New England Sends Five to League Nationals’ Second Weekend 

WESTBOROUGH, MA- New England sent five teams to the second weekend of USTA League Nationals from October 11-13. Men’s and Women’s 40 & Over 4.0, Men’s and Women’s 18 & Over 3.0, and Women’s 18 & Over 2.5 teams all competed throughout the country. New England concluded the weekend with four top-10 finishes. The best result came from the Women’s 40 & Over 4.0 team from Wimbledon 109 Tennis Club in Walpole, MA, which finished seventh overall.

Captained by Janet Giannetti and Karen Etzkorn, the women from Wimbledon 109 got off to a slow start in Surprise, AZ, dropping their first two matches on Friday. They bounced back Saturday morning with a 4-1 victory over Florida and then wrapped things up with a 3-2 win against Puerto Rico. The pairing of Amy Savitt and Karen Etzkorn was the bright spot for New England, as the duo picked up doubles wins in each of the first two matches.

The 18 & Over 3.0 Women representing Edgewood Swim & Tennis Club in Raynham, MA, finished in eighth overall, good for New England’s second best result. Fil Miguel captained the ladies to a 2-2 record in Oklahoma City, OK, with wins against Pacific Northwest and Northern. Kelsey Shea earned victories at the No. 1 singles position in each of the team’s first three matches. She suffered one of New England’s three third-set tie breaking losses in their final match to Florida.

Both the 40 & Over 4.0 Men and the 18 & Over 3.0 Men finished in 10th place in their respective fields. The 40 & Over men were led by Ari Milstein and Randal Noller and played out of Boston Sports Clubs in Wellesley, MA. The BSC men picked up wins in Surprise against Hawaii and Pacific Northwest, both by 3-2 margins. New England fell to Northern California in their opening match and later to eventual semifinalist, Intermountain.

The 18 & Over 3.0 Men from the Greendale Family Branch YMCA in Worcester, MA, played to a 2-2 record in Oklahoma City. Captain Kshitij Kathuria’s team earned two victories on Friday thanks in part to a 4-2 doubles record in the matches. The team of Steve Gauthier and Amol Patil was responsible for two of the wins, competing at the No. 3 and No. 2 doubles positions respectively. New England got tripped up by finalist, Southern, on Saturday morning, and then fell to Hawaii to close out the tournament.  

Captained by Julie Robinson and Julie Smith, the 18 & Over 2.5 Women from the South Shore YMCA in Hanover, MA, competed in Las Vegas, NV. The team finished 1-3, good for 14th place overall. New England’s win came against Mid-Atlantic thanks to doubles victories from the teams of Mary Beth McGee and Jerilyn Tyrrell and Smith and Beth Chadwick. The team fell to Northern, Caribbean and eventual finalist, Midwest.

New England will compete next from October 18-20, as it sends 18 & Over 4.0 and 4.5 teams as well as 40 & Over 3.0 and 3.5 teams to Nationals.

For complete results from the second weekend of League Nationals, click here.