Eight New England Teams  Compete At League Nationals

WESTBOROUGH, MA- Eight more New England teams competed at the USTA League Nationals at sites across the country. From October 18-20, Men’s and Women’s 40 & Over 3.0 and 3.5 teams and Men’s and Women’s 18 & Over 4.0 and 4.5 teams took their shot at the ultimate prize in League tennis.

New England picked up its top finish of Nationals season last weekend as Louise Scrivines’ 18 & Over 4.5 Women’s team from the Tennis Center at Rocky Hill, CT, took home sixth place.

Scrivines led her team to a four-way tie for 3rd to 6th place based on overall match record, however the team finished sixth due to individual match record. The ladies compiled an impressive 3-1 record in Surprise, AZ and went 10-10 in individual matches. They dropped their opening match to Florida and then won their next three against Mid-Atlantic, Missouri Valley and Northern, all by a 3-2 score.

Coming in seventh place were the men from Harvard Recreation in Boston, MA. Led by Shabbi Khan and Benjamin Chan, the 18 & Over 4.5 team finished 2-2 in Surprise picking up wins over Northern and Southern California. Oliver Groot went 3-0 for Harvard at the No. 1 singles position.

Unni Nair led his Men’s 40 & Over 3.0 team from Southern Connecticut to an eighth-place finish in Orlando, FL. Based out of Grand Slam Tennis Club at Banksville in Bedford, NY, Nair’s team went 2-2 overall and finished tied for the third highest games won percentage (57%). Yong Gao went 4-0 combined in singles and doubles for New England.

Min Zhang’s Men’s 18 & Over 4.0 squad from Woburn Racquet Club in Woburn, MA secured 10th place in Las Vegas, NV. Christian Jorgensen finished 4-0 for New England at the No. 1 singles position. He earned the only position win in New England’s two losses and helped his team pick up 3-2 wins against Southwest and Middle States.

Greg Deschenes and his Men’s 40 & Over 3.5 team out of Cedardale Health & Fitness took home 14th place in Oklahoma City, OK. The team went 1-3 overall with their lone win coming against Northern in their opening match. Carl Cotter and the pairs of Alex Sanchez/Douglas Swatski and Deschenes/Alan MacLaren each picked up wins in the match. Cotter earned victories in his next two singles matches but fell in a third-set tiebreak in the team’s final match against Intermountain.

Toni Tuohy captained the Women’s 40 & Over 3.0 team out of Four Seasons Racquet Club in Wilton, CT. The team finished 0-4 in overall Orlando but was highlighted by Lu Li’s two singles wins.

Trish Rosa captained the Middlebury Racquet Club Women’s 40 & Over 3.5 team in Oklahoma City. The pair of Beckie Ferris/Janine Capanna picked up two doubles wins for New England while Kimberly Nyklicek earned two wins in singles. The team finished 0-4.

Elizabeth Morrison led the Women’s 18 & Over 4.0 team from Monadnock Indoor Tennis Club in Peterborough to an appearance in Las Vegas. Her team finished 0-4 but the pairing of Juana Luneau/Lisa Linder went unbeaten (3-0) in their doubles matches.

Next for New England is 40 & Over 4.5+ action from Orlando and 55 & Over 7.0 from Surprise from October 25-27.

For complete results from the third weekend of play, click here.