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Mt. Riga Labor Day tennis tourney draws big crowds for 65th year

Mt. Riga Labor Day tennis tourney draws big crowds for 65th year

The mixed doubles final was played between, from left, Tom Vail and Eleni Kollias and Kate Settlemeyer and George Kollias.

Patrick L. Sullivan

SALISBURY ­— Tom Vail and Eleni Kollias won the 65th Mt. Riga Tennis Tournament Monday, Sept. 2, defeating George Kollias and Kate Settlemeyer in three sets, 6-2, 4-6, 7-5.

The summer community on Mt. Riga enjoys the use of two clay tennis courts, and the mixed doubles tournament is the highlight of the Labor Day weekend.

This year’s match was largely a family affair. George Kollias is the father of Eleni Kollias, and Tom Vail is Eleni’s uncle.

The first set was all Vail/Kollias, but Kollias/Settlemeyer found their groove in the second set. The third set was a real grinder, with numerous deuce points.

Eleni Kollias and Settlemeyer live in New York City; Tom Vail resides in Bronxville, New York, and George Kollias lives in Longmeadow, Massachusetts.

Fans look on during the 65th Mt. Riga Tennis Tournament Sept. 2.Patrick L. Sullivan

Patrick L. Sullivan
Senior Reporter
Patrick Sullivan has been a reporter for The Lakeville Journal since 2004, covering everything from town meetings to local characters and the outdoors. He grew up in Northern Virginia but spent summers on Mount Riga in Salisbury, giving him a lifelong connection to the Northwest Corner. A graduate of Denison University, Patrick is also the author of Tangled Lines, the newspapers’ popular fly-fishing column—making The Lakeville Journal, as far as anyone knows, the only newspaper in Connecticut with a regular fly-fishing columnist. He once received a fan letter from England, which he considers sufficient evidence that his work has achieved international acclaim.

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