Recap

Northern Rollers Convincingly Blank Southwestern Ontario Brewers

Rollers Women Crush Brewers After Slow Start

No one would have guessed that a team with a 5-2 lead would eventually lose by nearly two touchdowns, but that is what happened to the Brewers women’s squad of Amanda Rosati and Victoria DiMuzio. They came out hot, and then fizzled against the Rollers Jessica Kawamoto and Casey Rodgers, by a score of 21-8.

Rodgers and Player of the Match Kawamoto couldn’t find their stride early, each making two unforced errors to hand the Brewers a 5-2 cushion. All we can say is it was all Rollers after that. In quick time, it was Rosati and DiMuzio’s turn to smack Dura balls side out or into the Selkirk net, resulting in a timeout with the Rollers ahead 9-6.

The energetic Kawamoto then pressed the issue, capably backed up by Rodgers, swatting two forehand crosses for points, which the Brewers could not even get close to. After DiMuzio hit one long on serve return to up the score to 16-8 Rollers, Rodgers turned in two superb winning shots in the final five volleys to close it out.

Rollers Win Tight Slugfest in Men’s Contest

The Eastern Split saw many close, hard-fought games. This one, between the Rollers Matt Stodola and Ryan Torresin and the Brewers Kyle Hermetz and Mikael Gaumond was a nitty gritty pitched battle. In the end and after four holds, the Rollers finally won 21-20.

On the Rollers side early, both Stodola and Torresin took turns blasting shots for winners, interspersed with unforced errors that allowed the Brewers to pick up easy points. With the Rollers up 5-4 the Brewers dinked their way to a point and then went ahead on a great Hermetz set up. The lead switched hands a few times, until the Rollers turned up the heat with great defense and a smoking Stodola overhand made it 16-13 Rollers, forcing a timeout.

The Rollers added two to their lead and the Brewers looked done. However, they would play outstanding defense and hit tricky shots enough to tighten the score to 18-16 Rollers. The Rollers charged back, though, scoring two to get to freeze and another timeout. The Brewers didn’t lay down, clawing back to tie it at 20-20 and then for four holds they duked it out, until wily Stodola set the Brewers up to hit one long.

Rollers Mixed Doubles Run Away with Game, Win Match

Despite a bit of a late comeback, the Brewers Kyle Hermetz and Victoria DiMuzio were overmatched in this one by Rollers Player of the Match Jessica Kawamoto and Ryan Torresin. The dynamic Rollers duo owned the kitchen and beat the Rollers handily, 21-13 and in the process cementing the match.

The Brewers knew they had to be in a bit of trouble when Kawamoto stroked an ATP to put the Rollers ahead 2-0. A bit later, both DiMuzio and Hermetz whiffed on a return to go down 7-2, forcing a timeout. After a brief respite, Hermetz did blast a forehand for a point to give his team life, but Torresin answered back with a blistering cross of his own. The real damage for the Brewers came in the form of unforced errors, coupled with the dinking display and well-timed speed-ups by the Rollers.

As stated above, the Brewers did mount a bit of a comeback, aided by a few Rollers gaffes, however it was short-lived. With the score 19-13, Kawamoto set up DiMuzio for a net return, followed by a massive Torresin overhand to put away the Brewers.

Rollers Complete Sweep in Epic Game with Brewers

Not to state the obvious, but with the match decided, this was a “nothing” game. Just don’t tell that to the combatants, who staged what was likely the game of the Eastern Split. The Rollers Casey Rodgers and Matt Stodola had to fight tooth and nail to get by the Brewers Mikael Gaumond and Amanda Rosati, 21-20. Just to put a fine point on this colossal tilt, there were eight holds at 20-20 freeze.

Rosati and Gaumond came out like a team determined to salvage a bit of pride for the Brewers and they, along with Stodola and Rodgers, put on a Pickleball master class. For much of the early going, the two teams contested the kitchen, played superb transitionally and made tremendous shots for winners. Yes, there were a few unforced errors from both sides, but the quality of play was evident.

It was apt, then, that this hotly contested tilt came down to a 20-20 freeze, neither team giving the other quarter. And hold after hold, neither team refused to wilt, until after eight holds, Stodola hit a low unreturnable serve for the victory.