BUTLER TWP - Their practice time was limited. Their skill on the court wasn't.

Stefan Kemp and Natalie Jenereski comprised Butler Country Club's 18-under mixed doubles unit at the 10th annual West Penn Inter-Club Junior Team Tennis Championships and won that portion of the event on their home court Thursday.

Kemp, 13, and Jenereski, 18, defeated opponents from the Racquet Club of Pittsburgh and Chapel Gate before rallying from a 5-4 deficit to defeat Forest Hills, 7-5, in the championship match.

"We were going to practice together one night, but it rained and we couldn't get on the court," Jenereski said. "We wound up getting in maybe an hour and a half of practice time together (before the tournament).

"It didn't hurt us too much. We've both hit a lot at the club, so we've seen each other play."

That's all it took.

"If you know each other's strengths and weaknesses, it helps," Kemp said. "We had that going for us.

"I was pretty confident we could win."

There were plenty of winners Thursday. Three different teams won championships as the Racquet Club of Pittsburgh won the 12-under division and Forest Hills won the overall championship.

The overall champion is determined by which team has the most combined points in both divisions. Forest Hills reached the finals in both divisions.

"This is the first time we've had three different champions and both finals went 7-5," Butler Country Club tennis pro Whitney Snyder said. "That shows how evenly matched all of these teams were."

The competition isn't even what this event is about. Snyder puts on a mixed doubles event to promote social interaction and sportsmanship.

"You look at competitive tennis in the Pittsburgh area and 80 percent of the tournaments are singles and they're all about winning," he said. "There's a handful of doubles and virtually no mixed doubles.

"I saw more sportsmanship out of the 12-under players today than in any of our previous tournaments. I heard a lot of 'nice shot,' 'good try,' and 'no, that ball was in, it's your point.' … I love that."

Jenereski, headed to Division III Ithaca (NY) College to play tennis next year, has been involved in the game for 10 years and has rarely played mixed doubles.

"It's so different," she said. "Guys have a dominant shot and like to play to their strengths. Girls try to play a more consistent game.

"Stefan and I made a good team. It was fun."

Snyder said the closeness of the scores held everybody's interest.

"The players were really into it," he said. "I heard players announcing the score from time to time. Everything was very verbal, very positive."

Sportsmanship awards went to Zack McCafferty of Butler Junior Tennis and Susie Kraus of Edgeworth. Extra effort awards went to Emmery Feldman of Wildwood and Alaina Vitsas of Forest Hills.

Each of the eight participating clubs had in-house tournaments to determine who their representatives at the Inter-Club Championships would be.

"The kids here were really proud to be representing their respective clubs," Snyder said. "Everybody got along well.

"The emphasis is on having fun here, not winning. Three of our four assistant tennis pros at Butler Country Club (Dyane Bilowick, Melissa Jenereski and Madeline Konesni) came up through our junior tennis program.

"We want to pass the torch. That's the kind of family atmosphere this tournament wants to generate," he added.

2005 West Penn Inter-Club Junior Team Tennis Championships

1st place -

Forest Hills, 14 points (Sam Wessel/Tara Stein 18-under, Matt Clark-Alaina Vitsas 12-under)

2nd place -

Racquet Club of Pittsburgh, 12 points (Adam Solomon-Tiffany Meenert 18-under, Ross Mollinaro-Hayley Fedorek 12-under

3rd place -

Butler Country Club, 11 points (Stefan Kemp-Natalie Jenereski 18-under, Jack Boros-Lea Welker 12-under)

4th place -

Chapel Gate, 8 points (David Snyder-Kathleen Nicholas 18-under, Nathan Cooper-Darcy Cohen 12-under)

5th place -

Butler Junior Tennis, 6 points (Steve Shetter-Carolyn Shetter 18-under, Zack McCafferty-Courtney Gallagher 12-under)

6th place -

Edgeworth, 5 points (Dan Brennan-Kelsey Kraus 18-under, Jordan Chang-Susie Kraus 12-under)

7th place -

Wildwood, 4 points (Charlie Moore-Lily Feldman 18-under, Emmery Feldman-Isabel Johanas 12-under)

8th place -

Green Oaks, disqualified (John Swick-Page Cohen (18-under, Justin Rosenthal-Katherine Douglas (12-under)