Mercer Moms shine at USTA National Championships

Islanders take top spot in No. 3 doubles bracket, help team to second-place finish.

By Reporter Staff • October 13, 2015 1:25 pm
The Northwest Washington AYTC Wilson women’s tennis team placed second at the USTA 2015 Adult and Over 4.0 National Championships.
The Northwest Washington AYTC Wilson women’s tennis team placed second at the USTA 2015 Adult and Over 4.0 National Championships.

Islanders Kristen Glant and Ashley Winnie helped their Northwest Washington AYTC Wilson women’s tennis team to a second-place finish at the USTA 2015 Adult and Over 4.0 National Championships. The tournament took place Oct. 2-4 in Rancho Mirage, California.

Representing the Pacific Northwest, the team lost only nine sets throughout the tournament, the second-lowest among the 17 competing teams. Participating teams represented areas ranging from the East Coast, Midwest, Alaska and Hawaii.

Glant and Winnie won their No. 3 doubles bracket, beating the Northern California duo of Elizabeth Krakow and Amy Rennert in the final 6-4, 6-3. Glant and Winnie beat Arizona’s Teri Flanagan and Kathryn Robinson 6-0, 6-4 in their opening round, and followed up with a win over Hawaii’s Lisa Barnes and Sonnie Koko 6-1, 6-4 on the second day.

Glant, a mother of four, said she’s been competing in the USTA league for years, yet this was the first time she had made an appearance in the national tournament. This year, she qualified for two national tournaments, with her AYTC Wilson 4.0 40 and Over team scheduled to compete in Palm Springs the last weekend of October.

“The odds of going to nationals in any given year are pretty slim. Making it out of the sectionals is a big deal,” Glant said. “There are 33,000 players in USTA, there are 12 members on my team, and this year, we’re number two in the nation.”

Winnie, a mother of three who also competed in her first national tournament, said the accomplishment was a goal primarily pushed by team captains Deborah Wilson and Allison Porter.

“It wasn’t something [the players] were thinking about. We just went match by match,” Winnie said. “I’ve played in a lot of different places, and the Pacific Northwest is the most competitive tennis area I’ve played in my career. It’s crazy how many teams the Pacific Northwest sends to tennis tournaments.”

Above (from left), teammates Sara Addicott and Islanders Ashley Winnie and Kristen Glant competed for the Pacific Northwest women’s team in the No. 3 doubles bracket.