TEAMTENNIS : Dukes Will Be Up for Division Final

When the Newport Beach Dukes played at Vail July 14, the match was memorable to Coach Greg Patton for several reasons.

“It was the fastest TeamTennis match I coached in three years,” Patton said of the 27-24 loss. “The points lasted no more than two balls. I was gasping for breath after every shot because of the lack of oxygen.”

The Dukes have a chance to make a few more memories for Patton tonight, when they brave the 8,160-foot altitude and play the Eagles for the World TeamTennis West Division title and a berth in Saturday’s championship match.

At the 3,200-seat Tennis Stadium at Lionshead, Vail has had more problems with the weather than opponents. The Eagles have won six of seven home matches. Sacramento, which was eliminated by the Dukes in Tuesday’s West Division semifinal, was the only road winner, 30-12.

But Vail has had one home match rained out and another moved indoors because of rain.

The Eagles and Dukes each completed the regular season with 9-5 records, and split their two matches, the first on a tiebreaker. Vail was awarded the regular-season title, a first-round bye and home-court advantage because it won more games, 342-338.

“I’m happy to be in the division finals, but I still think we should be playing them here,” said Patton, who advocates games won in head-to-head matches as the second tiebreaker. The Dukes held a 54-48 game edge over the Eagles.

“I think it’s stupid that we’re playing them at 9,000 feet. It’s not indicative of really good tennis, but we’ve got to go up there and play as well as we can.”

The altitude will also dictate strategy.

“We’ve got to hit big returns and that’s what our team is really strong at,” Patton said. “We also have to go to the net. We have to knock the bouncer out of the party and be the life of the party at the net. If we do that, Vail’s going to go down.”

The Eagles’ strong points are women’s and men’s doubles. Lori McNeil and Sandy Collins--with help from Shaun Stafford, who filled in while McNeil was playing in the Federation Cup--were second in the league with a .561 winning percentage. Scott Davis, a Newport Beach resident, and David Pate, combined for the league’s third-best record, a .538 winning percentage.