The 2018 USTA Florida 18 & Over 3.0/4.0/5.0+ Sectional Championships concluded Monday afternoon, with four districts represented among the team champions. For the tournament, the six sectional crowns were claimed by six different districts.

To start the morning off in the women’s 3.0 semifinals, Marion (Fort King Tennis Center) defeated SMD (Dante Fascell Park), 3-2, and SMD (Crandon Park) took down Duval (Florida Yacht Club), 3-2. Marion quickly recorded the three court victories they needed to advance to the final. Dina Sapienza breezed past her opponent 6-1, 6-0 at line two singles, while Natalie Petsche and Lori Croley took the third doubles spot by the same score. Carmen Rosario and Elise Atwell provided the clinching win at the top doubles position, prevailing 6-3, 6-2. Dante Fascell Park closed the gap to 3-2 thanks to pulling out a match tiebreak at line one singles and receiving a retirement on the second doubles court.

Crandon Park also turned in a comprehensive performance versus Duval, which included one singles and two doubles wins in straight sets. Debora von Habsburg came through 6-2, 6-0 in the second singles spot. It took a bit more work for the doubles pairs to secure lines one and two, but in the end Gema De Dios and Margarita Nunez took court one 6-4, 6-1 along with Anisley Tarragona and Marangelli Orellana toughing out the contest on court two 6-2, 6-4. Morgan Storm cruised at line one (6-1, 6-3); Elsa Scagel and Remiko Burgstiner were awarded the third doubles spot via retirement after splitting sets.

Toppling two SMD squads in one day proved too tall a task for Marion, as Crandon Park used a doubles sweep to power their way to the title. Orellana and Tarragona got Crandon Park on the board with a 6-0, 6-2 result on court two, which was followed up by Yvonne Imbert and Kiki Buigas winning 6-4, 6-4 at line three. De Dios and Nunez finished off the sweep with their extended 7-5, 3-6, 1-0 effort. The teams each took one of the singles contests – Pamela Kulniszewski successfully defending court one 6-2, 6-1 for Marion and von Habsburg claiming line two 6-3, 6-4 – to wrap up the 4-1 victory for Crandon Park.  

In what figured to be a close battle, Broward (Weston Tennis Center) held off SMD (Ron Ehmann Tennis Center) in men’s 4.0 semifinal action. The dual featured three courts that were decided by match tiebreaks, two of which went the way of Broward. The squads split the two singles matchups; Alejandro Izquierdo won line one 6-1, 2-6, 1-0 for Broward and Alfonso Garcia came through 4-6, 7-5, 1-0 for SMD. Both teams also collected a quick victory in doubles, but it would be Tony Alzuru and Hugo Moreno rallying at the second position to send Broward into the championship round. After dropping the first set 6-2, Alzuru and Moreno survived a tiebreak in the second set before winning the match tiebreak.

Escambia also won their semifinal encounter with Pinellas (St. Petersburg Tennis Center) by a final score line of 3-2. Straight-set efforts by Luke Racine (6-3, 6-3) at the top spot plus Stephen Baes and Brad Bradford (6-2, 6-0) at line three doubles put Escambia in a winning position, but Pinellas made them work for it from there, sparked by Geoff Gale’s 6-2, 6-2 victory on the second singles court. Richard Helme and Tu Phan fought back on the first doubles court, eventually prevailing 2-6, 6-4, 1-0. However, Escambia’s tandem of Christopher Brown and Brett Worley were able to hold off Marvin Ho and Ernie Pabon on court two 7-5, 4-6, 1-0.

In the afternoon’s final, Broward pieced together three individual victories to outlast Escambia. Izquierdo produced for his team once again, this time joining Francisco Marcano to take line one 6-1, 6-3. Roberto Nieves also won 7-5, 6-3 at line two singles for the eventual champions. After Escambia earned the top singles and second doubles spots, it was a furious rally by Andres Piske and Efrain Torres on the third doubles court that locked up the title for Broward. Despite a slow start, Piske and Torres dug in and eventually took full control in their 1-6, 6-1, 1-0 triumph.

For the women’s 4.0 semifinals, Escambia and Orange/Seminole (Sanlando Park) came down to the wire while Collier (Heritage Bay) continued their dominant level of play in besting Hillsborough (Westchase). In Escambia’s case, two comebacks in singles fueled the conquest. Both Beata Antal and Ashle Tran, playing line one and two, respectively, dropped their opening sets. Antal fell behind 6-3, but found a way to pull out the second frame 6-4 and go on to take the match tiebreak. Tran came up just short in her first set but managed to come out strong in the second, riding that wave of momentum all the way for a 4-6, 6-2, 1-0 win. Although Orange/Seminole did post victories on doubles courts two and three, a back-and-forth 6-4, 7-6 result by Melissa Paravalos and Rachel Trahan kept Esbambia’s title hopes alive.

After hardly being pushed on Saturday or Sunday, Collier downed Hillsborough 4-1 in the semifinals Monday morning. It was a tougher dual than the score would indicate, with two lines going to a match tiebreak, but Collier claimed them both. Juliane Callis breezed through line two singles (6-1, 6-2) while Mira Rochford and Lynne Hancock almost paralleled that at the second doubles spot, winning 6-1, 6-3. The two contests decided by match tiebreaks played out very differently. Carole Fiegel and Terry Dirr appeared in full control on court one with the first set in hand, but the tide quickly turned, as they dropped the second 6-2. Meanwhile, Samantha Kennedy and Carla Klumpp fell behind 6-2 on court three only to sweep through the second frame. Eventually, the Collier duos won both, and Hillsborough's Wendy Baier won line one singles via retirement to set the final margin.

Another 4-1 score line in favor of Collier clinched the team title in the afternoon. Samantha Kennedy and Carla Klumpp made quick work of line three (6-2, 6-1) while Juliane Callis was busy taking care of her court at the second position (6-3, 6-3). The decisive third court win would prove momentarily elusive for Collier versus Escambia, but eventually Terry Dirr and Carole Fiegel were the victors at line two in a pair of tiebreak frames. Sindi Sanzica provided the fourth individual win thanks to her marathon 3-6, 7-6, 1-0 result at the top spot. Paravalos and Trahan prevented Escambia from being shut out by winning line one 6-3, 6-3.

Capping off a strong three days was the 5.0+ women's squad from Duval (Florida Yacht Club), who beat Orange/Seminole (National Campus) 2-1 for the team crown. Impressive singles play paved the way once again, with Nicole Flower turning in a 6-1, 6-1 performance. Adelaide Wood and Brittany Hill evened the team score, claiming the top doubles spot by the exact same score. Duval was too strong in the other doubles matchup, where Ashley Cowart and Natalia Lebedeva won 6-3, 6-3.

For complete results from the USTA Florida 18 & Over 3.0/4.0/5.0+ Sectional Championships, click here.