USHA Women's Classic, Tucson, Ariz.

USHA Women's Classic held in conjunction with the Hall of Fame Handball Championships

TUCSON, Ariz. - “It’s all about patience,” Lisa Gilmore said between the first and second games of the final. “That 10 seconds (between points) seems very fast to me, but it must be like an eternity to her (Yvonne August).” Gilmore put enough winning points together to win the first game of the final in the Women’s Classic on Sunday.

When August got off to a good start in the second, Gilmore decided to let the game go and then get low on her serve in the tiebreaker. “I tried to conserve energy and hit a lob,” Lisa said, “but they were so bad when I kept hitting the sidewall. Then her serve kept coming around the backwall and I couldn’t miss.” Gilmore came back a little at the end to score 10 in the second game. She collected herself for the final 11 point game and scored all 11 points, five in a row on crack serves.

“I told myself to stay low on the serve and it worked,” Lisa said after the 11-0 final. “I never got a chance to play in the tiebreaker,” August said in an accurate assessment of Gilmore sharp serving display. Courtney Peixoto couldn’t play on Sunday after having her shoulder checked out at the hospital on Saturday night. “The shoulder’s probably OK,” but she can’t play,” Marjorie said on Sunday. Thus, Allison Roberts took third by default. Jennifer Schmitt took fifth over Jessica Gawley and Sydell Smith outlasted Holly Jonely for 7th.

The Hall of Fame event has hosted three women’s classics and each one has resulted in the Marty Decatur Sportsmanship Award going to a woman. Newcomer Alethia Mendez impressed tournament directors with her willingness to help at all times and gave her this year’s award. Kay Sleeper is the “Queen of raffle sales,” and sold the $1,500 prize to a group back in Chicago. Charlie Wicker bought a ticket at the very end of sales and took the $500 prize.

Results: First Round: Kathy Lenning (Shoreline, WA) d. Stacy Rittmuller (Tucson), 1, 9; Maureen Bike (Tucson) d. Kay Sleeper (Chicago), 1, 4; Alethia Mendez (New York) d. Marjorie Peixoto (Watsonville, CA), 1, 0; Cindy Miller (Golden, CO) d. Tin Apolinario (Watsonville), 16, 10.

Round of 16: Lisa Gilmore (Winnipeg) d. Lenning, 3, 4; Holly Jonely (Amarillo) d. Maggie Grelle (St. Louis), (20), 16, 9; Jessica Gawley (Regina, Can.) d. Katie Sedgwick (Lake Forest, IL), 7, 4; Allison Roberts (Lake Forest) d. Bike, 6, 5; Jennifer Schmitt (Tucson) d. Mendez, 5, 6; Courtney Peixoto (Tucson) d. Tracy Davis (New York), 4, 10; Sydell Smith (New York) d. Terry Bowman (Phoenix), 11, 8; Yvonne August (Castro Valley, CA) d. Miller, 1, 0.

Quarterfinals: Gilmore d. Jonely, (20), 11, 4; A. Roberts d. J. Gawley, (17), 7, 10; C. Peixoto d. Schmitt, (9), 19, 2; August d. Smith, 15, 9.

Semifinals: Gilmore d. Roberts, 12, (7), 10; August d. C. Peixoto, 9, (14), 10.

Final: Gilmore d. August, 16, (10), 0.

Third Place: A. Roberts d. C. Peixoto, default.

Fifth Place: J. Schmitt d. J. Gawley, 14, 13.

Seventh Place: S. Smith d. H. Jonely, (17), 9, 6.

A Singles (9th Place): First Round: Apolinario d. Sleeper, 4, 10; Lenning d. Bike, (17), 14, 10; Mendez d. Miller, 8, 3; Rittmuller d. M. Peixoto, 13, (7), 2.

Quarterfinals: Grelle d. Apolinario, 6, 1; Sedgwick d. Lenning, 6, 13; Davis d. Mendez, 8, 11; Rittmuller, default.

Semifinals: Grelle d. Sedgwick, 3, 3; Davis d. Rittmuller, 0, 4.

Final: Grelle d. Davis, 20, 8.

B Singles: First Round: M. Peixoto d. Sleeper, 0, 13; Bowman d. Bike, 7, 6; Mendez d. Apolinario, 1, 7; Lenning d. Miller, 16, def.

Semifinals: Bowman d. Peixoto, def.; Mendez d. Lenning, 13, 15.

Final: Mendez d. Bowman, def.

Hall of Fame Final Matches:

Open Singles: Adolpho Monreal d. Luis Moreno, 17, 9;
Cons.: Manuel Diaz d. Jesse Aranda.

Open Doubles: Steven Natale/Vince Natale d. Mike Woods/Rich Vasquez, (14), 16, 5.
Cons.: Guillermo Pallares Sr./Guillermo Palleres Jr.

A Singles: Alex Medina d. Chris Maldonado, 8, 12.
Cons.: Pete Jorgensen.

A Doubles: Fred Lewis/Steve Campbell d. Chris Maldonado/Luis Moreno, 20, 13.

B Singles: Leonardo Marquez d. Edgar Medina, 11, 14.
Cons.: Matt Berzins d. Matt Schilz.

B Doubles: Daniel Perez/Raul Felix d. Richard Quiroz/Edgar Medina, 4, 5.
Cons.: Omar Felix/Luis Ramirez.

C Singles: Israel Campa d. Adam Roberts, 13, 15.
Cons.: John Yatsko d. Steve Caro.

C Doubles: Hector Flores/Cesar Quinones d. Bill Daley/Jody Morris, 11, 13.
Cons.: Israel Campa/Daniel Cordova d. Luis Cordova/Angel Villa.

D Singles: Angel Villa d. Thomas Salinas, 14, 19.

Junior A Singles: Richie Estrella d. Juan Ruiz, 7, 11.

Junior A Doubles: Luis Cordova/Daniel Cordova d. Jesus Figueroa/Dean Shout.

Junior B Singles: Carlos Flores d. Roberto Chiquete, 6, 10.

Special thanks go to Charlie and Joan Wicker, who keep showing why they are being honored with the Robert W. Kendler Award this June, John Ross and the many others who made this event a success.

 
Saturday's Results from Women's Classic

TUCSON, Ariz. - USHA Women’s Classic, Tucson, AZ. In conjunction with the Hall of Fame “I was trying to decide where to serve,” Lisa Gilmore said after earning an 11-10 tiebreaker win in the semis over Allison Roberts. “They (the twins she’s expecting) kicked me on the left side. So, I went to the left and got an easy return.” Gilmore rallied from 8-3 in the tiebreaker to win and will face Yvonne August in the final. August was down 10-4 in the tiebreaker to Courtney Peixoto, who injured her shoulder on a dive at that point. “She’s (Courtney) tough,” Marjorie said, “but she can’t use it (right arm) anymore.” Serving to the right on all but the final two points, August rallied for the win. The final point was scored just as the opening scenes for the final of the Ultimate Handball Showdown.

Friday's Results from Women's Classic

TUCSON, Ariz.- USHA Women’s Classic, Tucson, AZ. In conjunction with the Hall of Fame Lisa Gilmore, carrying twins with a due date at the “end of June or early July,” she said, lived up to her top seed and will face Holly Jonely on Sat. Jonely survived an 11-9 tiebreaker over Maggie Grelle on Friday. “I got tired,” Grelle said. “She (Jonely) wore me down.” “That’s about it,” Holly said. “I didn’t have my shots so I had to keep the ball in play.” National Junior champ Courtney Peixoto controlled the play against National one-wall champ Tracy Davis in their opening round. “The ball was moving so fast around the walls,” Davis said.


Women's Classic - Tucson, Ariz. 

TUCSON, Ariz. - The Women's Classic is about to get underway at the Tucson Racquet & Fitness Club. The Classic is being held in conjunction with the Hall of Fame Tournament. Play begins Friday at 11:00 AM.

Check the link below to see the Women's Classic draw:
2004 Women's Classic Draw