Missouri Valley / Missouri

Springfield 18 & Over Women’s Team Has Solid Section Championship Showing

Josh Sellmeyer | August 30, 2022


Lucy Stein was one of the members of a USTA Missouri 18 & Over handpicked squad that was built with the hope of making a deep run at sectionals. But as the 4.0 Springfield-based women’s team recruited players, the group realized they didn’t have any local competition to prepare them for the USTA Missouri Valley Section Championships.


So, Leslie Echols — a member of the team and USTA Missouri executive director — suggested someone ought to break away from the group and captain a squad of their own at that age division. Stein, who had captained a team or two before, took on that responsibility and made the move.

 

“It didn’t take me long. I know how this is. I know what it’s like to play so few matches you feel unprepared,” Stein said. “In spite of us having a great team, I stepped off and said, ‘OK, I’ll do it. Why not?’ It spiraled from there. I picked people I knew and some 3.5s. As it turned out, we got lucky.”

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Stein’s new 18 & Over crew upended the hand-selected squad to advance to the Section Championships. The group had a strong showing there as well despite being shorthanded, progressing to the semifinals the weekend of August 5-7 in St. Louis.

 

“Leslie and I had a lot of digs along the way as we competed against each other, in fun,” Stein said. “I didn’t expect to beat the other local team. Each win was just a bonus. Everybody thrived on that momentum to get to the semifinals, with a majority of our players being older. To compete at that level with young 18-, 19-, 20-year-olds was interesting to say the least. But a really fun group. Everybody played their hearts out.”

Stein’s team featured a couple new 3.5 players who competed up a level to gain experience in Section Championship action. Despite asking a lot of them, Stein said those individuals had great mentalities. One of the 3.5s played five singles matches in the heat during the sectional weekend. Stein said, with a laugh: “We were hoping she wouldn’t crumble.”

 

One player was dealing with an injury and could only muster partaking in one sectional match. Another competitor wasn’t able to play at all. With minimal depth Stein relied on everyone in attendance to step up, and the ladies answered the bell.

 

“It’s been quite a journey,” Stein said. “But I was happy to do it. I used a lot of my fellow players; we did the usual powwows and sometimes gathered three-quarters of the team to decide who’s our strongest team to put out there. It was so hot. I don’t know — if we would have made it to the finals — if we could have really stood up to even play. We were exhausted.”

 

Stein said a highlight of the weekend came before her team even stepped foot on the courts. One of the USTA St. Louis squad’s members gave the USTA Missouri team pink drink koozies as a welcoming gift.

 

“That was so sweet,” Stein said. “That was a nice, warm, fuzzy start. We’re kind of the small peons. We haven’t had a good showing at sectionals in years. Some of it is we maybe don’t play enough in the offseason and take seriously enough developing partnerships and doing travel to tournaments. We can improve upon that.”

 

Stein — who is from St. Louis with most of her family and extended family living in the St. Louis area — called it a treat to return to her roots to compete in postseason tennis. One of her team’s singles players previously attended Washington University in St. Louis and took the group to her favorite food spot.

 

“All that time you spend together, you bond even more,” Stein said. “You develop great friendships and get to know people other than their tennis. It’s lives and personal stuff outside of that, which is very nice.”

 

Stein moved to Springfield in 1998 and got involved in the tennis community soon thereafter. She played on a trio of USTA Missouri teams this year and helped each qualify for the USTA Missouri Valley Section Championships. Her 55 & Over team had its Section Championship in Oklahoma City. And her 40 & Over team represented USTA Missouri in Tulsa.

 

“It’s kind of heady. You think, ‘Oh my, why is this all the sudden coming together?’” Stein said. “I don’t take a lot of lessons, but I’ve grown up playing. My parents put me in a playpen on the tennis court. From that moment, I was going to either love it or hate it. I guess I fell in love with it. It’s such a great social sport.”

 

As USTA Missouri players gain exposure against an array of competitors and their various playing styles, Stein said that will be a big boost for the district as it seeks to make deeper runs at sectionals. Her team noticed the higher-level players participating at the same sectional venue didn’t necessarily hit bigger as anticipated. They used craftiness, drop shots, spin serves and lobbing to one-up their opponents.

 

“A sequence of shots you can rely upon and be consistent with, and maybe even calling your serve with your partner by signaling,” Stein said. “Those are things I don’t know many of us have, but maybe that would take us to the next level.

 

“It makes you hungry for more if you’re competitive. And I’m very competitive. I don’t like to lose. You learn to be gracious and figure out what it takes to improve. As long as you play, you can make improvements and get the right instruction.”

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