Montgomery/Lanphier and Eichleay/Sheldon Smoked the Competition at Norcal

November 10-11, 2018
Ross, CA

The NorCal Men’s and Women’s PCQ took place last weekend in smoky conditions (due to the California wildfires) in Ross, CA. The women all played in one draw, while the men’s teams were split up into A and B draws.

Women
The top two seeds and local rivals, Tori Eichleay/Eileen Sheldon and Chizzie Brown/Val Herzog, reached the finals. In a match of incredible momentum swings, Brown/Herzog came back from being 6-1 5-2 down to win the second set in a tiebreaker. Eichleay/Sheldon regrouped, however, and clinched the deciding set, 6-3. 

Men’s B
When the Men’s B draw began early Sunday morning, the talk of the tournament was eleven-year old Tom Lardner playing with the wily veteran Edward Lanphier. In their second round, Lanphier/Lardner upset the top seeds, Nick and Brett Hoppe, 2-6 7-6 7-6. The Cinderella story ended in the semis against the unseeded team of Brad Hedrick and Matt Shewey, who had a great run to the finals. In the final match, the father-son duo of Robert and Bill Cahill proved too tough for Hedrick/Shewey, and the Cahills took home another NorCal PCQ title.

Men’s A
The Men’s A draw featured a small but tough field. From the first round on, all of the matches were competitive as a couple of three-setters got the day rolling. The first upset came when the 2017 champion, Chris Sheldon, now paired with Blaise Taylor as the fourth-seeded team, fell to Andrej Loncar and Tom Mayes. In the finals, the top seeds, Ned Lanphier and Huntley Montgomery, took on the second seeds, George Eichleay and Mark Innes. Eichleay and Innes came out strong and took the first set 6-4, but in the end Montgomery and Lanphier were too steady and they ran away with the next two sets, 6-1 6-0.

Thanks to Tournament Director Mark Innes and all the players and supporters who came out to the event.