The Ryesing Stars, Rye Racquet Club’s 4.0 team, won the Women’s USTA Sectional Championships in Schenectady August 25, and qualified for the USTA League National Championships in Palm Springs, California, October 18-20.
The Ryesing Stars, Rye Racquet Club’s 4.0 team, won the Women’s USTA Sectional Championships in Schenectady August 25, and qualified for the USTA League National Championships in Palm Springs, California, October 18-20.
The team celebrated a series of wins this summer, beginning with the district championships (Westchester and Rockland counties) in Yonkers, where they defeated their sister team, Rye Racquet Double Shots, 4-1, and then Club Fit Briarcliff, by the same score. In the regional championships (Westchester, Rockland, and Duchess counties) in Greenburgh, Ryesing Stars beat the Lichtenberg Alley Cats, 4-1, to claim the title.
The sectional championships brought together the best teams from the USTA’s Eastern section — Southern, Northern, Long Island, New Jersey, and Western regions. But the Ryesing Stars had no difficulty besting all comers.
The team has a history of high performance in USTA competition, noted Kit Byron, Rye Racquet owner and coach, proudly. “They’ve qualified for nationals four times and were finalists in 2005.”
Co-Captain Susan Steinthal said, “We have a very strong team. The last time it came down to the last match on Sunday morning, but this time we knew we were ahead on Saturday night. It was just gravy to play on Sunday.”
The whole team is excited about the nationals and plans to practice especially hard between now and mid-October.
