DATES: Feb 26-March 3, 2024
LOCATION: Houston, TX
DIVISIONS: Level 1, 35-90

It’s been another wonderful year at the NSWCCC in Houston where NWTO was a Grand Slam sponsor. We want to thank our membership for attending our Annual Meeting held during the event and for the feedback we received. Our thanks extends to the amazing Houston Racquet Club and their staff and volunteers. Mindy Voyles and Jessica Womack stepped up to help with the event, and we appreciate Sue Bramlette for all that she continues to do. She and her husband Bob also sponsored  the masseuses and stretchers who kept us physically going, as well as purchased the 4-6 place gifts, Goodr sunglasses which were a big hit. It takes a team effort, including everyone who traveled to play, and we are all part of a wonderful team. Enjoy the age-level summaries below.

35s by Bryn Auld 

We were all lucky to have Sue Bramlette return for one final year as tournament director. She did an incredible job re-formatting draws the week of the tournament due to many last minute withdrawals from injuries. Play began on a chilly Thursday for the 35s, but we managed to dodge the high winds from earlier in the week. Luckily, there also wasn't any rain all week, making match scheduling seamless.

One thing that all players can agree on, is that Houston Racquet Club never disappoints. We all ate like Queens, played on perfectly groomed courts, and had access to their spotless and well equipped locker room. I traveled to Houston with a close friend who was making her debut on the tournament scene. She was amazed by the facilities as well as the caliber of play. I was excited to introduce her to some of the ladies that I met while in Houston in prior tournaments. It seems that anyone who plays this tournament looks forward to coming back and playing again. 

My partner JoAnn and I were able to win our 3rd/4th playoff match late Saturday against the McEntee/Watts team from Raleigh after a nail biter of a match. I had a fun match in 2023 against McEntee and was pumped to be back on the court with her. We were sad to leave for the airport on Sunday morning.  There were so many incredible matches still on the court and some were about to be played. Stephanie Wallace battled it out again at Kaysie Smashey in the 35s final, and ultimately came out victorious 6-3 in the third set. We were also able to catch the first set of the 35s doubles final with Smashey/Wallace against Delgado/Tinnirillo. Smashey/Wallace persevered, albeit with tired legs, winning 6-1, 6-2. Talk about world class doubles!!

45s by Julie Thu

The 45s division in Houston was packed full of top-level talent this year. There were numerous former gold ball winners in the draw, two ITF World Doubles Champions, several collegiate All-Americans, two newcomer International players ranked top 15 in the ITF; oh, and a girl who has played in 30 grand slams and has a win on tour over SERENA! There were first round matchups that could have easily been finals matchups. What a treat to have such high-level talent in one tournament, including 16 singles players and 26 doubles teams!

You can check out the quick results below, so I’d like to highlight one of the best parts of the event, the community and bonds of players off the court. Said 45s competitor Regina Balcune of the Netherlands, ranked #2 in the ITF, “As I leave this wonderful city of Houston, I want to say a huge thank you to all of you for being so incredibly friendly and allowing me to get to know you and feel how it is to be part of this wonderful tennis community of amazing tennis players in the US. You all are such superstars and it has been a pleasure to be here.” 

Her words sum it up. The competition is great, but the best thing about our age-level events are the bonds and community formed off the court. Regina and some of the 45s girls even took time to explore the famous Houston Rodeo. YEEHAW!

55s by Teresa Merklin 

The 55 women’s division generated some of the most exciting tennis in the National Senior Women’s Clay Court Championships in Houston this year. 25 women competed for the Singles title, while the Doubles division drew 30 participants. After some windy days for the opening rounds, and a day of unseasonably cool temperatures for the semi-finals, Championship Friday was perfect tennis weather for the best tennis of the week.

Charlotte Hartsock from South Carolina took the Singles title over Monica Yanagi from Brazil 6-4, 6-2. It was a back and forth affair featuring dramatically long points and momentum switches. As it turns out, that was the mere appetizer for the Doubles finals as those same two players faced off against each other again. Yanagi partnered with Simone Vasconcellos to prevail over Hartsock and Deanna Vroman in a 7-5, 5-7, 6-4 thriller for the title. That match was also a see-saw affair with many lead changes and excellent tennis.

The Bronze ball in Singles went to Vicki Buholz who defeated Gayle Prejean 6-1, 6-3 in a match that looked closer than the final score suggested. Shelly Works took 5th in a three set win over Alice Stubbs, and Susan Boyer rolled through the back draw for a 9th place finish under the Feed-In-Consolation through the Round of 16 format.

Buholz claimed a second bronze ball on the week along with partner Lori Robertson who defeated Rainy Miller and Stina Mosvold in the doubles playoff. Fifth place went to Kristie Guszak and Wendy Cogan who won over Heather Walsh and Jennifer Beindorf. Beth Greene and Eugenia Salvo won the doubles backdraw in a walkover.

This is always a fabulous tournament due to the hospitality of the Houston Racquet Club and excellence in tournament administration, and this year was no exception.

65s by Shannon Gordon-Carney 

The wind did blow pretty consistently for the first three days and it made playing difficult but the competitiveness was alive among the singles and doubles women in the 65 age category.  Most days started with a bumpy ride on the golf carts from the parking area to the clay courts.  I was on a couple of golf cart rides where we lost a few bags to the cement but luckily no players. We did have to brace ourselves for safety to stay on the cart, especially if you ventured to the rear seat.  At the end of the day the bumps did jostle out some of the stiffness from all the play. 

The singles event followed the seeding with #1 Susan Wright playing well and defeating #2 seed Carolyn Nichols in a couple of hard fought sets. Ann Young had a great week taking out the 4th seed in the quarters and the 3rd seed in the 3/4 playoff.   

Doubles was different with the #3 Seeds Erin and Ann defeating Susan and Carolyn, the defending champions, in the semis and then handing a defeat to recent champions Pat Purcell and Carolyn Lane. Erin and Ann play aggressive serve and volley tennis and hit punishing returns and volleys. Susan and Carolyn did not leave the doubles empty handed; they took bronze this year.   

The consolation event was hotly contested with a win for Nancy Buddy in straight sets over Ann Lowry who was also in the consolation doubles final with Chris Witherspoon. The final match of the event was determined with a 12-10 win for Lowry and Witherspoon; it was a great final on Saturday to wrap up the tournament. 

75s by Carolann Castel  

It was lovely to have Sue  Bramlette at the desk one last time, taking care of all of us.

The 75 singles started out with the Mary Alice Pisani story. On the second day there was a long 3 set match against Brenda Winstead, with Mary Alice prevailing. She mixed up down the lines off both sides, angles, drop shots, and covered the court well. Next up was Brenda Carter, #2 seed, playing Mary Alice, another 3 set match, with Brenda winning 6-4 in the third.

Anne Guerrant, unseeded after a long break, was playing better than ever, with wins over Betty Wachob, Brenda Carter, and Toni Novak (#1 seed) in the finals. Anne hit deep shots, placed the balls accurately, and made very few errors. Great play by Anne Guerrant!

In the doubles, Liane Bryson and Cathy Bennett ran through the field, with a win over Betty Wachob and Brenda Carter, #2 seeds.

Another great tournament at Houston Racket Club. 

85s by Kathy Langer 

Whoever made up the adage, “You’ve still got it, Kid!” must have been talking about the ladies who played in the 85’s in Houston. Maybe we are a little bit slower, but many of us are still lethal with those drop shots, slices and nasty underhand serves. Even if we must have court monitors since maybe we forget the score occasionally… 

Among these women is a former physical therapist, a PHD Health Counselor, an artist, a couple of P.E, teachers, a former secretary in the CIA, a former model/singer, a church organist, an interior designer, and a former opera singer, who speaks 3 languages. And we all love tennis.

Lots of the “youngsters” were impressed with our play, since we kept getting comments like, “You are amazing!”

There were 10 players in singles. #2 seed, Dorothy Wasser, (Palm Beach Gardens, FL), was the Gold Ball  winner in singles, beating Sheila Palmer (La Jolla, CA), 6-4, 6-2, in the quarters, pummeling Kathy Langer (Rockwall, TX), 6-0, 6-1, in the semis, then beating her doubles partner, #1 seed, Carol Wood, (Rockville, MD), 6-3 , (Ret) in the finals, as Carol had an injury and had to quit.  

Chris Smith (Corpus Christi, TX) won the Bronze Ball, beating Kathy 6-1, 7-6.

The 5-8 playoffs found Burnette Herrick (Tarboro, NC) beating Carol Branson (Indianapolis, IN) 6-4, 6-0 and Sheila 6-2, 6-1 to take 5th place. Sheila had a tough match against Ingrid Rehwinkel (Red Bank, NJ) beating her 7-6, 6-4.  (Ingrid is great at those nasty, spinning underhand serves). Mary Ann Winden (San Antonio, TX) beat up on Mary Hays (Huntsville, AL) 6-1, 6-1 to take consolation.

And then came doubles… there were 5 teams. #1 Seeds, Dorothy and Carol got a bye and Mary Ann and Mary whipped up on Carol Branson and Jacquie VanHaelst (Waban, MA) 6-1,6-1, while Ingrid and her new partner, Chris, (Lola O’Sullivan called in sick) made almost short work of Kathy and partner Lyn Tietz (Oakbrook, IL), winning the 1st set 7-6, after Kathy and Lyn were down 4-0, then sealing the win 6-1 in the second .  

Dorothy and Carol W took out Ingrid and Chris 6-2, 6-3 in the semis, while #2 seeds Sheila and Burnett beat Mary Ann and Mary, 6-4, 6-1. The finals looked like the #1 seeds were going to run away with the match, winning the first set, 6-0, but Burnette and Sheila came roaring back to take the second, 6-4.  But the #1 seeds ended up taking the third set 6-3 to give them the Gold Balls.

Chris and Ingrid took the Bronze beating Mary Ann and Mary 6-4,6-0.  Kathy and Lyn won consolation 6-0,6-0 against Carol B and Jacquie.

Because of the generous donation by Bob Bramlette, (Tournament Director, Sue Bramlette’s husband) 4th,5th, 6th places and conso winners all received a pair of polarized sunglasses. He also paid for the massage and stretch people who worked on soothing muscles of players throughout the week.

Bob and Sue have been longtime supporters of this amazing tournament. Sue, her helpers and volunteers, the food staff, groundskeepers, all make this a special tournament that even though we might be a little slower each year, we keep coming back cuz we've still got it!

Harriett Hulbert Sportsmanship Award

Congrats to Chris Witherspoon (W65s) of Virginia who received the annual award. 

QUICK RESULTS→

🏆 W35

SINGLES:  1st Stephanie Kusano, 2nd Kaysie Smashey, 3rd Mariel Tinnirello
DOUBLES: 1st Kaysie Smashey/Stephanie Kusano Wallace, 2nd Mariel Tinnirello/Silvina Delgado, 3rd Bryn Auld/JoAnn Mokris

🏆 W45

SINGLES:  1st Julie Thu, 2nd Regina Balcune, 3rd Francesca La’O
DOUBLES: 1st Alina Jidkova/Julie Thu, 2nd Francesca La’O/Angela Hendy, 3rd Brandi Bratek/Regina Balcune

🏆 W55

SINGLES:  1st Charlotte Hartsock, 2nd Monica Yanagi, 3rd Vicki Buholz
DOUBLES: 1st Simone Vasconcellos/Monica Yanagi, 2nd Deanna Vroman/Charlotte Hartsock, 3rd Lori Robertson/Vicki Buholz

🏆 W65

SINGLES:  1st Susan Wright, 2nd Carolyn Nichols, 3rd Ann Young
DOUBLES: 1st Anne Frautschi/Erin Boynton, 2nd Patricia Purcell/Carolyn Lane, 3rd Carolyn Nichols/Susan Wright

🏆 W75

SINGLES:  1st Anne Guerrant, 2nd Toni Novak, 3rd Brenda Carter
DOUBLES: 1st Liane Bryson/Kathleen Bennett, 2nd Brenda Carter/Betty Wachob, 3rd Janet Rice/Kristen Padberg

🏆 W85

SINGLES:  1st Dorothy Wasser, 2nd Carol Wood, 3rd Chris Smith
DOUBLES: 1st Carol Wood/Dorothy Wasser, 2nd Sheila Palmer/Burnette Herrick, 3rd Ingrid Rehwinkel/Chris Smith

FULL RESULTS HERE

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