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Pacific Northwest tennis team from Tri-Cities takes 4th in nation If you were going to point out tennis hotbeds on a map of the United States, your finger probably would stray a little farther south than the Tri-Cities. That's what makes it so remarkable that a team made up of players from in and around the Tri-Cities finished fourth in a national USTA tournament last weekend in San Diego. Representing the Pacific Northwest section, the Tri-Cities contingent beat the Midwest, Caribbean and Intermountain sections to advance to the semifinals. Once there, they lost 3-2 to a Mid-Atlantic team in a tiebreaker and 3-2 to Eastern in a tiebreaker to finish fourth. The tournament featured 11-man teams ranked 4.5, just underneath the 5.0 ranking which is the highest for amateur players. "We had a very interesting mix of players," said captain Jeff Petersen. "We have everything from scientists to writers, to teaching professionals and even an airplane pilot." The players are from all three of the Tri-Cities, Walla Walla, Zillah and Seattle. Besides Petersen, the team included Angus Bampton, Mark Blum, Dan Connell, Ted Cummings, Michel Dupuis, Todd Erickson, Bob Lagonegro, Max Mehren, Mark Villegas and Steve Wallenfels. Two things that made the high finish even more remarkable was that the Tri-City team features several players older than what might normally be considered a player's prime and that they were competing against many just out of college. "We had a longer list of injuries than most teams," Petersen said. "Our strategy was to go with our strongest singles players in each match and then go with established doubles teams." Each match consists of two singles matches and three doubles matches. Since all the matches are played about the same time, no one can play both singles and doubles, making eight of the 11 players active in every match. "This is a very special group," Petersen said. "We had the opportunity to win every match." In the semifinal match against Mid-Atlantic, the score was tied 2-2 with the final match locked in a super tiebreaker, which is won by the first team or player to 10 and ahead by two points. The Tri-City team was up 6-3 in that final doubles match but eventually lost 10-6. Of course, they won some close ones, too. Tied 2-2 with the Midwest, Wallenfels was down 7-3 in a tiebreaker to decide the match. As all his teammates gathered to watch, Wallenfels dived to make a spectacular save in what turned out to be a 12-10 win. Seventeen regions of the country were represented and a team from Southern California won. While it's not too surprising that you would find a few top players who live and work here, it is surprising that there are so many. "Most of the guys on our team have played with and against each other for 20 years," Erickson said. "It's remarkable that teams from this little region have been to the national tournament three times in the last 10 years. To do that we have to beat teams from Seattle and Portland, and that's a pretty significant accomplishment." By finishing fourth, each team member received a pewter plate and a banner to hang at Tri-City Court Club, which helped sponsor the trip south. "It's funny that you play years and years of competitive tennis to get a pewter plate," Erickson laughed. "You have to be an athlete to understand why you'd do it." Petersen, who along with Cummings and Erickson was playing in his third national tournament, said this may have been his best experience. "The USTA puts on a great event," Petersen said. "The chance to play in a national tournament is why you play in all those league events. It's always special participating in a national tournament. Making it to the final four takes it up to another level." | ||||||||||
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