Mid-Atlantic, PNW Reign at  40 & Over 3.5 

It was a day to remember for the Pacific Northwest section women’s team and the Mid-Atlantic section men’s team as they captured their respective titles at the USTA League Adult 40 & Over 3.5 National Championships.

On a bright sunny day at the Arlington Tennis Center, the men's Mid-Atlantic section team, which plays at Hains Point in Washington D.C., swept the Eastern section squad from Fort Lee, N.J., 5-0 to advance to advance to the finals, where they met a strong Intermountain section team from Orem Utah.

The championship match came down to the wire as Mid-Atlantic team captain Christopher Lee won the No. 1 singles position to give his team a hard-fought 3-2 victory over the Intermountain Section.  

“We didn’t give up. We fell to our first opponent (on Friday), but every match after that, we took it one court at a time and got past some tough teams,” Lee said. “These guys put in a lot of effort and spent a lot of time on the courts. We had one goal, and that was to win.”  

The team is captained by Christopher Lee and features Paul Lluy, Wesley Calayag, Sumeet Chawla, Thoufiq Kaleemullah, Brian Lynk, Anthony Pappas, Vince Sbarra, Marcus Moore, Jonathan Rivera, Mikhail Laryukhin and Dong Ko.

In the women's division, the Pacific Northwest section team, which is based at the Mercer Island Country Club in Mercer Island, Wash., overcame the Texas section women’s team from Georgetown, Texas, 4-1, in the semifinals.

Following a short break, the Pacific Northwest women returned to the court and won a thrilling 3-2 decision over a tough Southern section team from Cornelius, N.C.

“It’s amazing. It still hasn’t sunk in. We had a lot of ladies that really wanted to come out and do it. They put a lot of work in. That was the key,” said team captain Carol Gregory. “All of our opponents were super nice. It was great, there was a lot of comradery. It was all good.”

The team is captained by Carol Gregory and features Nancy Smith, Susie Harrington, Diane Panteleakos, Cindy Paborsky, Suzy Skone, Heidi Martin, Hilary Benson, Molly Fort, Ildi Koves, Shawn Wood, Kelly Everson and Leigh Perks.

Click here to see all of the on-court action.