Recap

West Coast Wolverines Rally to Down Southwestern Ontario Brewers in Five

Brewers Women Pour it on to Beat Wolverines

The final score, 15-12 in favor of the Southwestern Ontario Brewers women’s doubles game, really did flatter the Wolverines.

The Brewers’ Christina Chin and Susan Pound were clearly the more offensive team, keeping the Wolverines duo of Angie Walker and Vicky Strandlund on the defensive. Put another way, when the Wolverines did try and mount a counterattack, they incurred foot violations in the kitchen to hand the Brewers easy points.

The first half of this contest was relatively calm, as there were no extend dinking rallies or amazing shots. However, after a timeout and the score 6-6, the two squads traded points on the first extended rallies of the match. Chin and Pound then took over, sending a couple of rockets to win points and only giving up points hitting the net while playing furious offense.

The second foot violation was inopportune for the Wolverines, making the score 14-12 for the Brewers, who won it when a return ball from the Wolverines found nothing but net.

Wolverines Men Clip Brewers to Square the Match

Looking to take a stranglehold on this match, the Brewers twosome of Mark Cleminson and Jeff Elwood had a tall task, having to take down Wolverines Haddow Thul and Joel Pelletier.

Even though they fought valiantly, Cleminson and Elwood were just that little bit less sharp in comparison to Thul and Pelletier.

To start, the Wolverines played some great defense and used some sizzling returns to gain points, countered by the Brewers doing the same in return, with the Wolverines taking an 8-7 lead into side change.

Refreshed, the Wolverines displayed the aforementioned sharpness, using great dinking play to up the lead to 11-8 and never really giving the Brewers much, except for a booming shot by Cleminson and good return dinking to make the score 13-12 Wolverines.

Elwood did make a glorious return backhand to get the score to 13-13, but the Brewers hit the net and then were long on the freeze serve to lose it 15-13.

Brewers Dominate in Mixed Doubles Triumph

Jeff Elwood must have had a wee chip on his shoulder, having come off a close loss in men’s doubles, where the Wolverines really took it to him and Mark Cleminson.

Elwood dominated the play in this key mixed doubles match-up, showing off a scintillating array of shots off his paddle that gained his team four points in a 15-9 victory over the Wolverines Vicky Strandlund and Haddow Thul. Elwood’s partner Susan Pound was also up to the task, smoking a great forehand for a point and another seeing eye shot down the line to give the Brewers an 8-5 advantage going into side change.

Thul and Strandlund did try and put up a fight after the break, showing off their dinking and defensive skills, combined with Strandlund notching a couple of points herself on a great backhand to make it 12-8 and a nifty shot down the line to make it 13-9 for the Brewers.

However, this ne ended quietly when the Wolverines return hit the net on freeze.

Wolverines Thrash Brewers to Tie Up Match

One could say that the Brewers really “took it on the chin” in a key mixed doubles contest in this match. With the score tied 1-1 early, Mark Cleminson and Christina Chin of the Brewers were right in the fray, when the Wolverines’ Angie Walker made the shot that defined her team’s win, hitting Chin squarely in the face on a return to give the Wolverines a lead they wouldn’t relinquish on the way to a 15-7 win.

By side change, Walker and partner Joel Pelletier had a commanding 8-3 lead. The Brewers did show some life after, rallying for a big point to get within four, but Cleminson and Chin could not find the secret sauce at any point in the second half, with opponents Pelletier and Pound making some solid shots for points.

Pound finished off her Wolverines counterparts, when a shot she made just clipped the Selkirk net enough for her team to go up 14-7. She then sent a scorcher down the middle to win it on the next point and move the Wolverines and Brewers to a Singles tiebreaker.

Wolverines Storm Back to Win Match in Tiebreaker

It was fitting that this match went down to a tiebreaker, given that two games were close and two weren’t.

The Wolverines found the extra gear in the tiebreaker, especially when the two men’s singles mini games put the game at 3-3. During those first six points, Wolverines’ Haddow Thul hid a blazing shot that eluded Jeff Elwood, while the Brewers returned the favor with Mark Cleminson scorching a backhand past Wolverines’ Joel Pelletier.

The Wolverines women put their team in the driver’s seat, with both Angie Walker and Vicky Strandlund winning 2-1 against Christina Chin and Susan Pound, respectively to go up 7-5. That sequence was highlighted by a beautiful dive by Strandlund to return a Dura ball, only to have Pound place it perfectly to make the score then 6-5.

Elwood got the Brewers closer with two key points again Thul, but teammate Cleminson couldn’t solve Pelletier, dropping two points after tying it 8-8.

The Wolverines’ Walker won it on serve up 10-8 against Brewers, with Chin sending one into the net.