A Ladera Oaks women’s senior tennis team recently won the senior sectional title and will go on to the U.S. Tennis Association senior league national championships at Indian Wells, California, in October.
The team is made up of players, age 50 and over, from Menlo Park, Atherton and Portola Valley. It is coached by Ray Bilsey and Bobby Fenton at Ladera Oaks Swim and Tennis Club in Portola Valley.
“Many of the team members have been playing together for over 10 years,” says team member Leigh Flesher. “This season was especially gratifying as we started the season with four straight losses.”
The team then went on to win the local league (made up of such teams as Sharon Heights Country Club, Alpine Hills Swim and Tennis Club, and Foothills Tennis and Swim Club); the district tournament in Sacramento in April; and the sectional tournament, held May 16-18 in Walnut Creek.
“We think this may be the first time any Ladera Oaks team has qualified for the national tournament, so needless to say we are very excited,” says Flesher in an e-mail.
At the Walnut Creek tournament, the Ladera Oaks team won the section championship at the 4.0 level, based on a National Tennis Rating Program system that ranges from 2.5 for beginners to 5.0 for advanced.
Team caption is Carolyn Peters. Co-captain is Martha Bacon. Team members include Heather Abbis, Elizabeth Bellock, Diane Brandt, Laurie Burmeister, Ursula Cooney, Elizabeth Dixon, Charmaine Eliason, Leigh Flesher, Enid Greenfield, Nanci Kauffman, Kay Melchor, Nancy Paxton, Laurie Rose, Nancy Sallaberry, Nancy Serrurier and Cece Waters.
The USTA recreational league program involves 625,000 players nationally and about 50,000 in Northern California, according to USTA.
