R48Pro 6 Plummer Bash 8

R48 6 Plummer Bash 8: Saturday
Coeur d’Alene, ID, WPH Press, 1/21/17- Saturday showcased the Race 4 Eight’s best in quarterfinal and semifinal action at the Plummer Family Bash 8, as well as North America’s best women players in action in the Plummer Bash Women’s Pro Singles.

R48 Quarterfinals
Good friends Mando Ortiz and Vic Perez faced one another in the first R48 quarterfinal of the day. Ortiz entered the match ranked #1 on tour, but Perez took it to the #1 in game one, shooting from everywhere and keeping Ortiz off-balance to take a one-game lead. Ortiz dominated game two, finding the bottom board on first-strike kills to force a tiebreaker. Ortiz took control in the tiebreaker, leading 11-8 and seemingly en route to the semifinals. Perez caught fire, scoring seven unanswered points with six kills to stun Ortiz and clinch his first R48 semifinal appearance.

“I can’t even really remember those last seven points,” stated Perez. “I just kind of got into a zone.”
Luis Moreno entered the Plummer Bash on a mission, as evidenced by his play in his opening round. Moreno’s mission continued against Emmett Peixoto, as he nearly shut out the Rock in both games.

“Too many pastries in Athens,” lamented Peixoto, referring to his recent vacation. “That being said, Luis is playing really well.”

Longtime R48 rivals David Fink and Andy Nett squared off in the next quarterfinal. Nett raced to a 6-0 first game lead and never surrendered his advantage, holding off a mid-game Fink comeback attempt to take game one. Fink dominated throughout the first part of game two, building a 12-3 lead and stood just a few swings from forcing a tiebreaker. The former All American football star had other ideas, as Nett ran off nine straight points in just three minutes. Nett had a good look at the 13th point, but his left-handed fly kill attempt fell just short, opening the door for Fink. Fink scored the final three points with kills to force a tiebreaker. The first half of the tiebreaker featured the best action of the match, with both players making sensational kills and retrieves. Nett led 6-5, but Fink found his serve and first-strike kill, scoring 10 consecutive points to advance to the semifinals.

“I think I’ve lost eight straight Race tiebreakers, so to win this one meant a lot to me,” stated an emotional Fink. “Andy played a great match and it’s great to have him back on tour.”

Sean Lenning cruised in game one against his good friend Marcos Chavez, but found himself down 11-14 in game two. A punch kill return of serve down game point led to five consecutive points and a two-game sweep for Lenning.

Perez def Ortiz 15-6, 2-15, 15-11
Moreno def Peixoto 15-1, 15-5
Fink def Nett 8-15, 15-12, 15-6
Lenning def Chavez 15-2, 16-14

R48 Semifinals
Luis Moreno continued his sensational play in the semifinals against first-time R48 semifinalist Vic Perez, applying pressure with two-way hop serves and blistering kills and passes. Moreno cruised in game one and held off a late Perez rally in game two to advance to his first R48 final in 15 months. Moreno will be seeking his fourth Plummer Bash title and 10th R48 title on Sunday.

Sean Lenning and David Fink battled for the bottom bracket’s finals spot, with the transplanted Tucsonians desperately seeking a spot in the Bash finals. Fink started with the hot hand in seeking his second consecutive R48 final, leading 4-0 on the heels of a bottom-board assault. A serve that Fink thought was an ace was called short, leading to a mini-Fink meltdown #sorryVic. Lenning took advantage, tying the score at four. Fink rebuilt his lead, eventually taking game one 15-9. Fink started the second game aggressively, taking a 6-4 lead and seemingly in control. Four unforced errors and several Lenning kills gave Lenning a sizeable advantage at 10-6, but Fink roared back, scoring nine unanswered points to close out the match.

“I really played well,” stated Fink. “I’m playing better in each match and I’m hoping to continue that trend in the finals.

Moreno def Perez 15-3, 15-9
Fink def Lenning 15-9, 15-10
Final: Moreno vs. Fink

Women’s Pro Singles
Round of 8
Plummer’s women’s quarterfinals featured three sensational matchups on Saturday morning at the Bash, with former top eight women’s pros Courtney Peixoto de Melo and Jennifer Hinman making their first starts in more than two years, Aimee Ulbert making her first WPH women’s pro start, and Plummer desk manager and current 3-Wall national finalist Ashley Moler and Canadian legend Jessica Gawley in action.

Aimeee Ulbert was too steady for fourth-seeded Moler, cruising in two games. CPM played virtually even with the Pacific Northwest’s Laura Schoener midway through game one before racing to a two-game victory. Former Plummer women’s champion Jennifer Hinman clinched game one in overtime against second-seeded Jessica Gawley, but could not sustain her high level of play, dropping the second and third games to the crafty lefty. “I just got too tired,” stated Hinman. “I loved playing though and maybe I’ll starting playing in more events.”

Semifinals
The spectacular play continued in the Women’s Pro Semifinals, with the four North American superstars playing a combined four hours and 50 minutes of handball. WPH women’s newcomer Aimee Ulbert pushed living legend Tracy Davis to the limit in an early contender for “Match of the Year,” with Ulbert taking game one and Davis taking game two. The pair traded the lead six times in the tiebreaker, with Ulbert seemingly taking control at 13-11. Davis shook off two avoidable calls against her and scored the final four points of the match to advance to the final in the upper bracket.

“She is just so tough,” Davis said after expressing a tremendous amount of emotion after the victory. “She has two great hands and her left is just beautiful. I’m so happy to have beaten such a great player.”

The bottom bracket semifinal served as the encore, as best friends Courtney Peixoto de Melo and Jessica Gawley squared off for a shot in the final. Every rally seemingly exceeded 20 shots in this epic classic, with one of the ladies often ending the rally on the ground. After splitting the first two games, CPM and JGawl battled exhaustion, while still producing highlight-reel kills and retrieves. CPM ended the match by scoring the final five points, four on one-inch high rollouts. In one of the greatest displays of sportsmanship in pro handball history, the pair embraced for nearly a minute, with tears streaming down CPM’s face.

“She just made incredible shots at the end,” stated Gawley. “There was just nothing I could do.”

Semifinals
Davis def Ulbert 4-15, 15-13, 15-13
Peixoto de Melo def Gawley 15-10, 7-15, 15-11
Final: Davis vs. Peixoto de Melo
How can you watch?
The WPH will stream all of the weekend action on all of our Facebook pages via FacebookLive. You will not need a password or any setup before the event—just go to the #TeamR48 page, WPH Outdoor page, WPH homepage, or all of our other Facebook pages. Wow!
To follow the draws and results from the Plummer Bash 8, click here
David Fink
WPH Senior Writer

R48 6 Plummer Bash 8: Friday
Coeur d’Alene, ID, WPH Press, 1/20/17- The World Players of Handball and the Jake Plummer Foundation were proud to kickoff the Race 4 Eight 6 Stop #3 Plummer Family Handball Bash 8 in Coeur d’Alene Idaho at the Peak Health and Wellness Center

16 of the Race 4 Eight’s top 30 handball players are on hand at the 2017 Plummer Bash, including nine of the top 10. Several of the United States’ top women stars are also on hand competing in women’s pro singles, as well as nearly 100 age division and skill level players from across the U.S.

Friday featured all of the Race 4 Eight pros in action, as well as a strong contingent of Pacific Northwest handball superstars looking to upset the world’s best players.
Round of 32
In the round of 32, Loren Collado qualified for the first time, overcoming Oregon’s Cody Townsend in a tiebreaker. “It means a lot to me to qualify,” stated Collado. “My goal was to make the top 16 at one of these stops and feel like I could play with these guys.”

Ryan Pesch joined Collado in the round of 16, defeating fellow attorney Pete Svennungsen in the first R48 matchup between attorneys. Multiple-time qualifiers Shorty Ruiz, Dalton Beall, and Abe Montijo also advanced in Friday afternoon’s round of 32 matches.
Round of 16
Friday evening’s round of 16 matchups produced several upsets, as three of the top eight seeds were bounced in their opening matches.  #6 seed Luis Cordova was shown the door by a white-hot Andy Nett, as the Juarez native was never able to adjust to Nett’s blistering power. “I felt good in there,” stated Nett. “I’ve been playing Ryan (Pesch) a lot at home and it’s really helping my game.”

#7 seed Daniel Cordova was ousted in the match of the day by SR48 #1 Marcos Chavez. Chavez allowed a huge first game lead to evaporate, but stormed back in the second and third with outstanding ball placement and back wall kills. “I feel like Chapman in there,” laughed Chavez.

Vic Perez dropped the first game to his former college roommate Jonathan Iglesias, but rallied to win the next two games against an exhausted Iglesias.
Dalton Beall and Ryan Pesch faced top five seeds Emmett Peixoto and David Fink, with both playing competitively with the Elite 8 staples but ultimately coming up short in two-game struggles.

“Ryan is an extremely talented player and I know we’ll be seeing a lot more of him on the tour,” stated Fink after surviving DePesche Mode.
Moreno, Sean Lenning, and Mando Ortiz cruised in their round of 16 matches, defeating Abraham Montijo, Shorty Ruiz, and Loren Collado, respectively.
Round of 8 Matchups (Saturday)
Ortiz vs. Perez
Moreno vs. Peixoto
Fink vs. Nett
Lenning vs. Chavez
How can you watch?
The WPH will stream all of the weekend action on all of our Facebook pages via FacebookLive. You will not need a password or any setup before the event—just go to the #TeamR48 page, WPH Outdoor page, WPH homepage, or all of our other Facebook pages. Wow!
To follow the draws and results from the Plummer Bash 8, click here
Log onto wphlive.tv, Like the World Players of Handball on Facebook, or follow the WPH on Twitter @dfwph and @wphlive for all of the handball news from on and off the court! The World Players of Handball is a non-profit foundation aiming to grow the game of handball through innovation and inspiring the next generation of players through junior clinics with Certified WPH Coaches, junior tournaments and the Race 4 Eight and WPH Outdoor tours.

David Fink
WPH Senior Writer

Friday Matches to Watch at the R48 Plummer Bash

The R48 6 Plummer Bash 8 kicks off on Friday with R48 round of 32 and round of 16 matches. Check out Friday’s Matches to Watch in Coeur d’Alene!

Brandon Townsend vs. Loren Collado

These 20-somethings may be unknown on the R48, but rest assured, both will make a name for themselves in the coming years. Both hopefuls are armed with a ton of game and both came within two points of qualifying already this season, with Townsend losing a heartbreaking 11-9 tiebreaker to Luis Cordova at the U.S. Open and Collado losing to Montijo 25-23 in Minnesota. This round of 32 clash has WPH staffers water cooler buzzing that this could be the match of the tournament. With a first qualifier win at stake for both guys, expect sensational drama and a very close match

Jonathan Iglesias vs. Vic Perez

These former college roommates at Lake Forest College know each other as well as any players on the tour, having played one another up to five times a week in their undergrad days. Iglesias holds a 2-1 edge against Perez in R48 play, with his two wins coming consecutively in the past eight months. The pair’s fourth clash will likely have Elite 8 implications on the line, as crucial R48 ranking points will be up for grabs for two of the most unique players on the tour #roommaterivalry

Luis Cordova vs. Andy Nett

This showdown between season-ending former Elite 8 veterans has produced six great R48 matches, with Cordova holding a 4-2 edge. Nett rallied from a 21-3 second-game shellacking and a 1-7 tiebreaker deficit to defeat Cordova in the round of 16 at the first R48 event in history at the 2011 Plummer Bash and recorded his only other win against Cordova at the 2013 Plummer Bash. Cordova cracked the Elite 8 for the first time since 2012 with his first R48 semifinal finish in Minnesota two months ago, while Nett returned to the tour in Minnesota after playing just one stop in two years to take down Jonathan Iglesias, Daniel Cordova, and Luis Moreno. This is a must-win match for both guys, as both are desperate to finish the season in the Elite 8 #repeatorrevengeatplummer

Daniel Cordova vs. Marcos Chavez

Daniel Cordova will step on the court for his round of 16 match with Marcos Chavez having logged 10,000 air miles in the last seven days #poorscheduling. The ageless Chavez seems to improve with each year into his 40’s and will be motivated against an opponent nearly 20 years his junior. Cordova holds a 3-1 R48 edge against Chavez, with each matchup being decided by five points or less. Chavez finished ninth in Minnesota and is trying to become the oldest player to ever finish a R48 season in the Elite 8, while Cordova is striving for three straight Elite 8 finishes. This one will be close! #RookieoftheyearvsSR48playeroftheyear

Emmett Peixoto vs. Dalton Beall

Oregon’s Dalton Beall qualified for the first time at the 2016 Player’s Championship in Portland, stunning former R48 top 10 star Stephen Cooney. Beall continued his great play at the 2016 U.S. Open, taking down four-year R48 pro Abraham Montijo in a tiebreaker. Peixoto is a momentum-killer, as his percentage game and two-handed attack has crushed the dreams of dozens of hopefuls in his path. Beall will have the home crowd on his side but he will need more than the crowd to take down the Race 4 Eight’s third most winning player in history #rockvspacificnorthwest

Luis Moreno vs. Abraham Montijo

Moreno and Montijo started playing handball on the same day nearly 17 years ago in Tucson, with both rising to the top of the sport. Moreno owns nine R48 titles (second most in history) but has not won a Race 4 Eight title since January of 2014. Montijo is in the midst of a six-tournament stretch in six weeks and knows “The Natural’s” game as well as anyone. Moreno’s game is as spectacular as any player in handball history, possessing the ability to score points in bunches while “clamping down” to shut down even the best in the sport. Moreno will be seeking his record-extending fourth Plummer Bash title. Moreno owns a 3-0 head-to-head R48 record against Montijo, but this one could be interesting #battleoftucson

Thank you to WPH Senior Statistician Dr. James Bardwell for the head-to-head stats

Watching handball this weekend is pending the Internet Speeds at the host facility.  WPH may LiveStream via WPH Facebook Pages and/or upload videos at a later time/date.  These matches will not air on ESPN.

To read the full R48 6 Plummer Bash 8 preview, click here

Stay tuned to this thread for updates and recaps all weekend from the R48 6 Plummer Bash 8