Eastern captures championship title at the Tom Fey Tri-Level National Invitational

Tri, tri again. Two USTA Eastern tri-level league teams scored a spot on the podium at the Tom Fey Tri-Level National Invitational, held March 6-10 at the Barnes Tennis Center in San Diego, California. The women’s 4.0/3.5/3.0 squad—based out of Edgewater, N.J.—captured the title in their division, while their male counterparts—from New York, N.Y.—earned a third-place finish. The collective results are the best outcome this decade for an Eastern contingent at the annual tri-level competition.

“The first reaction is overwhelming relief, like climbing a mountain and finally getting to the top,” said Hannah McLaughlin, the captain of the victorious women’s team. “Once the intensity subsides and you realize the immensity of the competition, it is just incredulous.”

Partnership for the 3.0 courts in particular proved critical. McLaughlin noted that only two 3.0 players made the trip to San Diego—meaning the pairing of Maya Furumoto and Jamie Kovac needed to contest every single match: all four round robin battles as well as the semi and final. Astoundingly, and undoubtedly on tired legs, they captured five of their six matchups for the team, two in super tiebreaks. (They also went undefeated until the final.)

Beyond claiming the title, McLaughlin said her team really enjoyed spending time together in a warmer climate. During their stay in San Diego, they were able to visit the beach as well as “indulge in the west coast culinary experience,” she said. They also enjoyed cheering on a fellow group from New Jersey (representing USTA Middle States) over the course of the weekend.

“[Through USTA Leagues], the USTA provides an opportunity for adults to have friendly competition and a platform for socializing,” she said. “It has really renewed our love for the sport!”

While McLaughlin and her teammates enjoyed a reasonably straightforward path to first place, their fellow male Eastern representatives endured a more arduous journey to third—which made the podium finish particularly meaningful for captain Alvin Choy. 

“It still feels surreal to me every time I think about it, considering there were 446 teams competing in this league,” he said. “This achievement would not have been possible without the passion and dedication from each player on our team.”

Choy specifically credited the tenacity of his teammates, as the group had to grind while facing some tough opposition—particularly in the round robin stages of the tournament. First, they eked out a dramatic 3-0 victory over USTA New England, winning all three of their courts in super tiebreaks. Choy noted that during that encounter, one player ran into a fence and landed awkwardly on his wrist. Down match point, he hit a return winner and then played through it to eventually claim the set and then the court in the super tiebreak. Following those heroics, however, the players lost 1-2 to USTA Mid-Atlantic, ultimately dropping the 4.0 court to their opponents in another dramatic super tiebreak. The loss put their hopes of advancing to the semifinals in jeopardy.

“After the Mid-Atlantic match, we knew we would need help from other teams in order to overtake USTA Missouri Valley and USTA Northern California to qualify for the final four, and thank God we got it,” Choy explained. “One of our players quickly figured out we controlled our own destiny. We just needed to sweep USTA Northern [in our fourth match] to advance. Realizing that we were still in the race gave us the extra adrenaline we needed to get over the finish line. Our match against Northern was not as easy as the scorelines indicate, but we executed and got it done.”

“We had a big lead in the first set of the 3.0 court before Intermountain started chipping away at it and forced another tiebreak,” Choy recalled. “Then we won the tiebreak when Surinder Singh hit a slice forehand, and the ball clipped the tape and landed softly over the net. I think that shot was a dagger, and after that we won 6-0 in the second set. Intermountain had some terrific players, but we were glad to be able to take advantage of our versatility and hot hands to seal the victory.” 

Coming home with the bronze was ultimately “icing on the cake of a dream season for us,” Choy said. “The competition in the Metro Region of the Eastern Section has always been cutthroat. Any team could advance out of this region and do very well in the Sectionals and the Nationals. I really believe it’s our laid back but super competitive attitude, as well as our willingness to invest in our own tennis individually, that helped us propel to where we are today.”