Lee tows Pacific Oceania to debut win

The CNMI’s Carol Lee waits for a shot from her opponent during the 2015 14/U Australian Championships last week at the Melbourne Park. (Oceania Tennis)

The Carol Lee-led Pacific Oceania Team won its debut in the 2015 12U & 14U Australian Teams Championships last Saturday at Melbourne Park.

Pacific Oceania was pitted against Australian Capital Territory in the morning match and pulled off a 2-1 victory at Court 19, thanks to Lee’s pair of wins.

The CNMI player put Pacific Oceania on the board after surviving Annerly Poulos in a super tiebreaker third set, 2-4, 5-3, 10-8. Lee wrapped up the extended match after three hours and 23 minutes, according to the tournament’s website.

The 13-year-old then teamed up with Tahiti’s Naia Guitton in downing Poulus and Matina Ujdur in the deciding doubles match, 4-2, 4-0, to give Pacific Oceania a good start in the five-team Pool B. Lee and Guitton needed to prevail in the lone doubles tiff as the latter dropped her singles match versus Ujdur, 4-2, 4-5 (3), 9-11.

Lee and company played back-to-back games last Saturday, as they also challenged Queensland in the afternoon match. Queens went on to secure the victory early after Lee and fellow CNMI player Tania Tan bowed to Megan Smith and Naomi Moi McKenzie, respectively. Lee had another lung-busting match, losing to Smith in a nearly three-hour match (2:49:00), 5-4 (5), 3-5, 7-10. Tan, on the other hand, suffered a 1-4, 1-4 beating against McKenzie, who along with Smith completed a sweep after topping Tan and Guitton in the doubles, 4-1, 4-1.

Pacific Oceania’s girls U14 crew also fell to the unbeaten and Pool B leader New South Wales, 0-3, in yesterday morning’s pairing to kiss their semis bid goodbye. Only the Top 2 teams in Pools A and B will make it to the semifinals, while the remaining squads will fight for rankings. Pacific Oceania was scheduled to play its last pool game yesterday afternoon against third-seeded and second-running Western Australia.

Against NSW, Lee put up a good fight versus Patricia Apisah before losing another super tiebreaker match, 6-4, 0-5, 5-10. Lee played her longest match so far in the tournament with her singles game against Apisah lasting for 3:52:00. In the doubles, Lee paired anew with Guitton and they were defeated by Apisah and Krystal Clarke, 4-6, 3-6. In the second singles game, Caitlyn Portela outclassed Tan, 6-2, 6-1.

In the boys U14 division, Pacific Oceania went 0-3 in Pool C and got only one win out of the nine matches it played.

Tahiti’s Jeremy Guines handed Pacific Oceania its lone victory in the pool as he swept Australian Capital Territory’s Jack Atallrida Lyons, 4-0, 4-2, in the first singles match last Saturday. Guines teammates were the CNMI’s Robbie Schorr and Ken Song.

The trio lost to Australian Capital Territory, 1-2, and also bowed to NSW, 0-3, and Queensland, 0-3. Schorr and company were playing in the consolation round (battle for No. 9 to 16 place) yesterday.

Pacific Oceania’s girls U12 team suffered the same fate, as it dropped its matches against Japan, South Australia, and NSW in similar scores, 3-0. The CNMI’s Conatsu Kaga and Samoa’s Eleanor Schuster and Saoirse Breen made up the squad.