Three more squads captured sectional crowns on Monday to wrap up the three-day 2021 USTA Florida Adult 18 & Over 2.5/4.0 Sectional Championships, hosted by the USTA National Campus. A soggy weekend gave way to a beautiful Monday morning and afternoon in Orlando as the divisional semifinals and finals were contested.

Taking home the team titles from the tournament were the 2.5 women representing Alachua (Haile Plantation Country Club – Gainesville), the 4.0 women from Duval (Charles J. Williams YMCA – Jacksonville), and the Hillsborough (HCC Tennis Complex – Tampa) 4.0 men.

In the women’s 2.5 competition, Orange/Seminole (Isleworth Tennis Club – Windermere), Miami/Dade (Doral Park Country Club), Alachua, and Duval (Florida Yacht Club – Jacksonville) advanced out of the round-robin portion of the event to battle it out in the knockout stages. With the only 4-0 record, Orange/Seminole earned the top seed and faced off against Duval, which resulted in a sweep for the No. 1 seeds, while Alachua overcame a loss at the lone singles position to defeat Miami-Dade two courts to one.

In the championship dual, Alachua once again lost in singles as Orange/Seminole’s Erica Amadori defeated Bailey Lerner 6-1, 6-2. The Alachua pairing of Naomi Edmunds and Jamie Gilliam countered with a 6-4, 6-4 effort at the second doubles spot. Coming up clutch for Alachua was Hebah Fox and Elizabeth Howell, who let a lead slip away but bounced back in the decisive match tiebreak for the clinchgin 6-2, 3-6, 1-0 victory.

Howell serves as the captain with Fox as the co-captain of the Alachua team that features a complete roster of Gilliam, Johnna Whitmore, Kelly Haager, Mary Kedrowski, Jenn Garrett, Lerner, Edmunds, Haesuk Park, Hillary Amaoutakis, Tina Waters, and Maureen Ratliff.

The highly-competitive women’s 4.0 division saw Duval just slip into the semifinals as the fourth seed only to go on to win the team title. They were up against previously undefeated Pinellas (Bardmoor Golf Tennis Club – Largo) in the final four, managing to score the upset by a 3-2 margin; in the other semifinal, Alachua (Jonesville Tennis Center – Gainesville) bested Sarasota (Sarasota Sports Club) four courts to one in a matchup of 3-0 squads.

All but one of the contests ended in straight sets as Duval and Alachua clashed with the 4.0 title at stake. In doubles play, Taiana Meridez and Alison Sagas came through 6-3, 7-6 at the top spot for Alachua while lines two and three went the way of Duval, with Loretta Zubero and Kristen Surface taking the second position 6-3, 6-2 to go along with teammates Katie Farrar and Carolina Rechy winning on court three 6-2, 6-4. The two singles matchups played out very differently. At line one, Alachua’s Katherine Evans cruised to a 6-2, 6-1 result. That turned all eyes to the extended match between Duval’s Gina Carman and Alachua’s Olivia Wallman. Ultimately, it would be Carman staging an impressive 4-6, 6-4, 1-0 comeback for her team to give them the crown.

Raquel Clark is the captain with Claudia Eikner as the co-captain of the Duval crew that also includes Amy Curley, Farrar, Rachel Kennedy, Surface, Victoria Li, Andrea Frick, Rechy, Kelly Atkins, Zubero, Carman, Laurie Scott, Kimberly Besser, Kerry Phillips, and Kathy Roan.

The class of the men’s 4.0 division from start to finish, the championship was decided between dominant squads Hillsborough and Broward (Lauderdale Tennis Club). Both went a sterling 4-0 in the round-robin portion of the event while surrendering only two sets. In the semifinals, Hillsborough won all five courts against Collier (Arthur Allen Tennis Center at Cambier Park – Naples) and Broward dismissed Escambia (Roger Scott Tennis Center – Pensacola) by earning four courts.

Broward would go on to take both singles courts in match tiebreaks against Hillsborough in the 4.0 divisional final; Eliu Montero hung on for a 6-3, 3-6, 1-0 victory at the top spot while David Chen stormed back for a 4-6, 6-0, 1-0 victory at the second spot. However, Hillsborough would prove too tough in doubles. Daniel Zantedeschi teamed up with Aditya Deshpande for a 6-4, 6-2 result on court one to go along with the pairing of Kyle Madill and Enrique Escobar claiming line three 6-3, 6-1. At line two, Jean-Claude Dallies and Joshua Luo shook off letting the opening frame slip away to rally for the crucial 5-7, 6-1, 1-0 triumph.

Joe Orsini is the captain of the Hillsborough crew that consists of a full roster of Gavin Smith, Zantedeschi, Richard Helme, Albert Alhadeff, Jeffrey Mars, Escobar, Steven Michaelis, Michael Detsis, Ernie Pabon, Hugo Rodriguez, Luo, Deshpande, Dallies, Carlos Layrisse, Madill, John Hockin, and Elvin Vargas.

For complete results from the 2021 USTA Florida Adult 18 & Over 2.5/4.0 Sectional Championships, click here.