Rancho Mirage Women Earn Senior Nat'l Title at Indian Wells Tennis Garden

The women's tennis team from Rancho Mirage, Calif., representing the USTA Southern California Section, captured the national title at the USTA League 4.0 Senior National Championships on Sunday in Indian Wells, an event spokesman said.

The Rancho Mirage team is captained by Lori Romania and features Deborah Nuffer, Manuela Andrews, Karen Bell, Deanna Ruth Abend, Nancy Portolesi, Terry Cornett, Mutsuko Komuro, Carolyn Roberts, Lisa McIntosh, Cheryl Evans, a spokesman said. They're based at the Mission Hills Country Club.

The USTA League 4.0 Senior National Championships were held at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, 78200 Miles Avenue, Indian Wells.

The Rancho Mirage team defeated a team from Fort Smith, Ark., 2-1 in the Championship match on Sunday, a spokesman said.

"Earlier in the day, the Rancho Mirage team defeated a team from St. Louis, Mo., 3-0 in the semifinals," a U.S. Tennis Association statement said. "They advanced this far by winning their round-robin flight on Friday and Saturday."

The top four teams in order of finish for the national championships were: Southern California, Southern, Missouri Valley and Middle States.

This year's USTA League 4.0 Senior National Championship drew the top 34 teams - 17 men's and 17 women's - from across the United States, according to the USTA.

This year is the 32nd anniversary of USTA League. Since its inception in 1980, it has grown from 13,000 participants to more than 835,000 players across the nation today, making it the world's largest recreational tennis league, according to the USTA.

The USTA League was established to provide adult recreational tennis players throughout the country with the opportunity to compete against players of similar ability levels.

For more information about USTA League or the USTA as a whole, visit www.usta.com.

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