This may be one of the most exciting years in recent memory as there are possibly 8 teams with a legitimate shot at making the Top 6 with three weeks to go.
The battle of the W Titans took place with both Waynesborough and Wallingford tied with 12 points each. Waynesborough got off to a torrid start as they swept the first six sets on with the undefeated squad of Beers and Sopko winning court 2 and Oberly and Ryan winning on Court 3. Due to some unforeseen circumstances and generally attempting to avoid a really bad parenting moment, Studnick showed up significantly late to his court 4 match. By the time the court 4 match started, the team of McGrath and Shrager were shredding the once unbeatable team of Vlatko and Ridder.
Needing just a single set to secure the victory, the Peichel/Mashek duo streaked together the first 8 points but Captain Tom managed to straighten out the ship and turn the set around and take all three sets with Studnick on his shoulders to secure the win and shut out Wallingford. Other than the loss to Picket Post, Waynesborough has not give up a single point this season. After the match, Captain Tom stated, “Is this all Wallingford got? I am currently looking to enter my team into the Chicago League as I heard there was some more competition there. Imagine this squad when Vlatko can actually win a match?”
Aronimink, the other team tied in first place took on a Merion team that cannot seem to stop the bleeding as Merion drops their third match out of the last 4 and now is out of the Top 6. Aronimink dropped only a single set in the process and appears to be lining up for their 252 dual with Waynesborough after the break on January 3rd.
This was one of the more topsy-turvy line-ups in a while as the 14 times PA States Champion Stefanik was on Court 3 and the America’s favorite Chip Morrow was on court 4 for Merion. After their incredible start in which they seemed a shoe in for the Top-6, Merion is going to have to battle it out with the likes of Overbrook, Martins 1 & 2 and possibly P-Country just to make the Top-6.
D1 gets its first tie of the season as MD1 and P-Country ended this night as complete equals. The newly revived tandem of Falatek and Korfman won the battle on court 1 over Hocker and Nowlan with a 7-5 in the third set. On Court 2, Hill and Tomas managed to win their third set to secure their court over Aguilar and Donches to tie in courts.
On Court 3, a still recovering Nowlan, Jr. with a seemingly always-recovering Gardner won all three sets over Jerry “The Dancing King” Beirne and Paul Nofer. The match came down to the third set of court 4 as Wright and Small secured the point for MD2 with their 7-5, 7-5 first two set victory over Norm and Clay. All Clay and Norm needed was a single game in the third set to secure the win for P-Country. This has just not been P-Country’s year as the MD2 due served up the bagel in the 3rd set to create the tie in courts, sets, and games. Lets just hope that single game in the third set that PCC did not achieve is the difference between the Top-6 and the Bottom-6 in three more weeks.
Like their sister team, MD2 also split their courts this week. Overbrook swept all 6 sets on courts 1 & 2, while MD2 swept all six sets on Courts 3 & 4. The return of Steven Hall proved to be the difference as he and Andrew Tomson only relinquished 4 games in their three sets over Siegfried and Packer and gave Overbrook the win by 5 games. Both of these teams have a shot of the Top-6.
P-Cricket picks up their second consecutive victory with a win over H-Valley with a tiebreaker in sets. Unfortunately for H-Valley, the single point still leaves them in the cellar with Picket Post, both having a total of 5 points. These teams are both going to have strong finishes for the remainder of the season to avoid relegation to D2 next season.
Greenville wins its second match in a row as well with their victory over Picket-Post. Is Picket-Post going to be the “Vanilla Ice” of D1 (1 hit wonder with their win over Waynesborough). I can just see them singing “Ice Ice baby, too cold, too cold” before their matches. The second coming of Zink has proved to be the difference in the outlook of the Greenville squad. Captain Simon stated “with Zink on this squad, there is no team that we fear, without him we just hope to get off the courts with our pride!” The resurgence of the Greenville squad has called for many late night meetings over at the huts of P-Post, H-Valley, and P-Cricket as the all in a quest for their Zink.
For those interested, here is the Wikipedia link to another kind of Zinc – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zinc
Here are the standings after 8 weeks, with three weeks to go before the split
Way – 14 points
Aron – 14 points
Wall – 12 points
MD1 – 11.5 points
MD2 – 11 points
OVB – 11 points
Merion – 10 points
P-Country – 7.5 points
P-Cricket – 7 points
Green – 6 points
Picket – 5 points
H-Valley – 5 points
Over in D2, Kennett pulled out a big victory and creating some room at the top with a win over Whitford-1.
Here are the contenders to win a coveted spot in D1 for next season (top 2 get a spot)
Kennett – 15 Points
V-Mead – 14 points (if they beat Merion 2 this week)
Whitford-1 – 13 points
Conestoga – 12 points
