Monday saw the men’s and women’s 7.0 competitions come to a conclusion at the 2020 USTA Florida 55 & Over 7.0/9.0 Sectional Championships. Marion (Fort King Tennis Center – Ocala) was the unlikely winner on the men’s side while Orange/Seminole (Sanlando Park – Altamonte Springs) claimed the women’s title. They joined the 9.0 Hillsborough (Palma Ceia – Tampa) men and 9.0 Hillsborough (HCC Tennis Complex – Tampa) women as champions from the event.

The final three dual matches in the lone men’s 7.0 flight produced some chaos after all was said and done. With all but one squad still mathematically alive to claim the divisional title, the possibilities were plentiful; however, a specific set of circumstances had to play out for Marion to vault up from fifth-place to champion.

It was Duval (Charles J. Williams YMCA – Jacksonville) who had the clearest path to the winner’s circle, as they only needed to defeat Broward (Weston Tennis Center) on Monday. But when Broward came away with the 2-1 victory, the door was opened for the remaining teams. Hillsborough (Temple Terrace Recreation Department) stayed in the mix by sweeping last-place Miami-Dade (Alper JCC - Miami), a result that would ultimately eliminate both Broward and Duval. 

Marion shockingly won all three courts versus Collier (Arthur Allen Tennis Center at Cambier Park – Naples), the team that held the division lead after the opening day of the tournament. That effort gave Marion a 3-2 overall record, but most importantly nine individual matchups to their credit. Hillsborough also ended with identical numbers, making the ultimate tiebreaker the 2-1 score line Marion served up versus Hillsborough in their head-to-head encounter.

Captain Scott Kiefer’s full Marion roster includes Grady Grimes, Douglas Speaker, Christopher Clements, Earl Schwartz, William Ray, Jack Matlock, Dennis Rose, Robert Poling, Alan MacMurray, Ralk Barckhausen, Charles Anthony, and Paul Steinberg.

There was far less drama in crowning the 7.0 women’s champion, where Orange/Seminole and Escambia (Independent) clashed for the second time in the event after both advanced to the knockout stages from Flight 1. Orange/Seminole had previously handled Escambia by winning two of the three courts that made up their dual, and that was once again the case Monday. Susan Uhrig and Cynthia Rawlins, saviors in the semifinals for their team, breezed to an easy 6-2, 6-2 victory at line two. Meanwhile, Terri Bahr and captain Dorothy Harris dropped just five games in coming through in the third position. Escambia’s Vicki Carson and Terry Armstrong dominated court one 6-3, 6-0 to prevent the sweep.

The complete Orange/Seminole crew includes Nancy McLarnon, Rawlins, Harris, Uhrig, Karen Crane, Bahr, M. Barrett, and Lynn Ford.

For final results from the 2020 USTA FL 55 & Over 7.0/9.0 Sectional Championships, click here.