Recap

Rush Victorious in Tight Four-Game Match with Brewers

Rush Women Complete Comeback in Big Win over Brewers

When last these two teams met in the Eastern Split, the Rush women’s doubles team of Casey Rodgers and Alex Walker had to keep Brewers Susan Pound and Christina Chin at bay long enough to win a close one. It was no different this time around, except that the Rush lead wasn’t as significant early on, but they still had to remain composed to eventually win 15-14.

The Brewers need an early breather down 4-2, calling a timeout after some good Rush defense and dinking. It seemed to work for a bit, with both Chin and Pound sending crossing rockets the Rush way to make the score 6-5 Rush. But Rodgers hit back with two great shots to extend the lead, only to see the Brewers claw back to tie it 9-9.

The two teams exchanged unforced errors and played sound enough defense, however, the Brewers took a 13-12 lead and called a time out. The rest worked, as they defended nicely to get to 14-12 freeze. Yet, the Rush fought valiantly to tie it, the low light being a cross that went through Pound’s legs. Rodgers then smashed a winner down the line.

Brewers Clip Rush in Men’s Doubles to Knot Match

The Brewers Jeff Elwood and Mark Cleminson are a formidable pair, as the Rush’s Brett Forsythe and Nathan Choi found out in this key contest. The Brewers, who beat the Rush 3-2 in the Eastern Split, needed to triumph here and the men came through, 15-13.

Elwood got it rolling with an overhand smash for a point and then a nasty flick to put the Brewers up 2-1. After unforced errors on both sides, Elwood and Cleminson combined on a superb offensive to defensive rally to go up 6-3 and force a Rush timeout. The Rush responded, as Choi smoked a forehand winner, followed by a good drop by Forsythe to get within one. But Elwood would count two straight with overhands and Cleminson chipped in a backhand to extend the lead to 9-5.

The Rush then found their mojo, with Choi supplying the fireworks with three winners to get the score to 11-11. The ending, however, wasn’t as dramatic, with the Brewers holding serve at 14-13 and winning it when Choi made a net return.

Rush Mixed Doubles Make Improbable Comeback Against Brewers

In the brief annals of the CNPL, there likely haven’t been many comebacks like the one the Rush’s mixed doubles team of Forsythe and Walker made here. Down 8-1 early on, they forced the Brewers Chin and Cleminson into many unforced errors to win 15-14 to put their team one win from a match triumph.

Cleminson and Chin were effective enough from the start, while Forsythe and Walker struggled a bit. After Cleminson smashed a backhand winner to make it 9-3, Forsythe answered with a blazing flick and a great forehand to force the Brewers to take a timeout up 9-5. After the break, Cleminson dropped a nice shot for an 11-6 cushion.

However, the Rush woke up and chipped away at the lead, both Walker and Forsythe, with a smooth ATP, contributing to get the count to 11-11. Chin and Cleminson did rally to get to 14-12 freeze, but couldn’t hold on to the lead, with Forsythe providing the final two points to complete the comeback.

Brewers Fail to Hold Late Lead, Losing Game and Match

Elwood and Pound are wily veterans, and it was a good bet they might keep their team in the match and send this to a singles tiebreaker. However, young guns Choi and Rodgers – who would be named Player of the Match – were plucky enough to overcome a late deficit to win 15-13 and send their team into the next match happy.

The two squads went at it hard in the early stages, with all players chipping in wonderful shots and transitioning well from offense to defense. In fact, the first timeout wasn’t called until an unforced error by the Rush made the score 10-9, still in their favor. Elwood then smoked a winner, even though Rodgers countered just about every Brewers attempt to score earlier.

Choi and Rodgers defended well to get back in the lead 11-10, but then three unforced errors in a row allowed the Brewers to take a 13-11 lead and cause the Rush to take another timeout. It did the trick, with Choi and Rodgers coming out guns blazing, winning it 15-13 when Elwood hit the Selkirk net on return.