Two more team titles were won on Sunday at the USTA National Campus as the 2019 USTA League National Mixed 18 & Over 7.0/9.0 Championships concluded. For the 7.0 division, the representatives of the Florida Section (City of Oakland Park), a squad very familiar to success on the courts of the National Campus, prevailed. On the 9.0 side, Northern California (St. Ignatius College Prep – San Francisco) dominated the day en route to earning the national crown.

As anticipated, both 7.0 semifinals were highly-competitive and came down to just a few points, with Florida and Southern (Burns Park Tennis – Little Rock, Ark.) coming through by a 2-1 margin.

In Florida’s clash with Northern (Bearpath Golf and Country Club – Eden Prairie, Minn.), all three duos which went on to win took the opening frame only to see the contest pushed to a match tiebreak. Marcus Pfenninger and Jenna Painter looked in cruise control for Florida at the top spot, only to have to battle their way across the finish line in a 6-2, 5-7, 1-0 final score. Northern’s Allyson Wolff and Nicholas Mihalyi responded with a 6-4, 3-6, 1-0 victory at the third spot. However, it would by Anthony Phillips and Natasha Torres coming in clutch for the Sunshine State squad, coming out on top in an extremely tight 7-6, 5-7, 1-0 matchup.

Hawaii (Independent – Oahu) could not take down Southern despite Chase Kutara and Kellie Ko turning in the lone straight-set victory in the semifinals with a 6-0, 6-4 effort on court three. That put the pressure on the two remaining Southern pairs, especially after they both saw a set lead slip away. The tandem of Caleb Taylor and Yun Young hung on to claim line one 6-1, 3-6, 1-0. At the second position, Terry Ames and Andrea Sellew shook off the disappointment of not closing out the contest in two sets to prevail 6-2, 5-7, 1-0.

With the national title on the line, it was the crew from Florida who delivered. Phillips and Torres were put on court one this time, breezing through the matchup for a 6-2, 6-2 victory. Southern dug in at the other two spot, but ultimately it would not be enough. Michael Stites and Frances Cubano would do the honors of clinching the win, taking the opening frame 6-2 on court two before grabbing the second in a tiebreak. As the dual had been clinched, Southern’s Rick O’Keefe and Andrea Sellew were awarded court three via retirement to set the final margin at 2-1 for Florida.

Captain Kevin Sims’ full roster includes Sue Mitchell-Greig, Chuck Greig, Stites, Pfenninger, Loren Levine, Stuart Flanzer, Eliu Montero, Cubano, Painter, Eduardo Noriega, Patricia Vegas, Phillips, Brandon Cox, Marie Ferrigno, Torres, Maria Lanza, Armando Orozzco, and Rene Elvir.

While the 7.0 semifinals came down to a handful of points, the 9.0 semifinals were on the other end of the spectrum, as they ended in sweeps in favor of Northern California and Pacific Northwest (Robinswood Tennis Center – Bellevue, Wash.).

After just barely qualifying for the semifinals, Pacific Northwest made the most of it by upsetting top seed Mid-Atlantic (Independent – Northern Va.) claiming the momentum early by winning first sets on courts two and three. Spencer Watanabe and Candice Canley would close out their match at line two 6-3, 6-2; teammates Kelvin Yuchen and Tamra Godfrey stayed in control of line three for a 6-4, 6-4 victory. The sweep was finished off thanks to Timothy Carlson and Karolina Simons rallying back at the top spot 1-6, 7-6, 1-0.

Northern California was even more comprehensive in sweeping aside Northern (Life Time Athletic – White Bear Lake, Minn.). At the first and third positions combined, the duos from Northern California dropped a combined eight games, as Nelson and Emily Chen took court one 6-2, 6-3 while Sean Dizon and Juila Pinces raced through line three 6-1, 6-2. It wasn’t as easy for Jeremy Lichtmacher and Justine Liberato Lim, but they also managed to win 6-4, 6-7, 1-0 at the second spot.

It was a similar story for the crew from San Francisco in the championship tilt, as they put the same three tandems back out on court for another sweep. This time Nelson and Emily Chen played line three, where they again overpowered their opponents for a 6-2, 6-1 score line. Competing on court two was Dizon and Pinces, who were challenged far more this go around, but still proved to be too tough in a 7-5, 6-1 victory. Finally, Lichtmacher and Liberato Lim moved up to the top spot, where they once again were locked in a back-and-forth match before claiming it 6-3, 4-6, 1-0.

Captained by Tiffany Lam, the Northern California squad is made up of Marissa Friedman, Lichtmacher, Leslie Chan, Edwin Zhang, Emily Chen, Pooja Ganesh, Vannessa Lum, Liberato Lim, Tina Desai, Danny Ballesteros, Hiroko Kasuya Roseman, Stephen Noel, Liza Geary, Kristen Wong, Nelson Chen, Soren Zeliger, Jason Park, Pinces, Dizon, Kevin Wong, Jeffrey Curtiss, Edward Grafilo, Shelli Skinner, Craig Sugiyama, and Jonas Satuito.

In the third-place playoffs, Hawaii defeated Northern for third-place in the 7.0 competition while Mid-Atlantic bested Northern two courts to one to place third on the 9.0 side.

Complete results from the 7.0 competition can be found here, while all details from the 9.0 division can be viewed here.