Houston 2007 was blessed by great weather and of course as always by great tennis.
In the 35s, Jessica Schotterback teamed with Julie Cass to win the doubles and also edged Julie in a lengthy 3 set singles final. Cass had to go 3 sets in the semis to beat unseeded Paula Juels-Jones. Paula, ranked #2 in 30 singles, beat the 3rd seed, Trish Riddell, in a tight 3-setter 75 in the third in the quarters. Carolyn Wei, also unseeded, barely got past Shelly Works, 7-6(5) in the third, and followed that with a three-set win over the 4th seed, Michelle King before running out of gas in the semis against Schlotterback. Juels-Jones took the bronze with an emphatic win over Wei.
Cass/Schlotterback played back to back 3-set matches in doubles, first edging the unseeded team, Barry/Toney, then going 3 sets (after their 3 set singles match) against Hess/Schaefer. Hess/Schaefer took out the 2nd seeds, King/Riddell 75 75.
King won the backdraw singles and Wei/Mai Ichikawa took 5th in the doubles.
The 45s ran fairly true to form. The top 4 seeds reached the semis, with only 2nd-seeded Mariana Hollman dropping a set to that point (to Sherri Bronson who had a good tournament). Myke Bodisch (3) beat Hollman in straight sets to reach her 2nd straight singles final in Houston, before falling to the unwavering consistency of Fran Chandler in the final. Hollman edged Gerda Preissing in the 3/4 playoff by the narrowest of margins, 7 points to 5 in the third set tiebreaker. Kathy Vick beat Bronson in the 5/6 playoff.
The doubles also saw the top 4 seeds reach the semis and the top 2 reach the final. Vick/Chandler beat Bodisch/Hollman in 3 sets in the final and Bronson/Frances O’Sullivan took the bronze over Daryl Lerner/Preissing.
In the 55s, the 8 seeded players reached the quarters and after that it was a free for all. Chieko Holt, new to the 55s, upset the top seed, Kathy Barnes, 75 76 in the quarters. Ching Ling Chang, the 2nd seed scored an impressive win over Martha Downing, 63 60; Sue Bramlette upset 3rd seeded Wilma Lee in straight sets. Peggy Machoian was playing Liz Leigh, the 4th seed and won the first set 61 and then retired with a back/abdominal injury. Leigh then beat Chang to reach her first national singles final. Meanwhile, Holt also reached her first singles final with a straight set win over Bramlette and continued her fine play in the final against Leigh, winning 63 62. Bramlette took the bronze and Downing finished 5th.
The 55 doubles was fairly true to form with the top seeds and defending champions, Kathy Bennett/Heide Orth beating Bramlette/Jane Strnadel (welcome back Jane) in the final, and the 3rd seeds, Margie Cooper/Kerry Young beating Machioan/Joan Oelschlager to place third. Machian/Oelschlager had beaten the 4th seeds, Leigh/Janet Harpold, earlier in the tournament.
The 65 singles also ran true to form with the top 4 seeds reaching the semis and ending up as seeded: #1 Orth beat #2 Charleen Hillebrand in the final; #3 Suella Steel beat #4 Sinclair Bill in the 3/4 playoff, and #5 Cathie Anderson beat Grace Woo (who though unseeded beat both Kathy Langer (6) and Sheila Weinstock (7) during the tournament) to place 5th. Uta Hegberg won the 9th place playoff.
In the 65 doubles, the top seeds, Hillebrand/Steel, won their 5th straight national 65s title, over Weinstock/Hegberg. Anderson/Bill, unseeded, placed 3rd over the 2nd seeds, Fujii/Pang. Kathy Langer/Roberta Sung placed 5th over Eggers/Woo (who beat the 5th seeds, Gunderson/Wilson).
There were 2 new faces in the 75 final, Mary Boswell and Lucille Kyvallos, both new to the division this year. Boswell, seeded 1, and Kyvallos, seeded 7 (she dismissed the 4th seed, Jane Lutz and the 2nd seed, Louise Russ, en route to the final) did not drop a set in reaching the final and Boswell kept that record intact with a 63 64 win over Kyvallos. It was the first final for Kyvallos. Russ beat Suzanne Ryerson to place 3rd and Lutz placed 5th.
Boswell/Russ beat last year’s champions, Ray/Weiland to win the doubles. Clark/Hilsby took the bronze and Lutz/Ryerson took 5th.
Dodo wasn’t in the 85 draw this year for the first time, but Lucy Dettmer has been dominating this division when she shows up. She won the singles and doubles this year, beating Lovie Beard in the final, and combining with Stroud to beat the all Texas team of Beard/Lou Cille Scoggins. Kelly/Olmstead took the bronze. In singles, Mary Mentzer took the bronze.