of sets. Captain Dan and Scott lined up their squads and hoped for the best. Martins-1 took courts 1&3 while Martins-2 took courts 2&4. As a result of the match, both teams are tied with 8 points each in the standings. While Captain Dan was not happy with the outcome of his match, his all important win in set 3 proved to be the difference in the long run. “I tell my guys all the time, that every set, every game, every point can be the difference in playing with the big boys for a full season or having to slum it with our Martins-3 team. The two points is huge for us and lest anyone think that Martins-1 tanked the match, they can sit in my living room and watch a replay of the match (all 14 hours of it) with me in my Lazy Boy this weekend!!!”
Greenville traveled up to Overbrook last night looking for their first victory of the season. With Adams on Safari deep in the Jungles, they thought they had a shot. Unfortunately for them, OVB’s #1 and #2 teams put on quite a display and only dropped 10 games in total in 6 sets. The big question of the night was, Where is the Gloved one???? Rumor has it, that he has declared his free agency and has waived his no-trade clause as Greenville’s has only beaten 1 division 1 team in the last year. Simon has been known to have a trick or two up his sleeve so don’t rule out a new membership drive for Greenville.
Merion sweeps H-Valley in four very competitive matches as they win their 5th out of 6 matches for the season. They now appear to be a complete lock for the Top-6 which is a huge about face for this squad as compared to the prior 2 seasons. H-Valley is going to have to find a few more points this season to stay above the pack but they have a much softer schedule to finish out their first half of the season in must win games for them.
Aronimink made short order of their matches with Picket Post to stay in the lead with Wallingford. The final few weeks of the season match all of the top teams against each other which should sort out the top six and weed out the contenders. Look to Aronimink, Wallingford, and WCC as sold locks for the Top Six. Merion and Overbrook also look like they should take their spots in the top 6 unless they have some sort of melt down. The last spot is completely up for grabs but it appears that it could be one of the Martin’s or H-Valley could sneak in there as well.
Wallingford defeated P-Cricket to stay atop of the D1 league tied with Aronimink. This team has been there before as last year they led the pack for a good part of the season, only drop in the standings the final few weeks in the season. Each victory they earn, places them in a better position for the final 5 week battle in which turns into a brutal win each week schedule to be declared the regular seasons champions.
In D2 News
The top 2 spots appear to be up for grabs as the #1 team’s of Kennett, Whitford, Vic-Mead and Conestoga are all within 3 points of each other. Waynesborough-2 appears to be a long shot, although they have played the toughest schedule to date of the teams mentioned.
Enjoy the week off with your family and Happy Thanksgiving.
D1 Standings (unofficial after 6 Weeks
Team Points Courts Won
Wall 11-16
Aron 11-18
Way 10-19
Merion 10-16
OVB 9-15
MD1 8-12
MD2 8-11
HV 4-7
PCC 4-9
PP 4-9
PCK 3-5
Green 2-7
