Orange-Seminole, Hillsborough, More Capture Titles at 2021 USTA Florida Mixed 18 & Over Sectionals

Orange/Seminole/Lake and Hillsborough counties continued to dominate the 2021 Florida league sectionals season, each collecting their 8th title of the season at the USTA Florida Mixed 18 & Over 6.0/7.0/8.0/9.0/10.0 Sectional Championships, held Sept. 10-14 at the Campus Nacional de la USTA. Also taking home sectional crowns were Brevard, Broward, and Duval counties.

Orange/Seminole/Lake (Parque Sanlando, Altamonte Springs) and Volusia (Daytona Beach Shores Parks & Recreation, Daytona Beach Shores) dominated their respective flights to set up the divisional championship dual. Orange/Seminole/Lake commanded the final matchup, claiming all three doubles courts. At the top spot, Jaqueline Pelliccia and Jorge Marfisi teamed up to win 6-1, 7-5. Courts two and three finished with similar results, as Alida Astudillo and David Mayorca won 6-1, 6-0 while Erin McCarthy and Javier Pozo came through 6-0, 6-1.

In the 7.0 competition, Duval County downed Miami-Dade (Centro de tenis de Crandon Park, Key Biscayne) and Broward County (Centro de tenis de Weston, Weston) topped Leon (Parque y Centro Deportivo Forestmeadows, Tallahassee) to advance to the championship dual. With the title at stake, Claudine Owen and Brendon Vavrica got Duval off to a strong start by winning line three 6-2, 6-0. In a close 7-5, 6-4 match, Duval’s Sherri Ouchi and Darren Odendaal claimed the top spot. Finally, the Duval duo of Elizabeth Vavrica and Troy Patton captured the win on court two when their opponents retired with the score standing at 6-7, 5-2, giving Duval a clean sweep.

The largest division of the weekend, the 8.0 semifinals came down to flight winners Hillsborough (Club de campo River Hills, Valrico), Broward (Club Atlético Midtown, Weston), and Polk (Club de campo de Winter Haven, Winter Haven), with the addition of wild card entrant and defending division champion Okaloosa/Walton/Bay (Club de campo Shalimar Pointe, Shalimar). At that stage, Hillsborough defeated Broward by a 2-1 margin and Okaloosa/Walton/Bay knocked out Polk by the same score. 

After Hillsborough and Okaloosa/Walton/Bay squads each claimed a court quickly, the championship match came down to line one. Despite letting a tight opening set slip away, Hillsborough’s Thinh Duong and Kim Ortmeier rallied in the top spot to a 5-7, 6-4, 1-0 victory, relieving the pressure and securing the crown for Hillsborough. Connor Molina and Andrea Cammarata captured the second position for Hillsborough early on 6-2, 6-1 while Lubomir Kaderjak and Elisabeth Sherwin claimed the lone court for Okaloosa/Walton/Bay with a 6-1, 6-0 win.

A commanding force in the 9.0, Broward (Club de tenis de Lauderdale, Ft. Lauderdale) did not give up a single court throughout the weekend event. They started their run in Flight 1 by sweeping all three matches and giving up only one set and 46 total games. They would face the undefeated winner of Flight 2, Hillsborough (Complejo de tenis HCC, Tampa), in the championship, but Hillsborough was ultimately still no match for the powerhouse squad from Broward.

The eventual champions won in straight sets on lines two and three, with Matt and Amy Sauerman winning 6-1, 6-3 on court three and Rosamaria Rodriguez and Rob Norton winning 6-3, 6-1 on court two. On court one, Andrew Hoing and Alaina Fotiu-Wojtowicz were forced to a match tiebreak but won 4-6, 7-5, 1-0 to complete Broward’s sweep and earn the 9.0 division title.

The only strictly round-robin division of the weekend, the 10.0 division was a tight race between Brevard (Club de tenis Kiwi, Indian Harbour Beach) and Hillsborough (Complejo de tenis Sandra W. Freedman, Tampa). With only three teams in the field, and both having swept Sarasota (Payne Park, Sarasota) twice, the deciding factor was the two head-to-head encounters between them. However, with each squad taking a 2-1 win, the champion had to be determined by the tiebreaking procedure. A mere two games would prove to be all the difference, as both teams lost 93 games overall, but Brevard collected 125 in total while Hillsborough only took 123 for the event.

The competing teams represented various clubs, parks, recreational departments and organizations, and finished at the top of their local leagues during the 2021 season to advance to the USTA Florida Mixed 18 & Over 6.0/7.0/8.0/9.0/10.0 Sectional Championships.

Resultados finales:

18 & Over Mixed 6.0

Final: Orange County (Sanlando Park, Altamonte Springs) d. Volusia County (Daytona Beach Shores Parks & Recreation, Daytona Beach Shores) 3-0

Resultados de la final del campeonato:
Dobles n.° 1: Jaqueline Pelliccia/Jorge Marfisi (Orange) d. Brad Gifford/Carina Wiedeman 6-1, 7-5
Dobles nº 2: Alida Astudillo/David Mayorca (Orange) d. Stephen Lucas/Chantel Day 6-1, 6-0
Dobles nº 3: Erin McCarthy/Javier Pozo (Orange) d. Juan Chico/Jeannederie Ray 6-0, 6-1

Lista de jugadores de la temporada del Condado de Orange: Jaqueline Pelliccia (Captain), Axel Massol, Jose Agreda, Kelli Forgione, Judith Melendez, Daniel Veaudry, Jorge Marfisi, Javier Pozo, Cecily Mevorach, Erin McCarthy, David Mayorca, Alida Astudillo

18 & Over Mixed 7.0

Final: Duval County d. Broward County (Weston Tennis Center, Weston) 3-0

Resultados de la final del campeonato:
Dobles n.° 1: Sherri Ouchi/Darren Odendaal (Duval) d. Daniela Hernandez/Oliver Matheus 7-5, 6-4
Dobles nº 2: Elizabeth Vavrica/Troy Patton (Duval) d. Franco De Andreis/Marianne Rivas 6-7, 5-2, retired
Dobles nº 3: Claudine Owen/Brendon Vavrica (Duval) d. Simon Palacios/Maria Lanza 6-2, 6-0

Lista de jugadores de la temporada del condado de Duval: Michael Alden (Captain), Megan Alfano, Annabelle Matias, Jill Jabot, Brendon Vavrica, Matt Ausherman, Troy Patton, Elizabeth Vavrica, Darren Odendaal, Claudine Owen, Sherri Ouchi, Christopher Whiteman, Richard Owen, Rachel Richter, Kendall Taylor, Arnie Cilliers

18 & Over Mixed 8.0

Final: Hillsborough County (River Hills Country Club, Valrico) d. Okaloosa/Walton/Bay County (Shalimar Pointe Country Club, Shalimar) 2-1

Resultados de la final del campeonato:
Dobles n.° 1: Thinh Duong/Kim Ortmeier (Hillsborough) d. Jenna Kafferly/Byron Cotton 5-7, 6-4, 1-0
Dobles nº 2: Connor Molina/Andrea Cammarata (Hillsborough) d. Gregory Bennett/Kristie Edwards 6-2, 6-1
Dobles nº 3: Lubomir Kaderjak/Elisabeth Sherwin (OWB) d. Gavin Szoka/Christina Dorothy 6-1, 6-0

Lista de jugadores de la temporada del condado de Hillsborough: Ben DeBrocke (Captain), Andrea Cammarata, Catheleine Rossborough, Alvin Macasinag, Ignacio Molina, Manuel Alvarez, Natalia Loutas, Christina Dorothy, Jackie Caouette, Teresa Manganello, Shannon Deck, Kim Ortmeier, Jeffrey Benelli, Thinh Duong, Kurt Williams, Connor Molina, Gavin Szoka, Alejandra Sanderson, Andrew Sanderson

18 & Over Mixed 9.0

Final: Broward County (Lauderdale Tennis Club, Ft. Lauderdale) d. Hillsborough County (HCC Tennis Complex, Tampa) 3-0

Resultados de la final del campeonato:
Dobles n.° 1: Andrew Hoing/Alaina Fotiu-Wojtowicz (Broward) d. Ignacio Molina/Judi Alford 4-6, 7-5, 1-0
Dobles nº 2: Rosamaria Rodriguez/Rob Norton (Broward) d. Manuel Alvarez/Stephanie Means 6-3, 6-1
Dobles nº 3: Matt Sauerman/Amy Sauerman (Broward) d. Connor Molina/Maria Stand 6-1, 6-3

Lista de jugadores de la temporada del condado de Broward: Matt Sauerman (Captain), Denise Rapetti, Patricio Casali, Amy Sauerman, Rob Norton, Anna Rachman, Rocio Rodriguez, Andrew Hoing, Michael Nouri, Alaina Fotiu-Wojtowicz, Rosamaria Rodriguez

18 & Over Mixed 10.0

Final: Brevard County (Kiwi Tennis Club, Indian Harbour Beach) finished ahead of Hillsborough County (Sandra W Freedman Tennis Complex, Tampa) 3-1, 3-1 in round-robin play

Lista de jugadores del condado de Brevard para la temporada: Joseph Romanelli (Captain), Ruben Vanoppen, Mary Devereaux, Julie Loy-Markey, Stephanie Falconi Nemeth, Andreea Carpenter, Anna Stroman, Lawrence Jones, Thomas Knights