Recap

Rocky Mountain Rush Down Northern Rollers in Hard Fought Five-Game Match

Rollers Squeak by Rush in First Game Thriller

In a prelude to a great five-game match, the Northern Rollers staved off many Rocky Mountain Rush rallies to win 15-13.

This game was akin to a boxing match, with the Rollers Jessica Kawamoto and Emma Li exchanging many a jab or roundhouse with Rush opponents Casey Rodgers and Alex Walker. The Rollers grabbed a quick 2-0 lead, only to see the Rush tie things up with a great rally.

Li and Kawamoto, though, were unfazed by this and got back to a two-point cushion after some spectacular dinking. The Rush, to their credit, fought right back, using some great shots and defense-to-offence play to knot proceedings at 5-5. The Rollers again utilized outstanding transitional play to score three straight points and go into the side change up 8-5.

The break over, it was Rodgers and Walker’s turn to put the Rollers back on their heels with excellent returns and dinking, forcing Li and Kawamoto to take a timeout with the score tied 9-9. The rest helped the Rollers, as the jumped out to an 11-9 advantage – highlighted by a scorching cross shot. After a Rush timeout, the Rollers didn’t allow the Rush to maintain any momentum, forcing another Rush timeout at 14-12 and then winning this thriller 15-13.

Rush Roar Back With 15-12 Triumph over Rollers in Men’s Tilt

Just like the Women’s doubles game, this one was a rope-a-dope affair, with the Rush men turning the tide on the Rollers to emerge victorious.

The Rollers Rob Krizmanich and Jonas Dahler fell behind early 3-0 to the Rush’s Sunny Buttar and Brett Forsythe. However, the Rollers soon tied it up, thanks to a great backhand return by Krizmanich to make it 3-2 and then a missed shot into the net by the Rush to make it 3-3.

Undaunted, the Rush pushed the lead to 5-3, only to see a forehand heater by Krizmanich make it 5-4 and another miss forcing the Rush to take a timeout at 5-5. The Rollers used the breather to come out firing, taking their first lead with great dinking and a seeing-eye lob by Dahler to go ahead 7-5. The teams then traded points to go into side change with the Rollers up 8-6.

Things got interesting then, with the Rollers and Rush trading some great backhand returns and dinking abilities to see things squared at 10-10. The Rush then scored a pivotal point to go up one and force a Rollers’ timeout. A Rush missed dink a little later allowed the Rollers to tie it 12-12, but the Rush assumed momentum and scored three straight to win this tense game. It should be noted that Dahler made what could have been a massive behind-the-back shot, only to see it go long with the score 13-12 for the Rush.

Rollers Take Match Lead with Narrow Victory over Rush in Mixed Doubles

While the score – 15-14 – favored the Rollers, this one was over in a hurry. The Rollers Jonas Dahler and Jessica Kawamoto traded some good dinking and offensive shots with the Rush’s Brett Forsythe and Alex Walker, but the exchanges were short and furious.

The Rush held the advantage early on due to some errant returns by the Rollers, however, few points were scored with blazing return shots. The lone memorable one was credited to Rush’s Walker to give her pair a 5-4 lead. The duos traded scores to go into side change with the Rush up 8-7.

Dahler and Kawamoto seemed a bit refreshed at the break and forced the Rush to take a timeout at 11-10 in favor of the Rollers, highlighted by some electrifying offensive play by Dahler. To their credit, Forsythe and Walker flipped the script to go ahead 12-11, however, Kawamoto displayed innate dinking ability to tie it up 12-12.

The Rush then took what appeared to be commanding 14-12 lead, only to see it disappear quickly, as Dahler and Kawamoto blazed their way to a 15-14 win.

Rush Rally Back Against Rollers to Tie Match at 2-2

Another game, another thrilling finish to a pivotal game. This time, the Rush’s mixed pair of Sunny Buttar and Casey Rodgers had to stage a monumental comeback to clip the Rollers duo of Rob Krizmanich and Emma Li to escape with a narrow 15-14 win.

The Rush took command early, jumping out to a 3-0 lead, due to a couple of missed returns by Krizmanich. Some sizzling dinking rallies between the two pairs ensued, with the Rush heading into side change up just one at 8-7.

Both sides then went toe-to-toe after the break, only to see Krizmanich and Li pour it on, alternating great dinking and defense to go up 13-10 and for all intents and purposes looking like they had all the momentum. To their credit, Buttar and Rodgers didn’t back down, even though the Rollers pushed the lead to 14-12. However, the Rush broke the Rollers serve a couple of times, and surprisingly won the game 15-14 to send the match to a singles tiebreaker.

Rush Take Match in Close Singles Tiebreaker

After four rather entertaining doubles and mixed doubles games, it was apt that the match had to be settled on a singles tiebreaker.

Yet even though the score ended up 11-10 in favor of the Rush, there weren’t many dazzling shots or dinking plays to settle it. Jonas Dahler of the Rollers did give his squad an early 2-1 lead, only to see the Rush reel off a few straight 3-point mini-game wins to send the match to a 9-9 draw with one pair left to go.

In the end, the Rollers did score first to go up 10-9, but they couldn’t find the match point, handing the Rush an 11-10 victory and the match.