When Nancy Lake and Chuck Barnell of the Boca Grande Club took to the court five at 10 a.m. Saturday, they had no idea they would be heroes three hours later.
Their third-set victory over Steve Francis and Barb Jenkins of the Boca Bay Pass Club gave the Boca Grande Club an eyelash victory over their island rivals.
The win culminated the annual three-day tennis marathon, 20 matches to 19 and brought "The Boca Bucket" trophy back to the Boca Grande Club after a seven-year drought.
The action was exciting and intense with more than a quarter of the matches going three sets.
The Boca Grande Club women started strong producing an 8-3 lead after the first day of competition Thursday. The Boca Bay Pass Club men beat their counterparts, 6-4, Friday to narrow the Boca Grande Club lead to 12-9.
The fate of the bucket was up in the air with 18 mixed doubles matches Saturday. Five three-set matches evidenced the intense level of competition.
"Just seeing how thrilled the members were, and the buzz at the club following the event, made all the hours put into the organization of the match well worth it," said Tucker Lang, assistant at the Boca Grande Club and chief organizer of the event for his club.
