On October 24, the Bucks County Tennis Association (BCTA), Inc., hosted its Fall Team Tennis Challenge, bringing together 55 county-wide program participants who were recommended by their coaches to Council Rock North High School tennis courts for friendly competition, with many playing in a tennis competition for the first time. While the day started out and ended sunny for the Little Aces Age Division, athletes in the Juniors and Teens/Adults division ultimately battled the weather—swinging in the rain—as no one wanted to stop playing. For team photos please log onto BCTA's Facebook page.
Little Aces Age Division: The Wasps (from Lower Bucks sites) defeated the Ghosts (from Upper Bucks sites) in a closely contested total of games, 312–306, after five rounds of doubles matches and a 30-point bonus round for team singles, but it was just not enough to overcome the Tigers lead.
Juniors Age Division: After seven rounds of play, the Tigers (from Lower Bucks sites) defeated the Phantoms (from Upper Bucks sites) by a 383–378 total game score. The Phantoms won the 30-point team singles bonus, however it was not quite enough to overcome the Tigers’ lead.
Teens/Adults Age Division: The South team defeated the North team after seven rounds of doubles and singles play, and lots of great rallies.
“The athletes all exhibited great sportsmanship and team spirit, as revealed by their perseverance with the weather,” said BCTA Program Director Laura Canfield. Athletes were awarded their respective gold and silver medals as well as sportsmanship awards.
Little Aces Team Rosters
Wasps
Scott Bitting
Advik Chandola
Grace Holton
Cooper Kelso
Angelina Merksamer
Bernadette Merksamer
Clara Merksamer
Sam Tier
Navya Tikku
Juliana Watkins
Ghosts
Amryna Bajwa
Ethan Escoto
Gabrielle Gardner
Justin Huang
Quinn Larson
Annika Racharla
Kara Stribling
Taylor Wisniewski
Emily Zhang
Juniors Team Rosters
Tigers
Adam Alaoui
Aidan Bunnell
Fiona Bunnell
Chip Caro
Abby Clark
Lily Esmay
Francesca Forsyth
Shiv Patel
Kaitlynn Pino
Aden Pitkis
Lauren Studenmeier
Nirvan Tikku
Phantoms
Grace Byrne
Olivia Cabrera
Keira Check
Bianca Cinquino
Matthew Eberhardt
Eric Escoto
Asher Kieschnick
David Mandel
Sunniva Pacelli
Aayush Patel
Anna Ries
Teens/Adults Team Rosters
South
Ron Assulin
Eric Chen
Kathan Desai
Mereck Epperson
Ethan Flannery
Noah Lutz
Vincent Malizia
North
Aven Burrows
Jasmine Catanzaro
Abhay Chathuruthy
Chrissa Harrison
Richard Malizia
Anisha Pai
Many thanks to the parents who graciously agreed to help set up nets and keep score for players as well as the BCTA coaches and volunteers.
