Pinch me! On second thought, don’t! Not only were we blessed by another beautiful fall Sunday for the King Kong Tournaments, I’m surrrounded by these beautiful and talented Advanced Women PB players! Killer looks and killer play – a tough combo to beat!
We had 3 undefeated teams in each of the brackets, led by Mo Royal and Dana Poulsen in the Blue bracket with the top points differential of +35, followed by Marcie Sullivan and Jodi Schaefer (a late sub for Lisa Deister – feel better soon) in the White bracket at +31, and Nina Riley with Kaylene Engel, coming in with a +19 for the Red bracket.
The 4th seed also came out of the Red bracket with the only 4-1 record on the scoreboard and that distinction goes to Rhonda Lakip-Ochoa and Evelyn Good. The White bracket had three teams deadlocked at 3-2, with each having a win over each other so it came down to the total points to decide who would move on. Even there, we had a tie at 45 between Diane Fuleky and Laura Mayes and with Marla Kilfoyle and Vickie Ostrander. Unforturnately there was one team with 48 and they were Cheryl Woolley and Lisa Farrell. That 48 also gave them the nod for the 5th seed as in the Blue bracket, we had two more teams with a 3-2 record and it came down to game 5 to decide who move on as Robyn Cavallero and Leah Tucker beat Mary Dalu and Meta Smith 11-7 for their head-to-head win. Robyn and Leah had 41 total points to get them the 6th seed.
And, as it turns out, each game in the single elimination playoff round are rematches from the round robin! On court 3, Cheryl and Lisa faced Marcie and Jodi. In their previous game, Cheryl and Lisa played to a tough 9-11 loss. The second time around, Marcie and Jodi did not mess around and pickled Cheryl and Lisa. Court 6 saw Robyn and Leah taking on Mo and Dana, with Mo and Dana winning 11-5 in their first meeting and doing so again with a 11-3 to move to the medal rounds. Court 9 was between Rhonda and Evelyn against Nina and Kaylene. Rhonda and Evelyn played them tough in their first game but lost 9-11. Nina and Kaylene, not taking any chances, won decisively 11-3 to punch their tickets to the finals.
That set up the finals to be the battle of the undefeateds! Top seed Mo and Dana got a bye in the game and the battle between #2 Marcie and Jodi and #3 Nina and Kaylene was only the first of three epic games for the medals. Nina and Kaylene played a great game but in the end, they fell short 7-11. They then had to face #1 Mo and Dana in game two. Nina and Kaylene fell behind early 1-5 but started to find their rhythm and closed things up at 7-10. But that was as far as they could get as Mo and Dana shut them down to win 11-7. That left the last of the undefeateds to duke it out for the Gold. It was an evenly played game with Marcie and Jodi jumping to a 6-3 lead at the change of ends. They got to 9-3 before taking a strategic time-out and staging a come back to narrow the score to 9-7 and forcing Marcie and Jodi into a stack to finally win 11-8. Well played, ladies!
Kongrats to the medalists and contenders! It was some of the best play we’ve had all year so give yourselves a pat on the back! And thanks to the fans who came to watch the show and special thanks to my volunteers, Fred Veenstra, Miriam Bernstein, Tony Chiravolo, and Lisa Black (d’oh, how did I drop your name!?).
Next Up:
- Halloween Inflatables Fun Tourney, Sun, Oct 26, to benefit the Sumter County Special Olympics. They will present with a few of their athletes and to sell raffles. We’ll also collect used paddles if you have any still lying around. Eleven teams signed up so far so room for 7 more. Where’s the rest of you???
- November is the Stars & Stripes Games to benefit the Villages Honor Flight. Army has their team pretty much in order and Marines and Navy seems to be getting there. Air Force – are you waiting to bring in the stealth fighter? Come on Marla Massey Kilfoyle!
Here’s the link for the photos: https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjCxV6V
Here is the link to the YT playlist, including the replay of the livestream from court 6 and the GoPro footage from courts 3 and 9 (the camera on court 9 started to malfunction during the playoffs so you might need some dramamine to get through it): https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLy0MUnaQ-KX-q_cp4WVEf7mX_cQ_0E7CJ
Livestream Court 6
- Intro (0:08:09)
- Game 1 (0:13:05) Lisa Farrell and Cheryl Woolley v Marla Kilfoyle and Vickie Ostrander
- Game 2 (0:37:40) Marcie Sullivan and Jodi Schaefer v Kathi Fegers and Ellen Huber
- Game 3 (1:03:00) Kathy Pals and Linda Sacre v Diane Fuleky and Laura Mayes
- Game 4 (1:31:49) Marla Kilfoyle and Vickie Ostrander v Marcie Sullivan and Jodi Schaefer
- Game 5 (1:54:33) Diane Fuleky and Laura Mayes v Marcie Sullivan and Jodi Schaefer
- Who’s In (2:21:30)
- Playoffs (2:24:20) Mo Royal and Dana Poulsen v Leah Tucker and Robyn Cavallero
- Medal Round (2:41:35)
- Medal Game 1 (2:42:58) Nina Riley and Kaylene Engel v Marcie Sullivan and Jodi Schaefer
- Medal Game 2 (2:54:44) Nina Riley and Kaylene Engel v Mo Royal and Dana Poulsen
- Bronze (3:12:40)
- Medal Game 3 (3:16:20) Marcie Sullivan and Jodi Schaefer v Mo Royal and Dana Poulsen
- Gold and Silver (3:33:50)
GoPro Court 3
- Game 1 (0:00:00) Evelyn Good and Rhonda Lakip-Ochoa v Kim Hedden and Maureen Plainfield
- Game 2 (0:23:38) Sue Reich and Michaele Danielson v Nina Riley and Kaylene Engel
- Game 3 (0:38:33) Brenda Bochtler and Pamela Henry v Wendy Bledsoe and Julie Seavey
- Game 4 (0:51:48) Evelyn Good and Rhonda Lakip-Ochoa v Nina Riley and Kaylene Engel
- Game 5 (1:17:25) Wendy Bledsoe and Julie Seavey v Nina Riley and Kaylene Engel
- Playoffs (1:36:55) Lisa Farrell and Cheryl Woolley v Marcie Sullivan and Jodi Schaefer
GoPro Court 9
- Game 1 (0:00:00) Vicki Babbe and Marlene Windecker v Leah Tucker and Robyn Cavallero
- Game 2 (0:11:28) Janine Klein and Jeannie Powell v Mo Royal and Dana Poulsen
- Game 3 (0:24:34) Jan Witt and Bryana Witt v Mary Dalu and Meta Smith
- Game 4 (0:47:37) Leah Tucker and Robyn Cavallero v Mo Royal and Dana Poulsen
- Game 5 (1:01:44) Mo Royal and Dana Poulsen v Jan Witt and Bryana Witt
- Playoffs (1:10:30) Evelyn Good and Rhonda Lakip-Ochoa v Nina Riley and Kaylene Engel (camera was wigging out from the start of the match, I think it was high on the level of play being recorded)