Ormond Beach, FL, WPH Press, 6/2/17- The 41st Annual Florida State 3-Wall Championships at Ormond Beach was once home to John D. Rockefeller in the early 1900’s, boasting the most scenic white sand beaches in Florida. On Memorial Day Weekend, the Ormond Beach’s scenic white beaches played host to two of the world’s greatest handball players battling in an epic three-game final.
R48 #5 and multiple-time Ormond Beach champion Luis Cordova advanced to the Florida State 3-Wall final by defeating Joe Matropierro, while Luis’ younger brother and R48 #8 Daniel Cordova advanced to the final by defeating Florida outdoor star Ryan Duarte.
Luis entered Ormond Beach’s final with the upper hand against Daniel in tournament play, beating his younger brother in four of their five Race 4 Eight encounters and most recently in the Southeast Regional final.
Daniel started well in the final, taking the first game in just more than an hour in the oppressive Florida midday heat. “It was 90 degrees on the court and the rallies were pretty excruciating,” stated Daniel. “I was exhausted at about 4-4 in the first but was able to win it with deep, hard hook serves that Luis was struggling to return.”
Luis changed his game plan and shot selection in game two, serving aces and earning offensive opportunities off of weak Daniel returns. Luis built a big lead and closed out the game, 21-13.
The brothers battled in the tiebreaker, with neither able to build a lead of more than two points, ultimately reaching a 7-all tie. “We both got used to the 3-Wall shots by the third game, so it was a lot of fun,” stated Daniel. “We had some really long rallies late in the tiebreaker. I was able to score three straight points from 7-all to serve for the match and on the final point, I hit a deep serve to the left that Luis could not return.:
Final: D. Cordova def L. Cordova 21-17, 13-21, 11-7
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David Fink
WPH Senior Writer