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Ann Bardrick and Gay Finch may have been together on the court, but they had to feel pretty much alone in their bid to bring home a national championship for the women's 8.0 Super Senior tennis team from Rinconada Hills.
The national title was on the line, the team score was tied and the Rinconada Hills No. 1 doubles team was the last pair on the court in a big match against Texas.
They won, but it wasn't easy.
Bardrick and Finch won a 10-point tiebreaker in the third and final set to pull out a win over the pair from the Lone Star State to bring the national crown home to the Rinconada Hills.
The locals had qualified for the trip to the nationals in Palm Springs by winning the sectional title in Carmel Valley.
Because of injuries, team captain Carol Shields had only seven of her 11 team members available for the tourney that featured 15 USTA teams from all over the country. Rinconada Hills swept its five-team flight without losing a match, then swept Florida in the semifinals to advance to the title match against Texas.
Team members who competed in Palm Springs included Shields, Bardrick, Finch, Nancy Garcia, Sally McElravey, Susan Bitner and Barbara Arden. Other players unable to participate included Carol Hadley, Fran Kristofferson, Shirley Mariani and Marianne Siegmund.
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