By CHRIS SHOTT Sports Editor
Life begins at 50 for some.
Four Warwick women—Carol Cavanagh, Donna Sawyer, Joan Maloney and Fran Powers—were members of the West Bay Tennis Club team of Warwick that recently competed in the 3.0 Senior Women's (ages 50 years and older) National Championships of USA League Tennis sponsored by the United States Tennis Association (USTA) and held at the Randolph Tennis Center in Tucson, Ariz.
The Rhode Island entry represented New England (the New England Tennis Association, to be more precise) and finished with a 2-1 record at the national tournament, ending second in its flight of four teams (Flight II) to Tyler, Texas. Unfortunately, that strong performance was insufficient to advance the Rhode Island squad to the semifinal round of the 16-team event, which was eventually won by Herndon, Virginia (just the four flight victors qualified for the semifinals). Only Tyler and Prescott, Ariz., escaped flight play undefeated (3-0), while Warwick posted the same mark as Herndon, Knoxville, Tenn., Petaluma, Calif. and Hernando, Fla.
Also competing in Tucson were Hilo, Hawaii (1-2), Overland Park, Kansas (1-2), Industry Hills, Calif. (1-2), St. Paul, Minn. (1-2), The Dalles, Oregon (1-2), Allentown, Penn. (1-2), Springfield, Ohio (1-2), Salt Lake City, Utah (1-2) and Huntington, NY (0-3).
Barbara Lemme of West Greenwich captained the Rhode Island contingent. Its roster featured Sally Glanz and Anne Greenleaf of Scituate; Carol Melargno of Glocester; and Karen Woodcome of Providence. In its national tourney matches, Warwick bested Industry Hills (3-0) and Huntington (2-1), but bowed to Tyler (3-0).
“It was a great experience,” Lemme said last week about the trip to Arizona during a telephone interview. “It was so nice to meet competitive players from throughout the country. We had a wonderful time and everyone was so friendly and nice.”
The Rhode Island entry, self-titled the “Senior Ritas,” was in its first year of existence, which makes its trip to the national tournament even more remarkable.
“Some of us had played together informally in the past, but we talked about forming a new team this year,” said Lemme. “We also recruited a few new members and everything worked out for us.”
The national competition in Tucson featured three sets of doubles games, with players and tandems rotating. According to Lemme, all nine Rhode Islanders played at least twice in Tucson.
In its national opener versus Industry Hills, the No. 1 doubles tandem of Cavanagh-Lemme topped Janice Hurtado-Nancy Arakawa (6-2, 6-2); the No. 2 unit of Maloney-Melargno bested Miki Watanabe-Lu Lu (6-7, 6-4, 1-0); and the No. 3 pairing of Woodcome-Glanz vanquished Antoinet Laudermilk-Donna Niederhelm (7-5, 6-1). The Rhode Island entry fell to Tyler in its next outing as No. 1 Melargno-Lemme lost to Legene Gay-Kim Yelas (6-3, 6-1); No. 2 Sawyer-Maloney fell to Paula Edwards-Rita Henderson (6-3, 6-1); and No. 3 Greenleaf-Cavanagh dropped a 6-4, 6-3 decision to Elizabeth Fisher-Claire Conrad.
Warwick bounced back to nip Huntington as No. 1 Cavanagh-Lemme outlasted Anna Palazzolo-Ann Simoni (4-6, 7-6, 1-0) and No. 23 Sawyer-Greenleaf rallied past Eleanor McKay-Yoshiko Smith (0-6, 6-4, 1-0). No. 2 Glanz-Woodcome bowed to Joan Gardner-Joyce Wertz (7-6, 6-4).
The other three flights in Tucson consisted of Knoxville, Tenn., Petaluma, Calif., Overland Park, Kansas and Allentown, Penn. in Flight I; Herndon, Hernando, Fla., St. Paul, Minn. and Springfield, Ohio in Flight III; and Prescott, Ariz., Hilo, Hawaii, The Dalles, Ore. and Salt Lake City Utah in Flight IV.
Lemme said that the unofficial team name of “Senior Ritas” was a play on words.
“We wanted something different for our name, and I thought of it one morning,” she said. “We didn't want the same name as another team. There was no particular reason for picking this name; it was just a nice fit.”
Prior to earning its trip to Arizona, West Bay captured the four-team Rhode Island USA League title before heading to Ludlow, Mass., in August, where it clinched the New England regional title. In the two-month layoff between the Massachusetts and Arizona events, the Rhode Island combine worked out regularly (“We practiced together as a team every week,” Lemme said) to keep sharp as it prepared for its trip west.
According to Lemme, the Rhode Island chapter of the USTA made a small cash contribution to the “Senior Ritas” and the West Bay Tennis Club allowed team members free use of its facilities prior to the national tourney, but most of the accrued expenses to and from Arizona were handled individually.
According to the USTA website, USA League Tennis is “the world's largest recreational tennis league“ and boasts 360,000 players in the United States alone. Players participate on teams in leagues administered by the USTA through its 17 sectional associations and those local organizations seed participants by ability on a rating scale of 2.5 (beginner) to 5.0 (advanced).
“USA League tennis is open to any USTA member age 19 and older,” said a statement on the website, and “provides players with the opportunity to improve their skills, have fun, meet other players, travel throughout the country and compete in a USTA national championship.”
This year may not have been a one-time only appearance for the “Senior Ritas.”
“If we can make it back to the nationals again next year, we'd like to go,” said Lemme. “I think everyone on our team was pleased with our results this year and would like to do it again next year.”