Vicenza guaranteed a spot in girls doubles finals

WIESBADEN, Germany – Getting selected as the 10th seed doesn’t exactly inspire confidence of making a long run at the DODEA European tennis championships.

Vicenza’s Annika Svenson, however, believed in Sarah McGovern and Ava Parker, telling her parents the duo would join her and teammate Addie Wilson in the final four.

She should know, considering they are her teammates.

The Cougars’ second doubles team has made a surprise run to the semifinals on Thursday and Friday at T2 Sports Health Club in Wiesbaden, Germany. What awaits is a Cougar fest, as the two Vicenza doubles teams will square off in the knockout round on Saturday.

It creates mixed emotions, Svenson said.

“It’s going to be tougher in the sense that, oh, this game matters,” she said. “We all want it, but it’s going to be that kind of awkwardness.

“At the same time, we all made it. That’s amazing, in my opinion.”

Just ask Svenson’s and Wilson’s sparing partners in the semifinals, and that awkwardness is evident.

“It’s really hard to think about,” Parker said of trying to beat Svenson and Wilson. “We’re really good friends with all the people on our team.”

Parker’s and McGovern’s run started on a low note, although nobody could fault them for struggling against the top seed. The Cougars dropped their opening match 8-1 against Kaiserslautern’s Alisa Dietzel and Abby Hover.

They followed those wins against Naples seniors Andrea Mayounga and Aleczandria Rodriguez 8-6 and Brussels’ Abigail and Esme Halttunen 9-8 (10-8) on Thursday. McGovern and Parker then punched their semifinal ticket with an 8-2 victory over SHAPE’s Chiara D’Arrigo and Mariana Torrente on Friday.

As the tournament’s second seed, Svenson and Wilson swept their way through pool play.

McGovern and Parker credited their teamwork and play at the net as big reasons they are in the final four.

“I was a little surprised, but I’m really excited,” McGovern said of the run to the semifinals. “I’m really happy with how we played.”

The winner will face off with the winner of Dietzel-Hover and Wiesbaden’s Bella Rainey and Samaire Fleming.

Boys underdog advances as well

It’s not often a match between the sixth and eighth seeds decides which advances out of pool play.

Yet on Friday afternoon, Bahrain’s Matthew Mendoza and Carson Owens and Vicenza’s Andrew Reed and Jacob McGovern found themselves in that situation in one of the last matches of the round robin.

With the significance weighing on them, Mendoza and Owens managed to pull past Reed and McGovern to win 8-6.

“The crowd was really on Vicenza’s side at the beginning, so I felt a lot of pressure,” Mendoza said. “We talked to each other; we calmed down. I think communication was what made us win.”

That victory allowed the Falcons to reach their goal.

Entering as the sixth seed, Owens and Mendoza upset fourth-seeded Jonathan Soito and Calvin Moncada in their opening match 9-7, and they followed that with an 8-0 victory over 10th-seeded Bobby and Jack Lovallo of Ansbach.

An 8-5 loss against top seed Zach Call and Hunter Leslie-Persons of Stuttgart was a setback ahead of the final pool-play match.

“That’s what we were aiming for the entire time,” Owens said. “Even earlier (Friday) when we lost, we still wanted this win so bad to go to the semifinals.”

It wasn’t easy for the Falcons, who trailed by multiple games early against the Cougar team.

Owens and Mendoza needed a spark, and they found it by changing their style of play. Owens, who normally charges the net after serving or receiving, stayed back. It was a move the Bahrain pair hadn’t used before in a match, and yet it swung Friday’s contest in their favor.

Afterward Owens joked he hadn’t played so many lobs in a match before.

“They really had us cornered,” Mendoza said of Reed and McGovern. “I’m surprised we even thought of that (change).”

Up next for Mendoza and Owens is Ramstein’s Eric and Sean Kim, the tournament’s second seed, in Saturday’s semifinals.

The other boys semifinal will see Call and Leslie-Persons take on third-seeded Tavi Shah and Kai Baraniak of Naples.

Bahrain’s Carson Owens serves during his and teammate Matthew Mendoza’s pool-play match against Vicenza’s Andrew Reed and Jacob McGovern at the DODEA European tennis championships on Oct. 20, 2023, at T2 Sports Health Club in Wiesbaden, Germany. (Matt Wagner/Stars and Stripes)

DODEA-Europe Tennis Championships

Friday at Wiesbaden, Germany

Boys

Doubles

Pool A

Zachary Call/Hunter Leslie-Persons (Stut) def. Matthew Mendoza/Carson Owens (Bahrain) 8-5; Jonathan Soito/Calvin Moncada (Lakenheath) def. Bobby Lovallo/Jack Lovallo (Ansbach) 8-4; Andrew Reed/Jacob McGovern (Vicenza) def. B.Lovallo/J.Lovallo 9-7; Call/Leslie-Persons def. Soito/Moncada 8-1; Mendoza/Owens def. Reed/McGovern 8-6.

Pool B

Eric Kim and Sean Kim (Ramstein) def. Maxwell Mercado/Kennan Hager (Sigonella) 8-4; Tavi Shah/Kai Baraniak (Vicenza) def. Kayden Ballard/Jack Bishop (Wiesbaden) 8-0; Isaac Holly/Bryan Oh (Kaiserslautern) def. Ballard/Bishop 8-4; E.Kim/S.Kim def. Shah/Baraniak 8-6; Holly/Oh def. Mercado/Hager 8-5.

Semifinals (Saturday)

Call/Leslie-Persons vs. Shah/Baraniak, E.Kim/S.Kim vs. Mendoza/Owens.

Girls

Doubles

Pool A

Sarah McGovern/Ava Parker (Vicenza) def. Chiara D’Arrigo/Marina Torrente (SHAPE) 8-2; Alisa Dietzel/Abby Hover (Kaiserslautern) def. Abigail Halttunnen/Esme Halttunen (Brussels) 8-0; Chiara D’Arrigo/Marina Torrente (SHAPE) def. Andrea Mayounga/Aleczandria Rodriguez (Naples) 9-7.

Pool B

Bella Rainey/Samaire Fleming (Wiesbaden) def. Sandrine Bennett/Natalie Moran (Spangdahlem) 8-6; Annika Svenson/Addie Wilson (Vicenza) def. Gracey Basgall/Allison Hayes (Stuttgart) 8-1; Elisabeth Petrich/Maddison Beedham (Lakenheath) def. Bennett/Moran 8-1; Svenson/Wilson def. Petrich/Beedham 8-1; Bella Rainey/Samaire Fleming (Wiesbaden) def. Basgall/Hayes 8-1.

Semifinals (Saturday)

Dietzel/Hover vs. Rainey/Fleming, Svenson/Wilson vs. McGovern/Parker.