Summer League semi finals~~At least most of the matches were played. The fact that most of them were not played during the scheduled times is a little frustrating, but I can’t complain too much. I mentioned last week that I hoped the winners weren’t going to be decided by bonus points and thankfully that’s how it turned out, but it was a case of ‘careful what you wish for’! It is, of course, difficult to collect bonus points when just about nobody turns up.
Out of the 14 players scheduled to play between the top seeded “Serves of Steel” and “Sure to Shank Redemption”, only 2 of them received their bonus point. And they were from the same team. Only 1 match was played on the night, but the player representing “Sure to Shank Redemption” was a substitute and they are not entitled to bonus points. So, incredibly, for a semi final, not one player from “Sure to Shank Redemption” was present. Ummmm… I was rather dumbfounded to say the least. Also, implausibly, they won. Their sub, Mike McCuish (who stepped in for the injured Tom Healy), managed to fend off the wily Drew Creamer for a 3-0 win with every game ending up 15-14 or 15-13. From four of the five other matches played, they won two of them 3-0 and lost two 2-1, and by the time the final match started, “Sure to Shank Redemption” had an unassailable lead. They won that last match anyway and get through 13-7
The other semi final was a lot tighter. Both teams collected 4 bonus points each, negating each other out. And the first four results came in all with the score line 2-1. The “Court Jesters” had won three of those contests, with the “Volleybrawlers” lone success coming at the hands of Andy Adamo who, after losing the first game to Patrick Petz, squeaked past him in games 2 and 3 with lengthy comebacks by capitalizing on his superior fitness. The video below is the second half of their first game.
With two matches not being played, the 5th result would decide who would advance. It was looking gloomy for the “Volleybrawlers” since they were 2 points behind, needed a 3-0 win, and to make matters worse had to rely on a sub (Brian Schrage) to do it. On the other hand, the “Court Jesters” needed only one game from Andrew Spohn, but he is just coming back from a lengthy injury. The three games were close. Unfortunately for the “Volleybrawlers” Brian didn’t win any of them. “Court Jesters” advance 14-9.
The final is set for next Monday, July 25. The two teams played each other in the final round of the season with “Sure to Shank Redemption” taking the honors by two points. It would be nice if most of the matches were played that evening… pretty pleeeeeze?
