Start me up!

The Great Valley Men's 4.0 team came into the 2009 season wearing a bullseye as the defending Philadelphia District champs, and opened with a challenging first match with the Drunken Fools, 3rd place team in the flight last season with losses only to Great Valley and the Chambermaids and Hos. Would the Great Valley squad be able to defend its home turf and get off to a better start than their opening loss in 2008?

Well, that was a resounding yes. Great Valley triumphed on 4 of the 5 courts, setting up an early 3-way tie at the top of the PATD Red Division.

#1 Singles - Greg Heck d. Shawn Minnier; 6-1, 6-3

After a week of warnings from Cpt. Gionta about some unstoppable 21-year old who played at Phoenixville High School...I drew Shawn Minnier, who played singles for both matches vs. Great Valley last year and won both, including a drubbing of yours truly in the last match of the season. Having remembered killing myself in that particular match, I pledged to play within myself and not give the match away...and Shawn did his best to cooperate. As I got off to a strong start, Shawn self-destructed a bit and this match snowballed into a rout.

#2 Singles - Brett Siegfried d. Jeffrey Horwitz; 6-4, 6-4

In a rematch of the first Drunken Fools match from last year, the result was the same. I didn't get to see much of this match, but Brett appeared to be at his methodical best in the points that I caught, moving Horwitz around until a gaping part of the court was open for the kill. A big win by Brett.

#1 Doubles - Jim Dare/Guy Van Alstine vs. Lonnie Cooper/Michael Ruhl; 3-6, 3-6

I didn't see any of this match. Perhaps Jim or Guy can provide some input. It wouldn't be like us to win 5-0 though... :-)

#2 Doubles - Mike Gionta/Rich Trach d. Joseph Dixon/Wanzell Fleming; 6-1, 2-6, 6-2

Surprise! It was Capt. Mike and Rich who drew the unstoppable 21-year old. Ha ha! Mike and Rich clearly confounded the opponents with their quick hands en route to dominating the first set - the points I saw, every time our guys took the net, the point was theirs. In the second set, their opponents became the Lobster Twins, realizing that Capt. Mike has a slight weakness in that part of his game. Clearly Mike and Rich made the necessary adjustments to take the third set and turn the tide of the overall match.

#3 Doubles - Holger Mackenthun/Ken Werkiser d. Kevin Pattinson/Richard Martin; 6-2, 1-6, 6-2

Much like the #2 doubles match, we have 3 lopsided sets, back and forth and back again. I assume the opponents made some second set adjustments, but you can't pull that off against the wise old owls and expect to come back from a set down! Holger and Ken clearly shut the door - way to go, boys!

Supposedly, practice Wednesday at GVHS. But, as usual, the weather is not looking too good. For that matter, weather isn't looking too good for Saturday either. Keep your eyes on the Doppler Radar, and I'm sure Capt. Mike will be in touch by e-mail since nobody reads the blog yet!