Rye Racquet Club Aces Metropolitan Interclub Tennis League Competition

Press release from Rye Racquet Club--

Rye, NY – July 28, 2014 -- Rye Racquet Club proved its winning ways again this season in the Metropolitan Interclub Tennis League (MITL), capturing all three Flight 1 divisions of the A, B and C women’s doubles competition. This year marks the club’s sixth triple sweep since 2005.

As icing on the cake, Rye Racquet Club also won the A division of the MITL’s end-of-season Barbara Williams Cup. And following the club’s MITL success was yet another victory, a championship for the C2 team in Flight 1 of the Hudson Valley Tennis League (HVTL), which the team shared in a three-way tie.

The club’s MITL A team ended the season with 21 points, only three points ahead of the Saw Mill Club, so competition was close. “We had a mid-season wake-up call when we lost to New Rochelle 0-4, although three of the four matches went to three sets,” said Carolyn Cruz of New Rochelle, captain and also Rye Racquet Club’s director of tennis and operations. “We then knew we had to win the next two matches, 4-0, which was not an easy task, but the team rose to the occasion in their usual fashion and won the next eight points, which was enough to clinch the division,” said Cruz.
“We were deep in all three MITL divisions,” said Kit Byron, Rye Racquet Club owner and team coach, noting that the A team, champions for the past eight years, had a strong and steady season with a solid group of players. “The B season was a horse race as it usually is, but we spread it out towards the end and always against good competition and the C team ran away with it.”

The B team finished strong with 34 points, an eight- point lead over New Rochelle. The C team only lost one match and celebrated the season with 27 points, a nine-point lead over Mt. Kisco. “This is our fifth year in a row to take our flight so we are pretty happy about our winning streak,” said Young Kim of Rye, C team captain, noting that there were eight returning players and two new members who all trained with Byron since the fall. “So we are raring to go come the MITL season.”
In the MITL Barbara Williams Cup, Rye Racquet Club’s duo of Joy Cummiskey and Corinna Bode defeated Erin Mills and Susan Padgett of Westchester Country Club in the A finals, while Margaret Grasso and Alex Nicklaswere finalists in the C division.

For the C 2 team, the HVTL provided a season of surprises and close matches yet no losses to any teams, according to Rye Racquet’s Go Inagawa, team coach. “It was an exciting season,” said Andrea Mancini of White Plains, captain. “We weren’t in first place until the very last match.” Then it was determined that Rye Racquet, Chestnut Ridge and Kela Tennis each accumulated 18 points and all three were declared winners.

For more information on team leagues at Rye Racquet Club, call 835-3030 or visit www.RyeRacquet.comPHOTO IDS2014 Rye

Racquet Club MITL A Team: Corinna Bode, Rebecca Stiriz-Moore, Hiromi Inagawa, Carolyn Cruz, (captain), Tracy Eck, Marcia Pflug, Joy Cummiskey, Carol Chirico, Suzanne Schnitta, Stefani Shavel.

2014 Rye Racquet Club MITL B Team: Sandy Khouri, Carole Allers, Debbie Barnwell, Kim Coughlin, Kate Jennings, Susan Choo, Yuko Hu.(bottom row, left to right) Naomi Proctor, Connie Sobrino, Nancy Ozizmir, Debbie Abrams (captain).

2014 Rye Racquet Club MITL C Team: Margaret Grasso, Dawn Kraut, Yuko Takahashi, Paula Lapkin, Karina Lubowitz, Deirdre Ragusa, Mary Jo Van Beek, Yuko Nakamura, Alex Nicklas, Young Kim (captain).

2014 Rye Racquet Club HVTL C2 Team: Andrea Mancini(captain), Dolores Principe Masino, Noreen Childs, Heather Schwartz, Carolyn Lao, Rosalind Ge. Deidre Kimble, Janice Cavatoni, Lilly Schulz, Elizabeth Hartman.