Tops: Northern, NorCal Win 55 & Over 7.0 Nationals

Living up to their section names, the men from the Northern section and the women from Northern California finished on top at the 2019 55 & Over 7.0 USTA League National Championships in Surprise, Ariz.

The Northern men prevented an all-California sweep in the desert by beating the team from SoCal in the final, 2-1, winning both No. 2 and No. 3, doubles in a match tiebreak, while the NorCal women swept all three doubles matches against runners-up Hawaii. 

To get to the finals, Eric Narvaez and Michael Schneider's Northern team beat the representatives from the Florida section out of Coral Pine Park in Pinecrest, 2-1. 

Based out of the St. Paul Academy & Summit School in St. Paul, Minn., the victorious winning roster also included Ron Saver, Rick Hancks, Mark Alschlager, Thomas Petersen, Michael Schneider, Randall Paulson, William Boyes, Eric Narvaez, Lawrence Wong, Richard Iverson, Thanh Pham, Robert Jensen and John Genz.

Captained by Janelle Schultz, the NorCal women also swept their semifinal match against Sandy Setser's Southern team from Alabama in the semifinals, losing just 10 games across six sets. Eight of those came in a 7-6, 6-2 win for Nicki Capachi and Katie Frazier over Lisa Roberts and Dianne Crandall at No. 2 doubles.

In the final against Elizabeth Maki's team from Oahu, No. 2 doubles also proved to be the tightest match, at is was the only one of the three flights to be extended to a match tiebreak. Nonetheless, Carrie Grip and Kat Beilby sealed the win over Francine Crail and Noreen Ono to help NorCal take the sweep.

Rounding out the winning roster was Theresa Warren, Kindra Root, Gayle Tanner, Michelle Weeks, Amy Putty, Dorothy Brown, Lori Reading-Foster, Farah Cuccia, Jeana Hultquist, Christina Vitale, Rene St. Clair, Rhona Wu and Mary Lesman.