We are now five days past the winter solstice. What better way to celebrate the re-emergence of the sun than to talk tennis? (Hey, the Australian Open begins in just three weeks.)

•L-L players rule MACSAC play: Three of the four singles semifinalists in Flight No. 1 of the Middle Atlantic Corporation Sports Athletic Conference women's championships were from the Lancaster-Lebanon League.

Wilkes sophomore Tori Bybel (Lancaster Mennonite) defeated Lebanon Valley junior Sarah Grodzinski (Northern Lebanon) to win the championship. In the semis, Grodzinski defeated Elizabethtown College junior Emily Swarr (Manheim Central).

Bybel was a double winner. She and Kristin Wilt repeated as Flight 2 doubles champions.

Another L-L product, Sammy Burkey (Cocalico), a senior at Lebanon Valley, won the Flight 4 singles championship and compiled an 11-match winning streak this year.

 

•Worthwhile? Does sponsorship of sporting events actually improve the bottom line?

The results generally are mixed, but Randy Wolgemuth, who sponsored the inaugural Koser Jewelers Pro Circuit tennis tournament at Hempfield Sports Complex, said business this year was up, and he attributes the increase in part to the publicity generated from the tennis tournament.

Koser Jewelers again will be the title sponsor for the 2009 event, to be held May 18-25.

•Speaking of the Koser Challenge ... Champion Kristie Ahn, who won the first professional tournament she entered, finished the year at No. 449 in the world and No. 40 in the United States. Ahn, at age 16, was the youngest player in the U.S. Open field. She reached the second round before losing to eventual semifinalist Dinara Safina.

Rebecca Marino, the top-ranked Canadian junior whom Ahn defeated in the Koser final, is now ranked No. 355 in the world and No. 6 in Canada.

Another Koser player, Sloane Stephens, reached the semifinals of the Dunlop Orange Bowl junior championships in Key Biscayne earlier this month. Stephens and Robert Kendrick won their opening round mixed doubles match at the U.S. Open, shocking No. 1 seeds Daniel Nestor of Canada and Chia-Jung Chuang of China.

•Sportsmanship: In a doubles match against Manheim Central, Hempfield's Chelsie Yacks accidentally touched the net with her racquet. No one noticed but Yacks, who called the foul on herself and awarded the point to Central.

•Smile of the year: A beaming Elizabethtown College coach Matt Helsel wins this award after his team erased 19 months of angst (a heart-breaking loss to Moravian) to win the MACSAC Commonwealth title and a bid to the Division III NCAA championships in May.

•Unlucky draws: Swarr and Blue Jays teammate Jessica Russell ran into tough draws at the Division III ITA Southeast Regionals in Fredericksburg, Va. in September. Swarr dropped an opening round singles match to second-seeded Lauren Caire of Washington & Lee in the championship flight, and Russell lost to ninth-seed and eventual champion Laura Chen of Carnegie Mellon. Swarr and Russell lost their opening doubles match to top seeds and eventual champions Caire and Katie Tabb.

At the men's ITAs a week later, F&M's Armen Varten lost his opening match to top seed John James of Mary Washington. York College's Tim Mowrer (Pequea Valley) lost his first-round match to fifth-seed Evan Thomas of Salisbury University, and Elizabethtown's Manrique Arrea lost his first round match to seventh-seed Rich Pugh of Hampden-Sydney College.

•Champions corner: Kyper's Snipers of Lancaster won their first World TeamTennis national championship with a 29-25 win over Mixed Up of Greenville, S.C.

The 4.0 senior men's team from the Manheim Tennis Club won the USTA League 4.0 Senior National Championship, defeating a team from Greenwood, S.C., 2-1 in the finals.

Hempfield Rec's 3.0 men's team placed third at the USTA League championships in Tucson, Ariz.

Central Penn District super senior men (those in the 60 to 75 age groups) won the Walker Cup, breaking Philadelphia District's 9-year run.

•The Manheim Township duo of Caroline Barry and Lauren Stauffer took third in the PIAA Class AAA doubles tournament. This marks the fifth consecutive year that L-L players have medalled in the girls state championships. In 2007, Hempfield's Lauren Hankle reached the Class AAA singles final. Since the PIAA split state championships into classes in 1998, L-L players have finished among the top four every year except 2003. Two doubles teams — Conestoga Valley's Steph and Suzie Eckhart in 2000, and Lancaster Country Day's Waverly Lutz and Hadley Miller in 2001 — have won state championships during that time.

Incidentally, 2008 marked the 35th anniversary of the first PIAA state girls championship. The first singles title was won by Claudia Smith Holtry of Hempfield in 1973. Other female L-L state champions include Lancaster Catholic's Lauren Nikolaus Zink in 1992 and 1993, and the Manheim Township doubles team of Jen McKonly Fleig and Jodie Briner Kramer in 1989.

•More people playing tennis: A study performed by the USTA/Tennis Industry Association found participation is at a 15-year high. The survey says 26.9 million people played tennis in 2008 — a 7 percent increase from 2007.

•And if you are so inclined ... You can book time on the indoor courts at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York City. USTA opened its new 245,000-square-foot indoor facility last week. The $60 million complex features 12 indoor courts, locker rooms, a fitness center for junior development programs and a pro shop, among other amenities. The indoor facility and outdoor courts are open to the public. If interested, call 1-718-760-6200 for times and rates.

E-mail: ecornelius@lnpnews.com