WTT Washington Kastles

Kastles Lose Early Lead to the Delaware Smash; Season Finale Tonight

July 23, 2008 - World TeamTennis (WTT)
Washington Kastles News Release


In front of another great crowd, the Kastles put together a strong effort against the Delaware Smash but came up short falling 20-16. The night's theme was "Salute to America" and started with a stirring rendition of the National Anthem but army officer Caleb Green in front of the Army color-guard. At halftime two disabled veterans played wheelchair tennis to the cheers of the crowd.

The team will close out its inaugural season tomorrow night against the St. Louis Aces featuring Anna Kournikova. The match is nearly sold out but a small number of tickets are available, so make sure to get your tickets to catch the last match of the season.

Scott Oudsema accomplished one of the most dominant victories in recent WTT history defeating Josh Cohen 5-0 and only losing one point in the entire set. The point advantage was 20-1 and the set took an astonishing nine minutes to complete. Oudsema had two aces in the set and did not lose a point on his serve. Scott is currently ranked 7th in WTT men's singles.

The Kastles struggle began in the second set as the Kastles' doubles pairing of Mashona Washington and Sacha Jones fell 5-1, to Madison Brengle and Christina Fusano. In the third set, the Kastles started strong as Oudsema and Justin Gimelstob jumped out to a 4-1 lead against Cohen and Chris Haggard. However, the Delaware doubles team mounted a comeback and eventually tied the set at four. In the tiebreaker, the Smash went up 4-3. With the Smash serving, Scott Oudsema reared back and hit a crushing winner to pull the score even at 4 all. On the next point, Gimelstob hit a solid shot which unfortunately caught the top of the net spinning it backwards. The Smash would win the set 5-4 to tie the match at 10.

In the fourth set, the mixed doubles pairing of Washington and Oudsema found themselves down 4-3 against the pairing of Fusano and Haggard. With the set on the line, the Kastles fell behind 3-1 in the 8th game on Washington's serve giving the Smash three opportunities to end the set. However the Kastles pairing began an inspiring comeback as Oudsema nailed a winner at the net to make the score 3-2 and then Washington blasted a first serve which could not be returned to even the score at 3-3. On game point, Oudsema again came to net and was able to pound a winner to force a tiebreaker. Unfortunately the Kastles could not continue their momentum and lost the tiebreaker 5-4.

The fifth set was a battle of two up and coming women's players, as the Kastles Sacha Jones aged 17 took on Madison Brengle aged 18. The two had a fierce battle that the fans greatly enjoyed with lots of long rallies and high quality tennis. Unfortunately, Brengle got the best of Jones and won the set 5-2.

While the Kastles are now officially out of the playoff race, make sure to join us tomorrow night for the finale of what has been a great season of Kastles tennis.



World TeamTennis Stories from July 23, 2008


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central