Women’s tennis team will play at nationals
— Photo from Terry Casillo
Deb O’Brien, left, and team captain Wendy Goffin, after a doubles match that was part of 40 Love’s regional win in August.
GUILDERLAND — A 40-and-over women’s tennis team with several players from Guilderland is set to compete in the United States Tennis Association league nationals in Arlington, Texas in October.
The 3.5-level team is known as 40 Love and will represent the entire eastern region of the country. The team won the northern section title in the winter, and the regional playoffs in late August.
This achievement is particularly remarkable, said team member Deb O’Brien, since 40 Love’s northern section does not usually win the regional competition. “Up here we have something like 78 women at the 3.5 level,” said O’Brien.
“When you play Long Island, for instance,” she said, “they have thousands of players at that level.”
The National Tennis Rating System defines levels on a scale from 1.0 to 7.0 with 1.0 being a player who is just starting and 7.0 being a player who makes a living from tournament prize money.
The NTRS describes a 3.5 player as one who “has achieved improved stroke dependability with directional control on moderate shots, but still lacks depth and variety. Starting to exhibit more aggressive net play, has improved court coverage and is developing teamwork in doubles.”
O’Brien, who has coached girls’ varsity and boys’ junior-varsity tennis at Guilderland High School for many years, estimated that Northern had not won the regionals since the 1990s.
Many of the women on the 40-and-over team are also traveling to Orlando, Florida the weekend before, to compete in the nationals in another age group, in the 18-and-over division. Their 18-and-over team, which also plays at the 3.5 level, shares the name 40 Love.
40 Love: This local women’s 40-and-over tennis team, including players from Guilderland, will compete in the United States Tennis Association’s league nationals in Texas in October. From left are Paula Doherty, Kathy Moran, Barb Glasser, Yunhee Lee, Lori Jancik, Katie Cuko, Pam Zentko, Deb O’Brien, Wendy Goffin (captain), Shannon Gillson, Wendi Enright, Paddi McGrinder, Sandra Marston, Jill Sullivan, and Aida Varuzza.
It is basically the same team, O’Brien said, with a younger player added. The next-youngest player on that team, O’Brien said, is 48. The team also has one player who is 62, she said.
“So Northern 3.5 women have made an impressive showing,” said O’Brien, who plays on both teams.
The other women from Guilderland are Wendy Goffin, the captain of both the 40-and-over and 18-and-over teams; Shannon Gillson and Katie Cuko, who play on both teams; and Wendi Enright, who is on the 40-and-over team only.
The other players on the team come from Niskayuna, Schenectady, Clifton Park, and Bethlehem, O’Brien said.