NATCHEZ — Day two of the 2009 Cathedral Fall Festival Tennis Tournament at Duncan Park went pretty much the same as day one with four championship matches on Sunday having to be decided by a third-set tiebreaker.

In the women’s open division, top-seeded Peggy Mayberry and Karen Partridge of Natchez held on to defeat sisters Beth Foster of Natchez and Katie Mahony of Daphne, Ala., 6-1, 4-6, 1-0 (10-8).

“We were lucky that they played a tough match in the semifinals,” Mayberry said about Foster and Mahony, who upset second-seeded Betsy Hungerford and Lou Ellen Stout of Natchez, 7-6, 3-6, 1-0 (10-8) just to advance to the finals.

Mayberry and Partridge looked like they were going to win the match in straight sets after dominating the first set, but Foster and Mahony showed a lot of resolve and determination in taking the second set.

“They just came on strong; they are real competitive. Nobody lost it; we just happened to come in first in that match,” Mayberry said.

“It was a great match. That’s my partner and she pulled me through,” Partridge said.

In the men’s 3.5 doubles championship match, Dick Whitaker of Woodville and Donald Jones of Olive Branch rallied to defeat Allen Laird of Natchez and Edwin Dawkins of Oxford, 4-6, 6-3, 1-0 (12-10). Both teams had won two matches in this division, meaning this match determined first place.

“They played very well,” Whitaker said. “It was good competition. We just fought hard against a good team.

Whitaker and Jones trailed Laird and Dawkins 10-9 in the third-set tiebreaker before winning the final three points to take the set and the match. When asked how they were able to come back from that deficit, Whitaker described it as “lucky.”

Organizer Suzan Hogue said everything went great.

“We had a decent turnout,” Hogue said. “The weather totally cooperated because we didn’t have any rain. It rained around us, but not here at the tennis courts. That made everything run smoothly. When you have a tennis tournament, you’re always fearful it’s going to rain.”

Hogue added that the Cathedral Fall Festival Tennis Tournament, which is part of the annual Cathedral Fall Festival fundraiser, has been going on for more than 30 years because she’s played in it that long.

As for the tennis itself, Hogue said, “We’ve had a lot of really close matches. We’ve had a lot of good competition. Everybody had a great time. Most of the people are local.”

In the combined mixed open doubles finals, top-seeded Carlyn McKinney and Derek Pyron held off Betsy Hungerford of Natchez and Todd Scott of Baton Rouge, 2-6, 6-3, 1-0. The combined mixed 6.0 doubles championship match featured two unseeded teams from Natchez with Amy Jones and George Mayers defeating Zach Rogel and Carolyn Ridley, 6-3, 4-6, 1-0 (10-5).