The 2021 USTA Florida Mixed 18 & Over 6.0-10.0 Sectional Championships wrapped up Monday afternoon after crowning three champions on Sunday and two more on the final day of play. Overall, five different regions were represented among the team champions.

Victorious squads included Orange/Seminole (Sanlando Park – Altamonte Spring) in the 6.0 division, Duval (Independent) from the 7.0 competition, Hillsborough (River Hills Country Club – Valrico) in the 8.0 division, Broward (Lauderdale Tennis Club) from the 9.0 competition, and Brevard (Kiwi Tennis Club – Indian Harbour Beach) in the 10.0 division.

Orange/Seminole and Volusia (Daytona Beach Shores Parks and Recreation) dominated their respective flight to set up the divisional championship dual, which was dominated by Orange/Seminole. In total, five of the six sets were won by either 6-0 or 6-1 score lines. 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.

Pelliccia serves as the team captain for the Orange/Seminole crew that features a full roster of Kelli Forgione, Marfisi, McCarthy, Axel Massol, Judith Melendez, Pozo, Mayorca, Jose Agreda, Daniel Veaudry, Cecily Mevorach, and Astudillo.

Advancing to the 7.0 semifinals by going 3-0 in flight play were Broward (Weston Tennis Center), Duval, Leon (Forestmeadows Park and Athletic Center – Tallahassee), and Miami-Dade (Crandon Park Tennis Center – Key Biscayne). Both semifinal matchups ended in 2-1 final results, with Broward getting past Leon and Duval downing Miami-Dade.

The duo of Claudine Owen and Brendon Vavrica got Duval off to a solid start by taking line three 6-2, 6-0 with the team title at stake. Sherri Ouchi and Darren Odendaal delivered the clinching victory at the top spot, coming through in a tight 7-5, 6-4 encounter. Duval pairing Elizabeth Vavrica and Troy Patton were awarded the win on court two when their opponents retired with the score standing at 6-7, 5-2, giving Duval the 3-0 sweep of Broward.

Captained by Michael Alden, the Duval squad consists of Megan Alfano, Patton, Owen, Richard Owen, Kendall Taylor, Annabelle Matias, Brendon Vavrica, Elizabeth Vavrica, Ouchi, Rachel Richter, Arnie Cilliers, Jill Jabot, Matt Ausherman, Odendaal, and Christopher Whiteman.

A trio of flight winners – Hillsborough (River Hills Country Club – Valrico), Broward (Midtown Athletic Club – Weston), and Polk (Country Club of Winter Haven) – along with wild card entrant Okaloosa/Walton/Bay (Shalimar Pointe Country Club) made up the four semifinalists in the 8.0 competition. At that stage, Hillsborough defeated Broward by a 2-1 margin and Okaloosa/Walton/Bay ousted Polk by the same score.

The championship match would come down to line one after Hillsborough and Okaloosa/Walton/Bay each claimed a court quickly; Hillsborough’s Connor Molina and Andrea Cammarata breezed through the second position 6-2, 6-1 while Lubomir Kaderjak and Elisabeth Sherwin won 6-1, 6-0 on court three. All the pressure was on the four players at the top spot, where Hillsborough’s Thinh Duong and Kim Ortmeier shook off the disappointment of letting a tight opening set slip away by rallying for the decisive 5-7, 6-4, 1-0 triumph.

Ben DeBrocke is the Hillsborough captain, with a roster consisting of Alvin Macasinag, Natalia Loutas, Teresa Manganello, Jeffrey Benelli, Connor Molina, Alejandra Sanderson, Cammarata, Ignacio Molina, Christina Dorothy, Shannon Deck, Duong, Gavin Szoka, Andrew Sanderson, Catheleine Rossborough, Manuel Alvarez, Jackie Caouette, Ortmeier, and Kurt Williams.

A dominant force from start to finish, the Broward 9.0 squad did not surrender a single court the entire weekend. They began their run in Flight 1, taking all three matchups via a sweep while giving away just one set and 46 games in total. Across the net from them in the final was Hillsborough (HCC Tennis Complex – Tampa), a team that also went undefeated in Flight 2, but ultimately was still no match for Broward.

Lines two and three were taken in straight sets by the eventual champions, with Matt and Amy Sauerman prevailing 6-1, 6-3 on court three to go with Rosamaria Rodriguez and Rob Norton’s 6-3, 6-1 effort at the second spot. Andrew Hoing and Alaina Fotiu-Wojtowicz were extended to a match tiebreak on court one, but finished off the sweep with a 4-6, 7-5, 1-0 result.

Captained by Matt Sauerman, the full Broward crew includes Amy Sauerman, Rocio Rodriguez, Fotiu-Wojtowicz, Denise Rapetti, Norton, Hoing, Rosamaria Rodriguez, Patricio Casali, Anna Rachman, and Michael Nouri.

The 10.0 division could not have been a tighter race between Brevard (Kiwi Tennis Club – Indian Harbour Beach) and Hillsborough (Sandra W Freedman Tennis Complex – Tampa). With only three teams in the field, and both having swept 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 amassed 123 for the event.

Joseph Romanelli serves as the Brevard captain, which features a full roster of Julie Loy-Markey, Anna Stroman, Ruben Vanoppen, Stephanie Falconi Nemeth, Lawrence Jones, Mary Devereaux, Andreea Carpenter, and Thomas Knights.

For complete results from the 2021 USTA Florida Mixed 18 & Over 6.0-10.0 Sectional Championships, click here.