#TeamSoCal takes home five titles at USTA League National Championships

From winning League Sectionals at home to competing on the National stage, the USTA League season has come to an end, marking a banner year for #TeamSoCal in national competition across the country. In total, thirty-six Southern California League teams competed among almost 600 League teams at various events across five cities, each seeking a USTA League National Championship. Among those teams, we are proud to celebrate five teams that earned national titles, and many more who finished among the nation’s best this fall.

The Adult 40 & Over Women’s 3.5 team from Los Angeles was the first Southern California team to capture a national title at this year’s USTA League National Championships in Scottsdale. The final came down to an all too familiar SoCal vs. NorCal battle, when Joanna Morley swept the singles against Kirsten Treais, winning in straight sets. Stacy Sarner & Megan Colligan followed with another straight sets win in doubles to capture the title for SoCal.

Captained by Milinda McNeely with co-captain Nora Suk, the roster included Mary Woodward, Diana Nyad, Gayle Byrne, Denise Gocke, Hilary Dubin, Mylene Moreno, Joanna Morley, Karen Chou, Jennifer Foley, Debora Vrana, Megan Colligan, Kelly Hatosy, Dana Reinisch, Kate Angelo, Thalia Gelbard, and Lauren Fritzinger. The team plays out of the Los Angeles Tennis Center.

The Adult 55 & Over Men’s 7.0 team from San Gabriel Valley — dubbed the “Amazing Santa Anita” — claimed the second national title for #TeamSoCal at the National Campus in Orlando. Captain Andy Chang, who previously captained a 55 & Over Men’s 8.0 team known as the “Seabiscuits” to a national title, used that experience to his advantage with this year’s 7.0 entry. On the final day of competition, SoCal swept their first set of matches against Southern, winning all 6 sets. In the final against Texas, Victor Ho and Alexander Sun competed in an intense victory ending in a third set tie-break, James Min and Don Kim finished their doubles match in a straight sets win – overall, the team won 24 of 26 sets the entire weekend and another national title for the Captain.

Captained by Andy Chang with co-captain Victor Ho, the roster included Donald Ye, Ying Du, Liang tai Chen, James Min, Michael Wu, David Hansen, Gerald Hernandez, Rickey Jones, Matthew Yeh, Katsuo Togawa, Don Kim, Alexander Sun, Benjamin Wang, Terrance Chan, Chih Hao Pan, and Guang Chun Li. The team plays out of iTennis Arcadia in Arcadia. 

The weekend of October 14-16 was dominated by San Gabriel Valley players, as the Adult 18 & Over Women’s 4.0 team took home the national title in Surprise, just after San Gabriel’s Adult 55 & Over Men’s 7.0 team was crowned top of their division earlier in the day.

After proving to be a powerhouse against a team from Hawaii in the morning, winning all five matches in straight sets, the team from Whittier Narrows Tennis Center in El Monte took on a team from Mid-Atlantic where they also had a clean sweep in all five matches to secure the national title. Then, for the second year in a row, Southern California claimed the Adult 55s thanks to team “Skyline,” another Whittier Narrows squad.  Skyline defeated a team from Mid-Atlantic in the semis to advance to the championship finals against Southern, where they won all three matches to bring home the top title.

Captained by Colin Tang with co-captain Laurie Manley, the 18 & Over roster included Beverly Martin, Lauren Nicole Finke, Marites Killion, Alexandra Pichugina, Hatty Yip, Khin Aye, Lan Chao, Carol Choy, Kristen Lee, Judy Su, Bu kum Kim, Trisha Rickard, Stella Ko, Loretta Peng, Brittany Whyte, Hatien Nguyen, Lauren Woodward, Mina Okamoto, Jane Wang, Jasmine Dai, Kianna Gueco, and Katherine Wu. 

The Skyline 55s, captained by Brian Chan, also included Daniel Riekes, Sony Soegiarto, Jim Black, Xiaojun Liu, David Johnson, Jerry Waliry, Chih Hao Pan, Ivan Salazar, Carlo Bautista, Brian Newhall, and Edgardo Cuellar. 

San Gabriel Valley was on a roll this year with the help from captain Colin Tang in the Mixed 18 & Over 8.0 division. The “Wild Cards” squad claimed the fourth League championship for San Gabriel Valley and the fifth overall for SoCal during Halloween weekend in Orlando. The Wild Cards won all three of their matches against a team from the Caribbean section to claim victory. Colin Tang and Laurie Manley dominated their doubles match while Katherine Wu and Eugene Shin secured their victory, followed by a triumphant Edward Choi and Lauren Nicole Finke came back strong straight set win.

Captained by Colin Tang, the roster included several of the Adult 18 & Over Women’s 4.0 team who won the national title the week prior — Laurie Manley, Khin Aye, Lauren Nicole Finke, Hatty Yip, and Katherine Wu, along with Haruka Fukudome, Yan Du, Ping Chen, Edward Choi, Tuan Nguyen, Chung Yuem, and Anthony Lim. The team plays out of iTennis Arcadia in Arcadia. 

Teams placing in the top five of their respective divisions included:

• Women’s 3.5 – San Gabriel Valley – Captained by Byron Leung and Tina Kim – 2nd place
• Men’s 3.5 – San Gabriel Valley – Captained by Thai Nguyen – 4th place 
• Women’s 4.0 – San Gabriel Valley – Captained by Colin Tang – NATIONAL CHAMPIONS
• Men’s 4.0 – Orange County – Captained by Mathew Gonzales – 3rd place

• Women’s 3.5 – Los Angeles – Captained by Milinda McNeely – NATIONAL CHAMPIONS
• Women’s 4.5 – San Diego – Captained by Brianna Sullivan – 4th place
• Men’s 4.5 – Orange County – Captained by Jeff Deng – 2nd place

• Women’s 7.0 – Ventura – Captained by Beth Benton; Co-Captain Liat Ciardi – 5th place
• Men’s 7.0 – San Gabriel Valley – Captained by Andy Chang – NATIONAL CHAMPIONS
• Men’s 8.0 – San Gabriel Valley – Captained by Brian Chan – NATIONAL CHAMPIONS
• Women’s 9.0 – Orange County – Captained by Vicky Blanco – 4th place

• Mixed 6.0 – San Gabriel Valley – Captained by Maribeth Rodriguez – 4th place
• Mixed 7.0 – Los Angeles – Captained by Brandon Joe – 2nd place
• Mixed 8.0 – San Gabriel Valley – Captained by Colin Tang – NATIONAL CHAMPIONS
• Mixed 9.0 – Orange County – Captained by Francisco Nguyen – 2nd place
• Mixed 10.0 – San Diego – Captained by Deborah Lee – 3rd place

• Mixed 7.0 – San Gabriel Valley – Captained by Colin Tang – 3rd place
• Mixed 8.0 – San Diego North County – Captained by Mark Warren – 3rd place

Various divisions, including Adult 65 & Over, will compete early in 2023 to finish the Fall championship calendar.

• Women’s 6.0 – Ventura – Captained by Cynthia Clark
• Women’s 7.0 – San Diego – Captained by Barbara Hobbie
• Men’s 7.0 – Inland Empire – Captained by Don Hoak
• Women’s 8.0 – Orange County – Captained by Randi Reznik
• Men’s 8.0 – Central Coast – Captained by Steve Lakowske

Take a look at the different SoCal teams who represented our section nationally this league season and see the full results from the 2022 championships.