The Palisades Tennis Center hosted its second annual Live Ball tournament last Sunday from noon to 3 p.m. and over 90 players of all ages and skill levels participated. PTC Director of Tennis and event organizer Scott Wilson was ecstatic that over 150 people turned out to watch the action on courts 1-6. “It was a blast,” Wilson said. “We had 45 teams of two and there was some phenomenal talent out there. Everyone had fun and the crowd was treated to high quality tennis and incredible points.” As he had been for the inaugural tournament in December, Scott Norris of Coastline Music was the DJ and kept the event buzzing with a mix of hip hop, rock n’ roll classics and top 40’s pop music. On the courts, the competition was fast and furious. Each doubles pair was placed in one of two heats with the top eight teams in each age division advancing to the semifinal round. The top three teams made the finals. “The way it worked is that each team drew a number to determine where they would start and in what order they would play,” Wilson explained. “The team on the champion’s side got a point for every time it beat another team. The teams on the challenger’s side were trying to knock out the champions so they could take over the champion’s court and start accumulating points of their own. There were three or four teams on a court at one time.” In the Open division, PTC pro Randy Ardenfriend teamed with former Palisades High player Artin Tafazoli to outscore the tandems of Andre Kerr and Rupert Delasio and Eric Horine and Alex Sohali. Fifteen-year-old Walker Kehrer, who won the division last year with his coach, Ross Loel, reached the semifinals Sunday with his new doubles partner, Alex Brigham. PTC pros Cole Newman and Francisco Franceschini were the other semifinalists. The teams of Max Osswald and Steve Oliver and Matt Presser and Ian Shapiro were eliminated in the heat play. The 4.5 division, Palisades High players Michael Light and Stephen Surjue won by one point over Kristi and Jesse Gipe. The other finalist was another PaliHi duo, Mason Hays and Jay Sobel. Light won the division last year with Alex Haskell. Joe Lynch and Steve Richards beat defending champions Steve Avdul and Danielle Green in the 3.5 division. Reece Fulgham and Andy Tobias were the third team to qualify for the finals. Playing live ball for the first time, sisters Sarah and Emily Hamilton won the 2.5 division over finalists Liz Biller and Tara Presser and Lynne Thomas and Nancy Smith. A raffle was held and the Cypress Center set up tables to offer Pilates and physical therapy sessions. Players and guests were treated to complimentary lunch and beverages and division winners received a $100 gift certificate to the PTC pro shop. “We’re hoping to grow this event every year and next year my goal is to have about 70 or 80 teams and fill all eight courts,” Wilson said.
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