FIRST TOURNAMENT HELD AT SUGAR VALLEY ONE-WALL COURTS

The weatherman did not lie! It was sunny and in the upper 60s when players arrived for the first ever tournament to be held at the new one-wall courts at Sugar Valley Lakes Homes Assoc., Mound City, Kansas.

The 2 courts were built the summer of 2008 on the former SVL tennis court with the permission of the Assoc. The Assoc. also donated $500.00 for materials. Labor was donated by Tom Little, Eliza Little, John Sutherland, Patrick Sutherland, Jim Stanley, Bridget Stanley, Dylan Stanley, Madison Stanley and George Larson.

While all the tournament matches were hard fought, the battle for 2nd Place in the Seniors was especially noteworthy. The Doubles Teams of Ryan Sutherland/Blake Johanning versus Brandon Early/Travis Rockers started their match about 6:15 pm when the daylight was just starting to fade. Near the end of the second game, it became very dark. As there are no lights at the courts, friends and family lined their cars up and turned on their headlights. The players requested use of the pink colored balls as they were a bit easier to see (when purchase is made of pink racquetballs, a donation is made for breast cancer research).

At the end of 2 games, the teams were tied up. Both teams refused the options of flipping a coin to determine the winner or playing the tie-breaker at a different time. The tie breaker was played in darkness with the pink balls until they were hit over the wall and lost. Back to blue balls and a nail biter win at 11-10.

Senior Doubles:

First Place: Luke Geneva and Brock Johanning
Second Place: Ryan Sutherland and Blake Johanning
Runners Up: Brandon Early and Travis Rockers

Intermediate:

First Place: Patrick Sutherland and Austin Coleman
Second Place: Jim Stanley and Chris Szeliga
Runners Up: Dylan Stanley and Trenton Vaughn
Bridget Stanley and Jessica Gibson

Junior:

First Place: Chad Coleman and Tyler Vaughn
Second Place: Eliza Little and Madison Stanley
Runners Up: Alyssa Coleman and Madison Stanley