Two USTA Missouri teams earn spots at USTA League National Championships

Two teams from USTA Missouri advanced all the way to the USTA League National Championships in October and November.

An 18 & Over women’s 3.5 team captained by Sarah Bohl and Carolyn Spencer from Columbia, Mo., competed in nationals on Oct. 10-11 in Surprise, Ariz. And a 40 & Over mixed 7.0 team captained by Carol Rollins and Tami Murphy from Springfield, Mo., played in the national championships on Nov. 7-8 in Orlando, Fla.

And while the squads fell short of the ultimate goal of bringing home a national title, the fact that they reached the nationals is something to celebrate.

The 18 & Over women’s 3.5 team became the first Columbia-based team to win a USTA Missouri Valley League Section Championship. The team won one of its four matches at nationals, knocking off USTA SoCal 3-2. Two of the team’s losses came by 3-2 margins. And in the last match against USTA Northern, four of the five courts went to third-set tiebreaks.

Their accomplishment has inspired the tennis community in Columbia. Majorie Muller, director of racquet sports at Country Club of Missouri, which sponsored the team, told Echols she hopes the team’s success will spur others to get involved in tennis and the USTA. Reaching nationals looks to be having a ripple effect on the community.

It also enhanced the relationship between the Country Club of Missouri and USTA Missouri. CCMO hosted some of the USTA League matches during the regular season.

Meanwhile, the 40 & Over mixed 7.0 team had a strong regular season.

But even with that success, “reaching the national championships was not even on the radar,” said Leslie Echols, USTA Missouri executive director and a member of that team.