Recap

Pronghorns Stage Big Comeback to Clip Wolverines 3-2

Pronghorns Jump Out to Early Match Lead in Game 1 Thriller

You would never have known that Prairie Pronghorns Women’s duo Kim Brent and Pam Clarke had never played together in a Women’s pairs game.

The two were formidable, though, dispatching West Coast Wolverines’ duo Angie Walker and Vicky Strandlund by a count of 15-13, giving the Pronghorns a 1-0 lead in the match.

It started innocently enough, with both sides trading some good volleys to go into the side change with the Pronghorns leading 8-6. What put the Wolverines behind the proverbial 8-ball were a couple of forays into the no-volley zone that cost them points.

The action amped up after that, with the Pronghorns trading some great return shots with the Wolverines, the last winning Pronghorns rally forcing the Wolverines to take a timeout down 12-10. It worked, as Walker produced a couple of absolute bombs after the timeout to knot things at 12-12.

Undaunted, the Pronghorns upped the lead to 14-12 and used an impressive finish rally to win it.

Wolverines Men Stifle Late Pronghorns Rally with 15-14 Victory

The commentators for this game were quite effusive in describing the players involved in this pivotal game, throwing out nicknames and terms like “assassin”, “shots fired” and “panther.”

The action was fast and furious in this men’s doubles thriller, with the Wolverines pair of Haddow Thul and Joel Pelletier (the assassin in question) escaping with a 15-14 win over Pronghorns Matty Stodola and Ravi “Panther” Prakash.

Early on, it looked like the Wolverines would run away with this one, using their experience together to jet ahead 9-4 by the side change. The Wolverines didn’t let up, led by the assassin Pelletier, who used his beastly swing to get his team to a 14-10 freeze and what looked like a lock on the game.

However, the Panther and Stodola held their ground, staging impressive rallies of their own to square the contest at 14-14. But, in the end, the serve-holding Wolverines were able to force the Pronghorns to put one into the net to seal the deal.

Wolverines Mixed Pair Benefit from Pronghorns Errors in 15-11 Triumph

In the third game of this hotly contested match, it wasn’t so much the tactical advantage of Wolverines’ pair Haddow Thul and Angie Walker, but the unforced errors made by Pronghorns Ravi Prakash and Pam Clarke. The Wolverines benefited from a lot of Pronghorns return shots finding the Selkirk net.

The Pronghorns duo jumped out to an early 2-0 lead, but those unforced errors led to the Wolverines tying it up and then taking a lead they would never relinquish. It was 8-3 West Coast at side change, with Walker providing a resound forehand smash for her pair’s seventh point.

After side change it was the same old story for Prakash and Clarke, who both had too many instances of net-bound balls, interspersed with the odd great return that barely kept their hopes alive.

Kudos, though, to Thul and Walker, who remained composed and used their significant dinking skills to their advantage in the third-game victory.

Pronghorns Stomp Wolverines in Mixed Game to Force Tiebreaker

This time, Joel “the Assassin” Pelletier was not a factor. Faced with losing the match, Pronghorns’ mixed pair Matt Stodola and Kim Brent stifled many a dinking rally by Wolverines’ counterparts Pelletier and Vicky Strandlund, winning 15-5.

The turning point came early, and no doubt played in the Wolverines’ mindset, when Brent and Stodola played outstanding defence, with Stodola denying a monster smash from Pelletier to gain a point and go up 3-1.

After that pivotal play, the Pronghorns never looked back, up 8-2 at side change and 11-5 when a weary Wolverines duo took a much-needed timeout.

Brent and Stodola, refreshed from the timeout, took it to their opponents in the final minutes, trading great point-scoring shots, with Stodola sending a missile at the Wolverines to set up a 14-5 freeze. He then slashed a great shot down the sideline to give the Pronghorns the win and the team to a tiebreaker.

Pronghorns Prevail in Tiebreak, Completing Comeback

With their opponents a little demoralized after a thorough beating, the Pronghorns came out firing in the singles tiebreaker game, nipping the Wolverines 11-8 to take the match 3-2.

Matt Stodola set the tone in the first three-point set, forcing Joel Pelletier to hit two wide shots to give the Pronghorns a 3-0 lead. The Wolverines Haddow Thul, however, made the most out of his considerable arsenal, gaining two early points on Ravi Prakash to trim the lead to 4-2.

Pronghorns Kim Brent turned the tide back into her team’s favor, setting up Wolverines’ Angie Walker for mistakes to up the Pronghorns’ lead to 6-2. Walker finished strong in the mini set, using a great return to make the score 6-3. Wolverines Vicky Strandlund turned the tide a bit in her mini set with Pam Clarke, making a seeing-eye lob on the last point to put the game at 7-5 Pronghorns.

Stodola and Pelletier went at it again, with Stodola finishing his domination of “the Assassin” with a 2-1 advantage and a commanding 9-6 lead. Haddow Thul then scored to huge points against Prakash, but the 10-8 lead proved to be insurmountable, as Pronghorns’ Kim Brent garnered the match-winning 11^th point when Wolverines Walker sent a return long after a good rally.