Spare Time 2018 - The End

On Saturday the heat was brutal and so were the opponents! Only Leandra Neal, Mukesh Verma, and Derrick Ross survived to play on Sunday. Mukesh breezed through his 3.0 singles, then later teamed up with Derrick Ross to pull out a match tiebreak win in the 3.0 Doubles quarterfinal against the Gold River GM and Spare Time tournament director! Leandra Neal had a tough match against a tough opponent, winning the first set 6-3. Unfortunately, her opponent retired with a 5-4 lead in the second set, advancing Leandra to the Sunday morning final.

The women’s 4.0 final Sunday morning was an epic battle, a worthy end to a week of play. Leandra lost the first set 3-6 but turned it around in the second set beating her weary opponent 6-2, then earning herself the championship 10-4 in the match tiebreak. Congratulations Leandra!

In the end, Leandra will be the only Laguna Creek champion. Mukesh gave it a great effort but after 3 hours on the court, and at 6-5 in the second set, his legs cramped to a point where he was unable to continue, forcing him to withdraw from that match and the doubles.

Congratulations to everybody on a great tournament and thanks for coming out to support your fellow club members.  Let’s make this even bigger next year!

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Spare Time - Friday/ Sat Morning Update

It was a beautiful night at Gold River with plenty of tennis, the good, the bad, and the ugly!  I'm sure all the Laguna players last night appreciated the teammates who came out just to watch and support them; I know I did!

The "good" started with an epic battle between Michael Spinali and Jaime Garcia. It was close throughout with each player taking a set 6-4, before Jaime finally broke through with that extra point in the tiebreak, pulling out a 10-8 win. Jaime advanced to the semis but lost this morning.

Ann and I started off the mixed with the ugly.  Poor Ann had to suffer through my worst match in probably three years.  We tried, but our opponents sere amazing and there was no margin for poor play on my part.  Fortunately, on the next court, Durall and Charmaine pulled it together to comeback from a first set loss to win the second set and the tiebreak .

In women's doubles, Fritzie and Jessica Chancellor had an easy win 6-3, 6-2.  Jenn Fong-Jackson and Eva Wilson-Lee lost a close one 2-6, 6-3, 10-6. In Men's 4.0 doubles, Michal and Jaime teamed up after tirring each other out, but lost a close match 6-4, 6-4.  Rick Chiurazzi and I teamed up to win 6-2, 7-6 after trying to give the second set away, we came up big in the tiebreaker.

This morning, both Leandra Neal and Mukesh Verma advanced to their singles final which will take place at 9am Sunday.

REMEMBER DINNER AND RAFFLE TONIGHT. DON'T MISS IT! Start time Happy Hour 5:30-6:30

Here are the matches for today and tomorrow::

Player Name	Division	Round	Time
Fritzie Archuleta/Jessica Chancellor	W4.0D	Semi	11:30 AM
Mukesh Verma/Derrick Ross	M3.0D	Qtr	12:00 PM
Ramon Torres	M60 3.5S	Semi	1:30 PM
Charmaine Caridad/Durall Cheam	Mx4.0D	Qtr	2:00 PM
Emily O'Hair/Michelle Christiansen	W3.5D	Semi	2:00 PM
Mark Wallace/Rick Chiurazzi	M4.0D	Qtr	2:30 PM
Mukesh Verma	M3.0S	Final (Sun)	9:00 AM
Leandra Neal	W4.0S	Final (Sun)	9:00 AM

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Spare Time Thursday - Clutch Performances

Laguna Creek member won 6 of their 10 matches last night, with many of them featuring close tiebreakers.  Leandra Neal is headed for the semifinals after breezing through her Women's 4.0 singles match 6-1, 6-3.  In Men's singles, all three Laguna Creek 4.0 Men advanced to the quarterfinals tonight.  Carl Chapin held off his opponent by staying tough in the end of each set, winning 7-5, 6-4.  Jaime Garcia won the battle for the first set 12-10 in a tiebreaker then coasted through the second 6-0.  Mukesh Verma (M3.0) and Michael Spinali (M4.0) both came through in the clutch, claiming victories with 11-9 third set tiebreak wins. In the tough Men's 3.5 division, Dave Cesar put up a great fight  but ran out of gas in the match tiebreak, losing 10-1. In Men's 4.5 singles, Man Pham and Will Ross both lost.

In women's doubles, Michelle Christiansen and Emily O' Hair (W3.5D) swapped lopsided sets with their opponents winning 6-2 and losing 6-11 before also keeping up the theme of the night, with an 11-9 win in the match tiebreak.  In 4.5 doubles, Myrthel Daquis and Anne Mask lost 6-0, 6-4.

Plenty of tennis tonight. Here is the list of matches:

Player Name	Division	Round	Time
Carl Chapin	M4.0S	Qtr	6:00 PM
Jaime Garcia	M4.0S	Qtr	6:00 PM
Michael Spinali	M4.0S	Qtr	6:00 PM
Ann Harvie/Mark Wallace	Mx4.0D	R16	6:00 PM
Charmaine Caridad/Durall Cheam	Mx4.0D	R16	6:00 PM
Jenn Fong-Jackson/Eva Wilson	W4.0D	Qtr	6:00 PM
Jaime Garcia/Michael Spinali	M4.0D	R16	7:30 PM
Mark Wallace/Rick Chiurazzi	M4.0D	R16	7:30 PM
Fritzie Archuleta/Jessica Chancellor	W4.0D	Qtr	7:30 PM

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Spare Time Wednesday Results

Click Here for a spreadsheet with full results and upcoming matches

Wednesday was good for the remaining Women's 4.0 doubles teams in the draw.  Eva Wilson-Lee and Jenn Fong-Jackson followed up their impressive Tuesday night win a 6-4, 6-3 victory last night.  The number 1 seeded Fritzie Archuleta and Jessica Chancellor had a tough battle but hung on for a straight set 6-3, 7-5 win. In the Men's 3.5 division, Ramon Torres lost his singles match 6-2, 6-3 while Dave Cesar and Ron Ohta also lost, 6-4, 6-2 to a remarkably good Natomas 3.5 doubles team.

Thursday is a big night, with ten matches on the schedule.  All matches from here on will be played at Gold River.  Mukesh Verma and Dave Cesar start the night out for Laguna Creek in the Men's 3.0/3.5 Singles. Anne Mask and Myrthel Daquis start their Spare Time tournament playing Women's 4.5 Doubles, taking on the tournament director's wife!  Those matches start at 6pm.

At 7:30pm, our 4.0 Men continue their march to the finals.  Carl Chapin, Jaime Garcia, and Michael Spinali are looking to advance to the quarterfinals with wins tonight.  Man Pham and Will Ross start their championship quest in the Men's 4.5 division, and Leandra Neal is looking to follow up her Monday victory with a quarterfinal win tonight in Women's 4.0 singles.  Finally, Emily O'Hair and Michelle Christiansen will be sharpening their game tonight against a tough opponent standing between them and their Saturday semifinal match.

THURSDAY MATCHES
Mukesh Verma	M3.0S	Qtr	6:00 PM
Dave Cesar	M3.5S	R16	6:00 PM
Myrthel Daquis/Anne Mask	W4.5D	Qtr	6:00 PM
Carl Chapin	M4.0S	R16	7:30 PM
Jaime Garcia	M4.0S	R16	7:30 PM
Michael Spinali	M4.0S	R16	7:30 PM
Man Pham	M4.5S	R16	7:30 PM
Will Ross	M4.5S	R16	7:30 PM
Emily O'Hair/Michelle Christiansen	W3.5D	Qtr	7:30 PM
Leandra Neal	W4.0S	Qtr	7:30 PM

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Wednesday - Next Rounds

Click Here for a spreadsheet with full results and upcoming matches

Tuesday night was once again a mixed bag.  The Men's 4.0 Singles went very well, with 3 of the 4 Laguna members advancing to the Round of 16. Michael Spinali faced a former Spare Time  Men's 4.0 Champion (15 years ago!). He was from a different era - serving and volleying the entire match, which provided some challenges, but Michael was able to hold him off 6-2, 6-4.  Jaime Garcia easily advanced with  6-2, 6-1 win, and Carl Chapin gritted out a first set tiebreak before coasting to a 7-6, 6-2 win.

In the Men's 3.5 singles, Ron Ohta couldn't fight off his calf injury and lost 6-0, 6-3. Dave Cesar, after bageling his opponent in the first set hung on to win the second 7-5.  In the rest of singles play, Fritzie Archuleta lost a close battle 10-7 in the match tiebreak, while Dan Gong and Geofff Felker both came up short in the Men's 4.5 division.

In the doubles action last night, Jaime and Michael high-fived their way through a 6-3, 6-2 victory, and Michelle Christiansen / Emily O'Hair dominated their opponent 6-4, 6-0.  Jenn Fong-Jackson and Eva Wilson-Lee had to face their league teammates but showed their dominance in a 6-2, 6-2 win.

Leandra Neal and Charmaine Caridad played against two backboards which is often trouble.  After losing the first set 6-3, they played more aggressively to counter their opponents Pong-like style of play.  Although they led most of the set, they ended up losing in a set tiebreak 7-5. Ann Harvie and Cecelia Henry started out with a gritty 6-4 first set win, but lost their momentum, losing the second set 6-1.  After falling behind halfway through the match tiebreak, they rolled off 4 straight points, Leading 7-5, they lobbed a beautiful shot deep into the court, 3 inches from the baseline. Their opponent called it out.  Ann and Cecelia didn't say a word to their opponents, but spectators* gasped audibly in reacttion to the call.  This made the score 7-6 instead of 8-5, and stopped their momentum.  After a couple long, epic points, they were down 8-9 and eventually lost 11-9.  That's tennis!

* I was the spectator who gasped

Only three matches tonight, all at Gold River

Jenn Fong-Jackson/Eva Wilson-Lee W4.0D 6:00pm
Ramon Torres - M3.5S 6:00pm
Dave Cesar/Ron OHta - M3.5D 7:30pm

Good Luck Tonight!

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Spare Time Monday Kicking It Off!

The Spare Time tournament kicked off last night with 8 matches featuring Laguna Creek members. It was a tough night overall, but there were a few success stories.  Derrick Ross lost his singles match, but gave a good showing in his first competitive tennis match here in California.  Eva Wilson also lost to a tough opponent but will have a chance at redemption in doubles tonight.  Rick Chiurazzi and Cecelia Henry played very well but lost 10-8 in the match tiebreak. It was a match where everyone played great, but their opponent came up with three amazing points in a row to end the match.
In the winner’s bracket, Dave Cesar and Ron Ohta teamed up to win their first round of Men’s 3.5 doubles, taking care of business quickly 6-2, 6-2.  Mark Wallace and Rick Chiurazzi made things more difficult than they needed to be in the first set, struggling at times, but righted the ship to pull out a 7-5, 6-1 win in Men’s 4.0 Doubles.  The most interesting win of the night featured Leandra Neal, who played an opponent with not much tennis skill but with a huge psychological game!  After easily winning the first set 6-2 and taking a 4-1 lead in the second, a combination of pity and mental frustration set in, and Leandra struggled for a while.  But her talent and fortitude shined through at the end. Despite losing the second set in a tiebreaker, she came back strong to dominate the match tiebreak 10-4.

Plenty of Laguna Creek action tonight. Here is a list of tonight’s matches. All matches are scheduled to play at Gold River:


Singles – 6:00pm
Ron Ohta (M3.5)

Dave Cesar (M3.5)
Jaime Garcia (M4.0)
Dan Kim (M4.0)
Michael Spinali (M4.0)
Carl Chapin (M4.0)
Geoff Felker (M4.5)
Dan Gong (M4.5)


Singles –  7:30pm
Fritzie Archuleta (W4.0)


Doubles – all 7:30pmJaime Garcia / Michael Spinali (M4.0)
Michelle Christiansen / Emily O’ Hair (W3.5)
Ann Harvie / Cecelia Henry (W4.0)
Jenn Fong-Jackson / Eva Wilson-Lee (W4.0)
Charmaine Caridad / Leandra Neal (W4.0)

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Men's 3.5 40 & Over Competing at Districts

The Laguna Creek men's team captained by Dan Kim will be one of 20 teams competing in the District Championships May 4-6 at thee Gold River Racquet Club after beating both Mahany Park and Johnson Ranch to win the Sacramento area league.

The Laguna Creek Racquet Club will also play host to teams competing in the 40 & Over District Championships.  Men's 4.0 and 4.5+ teams and Women's 3.5 and 4.5+ teams will play at LCRC.

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Mixed 55 7.0 Team - Sectional Finalists

The Laguna Creek Mixed 55 & Over 7.0 team had a great season, culminating with an exciting loss in the finals against defending champion Sunnyvale.  The team was riding a string of 6 straight 2-1 team wins, beginning with the first round of playoffs, where nearly every match came down to the final match being decided by a third set or match tiebreak.

This was the first season for the 55 Mixed team which hopes to play next year and win it all!

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