The 3.0er of the Year - Jason Petrik
(LaTuchie)
Singles Player of the Year - Matthew Brenn
(Towpath)
Doubles Player of the Year - Jason Petrik
(LaTuchie)
Doubles Team of the Year - Colt McCutcheon & Jason Petrik
(LaTuchie)
Captain of the Year - Ken Frost
(LaTuchie)
Jason, Ken, and Matthew (grey), winning in all three phases of 3.0 play!
It was a NEO sweep as famed clubs LaTuchie and Towpath took all the major - major! - D.F.O. awards 2014 had to offer! LaTuchie's Jason, thanks to claiming the most wins (19) on the season, was honored with The 3.0er of the Year, Doubles Player of the year, and, with partner Colt, Doubles Team of the Year status. Across town, Towpath's Matthew, winner of the esteemed Akron Open, enjoyed wins in all three phases of 3.0 play, helping him hoist the Singles Player of the Year award in a very, very crowded field! But the standout player - and Captain! - of the season was LaTuchie's Ken, who lead his club to a 3rd place 40+ finish at Nationals, the best in O-H-I-O 3.0 history!
In singles, Matthew enjoyed a fine two-year 3.0 run, culminating in winning the biggest tournament of the season against one of the best 3.0 players the 3.0 world has to offer en route to earning his major award against an incredibly crowded field! Now a 3.5, Matthew retired from the 3.0 world with an incredible 17-4 overall mark, including 17 wins in the rough-and-tumble 3.0 singles arena! Making Matthew's accomplishments all the more impressive (and how could they possible get more impressive?!), Matthew ended his 3.0 career as one of the few to hold both a tournament and a team championship! Whoa! Individual and team accolades?! WHOA!
In doubles, Jason and Colt teamed up to help lead their LaTuchie team to amazing 3.0 heights, going undefeated during the season, a season that ended with LaTuchie as one of the top three teams in all of the nation! Congratulations Jason and Colt on an amazingly historic season!
Captaining two teams during the 2014 campaign, Ken won a total of four championships, but it was his work with the elderly 40+ crew that showed exactly the type of 3.0 leader he really is! Indeed, an undefeated Flight season was only the beginning, for when the season ended, Ken had lead his men to the best finish in Ohio 3.0 history - a 3rd place podium standing!
2014 DFO 3.0 Player of the Year Finalists
* = Years at 3.0; Nomination Criteria
Tournament Qualifiers
Matt Birkbeck*7
Tournament: Akron Open Finalist (4-1)
League: 1-2 Doubles
Matthew Brenn*2
Tournament: Akron Open Champion (4-0)
League: 7-1 Singles; Playoffs: 2-1 Singles
Jon Burkhart*4
Tournament: Paramount Winter Consolation Title (2-1)
Ricardo Caldera*2
Tournament: Paramount Fall Champion (3-0), Akron Open Quarter-Finalist (2-1)
Jack DeMita*3
Tournament: Paramount Winter Champion (3-0)
Lance Frew*5
Tournament: Paramount Fall Finalist (2-1)
League: 11-0 Doubles; Playoffs: 2-0 Singles, 4-4 Doubles
Norell Hodges*3
Tournament: Paramount Winter Finalist (1-1), Akron Open Quarter-Finalist (1-1), Paramount Fall Consolation Title (2-1)
Ron Novak*7
Tournament: Washington Court Champion (2-0), Paramount Winter Quarter-Finalist (0-2)
League: 0-3 Singles, 0-1 Doubles
Aaron Smith*5
Tournament: Akron Open Consolation Title (3-1)
League: 0-3 Doubles
Jeffrey Dunker*2 (Schroeder Tennis)
League: 8-1 Singles, 3-0 Doubles; Playoffs: 1-1 Singles, 4-2 Doubles
Mark Brown*2 (LaTuchie)
League: 6-0 Singles, 1-0 Doubles; Playoffs: 6-2 Singles, 1-0 Playoffs, Nationals Final 4
Doubles
Tournament Qualifiers
Amirhossein Molavi Tabrizi*2/Mehdei Kafaeikivi*2
Tournament: Akron Open Doubles Champions (2-0)
Matt Birkbeck*7/Aaron Smith*5
Tournament: Akron Open Doubles Consolation Title (1-1)
Tim Lastoria*3/Aleksandar Petkovic*2
Tournament: Akron Open Doubles Finalists (1-1)
League: 1-0
Tim Sayer*5/Harry Ally*2 (Schroeder Tennis)
League: 8-1; Playoffs: 3-2
Jason Petrik*4/Colt McCutcheon*4 (LaTuchie)
League: 7-0; Playoffs: 2-0, Nationals Final 4
Voting Notes
In another tough singles vote, the Voting Panel struggled to separate a group of relatively newer 3.0's, many of whom who had played at the 3.0 level but two seasons. As such, the Voting Panel was riddled with indecision in attempting to determine who was truly deserving of the highest singles honor the D.F.O. has to offer. Indeed, veteran Ron's championship looked strong, but so to did newbie Jack's Major* title as well as well. Not to be dismissed, renowned doubles specialist Ricardo also entered the mix with his first singles championship, showing his all court ability. And then add in Lance's amazing league season, and, well, no wonder this was such a daunting choice! Ultimately, however, the Voting Panel decided that Matthew, who not only won the biggest event against some of the biggest 3.0 stars of his time, but also enjoyed a great league and playoff season. Thus, in the end, Matthew no doubt, against an amazing field of peers, deserved the ultimate 3.0 recognition!
In doubles, the voting was also complicated, as the Voting Panel had to weigh tournament versus playoff success. Amir and Mehdei's title run at the sole event of the season was truly impressive enough, especially as it was the granddaddy of all 3.0 events. However, Jason and Colt's undefeated, playoff, National's Final 4 run was also impressive, and any time you can say "Final 4," well, that's just too much to ignore!
For the first time in many years, the Voting Panel had quite a voting conundrum before them as both Tim Sayer of Schroeder Tennis Center and Ken Frost of LaTuchie had both qualified to the peak of 3.0 tennis - Nationals! In the end, the Voting Panel bucked tradition and rather than rewarding Tim's 18 win season instead rewarded Ken's 14 win season that ended with a 3rd place finish - the best ever recorded! - at Nationals!
Ineligible Nominees
Craig Reese*
Tournament: Washington Court Consolation Title (1-1), Paramount Fall Quarter-Finalist (0-2)
League: 3-2 Singles, 1-0 Doubles
Notes: Solid in tournament and league play made Craig one of the better 3.0 players of the year!
Joseph Verstraten* (Schroeder Tennis)
League: 4-1 Singles, 7-1 Doubles; Playoffs: 7-0 Singles
Notes: Helping to lead his team to a Midwest Ohio Championships Champion title, Joseph enjoyed an amazing 18 win season!