New England earns top-four finish at League Nationals

WESTBOROUGH, MA- As USTA League Nationals season came to a close, New England finished with its strongest performance yet this year. After seven competitive weekends of play, New England earned its top two finishes of the Nationals season over the final two weekends and competed in its first final four on Sunday, November 17, the last overall day of play.

Captain Jennifer Licciardi led her Mixed 40 & Over 6.0 team, All Business, from Cedardale Health & Fitness in Haverhill, MA to a fourth-place finish in the Mixed 40 & Over 6.0. All Business earned victories against Hawaii, Midwest and Southern California to finish 3-1 and lock in fourth place after Saturday’s slate. The team also finished with an impressive 60% games won percentage, good for second of the 16 total teams.

Cedardale dropped its semifinal match on Sunday against eventual champions, Pacific Northwest, who defeated Intermountain to claim the title. The No. 1 and No. 2 doubles pairings of Heidi Sung/Andy Blocker and Angela Lee/Bill Hartman kept the match close for Cedardale but fell 2-6, 6-3, 0-1 and 4-6, 4-6 respectively.

The duo of Jennifer Killilea/David Spring led Cedardale’s run to the semifinals by earning three positions wins. The teams of Sandra Wellman/Mike Stuart and Jolene Buttress/George Plourde each won two matches.

From November 8-10, Eliot Potvin led his team from Maine to a fifth-place finish at Mixed 18 & Over 10.0 Nationals. The squad, which plays out of Apex Racket and Fitness Portland, ME, went 3-1 overall in early action, and at 7-5, fell one position win shy of playing in the semifinals. Potvin and partner Erin Morneault went 4-0 at the No. 1 doubles position, while the pairing of Olivia Leavitt/Denis Indondo earned three wins for Apex.

Here are the rest of the New England results from the final three weekends of Nationals:

7th- Mixed 40 & Over 9.0- South Shore YMCA in Hanover, MA captained by Laurie Dannison

7th- Women’s 55 & Over 9.0- Longfellow Tennis Club in Natick, MA, captained by Sally Kellogg

8th- Men’s 55 & Over- WestFit Racquet & Fitness Club in Westford, MA, captained by Peter Kraus

8th- Mixed 18 & Over 7.0- Dedham Health & Athletic Complex in Dedham, MA, captained by Sarah Kittredge

9th- Women’s 55 & Over 8.0- Longfellow Tennis Club in Wayland, MA, captained by Bev Gee

10th- Mixed 18 & Over 6.0- Trull Brook Tennis Center in Tewksbury, MA, captained by Mrizela Klebe

11th- Mixed 18 & Over 9.0- Spark Fitness & Tennis in Andover, MA, captained by Adam Molda

11th- Men’s 55 & Over 6.0- Bass River Tennis Club in Beverly, MA, captained by Mark Greenberg

11th- Mixed 18 & Over 8.0- Wayside Athletic Club in Marlborough, MA, captained by Chris Terpko

12th- Women’s 55 & Over 7.0- Greenwich Racquet Club in Greenwich, CT, captained by Joan Stone

12th- Mixed 40 & Over 7.0- Tennis Club of Trumbull in Trumbull, CT, captained by Raul Santana

14th- Men’s 55 & Over 7.0- Farmington Valley Racquet Club in Simsbury, CT, captained by Peter Suttmeier

14th- Women’s 55 & Over 6.0- Rally Point Racquet Club in Smithfield, RI, captained by Katie Werchadlo

15th- Mixed 40 & Over 8.0- BSC Wellesley in Wellesley, MA, captained by Vivian Hsu

16th- Men’s 55 & Over 9.0- Algonquin Indoor Tennis Center in Hookset, NH, captained by Jeff Siegel

For a photo gallery of all New England teams from weekends 5 to 7, click here.

For complete Nationals results, click here.