New England Mixed Team  Fourth At Nationals

MOBILE, AL- Weekend five wrapped up from USTA League Nationals in Mobile, AL, on Sunday, November 11, and the USTA New England Section has another top-four finish to add to the 2018 collection. From November 9-11, Mixed 18 & Over teams ranging from 6.0-10.0 NTRP ratings competed at the Mobile Tennis Center in the first of two Mixed Nationals weekends. The second will be from November 16-18 and will feature 40 & Over action. 

Husband and wife, Alicia and Paul Stansbury, led their 8.0 team out of the Weymouth Club in Weymouth, MA, to a fourth-place finish in Mobile. The trip to the semifinals was New England’s fifth in as many weeks and only in Mixed. The team featured the Stansburys' daughter, Ashland, as well as Danny Tocco, Jack Murphy, Chris Prudente, Kirsten Buteau, Elizabeth Straub, Cheryl Bierwirth, Michael Davis and Familia Jardim.

Weymouth finished in the fourth spot after the first four unflighted matches, going 3-1 and outlasting a team from USTA Pacific Northwest (5th place). New England went 8-4 in position record while PNW finished 7-5. 

Weymouth took down teams from USTA Southwest, Middle States and Southern to earn a trip to the semifinals. Their lone loss came against unflighted match winner and ultimate champion, Missouri Valley, 2-1, with the pair of Daniel Tocco and Ashland Stansbury picking up the No. 2 doubles point for New England in a supertiebreak. 

In the semifinals, New England had the unfortunate task of matching up with the top dogs once again, as MoValley upended Weymouth, 3-0. Tocco and Stansbury this time came up on the wrong end of the third-set supertiebreak, falling 4-6, 6-3, 0-1. 

New England went on to drop their third-place match to Florida, 2-1. 

Other New England Mixed performances include:

10.0

Jesse Butler led his 10.0 team out of the Racket and Fitness Center in Portland, ME, to a fifth-place finish. His team went 2-2 overall, defeating teams from USTA Intermountain and Northern California and compiled a 7-5 individual record.

9.0 

The 9.0 team out of Rally Point Racquet Club in Smithfield, RI finished 15th overall. The team was captained by Kristen Hebert and went 0-4 (0-12) overall. 

7.0

The 7.0 representative came from Boston Sports Clubs Lexington. Led by Laurel Carey, BSC Lexington finished 2-2 (5-7) overall, good for ninth place. Their wins were against USTA Hawaii and Intermountain. 

6.0

Katie Werchadlo captained the 6.0 team, Mixed Troubles, out of Rally Point Racquet Club. The team finished in 11th place overall, going 1-3 (5-7) Rally Point’s win came against a team from USTA Northern. 

League Nationals will conclude from November 16-18 in Orlando, as Mixed 40 & Over teams will get their shot at the championship.