Recap

Southwestern Ontario Brewers Trim Northern Rollers in Five-Game Squeaker

Rollers Women Outlast Brewers in Furious Tilt

This game couldn’t have been closer. In what was a seesaw battle, the Rollers duo of Emma Li and Jessica Kawamoto finally won it 15-14 over Brewers pair Susan Pound and Christina Chin after 10 double freeze rallies. That’s right, 10!

From the get-go, Li and Kawamoto faced a tall task taking on the hard-hitting Pound and Chin. The Rollers were spirited enough in the first half of this contest, getting some great dinks in and playing stout defense to go into side change up 8-6.

Pound, a noted banger, blazed a great forehand after the break to get the Brewers within one, but Li and Kawamoto weren’t fazed, racking up five points to the Brewers two to lead 13-9, forcing their opponents to call a timeout. Chin and Pound came out firing, then, outscoring the Rollers 5-1 on some astute offense/defense and great shots to put the game at double freeze.

Back and forth the Brewers and Rollers went at a frenetic pace for the next nine plays, neither able to put the other away. Finally, the Rollers hit a couple of good dinks before the Brewers sent yet another one into the Selkirk net to seal it for Kawamoto and Li.

Brewers Make Short Work of Rollers in Men’s Doubles

Unlike the women’s double match, this one was never in doubt after side change. The Brewers men’s doubles team of Jeff Elwood and Mark Cleminson rallied and dinked their way to a convincing 15-8 trouncing of the Rollers Rob Krizmanich and Jonas Dahler.

At first, it looked like the Rollers had the stuff to take down the Brewers, with Dahler making a big backhand shot and Krizmanich combining a clever backhand and then a vicious overhand to take a 3-2 lead. Not intimidated, the Brewers rallied and took advantage of a couple of Rollers returns that found the net to go up 8-6 at side change.

The Rollers pushed the score to 8-7 after Krizmanich made a great leave for Dahler to win a point, but that would be the closest they got the rest of the game. Cleminson and Elwood overcame any Rollers pushback, including some incredible return shots made by Krizmanich during one rally that saw the Brewers actually take the 12-8 lead.

The last three points for the Brewers came via some outstanding dinking and rallying to end this contest quickly.

Brewers Mixed Doubles Overcome Rollers in Third Game

While the score went the Brewers’ way in this key mixed doubles game, it very nearly was the Jonas Dahler Show. The lanky male half of the Rollers team with Emma Li, Dahler gave it all he had, including making a ridiculous behind-the-back circus shot.

The Brewers Christina Chin and Mark Cleminson roared out to an early 5-1 lead, combining on a great offensive rally and a huge overhand return each to force a Rollers time out. For Dahler and Li, the rest worked. Li fired a seeing eye shot down the line to make the score 5-2, then Dahler took over, recording three points of his own after the circus shot with overhand, backhand, and forehand shots to go into side change down 8-6.

Li and Dahler didn’t lay down after the break, keeping Chin and Cleminson in check and then forcing their opponents to take a much-needed timeout with the score 11-9 Brewers.

Cleminson got things going well after the timeout, smoking a backhand to go up 12-9. This time, though, Dahler didn’t have any more magic tricks up his sleeve, as he was short on one return and long on another to hand the Brewers a 14-9 lead at freeze. The end was anti-climactic, too, as the Rollers found net yet again in a 15-9 defeat.

Rollers Force Tiebreaker with Convincing Defeat of Brewers

In desperate need of a victory, the Rollers mixed doubles team of Rob Krizmanich and Jessica Kawamoto delivered, in a big way. The tone of the match was set right away, when Krizmanich shanked a spinning return, that eluded the Brewers pair of Jeff Elwood and Susan Pound.

Krizmanich and Kawamoto kept up the pressure on the Brewers, both notching key points en route to an 8-5 side change lead. For their part, Pound and Elwood did battle well, playing decent defense and rallying well during extended dinking exchanges with the Rollers.

The Brewers did trim the score to 8-7 after side change, however, they wouldn’t get any closer. Kawamoto got the Dura ball rolling with a scorching forehand to make the score 11-7, which Pound answered with a scintillating drive of her own. The Brewers didn’t mount much more in the way of offense after Pound’s notable point and the Rollers put an exclamation point on the game with a tremendous rally at freeze to win it 15-9.

Brewers Men Settle Match in Singles Tiebreaker

After a big win in the mixed doubles to force this tiebreaker, it seemed that the Rollers male competitors may have not had enough in the tank. Brewers Jeff Elwood got things off to a good start by smoking two unreturnable balls for points against Rollers Jonas Dahler, and another just going wide to give his team a 2-1 advantage. Mark Cleminson kept the good times rolling against Rollers Rob Krizmanich, rallying, and overcoming Krizmanich’s excellent defensive play to take all three points and give his team a commanding 5-1 lead.

Then the Rollers women went to work. Both Emma Li and Jessica Kawamoto scored 2-1 victories, trimming the Brewers lead to 7-5. Li employed an excellent set-up shot against Brewers Christina Chin for one of her two markers, while Kawamoto answered a point from hard hitter Susan Pound with a shot that got net love and a sparkling overhand winner.

For the Rollers, though, it was not meant to be. Elwood crushed Dahlen with three points on a huge overhand, followed by a superb passing shot and a cross court winner to put the Brewers on top 10-5. The game and match ended quickly when Krizmanich’s return on Cleminson’s serve at match point hit the Selkirk net.