Playoff Season is just around the corner. The Northwest Leagues will start their playoffs this week and in two weeks the North Central leagues will start their playoffs. Which team will have their name on the trophy this year?

College Park Athletic Club is hosting an event on Friday, March 6th @ 630pm for CPAC Serves as CPAC’s Top pros take on the Best of NCAA Division I! This year, we are raising money for Spark Ventures (www.sparkventures.org), a non-profit organization that starts businesses in under-resourced communities around the world to provide education, medical care, and housing to vulnerable children. Get your ticket today (only $25 online) by going to cpacserves2015.eventbrite.com!

RCLB Boys High School League Champions

NSRC Boys High School League Finalists

The Boys High School League started out the season with 7 hopeful teams. College Park had two teams in the playoffs but the teams from The Racquet Club of Lake Bluff and North Shore Racquet Club prevailed in the playoffs. RCLB won 3 out of the 4 matches. On court 1 RCLB’s Alex Prindle and Jackson Smyth played against NSRC’s Will Neild and Griffith Parry. Neild/Parry started out strong winning the 1st set 6-4 but Prindle/Smyth regrouped and won the next two sets 6-2, 6-2. On court 2, RCLB’s Brooks Berish and Jack Williams took on NSRC’s Davis Ryan and Luke Sclamberg and won 6-1, 6-2. On court 3, NSRC’s Kyrus Tsai and Andrew Wayne prevailed over RCLB’s Peter Daluga and Jason Daluga with a 6-2, 6-2 win. On court 4, the opponents were evenly matched. RCLB’s Sam Warren and Daniel McEvoy squeaked out a win over NSRC’s Brent Saltzman and Jon Benishay 7-5, 7-6. Great playing everyone!

Northbrook Racquet Club hosted a CITA sponsored Mixed Doubles Social event with Rob Rodriguez running the show. Rob loosened everybody up by providing music on the court and a short drill to get us moving. There were twelve participants who played with different partners and socialized afterwards. A great way to spend a Saturday night instead of in front of the TV!

Northbrook Racquet Club will be hosting a CITA sponsored Mixed Doubles Social event on Saturday, January 31st from 7pm-9pm. The level will be 8.0-9.0 with Rob Rodriguez helping to create fun matchups with the teams. You do not have to be a member to participate and the more the merrier. There will be light fare and refreshments. The cost is $25/person. For more information contact Rob Rodriguez on his cell (773) 213-0100 or email him, Rob.Rodriguez@sbcglobal.net.

Happy New Year! We are halfway through our season. I hope you were able to recover from the holiday feasts and are ready to play! Tennis is a great way to get and stay in shape. I’m incorporating more singles to my game so that I can improve my consistency. It’s always a good idea to talk to one of the pros at your club who knows your game to give you some goals to work on throughout the year. I need to work on my footwork. With regular focused practice on a particular shot or in my case, foot movement, you’ll find your arsenal expanding making the game much more exciting.

Five Seasons Sports Club will be hosting an 8.5 Mixed Doubles Social event on Friday, December 5th from 7pm-9pm. The cost at this event will be $25 per person with some light refreshments provided for those who want to cool down and socialize after playing. The preference is for players to sign up as a team but if you are interested and currently don’t have a partner, Mike Friedman will put you on a list and try to match you up. Contact Mike Friedman by emailing him: tnspro65@yahoo.com

North Shore Racquet Club will be hosting a 8.0-9.0 Mixed Doubles Social event on October 11th from 6pm-8pm. This will be one of a series of Mixed Doubles events that will take place at various CITA member clubs throughout the indoor season. The cost at this event will be $25 with some light refreshments provided for those who want to cool down after playing. The preference is for players to sign up as a team but if you are interested and currently don’t have a partner, Jerry Morse-Karzen will put you on a list and try to match you up. Contact Jerry Morse-Karzen for more information at either the club – 847-729-0450 or his cell phone – 847-858-0860 or by email – JerryKarzenTennis@yahoo.com

Welcome and welcome back! I hope everyone had many opportunities to play a lot over the summer and maybe introduce tennis to your friends and family. Contact your club and let them know you are available to play and enjoy the comaraderie and competition our leagues offer.

Lincolnshire – GHSL Champions

By far the best picture, I love the matching t-shirts and the smiles of joy on everyone’s faces. The Lincolnshire Club team had a bit of the home court advantage since the finals were being hosted by The Lincolnshire Club. But it was only a little bit of an advantage against Glenbrook’s team. It all came down to court 2 but I get ahead of myself. On court 1, GRC’s Alex Mella and Maxine Mella was able to figure out the best way to take on and win against LINC’s Mira Amin and Maggie Hines. They won 6-4, 6-0. On court 3, LINC’s Grace Chatas and Katya Hersh played against GRC’s Sabrina Mella and Nikol Blinov and won 6-1, 6-3. Each team had won 1 match. Court 2 was in an epic battle. I wish I was there to hear what the coaches had to say to their players. Maybe they only offered encouragement because the scores were so close. Kate Harvey and Bronwyn Heidkamp from Lincolnshire lost the 1st set 4-6 against GRC’s Sara Hall and Ashley Levine. But they remained cool and collected enough to win the 2nd set tie-breaker 7-6(5). With a set split between them, it came down to the 3rd set which Kate and Bronwyn won 6-4. Lincolnshire won 2-1. But if you look at the number of games each team won, you will notice that both teams won the same amount of games. So while Lincolnshire won, Glenbrook came just as close to being a winner as well.  Nice going everyone!

Midtown-Chicago Men’s Open Champions

There are only 4 teams in this league and it’s REALLY competitive.  Players who dominated the juniors in their younger years or played college or on the tour play in this league.  They can blast balls with control and have quick hand/eye coordination.  They are strategic and wily.  The two finalists in this league, College Park Athletic Club and Midtown-Chicago were very familiar with each other often, having played each other throughout the regular season and in previous years’ finals.  On court 1 CPAC’s Jean Erasmus and Alex Lambropoulos won in 2 sets against MTC’s Mike Sprouse and Adham Alaily 6-3, 6-4.  On court 2 MTC’s Jeff Keen and Carl McCafferty evened it up with a win against CPAC’s Uno Lapimaa and Matt Wierzel 6-2, 6-4.  On court 3 CPAC’s Gino Bautista and Ryan Kreis won against MTC’s Paul Brandt and Ryan Edlefsen 6-2, 6-2.  Skipping courts 4 and 5 for now, on court 6 MTC’s James Moultan and Chris Tkach won against CPAC’s Andy Rice and John Metzger 6-2, 6-0.  At this point the matches were tied 2-2.  On court 4 MTC took the 1st set.  On court 5, CPAC took the 1st set, then it started going south for CPAC.  On court 4, MTC’s Thanos Kantarelis and Vasiliy Guryanov kept up the heat against CPAC’s Dan Mihalov and Luke Helm and won 7-5, 6-3.  On court 5, MTC’s Dave Clarke and Stew Bradley regrouped against CPAC’s Brian Wu (captain of CPAC’s Open team) and Kedam Rajendra.  After losing the first set in a tie-breaker they came back to win the 2nd set 6-3.  At that point, CPAC knew they had lost in sets but wanted to close out the match with a match tie-breaker.  MTC won 6-7, 6-3, 1-0 (13-11).  Nice playing everyone!

NSRC Men’s 4.5 Champions

You never want to see defaults in the finals since every team works so hard to get into the finals but sometimes life’s demands pull you away from the tennis court and all you can do is hope that the people you have available to play can pull out a miracle.  The Racquet Club of Lake Bluff brought a strong team to College Park but had to default court 5 and 6 which meant they were already down 0-2 going into the matches.  On court 1, RCLB’s Enouch Leung and Peter Krizman had a tough win over NSRC’s Bob Barnett and Danny Resnick losing the 1st set in a tie-breaker but eventually winning 6-7, 6-3, 7-5.  On court 2, RCLB’s Quentin Doux and Nick Andres didn’t hold back against NSRC’s Rich Siegel and Gary Gerstman and won 6-2, 6-4.  On court 3, NSRC’s Garrett Nesbitt and Clay Mclaughlin won the 1st set 6-2, and did not complete the 2nd set.  RCLB’s John Bucin and Jared Suttles was up 4-3 in the 2nd set.  On court 4, NSRC’s Mark Sack and Mike Brual  won against RCLB’s Mike Friedman and Dan Bruch 6-2, 6-1.  North Shore would have won in sets even if court 3’s match went to RC Lake Bluff so RCLB conceded the match.  Brett Morse-Karzen added a little flair to the picture they sent me above.

MTP Men’s 4.0 Champions – Standing l-r: Howard Bushnell, Kent Mathis, Steve Fallon, Doug Gow (captain), Bob Biergans, Joe Watkins, Brett Ratay; (front) Mike Kurowski, Oswaldo Ganoza, Joey Tran, Rahul Gupte, Tom Lyons

According to Midtown-Palatine’s Karen Schmit who overseas the teams for MTP, “the rivalry between River Trails and Midtown-Palatine has always been fierce.”  It is a long-standing rivalry with both teams usually playing each other either in the playoffs or in the finals.  This year the Men’s 4.0 finals set the stage.  And as River Trails’ captain Bill Johnston put it, “This final wasn’t decided until after the lady had finished singing…and the result in the hands of the accountants.”  So let’s do the math.  On court 1, MTP’s Brett Ratay and Howard Bushnell laid into RTTC’s Joe Kreidler and Bob Zumph 6-0, 6-3.  On court 2 MTP’s Bob Biergans and Mike Kurowski also gave no quarter to RTTC’s Phil Dlouhy and Brian Lowy 6-3, 6-0.  The math was clearly in MTP’s favor 24-6.  Skipping court 3 for now, on court 4, RTTC’s Warren Erland and Dan Robin took away some of the game advantage by winning in 2 sets against MTP’s Joe Watkins and Tom Lyons 6-3, 6-1.  Skipping court 5, on court 6 RTTC’s Mike Boyle and Jon Erickson had a close match against MTP’s Oswaldo Ganoza and Doug Gow winning 7-5, 6-3.  Games were still tipping in favor of MTP 36-31 and sets were tied at 2 a piece.  On court 3, MTP’s Joey Tran and Rahul Gupte lost the 1st set 5-7 but regrouped to win sets 2 and 3 6-2, 6-2.  This match was giving MTP an 11 game lead 53-42.  On court 5 another 3 set match was happenning.  It wasn’t looking good for MTP’s Steve Fallon and Kent Mathis.  RTTC’s Bob Hinson and John Wentworth blew through the 1st set, winning 6-0.  But MTP came back and won the 2nd set 6-4.  The third set was close.  RTTC needed to win the set to even up the set counts but the 7-5 3rd set win was not enough to give RTTC the overall win in games and MTP won in games 64-59.  The rivalry will continue I’m sure…so stay tuned for next year’s results.   Not pictured above: Scott Allbright, Dave Appelt, Rob Block, Dave Cygan, Scott Forster (co-captain), Rich Gutierrez, Glenn Habib, Doug Johnson, John Kopsky, Mike Latimer, Dan Parks, Ken Raczek, Marc Romanz, Tony Stallone

RTTC Men’s 3.5 Champions

River Trails’ captain Bill Johnston is always looking to find the right combination of players and levels when putting teams together.  Some of his players were struggling at the 4.0 level, so he thought bringing in a team at the 3.5 level would be a good idea.  He had some concerns that his players may be too strong for the league.  But each team tries to adjust their roster appropriately as the season goes forward.  River Trails started out strong, remained strong and in the end took home the trophy for the Men’s 3.5 against North Shore.  A bit of bad luck tipped the odds in River Trails’ favor when on court 1, NSRC’s father/son team Dave Kallen and Matt Kallen had to retire due to an injury.  RTTC’s Howard Braun and Dave Kaufman had barely won the 1st set 7-6 and knew the match could have gone either way.  We all hope the injury wasn’t severe and you’ll be back on the courts soon.  On court 2  RTTC’s Bill Hedman and Roland Hogg had a dogged fight on their hands against NSRC’s John Friedman and Jamie Trapp.  After a close 1st set which they won 7-5, they were able to close out the 2nd set 6-3.  On court 3 NSRC’s James Costello and Bob Kriss knew they needed to keep North Shores chances alive .  They pulled out a win against Norm Anderson and Alan Halleck 6-3, 6-4.  On court 4, RTTC’s Bob Harrald and Frank Stanhope won the 1st set but couldn’t finish it out in 2 sets.  NSRC’s Jacques Gordon and Maurice Marcus pushed back and won the 2nd set 6-2.  Then it was a battle of wills, good shots, missed opportunities and sometimes a little luck the put RTTC’s team ahead for the win 7-5 in the 3rd.

NRC NCW Open Red Champions – Standing L-R:  Jim Doessel (coach), Ann Taylor, Sujin Kim, Alison Morgan, Audrey Koopsen, Terrie Bennett, Jill Werner, Audrey Cohen, Anne Suszko, Marco Ciotti (coach); 2nd row:   Martha Lloyd, Terri Gordon, Mimi Paffrath;  kneeling:  Liesel Jankelowitz, Sue Teper

The last time the NC Women’s Open Red team from Northbrook Racquet Club was able to hold up the trophy was in 2011. After that year and before that year North Shore Racquet Club repeatedly brought the trophy back to their club. This year, Northbrook was able to move past North Shore in the playoffs to make it to the finals against Glenbrook Racquet Club. GRC was tied for 1st place along with NSRC during the regular season but pulled ahead the last match of the regular season.   GRC beat College Park in the playoffs.  So while College Park’s Open Red team was not playing in the finals, their club hosted the Open Red Finals.  On court 1, NRC’s Alison Morgan and Audrey Koopsen (formerly known as the Koopsen sisters until Alison got married) played against GRC’s Christi Turdo and Beth Druffel. Christi and Beth are both experienced doubles players able to weave different strategies into their game as needed. But Alison and Audrey have been gaining ground in that department as well and with their quickness and steady shots, they were able to win their match in 2 sets 6-2, 6-4. On court 2, NRC’s Sujin Kim and Ann Taylor roller coasted to a win against GRC’s Natalie Diorio and former Division 1 player Martina Wodzinski 6-3, 1-6, 6-1. Check-in, check-out, check-in. On court 3, and the last court to finish, Terri Gordon and Liesel Jankelowitz also roller coasted their way to a win against GRC’s Julie Hood and Suzanne Pfeiffer 6-2, 3-6, 7-5. On court 4, GRC’s Jenny Park and Lauren Gallagher was able to overcome the slices and lobs of NRC’s Sue Teper and Audrey Cohen 6-3, 6-3. On court 5, NRC’s Jill Werner and Martha Lloyd turned up the heat against GRC’s Joyce Salsburg and Katherine Glattard and won 6-0, 6-2. On court 6, NRC’s Mimi Paffrath and Anne Suszko made GRC’s Laura Frankiewicz and Kristen Lamarca work for every point (I know…I’ve played them) and NRC won 6-2, 6-4. NRC won 5-1 over GRC.  (Not shown in picture above:  Chris Harris, Faye Levy, Olga Ovnanyan, Laury Scheyer, Linda Traeger, Pam Leichtling)

The NC Women’s Open Green league is a fairly competitive league. Much like the NCW 4.5 Red league, in order to succeed you need to have some depth in your lineup. It’s not enough to have a good court 1. You need to have a good 2 and 3 and 4 and 5 and 6. You’ll see what I mean when you look at the scores between Midtown-Palatine and Midtown-Bannockburn. On court 1 MTB’s Sunatcha Breslow and Ashley Dombrow won the 1st set 6-1 but MTP’s Josie Croll and Laura Nerup stepped it up and fought hard to take it to a tie-breaker in the 2nd only to lose 7-6(5). On court 2, the 3 set match went to MTP’s Shannon Crowther and Wendy Gilmore over MTB’s Patti Charman and Lynne Sakanich 6-4, 6-7 (4?), 7-6 (5). As you can see by the scores, the match was more than close. On court 3, MTB’s Priscilla Ewaldz and Yupin Lerner gained some momentum after the 1st set tie-breaker to win 7-6, 6-3. On court 4, MTB’s Alison Bloom and Susan Heiser came back to win sets 2 and 3 after losing the 1st set, 1-6. They won sets 2 and 3 6-4, 6-1 over MTP’s Mary Etherington and Vicki Lorenzo. On court 5, like on court 3, MTP’s Kristin Lueken and Karen Morand gained some momentum after winning the 1st set 7-5, then 6-2. On court 6, MTB’s Sheila Bondoc and Pam Wallach won a close match against MTP’s Linda Baker and Laurie Gray 6-4, 6-3. Midtown-Bannockburn won 4-2 over Midtown-Palatine.

North Shore NCW 4.5 Red Champions – Back Row, l-r: Whitney O’Neill, Mary Calcagno, Lynette Carlson, Susan Fellito, Carol Gottwald; Front Row: Pam Maher, Laura Egerter, Donna Bodkin, Sheri Birndorf, Captain

Shari Birndorf couldn’t have said it better, “This trophy belongs to both teams.” When the difference between being the Champion and being the Runner-up comes down to 1 game you know both teams deserve the trophy. I also loved LSSF’s coach, Scott Johnson’s succinct response about the finals, “Great matches. Big fun.” Big fun…I love it! Because that’s how it is when you make it to the finals. It IS Big Fun, win or lose. So take a look at these scores. On court 1, NSRC’s Pam Maher and Whitney O’Neill 3 setted against LSSF’s Nancy Gaspadarek and Hilary Bruce 4-6, 6-4, 6-3. On court 2 NSRC’s Jennifer Zaban and Jenny Soudan came out the winners in 2 sets against LSSF’s Beth Hermann and Gwen Pontikes. On court 3, NSRC’s Lynette Carlson and Carol Gottwald probably thought they would come off the courts pretty quickly after a 1st set 6-1 win, but LSSF’s Kristin Davin and Tina Chang wasn’t about to roll over. They fought hard in the 2nd set and won the 2nd set tie-breaker 7-5, and had the momentum going into the 3rd set which they won 6-2. On court 4, NSRC’s Mary Calcagno and Susan Fellito and LSSF’s Lisa Gregg and Emily Emmerman had a terrifically close match. NSRC came out the winners but the scores show it could have gone either way – 6-4, 3-6, 7-5. On court 5, we have what I call the “hmmm” scores. LSSF’s Lisa Hillstrom and Tina Leopardo won against NSRC’s Lisa Tank and Laura Egerter 7-6(4), 0-6, 6-1. Did someone check out? Or did someone step it up? Or both? On court 6, LSSF’s Judy Piccione and Audrey Stovall kept it close in the 1st set but dominated in the 2nd set against NSRC’s Robin Goldstein and Donna Bodkin. I feel for the players on courts 2 and 6 who came off the courts first and cheered and agonized over every point their teammates won or lost. In the end, the matches were tied at 3-3; sets were tied at 8-8; and after everyone calculated all the games multiple times, North Shore won 75-74 over Lakeshore. (Not pictured in the photo above: Jen Soudan, Jen Zaban, Lisa Tank and Robin Goldstein)

Midtown-Palatine NCW4.5 Green Champions; Standing L-R Leslie Modelski, Sandy Clarke, Allison Biergans, Anne Collins, Rose Alberts, Coach Todd Johnson, Becky Vallorano, Linda Zucco, Shelley Szela, Rosy Hugener; Seated – Eileen Felicelli, Dayna Imhoff (captain), Suzanne Rich, Tomoko Sekigami, Kristen Bouchard

LINC NCW 4.5 Green Runner-up

The road to the finals can sometimes have some interesting twists.  A loss may turn out to be a win if the right people are not in place.  Lincolnshire didn’t think they were in the finals but an oversight by North Shore made it possible for Lincolnshire to snag a spot in the finals.  Midtown-Palatine didn’t have an easy time getting into the finals over RC Lake Bluff but they managed to get 2 more sets over RCLB in the playoffs.  So both teams were happy to make it to Glenbrook Racquet Club who hosted the NCW 4.5 Green finals.  On court 1, LINC’s Ann Schueneman and Vicki Caputo had a tight match against MTP’s Rosy Hugener and Dayna Imhoff coming out tough mentally to win the 2nd set tie-breaker 7-6 (3) after losing the 1st set 5-7 and then winning the 3rd set 6-2.  On court 2 MTP’s Suzanne Rich and Sandy Clarke came away with a 2 set win over LINC’s Leslie Isaacson and Cena Glaser 6-3, 6-4.  On court 3 MTP’s Kristen Bouchard and Allison Biergans won in 2 sets against LINC’s Daun Blain and Barb Haseman.  Skipping court 4 for now, on court 5, MTP’s Becky Vallorano and Rose Alberts played it tough against LINC’s Mary Matthews and Lisa Greene 6-3, 6-0.  On court 6, LINC’s Connie Simpson and Gloria Omohundro squeaked out a win against MTP’s Leslie Modelski and Tomoko Sekigami 7-5, 6-4.  At this point, all the matches except court 4 were done.  Lincolnshire had 2 wins but one of those wins was a 3 set win.  Midtown-Palatine had 3 wins.  All were 2 set wins.  On court 4, MTP’s Eileen Felicelli and Shelley Szela were getting into their 3rd set against LINC’s Missy Frank and Astrid Herod.  The 1st set went to LINC 6-2.  The 2nd set went to MTP in a tie-breaker 7-6(5).  The 3rd set was close with MTP up 3-2 but since the NCW4.5 Red finals was scheduled for 12pm and since there were no issues worth protesting over, the match was forfeited to Midtown-Palatine.  Midtown-Palatine won 4-2 over Lincolnshire.  (Not picutred above:  Janice Ali, Donna Beechick, Kathey Bushnick, Kim Gallo, Nedra Harris, Donna Johnson, Van Ann Kim, Cassie Miller, Leslie Pontello, Madelon Queenan, Jodie Shield)

RC Lake Bluff – NCW4.0 Red Fri Champions; Standing L-R Lisette Dailey, Terri Karst, Kim Robb, Kelli Ventling, Midge Nelson, Sharon Deram, Lyla Chandy, Donna Oldenburg, Debbie Marcussen; Kneeling-Susan Moorman, Zoya Mirza, Monica Riley, Sarah Long, Sarah Boyd

The NC Women’s 4.0 Red Friday league has a few teams that are not in the NC Women’s 4.0 Wednesday league. The Racquet Club is one such club. Midtown-Chicago, on the other hand, plays in both. MTC just came off a win against Lakeshore in the 4.0 Wed finals and was looking to repeat their success in the 4.0 Friday finals. But the Racquet Club of Lake Bluff got in their way. In their only encounter during the regular season back in December, RCLB won 9.5-8.5 against MTC with a couple of tied matches. So both teams knew they had to bring their best game. On court 1, RCLB’s Zoya Mirza and Monica Riley played an epically close match against MTC’s Kim Rizzo and Sandy Cuprisin. Those are the fun and heart-breaking matches because both teams are so evenly matched. It could go either way. RCLB won 6-4, 4-6, 7-5. On court 2, MTC’s Cheryl Cutinho and Kathy Nulton was able to in win 2 sets against RCLB’s Iyla Chandy and Sharon Deram 6-3, 6-4. On court 3, RCLB’s Donna Oldenburg and Debbie Marcusson was also able to win in 2 sets against MTC’s Marcia Florence and Jodi Brewer 6-4, 6-2. On court 4, RCLB’s Kelli Ventling and Midge Nelson paired up to win against MTC’s Karen Chandler and Stephanie Perlmutter 6-3, 6-1. On court 5, in another epically close match, MTC’s Leslie Antunovich and Cathy Grodzins stepped up their game after losing the 1st set against RCLB’s Sarah Long and Sarah Boyd to win 5-7, 6-3, 7-5. On court 6, RCLB’s Susan Moorman and Kim Robb took on MTC’s Silvia Cantwell and Cheryl Reid and won 6-1, 6-4. The Racquet Club of Lake Bluff won 4-2 against Midtown-Chicago.

NRC 4.5-Open Singles Finalists; L-R Audrey Koopsen, Terri Gordon, Liesel Jankelowitz, Chris Harris

When you play against a former Division 1 player, you hope they’re having an off day and that you’re having a stellar day.  You don’t want to downgrade your abilities but you also know who you are up against.  This wasn’t the first time NRC’s Audrey Koopsen had to play GRC’s Martina Wodzinski and try as she might, Audrey fell to Martina 6-0, 6-2.  On court 2 GRC’s Natalie Diorio had trouble with NRC’s Terri Gordon’s game but found some needed shots and got some breaks from Terri to win 3-6, 7-6(1), 1-0 (10-7).  On court 3, GRC’s Lynn Mueller had a close match against NRC’s Chris Harris 4-6, 7-6, 1-0 (10-6).  On court 4, NRC’s Liesel Jankelowitz gave NRC their only win against GRC’s Joyce Salsburg 6-1, 6-3.  GRC wins 3-1 against NRC.