Club Green Meadows has the 10th-best Junior Team Tennis squad in the nation.
The 18U team Pacific Ice from Vancouver represented the USTA Pacific Northwest Section at the 2019 USTA Junior Team Tennis National Championships in San Antonio.
The tournament, which wrapped up Sunday, featured 16 section champions in Advanced and Intermediate level tournaments.
Matches consist of boys and girls singles, boys and girls doubles and mixed doubles with team points awarded for every game won and a point for winning the third-set tie-break.
“This encourages our kids to keep working hard even if they are down,” co-captain Matt Houser said. “Also it brings a great team aspect to a sport that is usually individualized.”
Pacific Ice, competing in the Advanced tournament, went 1-2 in pool play. The team lost to Mid-Atlantic 50-36 and Midwest 47-38 before finishing with a 46-40 win over New England (Edgewood).
In the playoff round, Pacific Ice beat Missouri Valley 56-28 on Saturday, but then narrowly lost to New England (Yellow Jackets) 42-41 to finish 10th.
Team members included Alec Beecham, Cameron Truong, Elise Kang, Grace Truong, Karolina Dobiecka, Mariam Nechiporuk, Rogue Stone and Vincent Hsu. Kenneth Kang is the captain/coach.
Nechiporuk and Kang were 5-0 as a doubles team, and Hsu was 4-1 in doubles playing with Stone for the first two round-robin matches, and then with Beecham for the last three matches of the tournament. Dobiecka was 4-1 in singles.
Houser said during the trip the team formed a solid bond.
“We learned to fight for every point,” Cameron Truong said. “Besides playing, I became closer with my team and coach, which I will never forget.”
Players also appreciated how much there were able to build on their tennis skills.
“I’ve learned a lot more about playing doubles and techniques to volley better,” Grace Truong said.
Houser believes the team result is the best a Vancouver squad has placed in 10-plus years.
In the Intermediate tournament, a 18U team from Vancouver Tennis Center finished 16th overall.
Team members included Emma Tuttle, Jace Moriki, Jeffrey Truong, Matthew Rudi, Natalie Dunnam, Piper Rylander, Sam Crawford and Finn Chenevert. Jack Wang is the coach/captain with Michele Rudi co-captain.
