Junior Team Tennis squads set to compete at USTA Missouri Valley Section Championships

How Teams Qualified

The USTA Missouri Valley JTT Qualifier slate kicked off June 14 at Byrnes Park Tennis Center in Waterloo, Iowa with a pair of Iowa-based teams battling in the 18U division. Black Hawk Elite coached by USTA Iowa President Brenton Kuchera clipped DMGCC Team coached by Natasha Knapp, 95-91 (total games won). Astrid Araya helped organize the event and 17 players competed.

The second JTT Qualifier took place June 18-19 at Case Tennis Center at LaFortune Park in Tulsa with Peter McCorkle running the event. Eleven teams—six 18U and five 14U—duked it out with 102 players participating in total.

In 18U action, Greens CC (Shanahan) went 5-0 overall and 45-10 in sets played to punch its ticket to the Section Championships. BCCTA Bears (Lund) beat out ECC (Sagraves) to finish second and earn advancement. Caroline Barrow and Jon Scheipel were selected as sportsmanship winners.

In the 14U division, TTA/Genesis (Bailey) went 4-0 overall and 35-8 in sets to place at the top of the standings. OKC ELITE (Moore) produced a 3-1 record for a runner-up finish and progressed to the Section Championships. Hannah Barki and Quinn Broerman were picked as sportsmanship winners.

The third JTT Qualifier occurred June 24-25 at Dwight Davis Tennis Center in St. Louis, as Toni McDonald ran proceedings. Five 18U squads participated with 46 juniors playing in total. Chakradhar Sarvepalli was selected as the sportsmanship winner.

Forest Lake (Goodyear) had a strong showing, going 4-0 and winning 143 games total. In second was Edwardsville (Cimarolli), which went 3-1 and snagged 136 games in all. Both teams advanced to the Section Championships.

The final JTT Qualifier was June 26-27 at Plaza Tennis Center in Kansas City, Mo. Five 18U teams and a trio of 14U squads battled as a total of 74 players competed. The 18U sportsmanship winners were Mallory Renfro and Han Seo, while 14U sportsmanship recipients were Anya Stanojevic and Tyler Tang. To view photos from the qualifier, click here.

In the 18U division, Genesis Greys (Tan) went 4-0, claiming 31 of 43 sets played. Top City Tennis (Brown) went 3-1 and wound up second to move on to the next stage. In 14U action, the Royals went 4-0 while the Chiefs were 2-2, with both KC teams coached by Maximiliano Sanoja.

USTA Missouri sent teams to a JTT Qualifier for the first time, as CSDP Lasers squads coached by Larry Holmes (18U) and Nick Mathis (14U) made history representing the district at the KC Qualifier.

Wichita-based Riverside (Reyes) also grabbed a spot at the Section Championships in the 18U flight. Two USTA St. Louis squads—CCRC Crocs (McDonald) and Edwardsville (Cimarolli)—also progressed to the 14U championships stage.

Participating teams in Edmond will be decked out in Olympic gear with that being the 2024 theme. Squads finishing in first and second will receive awards, while sportsmanship and team spirit awards will be handed out as well. All players and coaches will receive cooling towels, and coaches will also receive umbrellas.

To learn more about the JTT Qualifiers, click here. For information about the JTT Section Championships, click here. Follow the USTA Missouri Valley on Facebook and Instagram for photos and videos coming from the Section Championships.