Recap

Brewers Open Split with Impressive Triumph over Wolverines

Brewers Women Blow Open Tight Game to Beat Wolverines

Keeping with the theme of newcomers to the CNPL, the Southwestern Ontario Brewers and West Coast Wolverines debuted four fresh women’s players for their first matches of the 2024 Eastern Split. The Brewers Amanda Rosati and Victoria DiMuzio got the better of Wolverines Sabrina Lam and Sarah Dufour, by a count of 21-15.

Lam and Dufour didn’t display rookie jitters early on, keeping Rosati and DiMuzio on their heels as the Wolverines got out to an early 4-3 lead. However, the Brewers found their stroke and forced the Wolverines into a timeout down 6-5. The tenor of the game didn’t change much for the next number of rallies, with Rosati and Dimuzio displaying a dazzling array of shots to take a 14-11 lead.

Lam and Dufour fought back gamely after a timeout, as Lam sent a beauty set up that Rosati slammed into the net and Dufour a wicked forehand to get within one. But Rosati and DiMuzio were just too much down the stretch, each delivering unreturnable bombs the Wolverines way for the win.

Brewers Men Prevail in Tightly Contested Game Against Wolverines

Unlike the women’s game before, the men’s tilt featured only one newbie, he being Mikael Gaumond of the Brewers, who was paired with wily vet Mark Cleminson. Together, they were just good enough to trim the Wolverines seasoned pair of Haddow Thul and Jonas Dahler, by a score of 21-20.

As in most of the games to this point early in the Eastern Split, the two squads were a bit tentative, looking for weaknesses – especially from Gaumond, who held firm — and trading points back and forth. The Brewers pulled away, when they rallied well to tie it and then Cleminson dropped a beauty that put them up 6-5. After that it was a master class in dinking by both sides, with the Brewers benefiting from a few unforced errors to go ahead 11-6 and force a timeout.

The rest did little to reverse the Wolverines fortunes, with the Brewers expanding their lead to 17-10. However, Thul and Dahler seemingly woke up, taking the play to the Brewers, who made several unforced errors of their own, while not being able to return several zingers produced by the Wolverines. Eventually, the Wolverines knotted it up at 20-20, forcing a Brewers timeout. It helped, as the Brewers were able to force the play and have Dahler return a shot into the net for the victory.

Brewers Claim Match Triumph with Solid Win in Mixed Doubles

It would seem that the mixed double duo of Mark Cleminson and Victoria DiMuzio is a very natural one, as they fought off a mid-game rally by the Wolverines pair of Jonas Dahler and Sarah Dufour to cruise to a key 21-13 win. Before the game was minutes old, Cleminson and Player of the Match DiMuzio found themselves ahead 6-2 with some astute shooting, defense, and dinking.

Dahler and Dufour, though, found their game and were able to bite into that lead, but not long after the Brewers forced them to make mistakes and see the lead extended to five at 12-7. Dahler brought some savvy shot making into the mix, smacking some sizzling crosses that resulted in a slim 13-12 Brewers lead.

DiMuzio then brought her “A” game, taking control of this contest with great shots, set-ups and dinking to confound the Wolverines to get the score to freeze at 20-13 in favor of the Brewers. It ended quietly as Dahler made an unforced error with a return into the net.

Wolverines Save Pride with Tidy Win over Brewers

With the match already over, the Wolverines duo of Haddow Thul and Sabrina Lam had no pressure on them – and they played that way, beating the Brewers mixed pair of Amanda Rosati and Mikael Gaumond 21-13. In fact, the Wolverines trailed but once, 1-0 on the game’s first volley.

From there, it was pretty much all Wolverines, as Lam and Thul combined great dinking and defense with timely shots to forge ahead 7-3. Rosati fought gamely for the Brewers, sending a great forehand for a point, and setting up the Wolverines for a side out to make the score 10-6. After a few Wolverines unforced errors, the score was trimmed to 11-9, but Thul and Lam answered with more great rallies and wicked shots to climb ahead 15-9 and force a timeout.

The rest of this game saw even more Wolverines dominance, as Thul and Lam kept up the pressure, forcing Rosati and Gaumond into more net returns and long shots. The defining shot was a net cord backhand by Thul that got the game to freeze.