It had never been done before!
O‘ahu had always been the favored team, but Kaua‘i Men’s 4.0 team, the U.S.D.A. Select narrowly beat O‘ahu last weekend on Maui to claim the title at the USA League Tennis sectionals.
Kaua‘i and O‘ahu were tied at three wins each over teams from Hilo, Kona, and Maui leading into the final day of competition and the final pairings with a pair of Singles matches and three Doubles matches setting the stage for the David vs. Goliath matchup.
Kaua‘i took the first Singles, but O‘ahu captured both the first and second Doubles matches for the 2-1 edge with a pair of matches left.
O‘ahu needed just one match to clinch as Strom Gaditano trailed 8-5 in a first to ten by two tiebreaker for the match.
He went into “the zone” and somehow managed an 11-9 victory to tie the series 2-2.
Brad Klontz and Eric Haas won a close first set 7-5, only to have O‘ahu control the second set 6-0.
Both teams played to 7-7 in the last and deciding tie breaker, but the Klontz-Haas team eked out a 10-8 win to send the U.S.D.A. Select on to the national tournament for the first time in that division amidst the whooping screams of people who stormed the court to congratulate the winners.
U.S.D.A. Select Men’s 4.0 team members include: Calvin Lalin, captain, Bill Michael, Dick Michael, Stromberg Gaditano, Eric Haas, Harald Hasiba, Bradley Klontz, Frank Medeiros, Scott Olpin, Frank Pulano, Stanley Schiller, Joshua Vea, Jose Villanueva and Christopher Webster.
(Note: Marianne Martin and Chris Webster contributed to this story.)
