Three more teams left the USTA National Campus as USTA League national champions on Sunday as the 2019 National Mixed 18 & Over 6.0/8.0/10.0 Championships came to a conclusion. Those squads included Caribbean (Independent – Puerto Rico) taking first in the 6.0 division, Southern (St. Georges Independent School – Collierville, Tenn.) coming out on top in the 8.0 competition, and Eastern (Carefree Racquet & Health Club – North Merrick, N.Y.) owning the 10.0 division.

For the 6.0 semifinals, Caribbean (Independent – Puerto Rico) defeated Pacific Northwest (Sunset Athletic Club - Portland, Ore.) two courts to one while Southern (Burns Park Tennis – North Little Rock, Ark.) swept Missouri Valley (Oklahoma City Tennis Center). 

Caribbean received an easy 6-1, 6-2 victory from Antonio Pagan and Charisse Rodriguez Calderin at the top spot to go along with Victor Santiago and Anelisa Merced coming through at line two 6-4, 6-2. Pacific Northwest was awarded court three via retirement with the score standing at 5-7, 4-2. Southern grabbed lines one and two in straight sets; Will Aguilar and Kristi Cortright turned in a 6-2, 7-5 score line on court one and the duo of Michael Delozier and Adrian Howell battled for a 6-4, 6-4 win on court two. The sweep was finished off by Jason Havard and Suzy Balkman Francis hanging on 6-3, 2-6, 1-0 at line three.

In a final fitting for the two best squads in the division, Caribbean claimed two courts in a match tiebreak to clinch the national crown. Delozier and Howell seemingly put Southern in a winning position with a 6-4, 6-4 effort at line one, especially after teammates Nick Shull and Morgan Woodward took the first set on court two. However, Caribbean’s Santiago and Merced showed serious toughness in not only surviving the second frame that went to a tiebreak, but also in backing that up by winning the decisive match tiebreak. Meanwhile at the third position, Henry Carrion and Graciela Perez won the majority of the pressure points for a triumphant 6-3, 5-7, 1-0 victory.

Captained by Hector Baez-Ramos, the full Caribbean roster includes Tanis Borrero, Carrion, Pagan, Ian Camareno, Santiago, Merced, Rodriguez Calderin, Venes Molina, Corey Linen, Ines Rosas, and Perez.

Both 8.0 semifinals were decided by 2-1 margins, with top two seeds Southern (St. Georges Independent School – Collierville, Tenn.) and Texas (Memorial Park Tennis Center – Houston) moving on. Southern overcame a 6-3, 6-1 loss from the top spot  against Hawaii (Stevenson Middle School – Honolulu) by dominating courts two and three with identical 6-2, 6-2 performances; Matthew and Lauren Feury were the victors at line two while Gio Plater and Robin Barringer earned the win at line three.

For Texas, it was also the matchups at the second and third positions versus Middle States (Mt Lebanon Tennis Center – Pittsburgh) that propelled them into the championship dual. Michael Clayborne and Amy Contant controlled court two from start to finish for a 6-3, 6-1 result, which paired with Ryan Wong and Amy Cao’s 4-6, 6-4, 1-0 triumph at the third position. Middle States was given the contest on court one via retirement after the tandems split sets at 6-7, 6-4.

After lines one and three wrapped up quickly, it all came down to court two in the championship tilt between Southern and Texas. Clayborne and Contant were again a force for Texas, this time winning in the top spot 6-1, 6-2. However, Southern’s Plater and Barringer countered by taking court three 6-3, 6-3. Just as with the semifinals, the Feury duo once again produced for their squad, this time shaking off the disappointment of not closing things out in straight sets to provide the clincher 6-4, 3-6, 1-0.

Captain Kevin Jackson’s full Southern roster includes Daniel Davis, Katie Hamlin Doster, Katrina Grubb, Daniel Singer, Jennifer Carstensen, Barringer, Oakley Foy, Matthew Feury, Lauren Feury, Gio Plater, Esha Rock, and Jenny Webster.

The No. 1 and No. 2 seeds in the 10.0 division played their way into the final with 2-1 victories. Eastern (Carefree Racquet & Health Club – North Merrick, N.Y.) owned spots two and three against Texas (Oak Creek Tennis Center – Carrollton), dropping a combined 11 games in those two matches. Loic Minery and Alina Volman took the second position 6-4, 6-1 while teammates Luis Vivas Martinez and Sarah Bowen closed out court three 6-2, 6-4. 

Northern California’s (Memorial Park – Albany) defeat of Intermountain (Gates Tennis Center – Denver) was the longest and most dramatic semifinal of the day. After splitting the top two spots, all the pressure was put on the players competing at line three. The Northern California duo of Shin Kim and Trina Slapeka dropped the opening frame 6-4, and found themselves mere points away from a loss before taking the second 7-6. With it all on the line, Kim and Slapeka emerged victorious in an extended match tiebreak.

Capping off their impressive weekend of play in impressive fashion, Eastern swept aside Northern California in the final. Minery and Volman played at the top of the lineup, sprinting to the finish line for a 6-2, 6-3 result. Vivas Martinez and Bowen also moved up a slot to court two, but again proved too tough, hanging on for a 6-4, 7-5 victory. The pairing of Ben Marks and Samantha Perri ensured the championship dual sweep, coming out on top of an lenghty matchup at line three 6-4, 3-6, 1-0.

Eastern is captained by Marks and features a roster of Hali Katz, Volman, Bowen, Peter Lebedevs, Jacqueline Clark, Janine Sadaka, Antonella Karlin, Marc Weingard, Kerri Weingard, Rifat Biktyakov, Samantha Perri, Joseph Perri, Vivas Martinez, Nancy Turnblacer, and Minery.

In the third-place playoffs, Missouri Valley bested Pacific Northwest 2-1 in 6.0 action, Hawaii took all three courts in their dual with Middle States in the 8.0 division, and Texas closed out the tournament on a high note with a 3-0 victory against Intermountain in 10.0 play.

A full listing of results from the 6.0 division can be found here. To view complete details from the 8.0 division, click here. Finally, all scores for the 10.0 competition can be viewed here.