NCRC reigns supreme in one of the closest Flight finishes to date!
In one of the closest finishes in 3.0 Flight history, NCRC ended up head of the 3.0 class in a 40+ finish that didn't finish until the final matchday! At stake was not only a pretend trophy representing their Flight glory, but also a trip to the District playoffs in August! And to Districts they will go, BUT NOT ALONE! Indeed, North Ridge will be returning for the second straight year while Paramount Westlake will be going for the first time in possibly ever (we didn't look it up)!
40+ Results and Highlights
NCRC 9-1 (26 sets lost)
N. Ridge 9-1 (27 sets lost)
P. Westlake 8-2
Towpath 7-3
LaTuchie 5-5
Mayfield 4-6 (56 sets lost)
Wembley 4-6 (60 sets lost)
Avon Oaks 4-6 (63 sets lost)
Bay Village 3-7
CVAC 1-8
P. Medina
* Note: CVAC and P. Medina's results were not posted at the time of this writing which can only mean one thing ... THEY'VE BEEN PLAYING FOR 48+ HOURS!
NCRC suffered but one loss on the season, ironically to runner-up North Ridge the first half of the 3.0 40+ season, giving the boys (er ... men) from North Ridge a Flight lead they held until the end of August! But at the end of August, a seemingly insignificant match took place upon the brand new courts of North Ridge against up-and-comers Paramount Westlake, and in a stunner, the Paramount boys (er ... adults), won three doubles courts against such powerhouse 3.0 names as Ben, Robert, and Captain Robert, all in three nail biting SUPER TIE-BREAK sets! This victory for Paramount Westlake would suddenly put Captain Sean's club among a four team race for Flight success, all the more important as the top three clubs would qualify to District Playoffs!
The month of July was one of tension (which is key for your racquet, as it turns out), as none of the top four clubs dropped a result the rest of the way, meaning the final matchday would determine the entire season! NCRC and North Ridge were the favorites, but thanks to tie-breakers, North Ridge needed to go 4-1 or 5-0 versus their final opponent, Bay, and just as important had to sweep the courts two sets to love to ensure tie-breakers would go on their side. Initially things looked bleak, but word got out that NCRC had barely eeked out a 3-2 win on the road versus spoiler Avon Oaks, meaning that if North Ridge could sweep all five courts and win each match two sets to zero, they'd be atop the Flight!
OH THE WONDER OF USTA TIEBREAKERS!
Things looked good for North Ridge as they did just that in all four doubles courts, especially impressive as James and Ben didn't let their Bay opponents score a game, let alone a single point. WOW! So it all came down to singles, where the top singles player in the Flight, Abhi, took on potential Comeback Player of the Year, Kuldeep. With all eyes upon their match (we assume), Abhi took the first set, but it was close, and so close that Kuldeep, inspired by his spectacular season and his spectacular comeback, took the second set 6-4 to seal the Flight Championship for NCRC!
Meanwhile, in Westlake, the math was simple - whoever won between visiting Towpath and host Paramount who lock up the third place, District qualifying finish! Captain Licari, one of the winningest 3.0 captains in 3.0 history, got the start he wanted as Thomas earned the victory one the one and only singles court, but on the doubles courts, the home cooking of Westlake proved to be the difference, and Captain Schulze's charges won each and every court against some of the best Towpath talent around! And with the 4-1 victory, Paramount Westlake earned a trip to a place they'd never gone before - MORE TENNIS!
Congratulations to all the teams this year and good luck to the qualifying playoff teams!
Flight Awards
Flight MVP - Nicholas Fasola
Not only did Nicholas help lead Mayfield to a very respectable mid-table Flight finish, but he went 9-0 on the season, all the more impressive as all his wins were on the singles courts!
Flight Doubles Team MVPs - Timothy Booher and Matthew Johnston
While we usually don't hand out singles and doubles MVP awards (and to be honest we don't actually hand out anything), as the 40+ leagues had only one singles court and four doubles courts, doubles took on an even more important role than usual. And no tag-team played a more important role than this NCRC duo, as Timothy and Matthew played in all 10 of their club's matches to the tune of 9-1 record when side-by-side!
Flight Comeback Player of the Year - Peacock Gregory
Improving from a winless 2021 to a winning 2-1 mark in 2022 shows that Towpath's P.G. is on the right trajectory when it comes to 3.0 success!
Flight Rookie of the Year - Shenyong Wang
LaTuchie had a plethora of rookie standouts this season, but only one played in 90% of all matches and ended the season with a winning 5-4 record!
Flight Fun Facts
NCRC - Matthew and Timothy both enjoyed amazing all-around 3.0 years, as Mathew has 14 league wins on the season while Timothy is an impressive 19-0! Thanks to their impressive seasons, Timothy is now in the 30+ win category while Matthew is sitting at 40! Meanwhile, former 3.5er Mel Paulino now has 21 career 3.0 wins!
North Ridge - Captain Robert has enjoyed a fantastic season, and now sits at 99 career wins, good for third all-3.0-time! Not only that, but with his 9-1 team record, he's nearing 60 career captain wins as well! Teammate Abhi earned win #20, while Robert (67), Lars (59), James (56), Michael (46), Kevin (46), and Ben (38) all clocked historic marks while doubles specialist Craig 19-2 record on the season gives him 106 career 3.0 wins, one off the all-3.0-time record!
Paramount Westlake - Paramount vets John (47), Ryan (36), and Mark (33) all marched up the 3.0 wins leaderboard thanks to their playoff qualifying season!
Towpath - Captain Frank not only notched his 80+ career win but also his 80+ career captaining win, good for second all-3.0-time! Long-time Towpath vets Ron (75), John (66), William (46), Curt (45) also saw some fantastic new win numbers added to their names!
Mayfield - Nicholas' MVP season sees him sitting at 35 career 3.0 wins!
Wembley - J.P. added to both his own win total, now sitting at 45, and more importantly, his captaining win total, now totally 53 wins, tying the great Barry Bastian. YES, THAT Barry Bastian!!!
Bay Village - Long-time Bay vet Mark enjoyed win #26 while long-time Bay Vet Erik enjoyed win #26. WHOA!
NOTE: All the all-3.0-time stats will soon be updated as soon as the Paramount Medina and CVAC matches are completed!
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