In the concluding tournament of the 2019 World TeamTennis Rec League season, 10 teams earned titles at the WTT Nationals, which played Friday, Nov. 1-Sunday, Nov. 3 at Palm Valley Country Club in Palm Desert, Calif. A total of 68 amateur teams and 500 players competed in 10 divisions, with players making the trip to WTT Nationals from 26 states.
Those teams winning their division were Dracula, of Richmond, Va.; Shanks-A-Lot, of Arcadia, Calif.; Heart Shakers, of Irvine, Calif.; Play2Nguyen of Mercer Island, Wash.; 808 Tennis, of Honolulu; Dream Team, of Long Beach, Calif.; Magic Show Senior, of Kansas City, Mo.; Miami Heater’s, of Hialeah, Fla.; For the Love of Greg, of Marina Del Rey, Calif.; and No Quit, of Las Vegas.
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3.0 DIVISION
In the six-team 3.0 Division, teams played five round-robin matches to determine a 2019 champion. In its first two matches on Friday, Nov. 1, Dracula, of Richmond, Va., set the tone with two double-digit wins over Racket Scientists, of Chapel Hill, N.C, and Hamma, of Tulsa, Okla. Continuing its winning streak on Saturday, Nov. 2, Dracula dismissed Serve Aces & Limes in a close contest, followed by a 28-24 win over Serve Me a Double. In their final matchup at Nationals, Dracula outscored Raffa Addicted2Tennis, of Clifton Park, N.Y., 31-17 to earn a 5-0 record for the weekend and claim the 3.0 Division title. Dracula, the 3.0 division champions, were led by non-playing captain Gabriel Ghita.
3.5 DIVISION
To capture the 3.5 Division title, you had to make it through the weekend without a loss. With six teams vying for the championship, Shanks-A-Lot, of Arcadia, Calif., did exactly that by starting off hot in a 28-20 victory over Between the Lines, of Rockville, Md. In its second match, Shanks-A-Lot managed to survive a closer contest with AYTC 3.5 Louie, of Seattle, Wash. On Saturday, Shanks-A-Lot kept its perfect record intact after a 27-23 victory over Double Shots, of Tempe, Ariz. After a comfortable victory Saturday afternoon against HTCDRIP, of Amarillo, Texas, Shanks-A-Lot secured the 3.5 Division title in a 31-25 victory over Overserved, of Clifton Park, N.Y, on Sunday morning. Throughout their championship weekend, Shanks-A-Lot was captained by Lauren Finke.
4.0 DIVISION
With a 2019 championship on the line, six teams suited up to try to win the 4.0 Division title. On Friday, Heart Shakers, of Irvine, Calif., secured its first victory of the weekend with a 33-24 win over Zaldivar, of Kendall Park, N.J. In its second contest, Heart Shakers pulled off another impressive victory over HR Nightmare, of Anderson, S.C. On Saturday morning, Heart Shakers continued its unbeaten record in its closest contest of the weekend – a 25-23 win over Boot Camp, of Irvine, Calif. – before winning in another close battle over Iowa-Dorable-Downright Smashing, of Des Moines, Iowa, 27-23. Finally, Heart Shakers secured its undefeated weekend as well as the 4.0 division championship midday Sunday with a 32-20 victory over The Juice, of West Chester, Pa. The Heart Shakers’ successful weekend campaign was led by captain Sophie Lam.
4.5 DIVISION
Six teams faced off over the weekend in pursuit of the 4.5 Division title. Starting off the weekend on a three-match hot streak, Play2Nguyen, of Mercer Island, Wash,, handed losses to Magic Show, Jushters and the otherwise unbeatable finalist Ratchet Racqueteers, of San Diego, Calif. In its second match on Saturday, Play2Nguyen continued to roll with a comfortable 36-8 victory over KC Mariachi, of Kansas City. In the final match of its championship run, Play2Nguyen sealed its undefeated record and the 4.5 division championship with a 36-13 win over Team Gus Gus, of Albany, N.Y. The unbeaten 4.5 division championship run of Play2Nguyen was led by non-playing captain Scott Nguyen.
SENIOR 3.5 DIVISION
808 Tennis, of Honolulu, won the Senior 3.5 title behind captain Guy Okazaki. The Hawaiian squad began its weekend with a comfortable 34-15 win over The Ace Gang, of Playa Vista, Calif. 808 Tennis continued its roll with two wins on Saturday, one against SET2WIN, of Shiloh, Ill., and another against Miami Babes & Boomers of Hialeah, Fla. Following its perfect 3-0 start in Flight B of the Senior 3.5 Division, 808 Tennis faced its toughest test against the No. 1 ranked opponent from Flight A, Topsin Lobers of Silver Spring, Md. In a hotly contested championship match, the two teams who scored impressive 3-0 round robin records battled until 808 Tennis bested the 2018 National Champions, Topspin Lobers, 31-24.
SENIOR 4.0 DIVISION
Dream Team, of Long Beach, Calif., took home the Senior 4.0 championship with a 34-21 win over The Older I Get, the Better I Was, of La Mesa, Calif., in Sunday’s championship match. Dream Team advanced to the finals with a perfect 3-0 round robin record, including victories over Happy Feet Plus and Cinnamon Fire, before meeting the also-undefeated Flight B winners, The Older I Get the Better I Was. Dream Team’s perfect 4-0 record and Senior 4.0 division national championship was spearheaded by captain Yumiko Tokiwa.
SENIOR 4.5 DIVISION
Magic Show Senior, of Kansas City, Mo., captured the 2019 Senior 4.5 Division National Title. Captain Scott Hanover led his team through two narrow victories on Day 1, as Magic Show Senior earned a 25-23 victory over the RoadRunners and an even closer 24-23 win over Topspin Whiskey. On Saturday, Magic Show Senior continued its success with a couple comfortable victories over Early Bird Specials and Cinnamon Fire. Finally, Magic Show Senior engaged in another close contest in its last match on Sunday morning, where it earned a 26-24 win over the 2018 National Champions, Evergreen, of Long Valley, N.J.
SUPER SENIOR 3.5 DIVISION
Miami Heater’s, of Hialeah, Fla., took home the national title after capturing the top spot in the Super Senior 3.5 Division. After back-to-back victories on Friday over Just For Fun and the Vegas Poachers, the Miami Heater’s sustained its top form into Saturday with two more wins over previously unbeaten Intrepids SS and Play Like a Champion. Finally, on Sunday morning, the Miami Heater’s upended Game of Groans, of Shiloh, Ill., 32-13 to secure the Super Senior 3.5 Division National Championship. Miami Heater’s undefeated 5-0 campaign was led by non-playing captain Peter Roscia.
SUPER SENIOR 4.0 DIVISION
For the Love of Greg, of Marina del Rey, Calif., captured the Super Senior 4.0 championship with a 5-0 run through round robin action. For the Love of Greg began the weekend on Friday with two double-digit wins over Icy Hots and High Rollers. On Saturday, it continued its winning ways with a 32-16 result over the Diehards and a 29-21 win over LOV2PLA. In its final match on Sunday, For the Love of Greg finished with a solid 29-18 victory over Early Bird Special. Led by captain Robert Rudelius, For the Love of Greg outscored opponents 151-86 in its five matches.
OPEN DIVISION
In the tournament’s Open Division, eight teams played three round-robin matches each before a championship match between Flight A and Flight B winners took place to determine a champion. For its first contest on Saturday morning, No Quit, of Las Vegas defeated Body Shots, of Albany, N.Y., 33-14. The Vegas-based team went on to win its next two matches against Dream Team by a score of 33-16, and Cattail Crocs by a score of 30-18. On Sunday morning, No Quit faced the fellow undefeated winners of Flight A, the Racket Scientists, of Rosemont, Minn. In the National Championship match of the Open Division, No Quit got the better of the Racket Scientists, 35-12, under the leadership of captain Frideric Prandecki.
RESULTS FROM THE 2019 WTT REC LEAGUE NATIONAL QUALIFIER
Palm Desert, Calif. November 1-3, 2019
3.0 DIVISION
Dracula posts a 5-0 record to win the 3.0 Division championship.
1) Dracula (finished with a 5-0 round robin record)
Non-playing Captain – Gabriel Ghita
Team members – Doina Sava, Istvan Godri Martis, Jeff Jamaleldine, Monica Ghita, Radu Siminiceanu, Valentina Robila
2) Serve Me a Double (finished with a 3-2 round robin record)
Captain – Garret Snyder
3) Serve Aces & Limes (finished with a 3-2 round robin record)
Captain – Mary Beth Butler
4) Raffa Addicted2Tennis (finished with a 3-2 round robin record)
Captain – Jo-Anne Raffa
5) Hamma (finished with a 1-4 round robin record)
Captain – Mark Cohlmia
6) Racket Scientists (finished with a 0-5 round robin record)
Captain – Caroline Irish
3.5 DIVISION
Shanks-A-Lot posts a 5-0 record to win the 3.5 Division championship.
1) Shanks-A-Lot (finished with a 5-0 round robin record)
Captain – Lauren Finke
Team Members – Douglas Pang, Emily Hang, Gloria Nuguid, Jimmy Yang, Peter Horton, Shih-Ching Wang
2) Double Shots (finished with a 4-1 round robin record)
Captain – Carlos Rivas
3) HTCDRIP (finished with a 3-2 round robin record)
Captain – Cody Crouch
4) AYTC 3.5 Louie (finished with a 2-3 round robin record)
Captain – Monica Louie
5) Overserved (finished with a 1-4 round robin record)
Captain – Lee Ann Werner
6) Between the Lines (finished with a 0-5 round robin record)
Captain – Richard Gottfried
4.0 DIVISION
Heart Shakers posts a 5-0 record to win the 4.0 Division championship.
1) Heart Shakers (finished with a 5-0 round robin record)
Captain – Sophie Lam
Team Members – Andrew Nguyen, Carleton Fong, Gordon Hong, Jonathan Mak, Lena Loha, Marvin Huynh, Rylie Borje, Sophie Lam, Tricia Guinto, John Mano
2) Boot Camp (finished with a 3-2 round robin record)
Captain – Frank Tran
3) HR Nightmare (finished with a 3-2 round robin record)
Captain – Liza Dickson
4) Zaldivar (finished with a 2-3 round robin record)
Captain – Hazel Zaldivar
5) Iowa-Dorable-Downright Smashing (finished with a 2-3 round robin record)
Captain – Willow Bauer
6) The Juice (finished with a 0-5 round robin record)
Captain – Christopher Jones
4.5 DIVISION
Play2Nguyen posts a 5-0 record to win the 4.5 Division championship.
1) Play2Nguyen (finished with a 5-0 round robin record)
Non-playing Captain – Scott Nguyen
Team Members – Anhtu Hoang, Candice Canley, Chan Han, Chiaki Yoshikawa, Damien David, Michelle Nguyen, Nanami Akatsuka, Thong Nguyen
2) Ratchet Racqueteers (finished with a 4-1 round robin record)
Captain – Priscilla Martinez
3) KC Mariachi (finished with a 2-3 round robin record)
Captain – Kristin Desai
4) Jushters (finished with a 2-3 round robin record)
Captain – Kathryn Taylor
5) Team Gus Gus (finished with a 1-4 round robin record)
Captain – Michael Amico
6) Magic Show (finished with a 1-4 round robin record)
Captain – Scott Hanover
SENIOR 3.5 DIVISION
808 Tennis of Honolulu, Hawaii, defeated the Topspin Lobers, of Silver Spring, MD., 31-24 to win the Senior 3.5 Division title.
1) 808 Tennis (posted a 3-0 round robin record to advance to the Finals where it defeated Topspin Lobers for the title)
Captain – Guy Okazaki
Team Members – Kathy Kaneshige, Kyle Tom, Mark Tsuyemura, Melissa Agena, Shari Okazaki, Stuart Leong
2) Topspin Lobers (posted a 3-0 round robin record to advance to the final where it was defeated by 808 Tennis)
Non-playing Captain – Tony Papel
3) Miami Babes & Boomers (finished third with a win over Hershey Krush)
Non-playing Captain – Peter Roscia
4) Hershey Krush (finished fourth, losing to Miami Babes & Boomers in the 3rd place match)
Captain – Randy King
5) SET2WIN (finished fifth with a win over Strings & Swings)
Captain – Sam Shouldis
6) Strings & Swings (finished sixth, losing to SET2WIN in the fifth-place match)
Captain – Rebecca Hartfield
7) The Ace Gang (finished seventh with a win over Senior Grapes)
Captain – Dwight Liu
8) Senior Grapes (finished eighth, losing to The Ace Gang in the seventh-place match)
Captain – Laura Bailey
SENIOR 4.0 DIVISION
Dream Team, of Long Beach, Calif., defeated The Older I Get, the Better I Was, of La Mesa, Calif., 34-21 to win the Senior 4.0 Division title.
1) Dream Team (posted a 3-0 round robin record to advance to the Finals where it defeated The Older I Get, the Better I Was for the title)
Captain – Yumiko Tokiwa
Team Members – Cindi Juncal, David Thompson, Kathy Zepeda, Rudy Alvarado, Steve Eperthener, Terumi Barrett, Tim Rusch, Tim Ching, Yumi Yamamoto
2) The Older I Get, the Better I Was (posted a 3-0 round robin record to advance to the Finals where it was defeated by Dream Team)
Captain – Steven Kavy
3) Cinnamon Fire (finished third after a win over Bring It!)
Captain – Al Alagata
4) Bring It! (finished fourth after losing to Cinnamon Fire in the third-place match)
Captain – Gail Scott
5) Happy Feet Plus (finished fifth after a win over Intrepids Senior)
Captain – Dirk Heider
6) Intrepids Senior (finished sixth after losing to Happy Feet Plus in the fifth-place match)
Non-playing Captain – Norflett Harris
7) Dolly’s Crew (finished seventh with a win over Wake Forest Hill Toppers)
Captain – Sharon Taysi
8) Wake Forest Hill Toppers (finished eighth after losing to Dolly’s Crew in the seventh-place match)
Captain – Kathy Demase
SENIOR 4.5 DIVISION
Magic Show posts a 5-0 record to win the Senior 4.5 Division title.
1) Magic Show Senior (finished with a 5-0 round robin record)
Captain – Scott Hanover
Team Members – David Marks, Jeff Ganaden, Jill Waldman, Kris Chatrathi, Lorie Zacharias-Verdi, Valerie Marks
2) Cinnamon Fire (finished with a 4-1 round robin record)
Captain – Al Alagata
3) Evergreen (finished with a 3-2 round robin record)
Captain – Yoko Kokabu
4) Topspin Whiskey (finished with a 2-3 round robin record)
Captain – Kim Hackworth
5) Roadrunners (finished with a 1-4 round robin record)
Captain – Romela Carman
6) Early Bird Specials (finished with an 0-5 round robin record)
Captain – Jeffrey Madia
SUPER SENIOR 3.5 DIVISION
Miami Heater’s of Hialeah, Fla., posts a 5-0 record to win the Super Senior 3.5 Division title.
1) Miami Heater’s (finished with a 5-0 round robin record)
Non-playing Captain – Peter Roscia
Team Members – Ana V. Pierce, Carlos Serrano, Deborah Ellis, Lavenia Ferguson, Madatali Panjwani, Michael Pradhan, Noordin Lalani, Rajni Agarwal
2) Intrepids SS (fished with a 4-1 round robin record)
Captain – Norflett Harris
3) Play Like a Champion (finished with a 3-2 round robin record)
Captain – Jeff Greenwald
4) Just For Fun (finished with a 2-3 round robin record)
Captain – Mike Hasan
5) Vegas Poachers (finished with a 1-4 round robin record)
Captain – Minette Curnutt
6) Game of Groans (finished with an 0-5 round robin record)
Non-playing Captain – Sam Shouldis
SUPER SENIOR 4.0 DIVISION
For the Love of Greg, of Marina del Rey, Calif., posts a 5-0 record to win the Super Senior 4.0 national title.
1) For the Love of Greg (finished with a 5-0 round robin record)
Captain – Robert Rudelius
Team Members – CarlosDunkerley, Donna Leventhal, Eric Schaefer, Jady Vonderlieth, Michael Rapkin, Michael Walker, Nancy Closson, Sherith Lewis, Suzy Nyhus
2) Early Bird Special (finished with a 4-1 round robin record)
Captain – Ann Kavy
3) Diehards (finished with 3-2 round robin record)
Captain – Liz Wood
4) High Rollers (finished with 2-3 round robin record)
Captain – Larry Anspach
5) LOV2PLA (finished with a 1-4 round robin record)
Captain – Doug Atkins
6) Icy Hots (finished with a 0-5 round robin record)
Captain – John Shaw
OPEN DIVISION
No Quit, of Las Vegas, Nev., defeated Racket Scientists, of Rosemont, Minn., 35-12 to win the Open Division championship.
1) No Quit (posted a 3-0 round robin record to advance to the finals where it defeated Racket Scientists to win the title)
Captain – Frederic Prandecki
Team Members -Ashley Prandecki, James McGee, Kimberly Yee
2) Racket Scientists (posted a 3-0 round robin record to advance to the finals where it was defeated by No Quit)
Captain – Chris Kuna
3) Body Shots (finished third after a win over Bob Loblaw)
Captain – Michael Amico
4) Bob Loblaw (finished fourth after being defeated by Body Shots in the third-place match)
Captain – Timothy Chang
5) Vegas Rollers (finished fifth after a win over Dream Team)
Captain – Jeff Ng
6) Dream Team (finished sixth after being defeated by Vegas Rollers in the fifth-place match)
Captain – Laurent Dropsy
7) Cattail Crocs (finished seventh after a win over Where We Eating Tonight?)
Captain – Chris Cozzillio
8) Where We Eating Tonight? (finished eighth after being defeated by Cattail Crocs in the seventh-place match)
Captain – Tina Mortensen
2019 World TeamTennis Nationals Photos
