Lee County Women's Tennis League (LCWTL) Report as of 02/19/2012

Things happen much faster around the courts than I can get them written. By the time you read this, things will have changed. That said, here's what the story was before the 3.0 and 4.0-Minus matches played today.



Linda Jenkins & Sandra Boll win 4.0- Ct.4 for Pk Meadow



2.5

in the smallest division in the LCWTL, Cape Coral Yacht Club (CCYC) and Landings are scrapping for the top spot in this division. Although CCYC is holding a 13-point lead over Landings, it has played one match more than Landings. CCYC is still in the driver’s seat, having taken two of the three head-to-head matches the two have played.

Although Legends is a considerable way back in third (30 points out of first), it took three courts from CCYC in their last meeting and split with Landings the last time they met. Despite the deficit, Legends could be poised for a title run down the stretch.



Deb Smith & Joyce Pignotti win 4.0- Ct.3 for Dunes

3.0-Minus

In 3.0-Minus Land, Landings holds an 18-point lead over Breckenridge TieBreakers (BTB), by virtue of one more match played. Considering that BTB posted 15 points against Landings when they played, there’s a good chance that the order will be reversed when the two teams have played an even number of matches.

There is also a very good chance that the winner of this division will be determined by the last match of the season when the two play for the second and final time. Although not out of the race for the top spot, with only three matches left to play, Heritage Palms appears to be more of a lock for the third spot, sitting 32 points ahead of fourth-place Cross Creek Estates.

3.0

This division race is clearly a two-team scramble, with the Forest (1^st) and Fiddlesticks (2^nd) more than 80 points ahead of third place Herons Glen TopSpinners (HGT). The two-point lead that Forest holds is somewhat illusory, since the only time the two teams met, and will meet this season, Fiddlesticks took 14 of the available 26 points, and has played one match fewer than Forest. The good news for Forest is that it hasn’t dropped more than one court in any other match, while Fiddlesticks has dropped two courts on three occasions.

The race for third place is a humdinger, with seven teams realistically in the hunt. HGT holds an 11-point lead over Fort Myers Racquet Club (FMRC) as of this writing, but with five matches left to play, there’s plenty of time for that situation to change. In addition, five other teams, Heritage Palms, Verandah, Lexington Matchmakers, and Kelly Greens, are all within one sweep of that third-place spot. Should be fun as they near home!



Lisa Cochrane & Carol Curcuru play 4.0- Ct. 1 for Dunes

3.5-Minus

Landings Gems (LG) are atop the leaderboard here, 27 points ahead of Forest. But again, the Forest has played one match fewer than LG, and hadn’t lost a match until its last match against Judd park, where it lost three-setters on Courts 1 and 2. The top two play each other this week at the Forest, and that match should go a long way in determining the Division Champion.

Kelly Greens (3^rd) and Paseo (4^th) are in the thick of things, but are realistically shooting for second place. Kelly Greens (KG) and Paseo trail LG by 38 and 44 points respectively with four or five matches to be played. Paseo appears to be stronger than when KG beat them in Week 2, posting a 15-5 individual match record over the past five team matches.

Forest has four matches left to LG’s three, and LG plays teams higher in the standings than Forest. If I had to pick the final standings, I’d say Forest, LG, Paseo and KG would round out the top four in that order. Don’t hold me to it though.



Tina Owenby & Diane Prange play 4.0- Ct. 3 for Pk Meadow

 3.5

There are several degrees of separation among the leaders of the 3.5 Division. Pelican Preserve (PP) leads second-place Rutenberg by almost 50 points, and Rutenberg is ahead of third-place Gulf Harbour by the same margin.

There doesn’t appear to be much chance of anyone catching PP, given the fact that PP has posted eight sweeps in thirteen matches, lost just one court in four of the other five, and still emerged with more points the one time it lost two courts (against FMRC in week 4)! Holy Domination Batgirl! We can surely say that Pelican Preserve belongs in the premiere position in this league.

Rutenberg has been nearly as dominant since their first match, when they were swept by PP. They have posted six sweeps of their own, and have come out on the losing end just once since the first week, and that was against Breckenridge in Week 12 when they dropped Courts 1 and 3. Third-place Gulf Harbour has had three consecutive, strong showings, and will be trying to hold off Landings, 19 points back in fourth. Look for the top three to remain the top three at season's end.

Cindy Cheslosky & Andrea Trank seal 4.0- win for Pk Meadow

4.0-Minus

Park Meadow stretched its division-lead to 20 points with wins on three of four courts against second-place Dunes TonisTigers, and a sweep of Fiddlesticks over its last two matches. Gulf Harbour is just one point out of second after splitting the four courts with some heroics in its last match with Cape Coral Racquet Club (CCRC). Although there are several matches yet to play, the Division is likely to come from among the current top-three.



Jane Ranieri & Barbara Chappell of Dunes TonisTigers

Park Meadow’s win against the Dunes last week hinged on a heated battle on Court 2, with Andrea Trank and Cindy Cheslosky of Park Meadow hanging on to down Jane Ranieri and Barbara Chappell in three sets. Andrea and Cindy dropped the first set 4-6, cruised to a 6-2 second, and appeared to be on the verge of an easy third, sitting at 5-1. Somebody forgot to tell Jane and Barbara, because they battled back to tie it at 5-5 before Andrea and Cindy closed things out at 7-5.

Gulf Harbour managed to take 14 points in the match against CCRHC by pulling out three-setters on Courts 1 and 3. On Court 1, Lili Canfield and Amy Markovich came back from losing the first set 3-6, to take the next two in a gutsy performance: 7-5, 7-6. On Court 3, Carol Carr and Bonnie Graham also dropped the first set before clawing back for the 6-4, 6-1 over Linda Adkins and Irene McCrea.



Suzie Reazin & Nicole LeFebvre win on 4.0- Ct. 1 for Pk Meadow

4.0

There’s a tight group of three contesting the leadership of the 4.0 Division. Six points separate the Landings 4Love (L4L), Dunes, and Landings Legends (LL), first through third respectively. L4L and Dunes meet this week, and Dunes has LL the last match of the season. Chances are that those two matches will determine which of these three teams wears the division crown…if another team doesn’t sneak into the mix.



Ok, how do we come back here?

Bonita Bay (BB), in fourth, could be just such a team. BB is in striking distance of third place, and has scored more points than any of the top three over the past three matches. Continued strong showings by BB over the remaining schedule could vault it into contention, especially if BB emerges victorious in the match against LL this week.

Dynamo

Plantation sits atop the LCWTL food chain in the highest rated division, boasting a 30-point lead over second-place Paseo. Although there are still several matches to play, Plantation’s 13-3 individual match record over the past four team matches doesn’t bode well for the competition.

The race for second and third is where the action is likely to be coming down the stretch. Paseo holds second by a mere three points over Park Meadow Tennis Junkies (PMTJ), and PMTJ is just six points ahead of fourth-place Park Meadow GGs (PMGG). Each of these teams will play the others in contention down the home stretch, including one match against Plantation. This finish ought to be lots of fun!

Senior Divisions

60-Plus

At one point in this division, the ladies of Fort Myers Racquet Club had swept five consecutive matches! In week twelve, they stumbled and lost one court…but they picked it up again and have swept their last two. With a 34-point lead and only four matches to play, I’m guessing the Champion has been all but crowned.

Second place is still pretty much up for grabs, however, with Heritage Palms holding that spot by 11 points over Cape Coral Racquet Club (CCRC). CCRC has a tough schedule ahead, taking on three of the top four teams in their next four matches. Heritage Palms has a slightly weaker schedule, although they do play CCRC as well as fourth-place Landings and fifth-place Sabal Springs. With stellar play, Landings has a shot to climb into the top three, despite being 45 points beyond that point right now.

Bronze

The race for the Bronze title is a good one, with as many as seven teams realistically in the hunt with seven matches left on the schedule. Herons Glen (HG) is out front of Heritage Palms (HP) and FMRC by nine points, and Pelican Landing (PL) trails those two by three points. Legends, Breckenridge Overheads (BO) and Lexington NetWorthy (LN) are all within a sweep of PL.

The next two weeks will be telling, as HG and HP take on two tough Breckenridge team this week, then face each other next week. FMRC will be facing Del Tura and LN for its next two matches, so two weeks from now the standings may be significantly different, though, I suspect, still very close.

Silver

This is one of the largest LCWTL divisions and one most characterized by parity. The standings are somewhat cloudy because some teams have played as many as 18 matches while others have played as few as 16.

Breckenridge, which has points posted for 18 matches, leads second-place Landings Lucky Ladies (LLL) by 12 points, but LLL has scores posted for 17 matches. Third-place Gulf Harbour Silver Strings (GHSS) is ahead of fourth-place Crown Colony (CC) by 25 points, but GHSS has 18 scores posted to CC’s 17. With some teams having as many as nine matches yet to play, it’s pretty tough to make any real projections without aid of a supercomputer...

However, given Breckenridge’s recent run of 19-5 individual matches over the past six team matches, and impressive results from GHSS as well, I imagine the top three will continue atop the standings for a while. CC should be there as well as the number of matches even out.

Gold

Heritage Palms Sweet Spots (HPSS) maintain a 20-point lead over Dunes despite Dunes trimming 14 points off the lead over the past four matches. CCRC and Lexington are tied for third, 13 points behind Dunes.

Dunes and CCRC face off against each other this week while HPSS take on Kelly Greens, a team near the bottom of the pack. Lexington will tango with Gulf Harbour A Team, a top-ten squad.

On paper, it appears as though HPSS should pad its lead this week, while the others in close pursuit may struggle to keep pace. A strong showing by Lexington, combined with a split in the Dunes-CRCC match-up, could vault Lexington in to second or third alone.

With only four matches to play, every point is critical. I’m guessing HPSS will be too hard to catch with so few available points remaining.

Platinum

Pelican Landing (PL) is well ahead of the pack in first by 28 points, but second-place Paseo and third-place Park Meadow ServesAces (PMSA) are waging a close battle in second, with just two points separating them. If it weren’t for the facts that PL has not finished with fewer points than an opponent all season, and has split courts just twice in 13 matches, I might be tempted to say that Paseo and PMSA have a chance at catching PL with five matches left. But the facts remain…

That said, neither Paseo nor PMSA is out of the picture completely and one of the two will certainly be in second when it’s all over.  Hmm, let’s see…Paseo plays one team in the top five over the next five weeks, and that’s No.5 Vasari next week. PL and PMSA play each other next week, and PMSA has to play two additional top-five teams down the stretch. On paper, it seems likely that the order of the top three will remain the same at season’s end, but that’s why they play the games, right?

Ok, that's about it for this edition of the LWCTL Report. I'll check back in on the standings in another couple of weeks. Can't wait to see how these races develop. Until then, Game, set, match...T A