Tennis teams from Nevada and California capture regional titles at WTT Rec League National Qualifier Teams advance to national finals in Indian Wells next month

IRVINE, Calif. (Oct. 2, 2006) – Recreational tennis teams from Nevada and California captured regional championship titles this weekend at the World TeamTennis Rec League National Qualifier at Heritage Park in Irvine, Calif. The Irvine tournament was the final national qualifying event of the year for the World TeamTennis Rec League presented by Advanta.  The winning teams in each division advance to the WTT National Finals next month in Indian Wells, Calif., where they will battle champions from five other qualifying events.

It took a tiebreaker to separate the teams in the 3.5 Division.  Fuzzyballs, led by captain Kevin Faber of Henderson, Nev., finished tied for first with Surf & Turf of San Diego after the round robin competition.  Fuzzyballs won the title with a better head-to-head record, having defeated Surf & Turf, 33- 27, on Saturday.  Faber’s teammates are Meredith McGuigan, Ann Santiago, Vickie Hayden, (all of Las Vegas, Nev.), and Art Petrie of Henderson, Nev.

La Jolla Beach & Tennis Club defeated Circle of Life in the Championship Finals 33-26 to win the 4.0 Division title.  Tiffany Worst of San Diego, captain of the La Jolla team, led her squad to a perfect 3-0 record in the early rounds.  La Jolla dominated Barnes Tennis Center in the semifinals, 32-20 to move onto the championship final.  Worst is joined on the La Jolla Beach & Tennis Club team by Duane DeSieno, Philippe Fuene de Colombi, Massimo Caruana, Libby Hooker (all of La Jolla) and Sherry Ittner and Tom O'Brien, both from San Diego.

Tornado’s blew through the 4.5 division field with a 3-0 record to win the title and advance to the National Finals next month.  Led by captain Mary Gunset of San Diego, Tornado’s lineup included Stepanka Hastings, David Gill, Douglas Ronney, all of San Diego), and Mary Alice Hillier of El Cajon, Calif.

In the Senior 3.5 Division, it was a two-team race between Good Vibrations and the Fresno Tennis Club.  Both teams posted a 3-1 record in the round-robin competition.  In their first meeting, Fresno Tennis Club edged Good Vibrations 29-27, and Good Vibrations returned the favor in the second round with a 28-26 victory.  Fresno Tennis Club, captained by Dave Colby of Kingsburg, Calif., won the division based on a better winning percentage, 60% to 59%.  Joining Colby on the Fresno Tennis Club squad is Pat Welshaar, Carolyn Adams (both of Fresno, Calif.), and Rod Roseling, Tom Pope, Carole Heinricks (all of Clovis, Calif.).

The top teams from the Irvine qualifier face off against the winners from qualifiers already contested in Bradenton, Fla., Las Vegas, St. Louis, Schenectady and Atlanta at the WTT National Finals, Nov. 2-5, at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in Indian Wells, Calif.

For more information on World TeamTennis or the WTT Recreational League, visit www.WTT.com or call 866-PLAY-WTT.

WTT Recreational League: WTT Recreational League programs feature year-round leagues which use the unique coed team format created in the 1970s by Billie Jean King and Larry King.  More than 435,000 tennis players of all levels compete in WTT Recreational Leagues in parks, schools, clubs and tennis facilities in more than 1,000 cities. The WTT format is a fun, fast-paced co-ed team format that encourages equal contributions from both genders. A team has a minimum of four players, two men and two women. The WTT format uses five or six no-ad sets: men’s and women’s doubles, men’s and women’s singles and one or two sets of mixed doubles.

The WTT format stands out in the tennis community with several innovative firsts for the sport including co-ed teams, cumulative and no-ad scoring, on-court coaching, Overtime and Supertiebreakers and encourages fans to cheer and support their teams throughout the matches.

Advanta is the presenting sponsor of the WTT Recreational League and the official business credit card of World TeamTennis.  Official WTT Recreational League sponsors also include Bälle de Mätch, Gatorade and Wilson Racquet Sports.  For more information on WTT, visit www.WTT.com.

Media Contact:   Rosie Crews (rcrews@wtt.com) – 817.684.0366