Recap

United Stays Hot in Come-From-Behind Victory over Brewers

Brewers Women Stage Multiple Comebacks in Win over United

Talk about being thrown in headfirst. Undrafted Reese George, who had big shoes to fill replacing Susan Pound, acquitted herself quite well, teaming with Christina Chin in a thrilling 15-11 victory over Carolina Hack and Hannah Blatt of United. With a raucous crowd on hand, the Brewers had to overcome a few United leads to come out on top in a battle of 8-6 teams (4^th vs 5^th).

Chin and George were a bit tentative to start and Blatt and Hack went on the offensive, scoring on hard forehands to take a 3-0 lead. George introduced herself quickly, though, using an overhand, a net cord shot and a set-up to narrow United’s lead to 4-3. With the score tied 5-5, Chin got in on the action, ripping a forehand to put the Brewers ahead for the first time.

The two squads went back and forth, until the Brewers called a timeout after some unforced errors and the score tied 8-8. United went ahead again 10-9, however, the turning point may have been Hack’s whiff on a return that tied it. George and Chin then played relentless offense, forcing more unforced errors before George won it with an overhand.

United Men Square Match in Exciting Tilt with Brewers

Given the combatants, it would have been tough to handicap this key game. On one side, the veteran duo of Jeff Elwood and Mark Cleminson for the Brewers, on the other, the hot pair of Matt Kawamoto and Mark Gottfried. The latter got the best of the former, with Player of the Match Kawamoto and Gottfried combining to play outstanding defense and offense in a 15-12 win.

As in the women’s doubles game, United jumped out to an early advantage on some nice shooting by Kawamoto and Gottfried, only to have Cleminson drop a beauty set up to tie the score at 4-4. United held the edge in rallying for several plays, but Elwood and Cleminson kept them in check with great forehands and defense, pushing the score to 8-8. However, a Gottfried overhand and Kawamoto backhand forced a timeout.

After the break, Elwood and Cleminson hung on with defense and superb shooting, only to have Gottfried and Kawamoto better them with offensive to defensive transitions.

United Mount Furious Comeback to Defeat Brewers in Mixed Doubles

If one were to write a manual on how to play pickleball, this game would have outstanding references. Down by as many as four several times, the United duo of Mark Gottfried and Carolina Hack held fast and shocked the Brewers pair of Jeff Elwood and Christina Chin, 15-14.

The Brewers sprinted out of the blocks, rallying for four straight points, and forcing United to take a much-needed timeout. Gottfried and Hack did get going after, with Hack setting up the Brewers for unforced errors and Gottfried smashing a cross to make the score 6-5 Brewers. But Chin and Elwood didn’t break, using defense and a nice forehand from Chin to again lead by four at 9-5. Hack and Gottfried went on the offensive and scored four points, but were undone by the Brewers defense and were forced into another timeout, trailing 12-9.

Again, the Brewers got rolling after the rest, getting to a 14-10 freeze when Hack went side out on a return. This is where things got very interesting. With both teams wanting short rallies, United bent but didn’t break, tying it up at 14-14 through eight freezes and forcing a Brewers timeout. Fired up from a home crowd, United won this barnburner on a Gottfried forehand.

United Caps Match with Another Comeback in Mixed Doubles

The streaker that gave the crowd a laugh must have been unnerving for the Brewers mixed doubles team of Mark Cleminson and Reese George. With this great game tied 10-10, a semi-naked and likely well lubricated fan ran around the Pickleroll floor. It seemed to have an adverse effect on the Brewers, who seemed to become undone in an eventual 15-12 loss to Matt Kawamoto and Hannah Blatt in the match clincher.

Blatt and Kawamoto put their foot on the gas early, forcing the veteran Cleminson and newbie George into hitting errant returns and taking a 6-2 lead. The Brewers launched a counter-offensive, with Cleminson supplying most of the fireworks, including an amazing ATP which tied things up at 9-9.

Despite the streaker, the Brewers did take a 12-11 lead, but Blatt and Kawamoto were just too much down the stretch, transitioning seamlessly between defense and offense, forcing George and Cleminson into unforced errors that sealed the deal.