The EVIL Women’s team; seated, center, is Karn Rounds, team captain.[/caption]Karn Rounds

Congratulations to the women of Sun Lakes Pickleball Club Cottonwood (SLPCC). For the second year in a row, the SLPCC women won the top spot in the East Valley Interclub League (EVIL).

The women played ARC (Ahwatukee Recreation Center), Province, Solera and Trilogy twice, winning a total of 128 games. Women participating from SLPCC were Bev Bryce, Linda Dirksmeyer, Karen Hickman, Karen Iovin, Mary Kent, Karen Kishpaugh, Patricia Koepp, Bev Krueger, Karen Macksam, Dawn Mann, Kathy Marron, Janet Myrick, Mary Park, Cindy Ryan, Karn Rounds (captain), Bev Schalin, Christine Schultz, Lindi Speager, Patty True and JoAnn Zapatka.

Karn Rounds, captain, stated, “This year was a lot of fun to participate in and I am so proud of our women’s league.”

To learn more about the SLPCC go to www.sunlakespickleball.com.

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un Lakes Pickleball Club at IronOaks (SLPCIO) Men’s Pickleball team gallantly defended its ownership of the coveted EVIL gold pickleball trophy all season but came up just short losing to the pickleball warriors of Ahwatukee. Competition in this season’s EVIL league was extremely tough. With practice, training and seminars, the Ahwatukee men put together an outstanding team to challenge IronOaks dominance this season. Pickleball has become so popular at Trilogy they entered two teams in the league this season. Trilogy put all their top players on one team to challenge SLPCIO’s stranglehold on the league. They led the standings for a large part of the season. And of course there’s Sun Lakes Pickleball Club at Cottonwood (SLPCC). They have always fielded a tough team and were hot on SLPCIO’s tail all season. Newcomer to the EVIL league this year was Sun Lakes Country Club Pickleball Club (SLPCPC). In a very short period of time SLPCPC has put together an outstanding pickleball club, has courts and a large membership. They were very competitive in many matches and look forward to returning with more experience next season.

All said and done, it came to the final week of the season with three teams in contention. Our SLPCIO men pounced on the SLPCC men with a 20-1 crushing win but it wasn’t quite enough when Ahwatukee also had an outstanding last match of the season. Congratulations Sun Lakes pickleball-playing men from all three Sun Lakes pickleball clubs on another great season!

Final Standings (Team/Games Won):

Ahwatukee 217

SLPCIO 211

Trilogy Blue 205

SLPCC 162

Solera 142

Province 139

Trilogy Gold 80

Sun Lakes CC 55