What an amazing day of high quality racquetball. The atmosphere definitely kicked into gear today. The drums and noisemakers haven't made an appearance yet, but I'm sure they aren't far behind. As such, I'm going to break with my protocol of covering the ladies first by going with the match of the day.

It took place in the Boy's 10 quarterfinals between Costa Rica's National Champion, Pablo Sauma, and the US National Champion, Adam Manilla from Colorado. This match took place over 9 hours ago, and I can remember every shot moment by moment. It didn't start very well for Adam as Pablo found a slight chink in his armor and exploited it relentlessly in the first game. Adam just couldn't get untracked and Pablo ran out to an uncatchable 10-1 lead. Adam fought back to 3, but kept Pablo from clinching the game for several serves giving him a glimmer of hope for the rest of the match. When word started to spread that Adam had lost the first game, the crowd went from a few people from the US and Costa Rica to the vast majority of people in the club. I kept looking behind me to see even more people trying to find some vantage point to watch the action.

Game 2 started much differently, as Adam started hitting some great shots and Pablo seemed to hurt his hip with an early dive. Adam was able to capitalize on this and built a strong 8-2 lead, but then momentum seemed to turn again as Pablo inched back in to this game. Pablo got the game back to 10-7 when they seemed to trade amazing shots for quite a while. I didn't have a clock going on the match, but I know it was a long time. Finally, Pablo broke through with his eighth point, and the crowd started to sense the upset. Fortunately, I know Adam and am aware of how totally unflappable he is. He stayed calm and level throughout this game and slowly...and I do mean very slowly finished Pablo off 15-10. Both players left it all on the court in this one as each rally seemed to have both players diving for amazing retrievals multiple times each rally.

The tiebreaker was a very tense event as the crowd continued to grow. By now, very few people were watching any of the other courts and the players saved their best for this atmosphere. Adam came out and slowly built a 5-1 lead in the tiebreaker and eventually got the score to 8-5. At this point, I could see that Adam had determined that he was through giving up any points and he was able to chip away with some truly amazing shots from all over the court and the 11-5 win. To put things into perspective, as Adam and Pablo were walking onto the court to start their tiebreaker, Veronica Sotomayer from Ecuador was starting her first round match in the Girl's 14 elimination draw on the very next court. Veronica was finished with her match, changed, and enjoying some food long before Adam and Pablo stepped from the court.

Now for the rest of the story. In the Girl's 18s today, it was a mixed day for Team USA. Michelle Key was able to beat Ireland's Julie Skehan in two games, but Ashley Willhite lost a tough tiebreaker match to Canada's Christine Richardson. Ashley just couldn't seem to calm down in this one and was left devastated by the result.

The Girl's doubles team of Kara Mazur and Samantha McGuffey defeated the Guatemalan team of Carolina and Monica Escobar in two good games, and will now face Mexico tomorrow where a win would give them the gold in this 5 team round robin. As I've said earlier, these two are amongst the toughest competitors that I've seen and I know that they will definitely leave it all on the court tomorrow.

In the Girl's 16s, again a mixed day as Sharon Jackson eliminated one of the Mexican players when she beat Rocio Enriquez in two games. Sharon looked to be in control of this match from the outset as she powered shots all over keeping her opponent totally off balance. However, Sheryl Lotts lost a tough match to Bolivia's Jenny Daza. Sheryl seemed out of sorts in this one and never really got comfortable.

The Girl's 16 doubles team of Sharon Jackson and Holly Hettesheimer had the day off and will play in the semifinals tomorrow afternoon.

In the Girl's 14s, the mixed day theme reappeared as Aubrey O'Brien battled in the Match of the Day runner-up. Playing Bolivia's Yazmine Sabja, she too started slowly losing the first game 15-3. Coming back strong in the second, she forced the tiebreaker with 15-11 win. The tiebreaker was a point for point struggle as neither player was able to build any real lead or any real momentum. Then Aubrey was able to break a 6-6 tie and run 3 points. But Yazmine managed to scratch and claw her way back to 9-9. Taking her last time out, Aubrey returned to the court determined and managed to get the 10th point, but had to wait two service times before the 11th would follow and the 11-9 win, setting up a semifinal with Ecuador's other 14s player, Maria Paz Munoz.

The Girl's Doubles team of Lily Berry and Danielle Key defeated the Venezuelan team 11-5 in the tiebreaker and have an excellent chance for some medal. They face the tough Ecuadorians tomorrow.

On the Boy's side, in the 18s Allan Crockett defeated Costa Rica's Bruno Casalvolone in two to set up a quarterfinal with the top seed, Mexico's Alejandro Landa. Chris Coy defeated Ireland's Christopher Carey.

In the Boy's Doubles, Chris Coy and Zach Apperson defeated the Venezuelan team to set up a semifinal meeting with Canada's Michael Burgess and Ryan Smith.

In the Boy's 16s, a good day for Team USA as Jose Rojas and Ishmael Aldana both won their way into the quarterfinals in the singles and also teamed in doubles to gain a spot in the semifinals where they will face Team Canada's Barrett Husuluk and Sean Barclay.

In the Boy's 14s, another good day for Team USA as Taylor Knoth and Brad Kirch both advanced to the quarterfinals in singles and then Taylor joined forces with Jake Bradenbeck in the doubles to advance to the semifinals.

Last year in Juarez, Team USA swept the gold in the Boy's 14s and this year's team is looking for the repeat.

On the Espirit Cup front, the Girl's 12s had a semifinal meeting of the 2 US point earners as Devon Pimentelli managed to defeat Samantha Rosado in a very tough match. Samantha came out on fire, but couldn't maintain that momentum throughout the second game and Devon showed great patience to battle through and advance to the final where she will face Bolivia's Maria Jose Vargas.

In the 12 Doubles, Mercedes Arias and Ines Lecland received a forfeit victory and Samantha Rosado and Elizabeth Brenner defeated the Mexican team to set up their meeting tomorrow. If Samantha and Elizabeth win, then they will earn the gold.

In the Girl's 10s, a mixed day as Hollee Hungerford managed to defeat Ashley O'brien to advance to the semfinals, but Abbey Lavely lost a tough match to Mexico's Diana Aguilar.

In the doubles, Abbey Lavely and Elizabeth Vargas had the day off but are on track for a Thursday meeting with the Mexican team of Lucia and Ximena Gonzalez for the gold.

In the Girl's 8s, Erika Manilla had a true battle with American Jordan Cooperrider but managed to get the win 12 and 14. If she wins out, the she could force a 3 way tie at the top of this 6 person round robin.

Christina Lavely played a great match today as well but lost a tough one to top seeded Diana Aguilar.

In the Boy's 12s, Marko Rojas kept alive his dreams of gold as he advanced to the semifinals in the singles defeating Ireland's Daire Gargan in two and then teamed with Jose Diaz in the doubles to advance to the semifinals as well beating the Mexican team of De los Rios and Jurado 14 and 9.

In the Boy's 10s, you've already read about the match of the day, but Adam played in two great matches today as he and Sean Cooperrider played in the semifinals against Mexico. Adam and Sean came out strong and managed to win the first game 15-13. However, the Mexicans changed their strategy and found a weakness to force the tiebreaker 15-2. In that breaker, Mexico jumped to a 7-0 lead before Sean erased it in one stint in the service box, but unfortunately, Team USA could go no further and lost out 11-7 in the tiebreaker. They have earned the Bronze medal and Adam is one very tired young man. His singles semifinal is tomorrow morning at 7:50 and I for one am very excited already.

The Boy's 8s have fallen out of the Gold division and I have no idea what they did today, so I would encourage everyone to check the draws online.

The banquet is scheduled for tomorrow evening so I will try to get something out to everyone before then, otherwise, it'll be late.