Tri-Level

Tri-level Sectionals were held this weekend at Kingwood Country Club. As expected, the finals came down to Houston versus Dallas with Jason Freeman's team squeaking past Bob Bender's Dallas squad 2-1.

Freeman had a deep lineup of 4.5 players to choose from: Matt Sumrall, Odion Dibua, Jason Kern and Red Benzon. Pat Albro, Kris Knutson and Alex Ellingson were the 4.0's and Chad Luhan and Troy Ralls played the 3.5 line. The team advances to Palm Springs for Nationals, which is played in a strange format.

Tri-Level is a lot of fun, but the participation rates are abysmal. Let's face it, 3.5 players and 4.5 players rarely travel in the same tennis circles. I would think there will be or has been some discussion in USTA circles about getting rid of it.

Event this weekend.

There will be some good tennis going on at the Met this weekend. Friday at 6PM features a match between Texas and Texas A&M, who meet annually for the Texas Cup in Houston. It will be some elite tennis from two top programs.

Also, in conjunction with the match, the Met runs the "Alumni Challenge" doubles tournament. The Championship division features elite/professional players like Tommy Ho, Graydon Oliver, Jack Brasington, the Barker twins and many others. Play in the Championship division will begin immediately prior to the Aggie-Longhorn match. There are other divisions of play and several 4.5 league players have already entered the A division. Anyone interested in playing can contact Keith Christman at 713-652-0700.

Hook 'em!