One of the largest tournaments on the annual USTA national schedule is the Women’s Intersectional Team Championships. Southern California has always been a trophy winning success at the event. Staged this year from November 7th to 13th at McFarlan Tennis Center in San Antonio, Texas, teams from the section were involved in six age-group competitions and following the form enjoyed in the past, collected a record-setting six trophies.
Colleen Clery Ferrell, the Southern California captain, had each of the age group team captains summarize their experiences.
Millie Yablonicky, captain of the Women’s 35 team that was a finalist, wrote, “The Southern California team was proud to take home the silver medal. It was a jam-packed weekend with four straight days of tennis. First round we defeated the Middle States team 5-0. Second round, the intensity stepped up against the Eastern team and we won 4-1, but it wasn’t easy. Third round was the biggest victory by far. We faced the very tough Texas team in their home state. Our singles line up just couldn’t be outmatched that day. We won all three lines of singles and then went on to win the doubles after Texas opted not to play one doubles line. The final test came against Southern. In the five-team round robin, neither Southern nor Southern California had a loss. This was the true final match for gold. Our singles fought hard and gave us a 2-1 lead going into doubles. Both doubles matches went to three sets. The Southern team was able to close out the first doubles match, getting the match to 2-2. The last doubles match came down to the wire – a third set tie-break. Unfortunately, Southern squeaked it out with a 7-5 tie-break score to end it. The match was well fought by all, down to the very last point. We’ll get them next year, but we’re proud to be part of the Southern California section, which medaled in every division! The team included Mariel DeYoung, Debbie Higa, Dina McBride, Debbie Nasim and me.”
Rainy Miller, captain of the third place Women’s 45 team, pointed out, “Southern California’s team was well represented geographically by Prentiss Van Den Berg, Kathy Archibald, Amy Alcini, Julie Barrier, Kathy Settles and me. The tournament brought out the competitive spirit in everyone, which made it fun to watch and cheer teammates as they battled their opponents on court. As great as the competition was, it was equally enjoyable seeing long-time friends from different sections and age groups around the country, and reconnecting with people not seen since juniors! The team genuinely enjoyed one another, and laughing together. Many good memories. Special thanks go out to Southern California and San Diego Districts for supporting the Intersectional team.”
Tina Karwasky, who captained the Women’s 55 team that finished third noted, “Southern California competed against nine teams. The team consisted of Kandy Chain, Julie David, Colleen Clery Ferrell, Karen Haas, Nancy Sanchez, Sue Sprague and me. As the third seed, we played our first match against Pacific Northwest in a three singles, two doubles format. I played No. 1, Ferrell was No. 2 and Sanchez played No. 3, and we swept the matches. We did the same in the doubles with Chain/Haas winning at No.1 doubles and David/Sprague winning at No.2 doubles. Overall, the first day resulted in a 5-0 victory.
“Tuesday was a day off for SoCal and the team got in some great practice on courts that were just five minutes from the hotel.
“Wednesday was semifinal action against the No. 2 seeded team, Southern. My No.1 singles match was stopped at 3-3 by many rain delays. Sprague was able to finish her No. 2 singles match, but lost while the No. 3 singles match (Ferrell) played only one game. The match began at 8:00 a.m., and was finally called for the night at 5 p.m. due to the heavy rain. It was an incredibly long day.
“On Thursday morning at 8:00 a.m. the match against Southern resumed, but with a shortened format. The first team to reach three wins was to be declared the winner. I lost a close 7-6, 6-4 match against Fran Chandler and Ferrell lost in straight sets to Lee King. Doubles was not played due to the format.
“The next round was played an hour later for third and fourth place against Eastern. A full format was used. Southern California. won all three singles in straight sets – (Karwasky, Ferrell and Sanchez played 1, 2, 3 respectively). David/Chain won in straight sets while Sprague/David lost in 3 sets. The final score was, 4-1. Despite the rainy weather, Southern California hung in for a lot of tennis on the final day. It was an incredible week of tough competition while many friendships were made and renewed. It’s on to Florida next year to try and capture the title.”
Carol Gay, who led the Women’s 65 team to third place, said, “The 65 team of Cathie Anderson, Kathy Bennett, Liane Bryson, Judy Louie, Rory Tarantino and me was up for the challenge of being the No. 3 seed. Being short a player due to injury, we worked hard every day to play strong. And strong we were as we were able to bring home the bronze.
“The unspoken thrill for our age group was to play tennis as a team. Even If we were fortunate enough to play for a college, our age group [pre-Title IX] never really enjoyed the team competition in a team format. The intersectional competition allows us to do just that. It is very special for all of us to root our team members on; create just the correct teams in doubles to try to take that last match; or to coach a teammate on the court to gain a victory. It is a truly rewarding experience for all.
Norma Veal, who captained another Women’s 75 winning team, said, “The Southern California 75 team is on a ‘Golden Roll’, taking the gold medal in the 75 division for the fourth consecutive time. In the first two matches against Florida and Mid-Atlantic, team members Suella Steel and Roz King led the group winning singles matches. Doubles were completed with Steel/King winning the No.1 spot and Judy Janc and me winning at the No.2 position.
“The final against No. 2 seed, Eastern resulted in a tightly fought loss in the No.1 singles for Steel against Susanne Clark, but solid singles victories by King against Grace Woo and the two doubles matches solidified the victory. Nancy O’Neal was the fifth member of the ‘Golden Team.’ The entire team was elated to again succeed in their quest to obtain the No. 1 spot in 75 intersectional play. Thanks for all the support from the other Southern California players, the Southern California Tennis Association and the San Diego District Tennis Association.”
Pat Mason, who was the captain of the Women’s 80 team that was a finalist, admitted, “The 80’s team featured exceptional singles play from aged up players Sheila Palmer and Barbara Miliken, who also made a winning doubles team. The duo of Pat Giebink and Patti Dodgen surprised several nationally ranked teams, winning two out of three matches in third set tiebreaks. Janet Hubbard and I also contributed to this total team effort.
“I can’t express how great the experience of having our team come together was. They truly played their hearts out in every match. We became a team in every sense of the word. A big thank you for all the support our teams received from the Southern California Tennis Association and San Diego District Tennis Association. It was also great to see all the Southern California teams cheering one another on in every age division. We are very proud of our second place finish and filled with gratitude for the opportunity.”
Annette Buck, SCTA Director of Adult & Senior Tennis, thanked all of those who took part. She noted, “We know it takes personal time and resources to make this happen, and we so much appreciate that all of you were willing to travel to San Antonio and participate. And for every team to medal is an outstanding feat. I doubt that has ever happened for any section, any time.
“Also, a huge ‘Thank You’ to Colleen (Clery Ferrell), the Southern California captain, and to Millie (Yablonicky), Rainy (Miller), Tina (Karwasky), Carol Gay), Norma (Veal), and Pat (Mason), the age-division captains. The Gold Medal 75 team made it an amazing four in a row, The Silver Medal 35 and 80 teams were outstanding, and the Bronze Medal 45, 55 and 65 teams were in the hunt all the way. We are so lucky to have so much talent in the section, and you should all be immensely proud of your teams.
“We hope you had time for some fun during your stay in San Antonio, and that we’ll see many of you eager to go to Florida in 2017.”