BUTLER TWP — First-time entrant Oxford Athletic Club won the 11th annual West Penn Interclub Junior Team Tennis Championship at the Butler Country Club courts Thursday.

The event consisted of eight tennis organizations, each with a pair of mixed doubles teams in the ages 12-and-under (junior varsity) and 18-and-under (varsity) categories.

Doubles tandems faced each other in a round-robin format, accumulating points for each victory. Oxford Athletic Club, located in Wexford, tallied 14 points to beat out Club 4 Life of Monroeville, which had 12.

"This is the best one of these tournaments we've had so far,"BCCtennis pro Whitney Snyder said. "One reason is the different types of clubs we had and another is there was no dominant team."

Forest Hills Swim Club of Churchill, last year's overall champion, finished third with 11 points.

This year's event featured three country clubs, two indoor year-round tennis clubs and three community teams.

"It was good this year because we had country club players, swim club members and indoor players interacting with each other,"Snyder said. "This event gives everybody a broader perspective of the game of tennis."

Members of the title-winning Oxford team were Sam Gill of Bradford Woods and Chelsea Gibson of Saxonburg (18-under), and Jonathan Perkins of Cranberry Township and Jessica Ho of Wexford (12-under).

Perkins and Ho won the 12-and-under championship.

"This tournament is more laid-back than most of the ones I play,"Gibson said. "It's more enjoyable that way. You meet a lot of new people."

Gibson, an incoming senior at Knoch High School, plays No. 1 singles on the girls tennis team there and plans to play college tennis.

"There are some options I'm looking at now ... probably Division IIbecause I want to go to a smaller school," she said.

Joe Boros, 15, of Saxonburg, a member of Knoch's boys tennis team, joined younger brother Jack in comprising half of the Butler Country Club contingent.

"It was cool being out here with him,"Boros said of his younger brother. "When we were warming up, I told Jack I couldn't believe we were both in this thing."

Jessica Holden of Hampton and Katelyn Latuska rounded out the BCCsquad.

"I hold a (in-house) playoff to determine our representatives for this event,"Snyder said. "There's a lot of pride in getting to play here today."

The Boros brothers' father, Joe Sr., is the club golf pro at Treesdale. Joe Jr. plays on Knoch's golf team as well.

"Their father took time off from giving his golf lessons to come out here yesterday and watch his boys practice for this,"Snyder said.

Three of Snyder's assistant pros, Melissa Jenereski, Natalie Jenereski and Maddy Konesni, served as ball girls in this tournament 10 years ago.

Second-year BCCassistant tennis pro Alisa Green said the experience is what the players relish most about the event.

"They can feel comfortable out here playing,"she said. "The matches are competitive, yet they're non-pressure. More clubs should participate because events like this give the kids and the sport more exposure."

The Forest Hills tandem of Alexis Vitsas and Youssef Abdelwahab won the varsity title Thursday. Sportsmanship awards went to Matt Clark of Forest Hills and Courtney Gallagher of Butler Junior Tennis.

Extra effort awards went to Andy West of Allegheny Country Club and Spencer Caravaggio of Edgeworth Club.

11th annual West Penn Junior Team Tennis Championships14 points — Oxford Athletic Club (Sam Gill-Chelsea Gibson, Jonathan Perkins-Jessica Ho)

12 — Club 4 Life (Ashley Bauer-Osman Khwaja, Melanie Levine-Ross Molinaro)

11 — Forest Hills Swim Club (Alexis Vitsas-Youssef Abdelwahab, Alaina Vitsas-Matt Clark)

11 — Allegheny Country Club (Andy West-Anna Zappala, Charlie Wilson-Caroline Ross)

7 — Edgeworth Club (Chris Heres-Kelsey Kraus, Dante Piccollo-Spencer Caravaggio)

7 — Butler Country Club (Joe Boros-Jessica Holden, Jack Boros-Katelyn Latuska)

5 — Chapel Gate Swim Club (Matt Barbara-Kathleen Nicholas, Chad Barlett-Carolyn Nicholas)

5 — Butler Junior Tennis (Heather Santa-Andrew Hazlett-Zach Frampton-Courtney Gallagher)