The Yukon tennis team was in Juneau this past weekend to try to take back what was once theirs – the Capital Cup.

Despite their best efforts, however, the team came up short and the trophy will remain in Alaska for now.

"We got lots of wins, just not enough for the Cup,” said Stacy Lewis, president of Tennis Yukon.

The Capital Cup winner is decided based on the number of wins each team gets.

Each team counts up the number of wins they have earned. To count, the games must be played between a Juneau player and a Whitehorse player.

The format for the matches is an eight-game pro set, except for the finals.

"So if a match score is 8-5, for example, the winner's team gets eight points and the loser's team gets five points,” Lewis said. "This means every match and every player contribute to the total.”

Another bonus of the format, is that large wins such as an 8-0 score help the team out more than a closer match separated by two points.

"Juneau had a few match scores with large spreads, and this pushed them ahead in the total tally,” Lewis said.

One tough win that went for the Yukon was the men's open singles A division, nicknamed the "Eh” division by the Alaskans, Lewis said.

"Jan Polivka, Tennis Yukon's head coach, won the men's open singles in a hard-hitting, hard-fought, crowd-pleasing final against one of Juneau's best players Mike Duby,” Lewis said.

The finale score for Polivka was 7-5, 6-4.

Another standout in the men's A singles was Ryan Lane, who made it to the final round and won by default.

"Ryan's play in the "Eh” division was fantastic, winning his early matches with large margins (8-5 and 8-1),” Lewis said. "In those early matches Lane beat players who he has lost to in previous tournaments, showing how much his play has developed in the last year.”

Roan Evans-Ehricht finished with a record of 1-1 in the men's B singles following the round robin with two other Juneau players.

Lewis herself played, finishing with a perfect 3-0 record in the women's singles.

There were two Juneau players and one other Whitehorse opponent, Anne Copland, in the round robin.

Lewis then teamed up with Kieran Halliday for the mixed A doubles and finished with a 1-2 record. There were three Juneau teams in the round robin.

Evans-Ehricht and Copland paired up for the mixed B doubles, finishing with a record of 0-3, despite close matches against three Juneau teams.

Halliday and Ben Pereira were teammates in the men's A doubles where they faced three Juneau teams for three very close matches.

"Kieran Halliday and Ben Pereira played some really great, close matches,” Lewis said.

Unfortunately the pair ended with a 0-3 record.

In men's open doubles, Polivka and Lane paired together against three Juneau teams and ended with a 2-1 record in the round robin.

In the men's B doubles, Roan Evans-Ehricht paired with father Mark Evans-Ehricht. for a round robin against three Juneau teams.

"This was the Evans-Ehricht's first time to Juneau for tennis, and, as for all the Whitehorse players, it was great to get the chance to play on the indoor courts at the Alaska Club,” Lewis said.

The team ended with a 0-3 record.

There were two youth divisions, the junior and "super-junior”.

"The junior matches are always a highlight,” Lewis said.

In the super junior representing Whitehorse was Aline Halliday, Aline Halliday, Roan Evans-Ehricht, and Alex Roberts and one Juneau player, Emma Good.

Roberts came out on top, finishing with a perfect 3-0 record.

In the junior division, seven-year-old Andrew Roberts and Gentianne Graham, a Grade 7 student, played in a round robin against Juneau's Milagro Darby, Erica Hutte, Sami Good, Sam Hall, and Victoria Wilcox.

"This was Gentianne's first tournament, and both she and Andrew played really well against the Juneau kids,” Lewis said.

The scores for the division were not reported.

Lewis said one of the real highlights of the tournament was that the team got to travel by plane with the Yukon Soccer Association, who were also travelling to Juneau for their soccer exchange.

"(It was) a welcome reduction in the travel time, and a fun new experience for us,” Lewis said. "Tennis Yukon was able to get a few empty seats on the Yukon Soccer Association's charter since it was the big weekend for the soccer exchange with Juneau.”

Usually the tennis team has to travel by car and ferry to get to Juneau, which means extensive travel time.

Now the tennis team is looking forward to starting the outdoor season after a long winter on the gym floor.

"Tennis Yukon is anxious to start its outdoor season,” Lewis said.

One problem is that the courts are still under snow.

"There's still quite a lot of snow on the courts, but the high school boys shoveled strips last weekend to try and speed up the melting,” Lewis said.

That may help the club move back onto the courts sooner.

"We are hopeful that we can get out there the first week of May.”

With many events coming up, the club can't wait to get out on the courts to practice again.

"There is an exciting outdoor season ahead, with lots of opportunities to play tennis,” Lewis said.

On May 15, Tennis Yukon will begin hosting their junior team tennis every Saturday morning until June 19th.

On June 1st the summer tennis program kicks off with lessons and drop-in play.

On June 25, Tennis Yukon will host Tennis All Through The Night, a 12-hour tennis open house and fund-raiser.

On June 9-11, the Whitehorse-based team will have another crack at the Capital Cup, when the tournament will return to the Yukon to be played on the outdoor courts at Mt. McIntyre.