LUDLOW, MA- The first New England USTA League Sectional Champions of the year were crowned on Sunday, January 19, as the 2019-20 Tri-Level season concluded. Seven teams came away victorious, with six advancing to Indian Wells Tennis Garden in March for the Tri-Level Championships.

 

Men’s and Women’s 3.5, 4.0 and 4.5 NTRP rated teams will each join forces to create Team New England at Indian Wells and compete against the other 16 USTA Sections. The championships take place alongside the pros at the BNP Paribas Open. The 3.0 division is non-advancing.

 

Ludlow Tennis Club in Ludlow, MA and Enfield Tennis Club in Enfield, CT, played host to the annual Sectional event, which features teams of 2-5 players competing in one doubles position per match.

 

Representing New England on the women’s side are the 3.5 team from Great Bay in Newmarket NH, the 4.0s from Big Sky Fitness in Farmington, CT and the 4.5s out of Pond View Racquet Club in Westerly, RI.

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The New Hampshire 3.5 duo of Karin Conroy and Lisa Finneral bounced back from a 2019 final where they fell in three consecutive tiebreakers. The ladies went 3-0 in flight play and defeated a team from Magic Lincer Tennis Club, 5-7, 6-3, 1-0, in the championship, to claim this year’s title.

 

Ball Busters, the 4.0 women’s team of Courtney Marum and Alicia Comer, defeated Lisa Linder and Juana Luneau in the finals, 6-1, 6-3. The duo was also joined by teammate Karen Piazza, who competed with them on Friday. The ladies went 4-0 and didn’t drop a set in their five-team flight. This is the second consecutive title for Marum, who won at the 4.0 level last year with partner Amy Albert.

 

This is also the second consecutive trip to Indian Wells for the 4.5 women, Annick Gouin and Tracy-Lee Miller. The pair won at the 4.5 level in 2019 and fell in the finals in 2018. This year, the team from Pond View, which competes in the Eastern Connecticut league, went 2-0 in flight play and defeated a team from Chelsea Piers, 7-5, 6-3 in the finals.

 

For the men, the 3.5 division was won by Farmington Valley Racquet Club in Simsbury, CT. Longfellow Wayland in Wayland, MA, took home the 4.0 title, and Hampshire Hills in Milford, NH earned the 4.5 crown.

 

The team from Farmington Valley featured Pete Suttmeier, Andrew Wollner and Eric Torgersen. The men went 2-0 in flight play and defeated a team from Apex Racket & Fitness in Portland, ME in the finals.

 

The men from Longfellow Wayland went 2-0 in flight play without dropping a set.  Andrzej Niemierko, Chris Munford, Aaron Hamel and Jonathan Bower then went on to defeat Fore Court Racquet and Fitness, 6-4, 6-1 in the final.

 

The 4.5 men were the only team to clinch their championship on Saturday night. The duo of Martin Morrissey and Gene Kim, out of Hampshire Hills, defeated a team from Essex Edge (Vermont) in two consecutive matches to win the title.

 

From the 3.0 division, the women's team of Laura Cramer and Tracey Langlois took home the title. The duo out of Kings Highway Tennis Club in Darien, CT, swept their four-team flight without dropping a set, to clinch a spot in the finals. There, they defeated a duo from the host Ludlow, 6-1, 6-3. 

 

Team New England will compete at Indian Wells from March 20-22.

 

For photos from Tri-Level Sectionals, click here.