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STAMFORD, Conn. A Stamford women's tennis team is going to Nationals. Love 50, a senior women's 3.5 USTA team based out of Shippan Racquet Club, won the New England Sectional Championships last month at Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Mass. They defeated fellow Shippan Racquet Club team No Excuses by 2-1 in the championship final, prevailing on the deciding court by 10-5 in a match tiebreaker that was used instead of a third set.
"A couple of players on our team have gone to Nationals, but this is the first time for most of us," said team captain Susan McClive. "We were shocked and so excited. Everyone said afterward that this is an experience we will take with us for the rest of our lives."
The team played 12 matches against four other local teams from October to April, ending the season with more wins than any other team. It then participated in playoffs, in which the top four teams in Southern Connecticut competed for two spots at the Sectional Championships. Love 50 won eight out of nine courts (two out of three matches) at that event, securing the top spot to represent Southern Connecticut.
Although Love 50 has been together for three years, this is the first time that it had qualified for the New England Sectional Championships. "I had never even been to a sectionals event before and had always wanted to go," said McClive. "It was so exciting because these were the best teams throughout New England, and they were all tough. All of us thought it was really good tennis."
McClive cited bringing a team of 12 members to sectionals, more players than many of the teams, with helping Love 50 get to Nationals. "All of our matches were indoors this year, but these were held outdoors and in very hot conditions," said McClive. "We needed fresh legs."
The 3.5 Senior Women's Tennis Championships will be held in October in Indian Wells, Calif. Shippan Racquet Club may soon have its own national champions. "We wish the Love 50 USTA senior women's tennis team all the luck in the world in their attempt to bring home the national trophy this October," said Barbara Cavaliere, manager of Shippan Racquet Club.
Photo: From left to right: Mona Wedell, Jan Woglom, Elaine Potash, Marylou McCabe, Betsy Monrad-Shuman, Susan McClive (captain), Martha Flanagan, Stephanie Packard, Evelyn Hagenow, Beth Eiseman, Beth Pearce and Margot Turk.
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