Overland Park team captures USTA tennis national title

Overland Park is home to a national-champion tennis team.

The 13-woman team captured the national title during the United States Tennis Association League Adult 18-and-Over 4.0 National Championships.

The tournament took place Oct. 13-15 at the Surprise Tennis and Racquet Complex in Surprise, Ariz.

The Overland Park team, representing the USTA Missouri Valley Section, defeated a team from Stow, Ohio, 4-1 in the championship match.

Earlier in the tournament, the Kansans defeated a team from Englewood, Colo., 4-1 in the semifinals.

They advanced to the semifinals by winning their round-robin flight, which was contested during the tournament’s first two days.

The winning team is captained by Romy Carlson and also included Lara Maple, Cynthia Kuhlman, Katherine Carttar, Lindsey Seifert, Molly Mitchell Danciger, Kathy Ward, Caprice Stapley, Becky Mehrmann, Valerie Holmes, Kaitlin Bolton, Christy Leslie, and Marcia Jacelone.

The team plays at the Genesis Health Club.

Established in 1980, USTA League has grown from 13,000 participants in its first year to more than 915,000 players across the nation today, making it the world’s largest recreational tennis league.

The USTA League was established to provide adult recreational tennis players throughout the country with the opportunity to compete against players of similar ability levels.

Players participate on teams using a league format, which is administered by the USTA through its 17 Sections.

The league groups players by using six National Tennis Rating Program (NTRP) levels, ranging from 2.5 (entry) to 5.0 (advanced).

The USTA League is open to any USTA members 18 or older.

The 2017 USTA League season will be the fifth season with the updated structure and format, which offers four age categories (Adult 18 and Over, Adult 40 and Over and Adult 55 and Over and Mixed 18 and Over) to better align participants with players their own age.

The Mixed 40 and Over division also celebrated its fourth anniversary, a restructuring that guarantees more frequency-of-play opportunities at more appropriate age groups.

This story was originally published October 30, 2017 at 3:03 PM with the headline "Overland Park team captures USTA tennis national title."