RICHMOND'S
BEST PLAYERS HEADING TO NATIONALS
9/17/06Richmond's top USA League
5.0 Level teams will be
traveling to Palm Springs, CA to compete in the
2006 USTA National Championships on Friday, September 30th thru Sunday, October 2nd. For
the 5.0 Women, team members are: Martha
Condyles (CCV), Alicia Wise, Sharon Johnson
(Dominion Club), Mary Davis (Burkwood) , Leslie Butterworth
(Burkwood) and Katherine Carnohan (Burkwood). Ginny Wortham
qualified but is currently playing for Washington and Lee and won't be
making the trip. None of the
women have been
to 5.0 nationals before, said Captain Martha
Condyles, but the players have lots of
experience competing together. Martha and Alicia played at the
2003 4.5 nationals and 5.5 nationals
last year. Mary Davis and Martha have been
to some national tournaments together. Maria
Sorkin and Leslie Butterworth are good friends
who have been teammates for years. This is
Martha's first year as Captain. "I
love it, because I get to make everyone run laps
if they are late to team practice," she
said. "And I get the best hotel
room."
The format for
women's 5.0 level play is one singles and two doubles per match. The
women will play their first match on Friday morning at 7:30 am.
For the 5.0 Men,
the Raintree team members are: Matt Campbell, Eddie Parker,
Eric Cofer, John Snead, Phil Thacker, Kevin Reichert, and Jim
Stiff. Two years ago, Eddie, Eric and Matt played on the
Raintree team that advanced to the 5.0 National
Championships. "It
will be nice to have a 5.0 women's team from Richmond
there," said Captain Matt Campbell. "We can
have someone to root for. Last time we were there, the
Mid-Atlantic Section did not send a women's team." Matt
has been captain of the team for 2 years now and enjoys
it. "The biggest reason I keep doing it is because
I have great teammates who are very easy to work with." The
format for the men is 4 round robin groups of 4 teams. Each
team plays two matches on Friday and one on Saturday. The
winner of each round robin group advances to the semifinals on
Sunday. The men play the Southwest Section, the Northern
Section and the Eastern Section. (in that order) "While
we certainly will have a tall order to fill there, we plan to
bust our butts to try and win," said Matt.
"Regardless, we will absolutely, positively have a good
time while we're there. We might even find ourselves in
a casino at some point." Place
your bets now on these awesome Richmond teams!
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