North Clinches 9th Mason Dixon Cup by Slimmest of Margins

TIM McAVOY
OCTOBER 22, 2011
GREENVILLE COUNTRY CLUB
GREENVILLE, DE

After seven hours and forty five minutes of fierce platform tennis competition, no outcome had been decided.  Fifteen minutes later, following five simultaneous, historic super tiebreakers, the North had defeated the South in the 9th Annual Mason Dixon Cup.

The North now leads this annual Region III intra regional competition 6-3.

In what can only be described as ‘competition at its best,’ the five men’s teams representing the North narrowly defeated the five teams from the South in a competition that began on a beautiful Saturday morning at 9:30 and saw its conclusion at 5:30 pm.

The Mason Dixon Cup was the created by Mark Holtschneider with the objective of kicking off each new paddle season with some competition and camaraderie within Region III.  The top 10 players from the South, as determined by PCQ points earned from the prior year, compete with the top 10 players from the North, again derived from last seasons PCQ points.  The goal is to encourage folks to play PCQ events so they can qualify and participate in the Mason Dixon Cup the following year.

The format is similar to President’s Cup competition:  four matches are played in one day, two before lunch and two after.  Regular scoring is used during the first two sets with a tiebreaker at 6-6…and if the teams split sets, then a super tiebreaker is played to determine the winner---the winning team receives one point and the loser none.

The north was represented by:  Simon Peppiatt/Greg Eger, Todd Marvin/Patrick Nowlan, Steve Reiniger/Andrew Hocker, Tom Burt/Bruce Sopko and Steve Hall/Justin Poletti….Captain was Tim McAvoy.

The South was represented by:  Tommy Croker/Huntley Montgomery, Mark Holtschneider (Captain)/Ted Easter, Mike Cobb/Frank Holtschneider, Wil Shafroth/Fred Gumbinner and Juan Jaysingh/Alex Hume.

The North took 6 of 10 matches prior to lunch only to see the South come back after lunch and take 6 of 10 matches to knot the score.  Steve Reiniger and Andrew Hocker (Andrew was inspired by his parent’s first ever appearance to watch their son play paddle) led the way for North, going 3-1…while Juan Jaysingh and Alex Hume went undefeated, winning all 4 matches for the South.

With the event deadlocked at 10 wins apiece, each of the five teams played one super tiebreaker to determine the final outcome.  Victorious for the North were Todd Marvin/Patrick Nowlan, Steve Reiniger/Andrew Hocker and Bruce Sopko/Tom Burt (did I mention these two righties went undefeated on Court5 at the 2011 President’s Cup in Chicago?!).

It should be noted the camaraderie among all Region III players exceeded the amazing shot making on the courts.  We are very fortunate to have a special team of players who enjoy each other as much as the sport itself.

So, with Captain Mark handing the trophy over to Captain Tim (photo on the right), both side said their farewells, with the South thinking what might have been and clearly looking to take the Cup back next year.  Game on!