Lee County Women's Tennis League- End of Year Report

With over 200 teams listed, the Lee County Women’s Tennis League (LCWTL) is the largest local league in our area, and warrants a post all its own. The following reflects the standings of the LCWTL through the end of 2012. By the time you read this things are likely to have changed, but not much since I believe the first matches of 2013 take place on January 3. Let's work our way up through the divisions.

2.5

Gulf Harbour Team Member
Melanie Jackman

After six matches and through eight weeks of the season, Karen Brady's Gulf Harbour leads with 135 points and five consecutive sweeps. The Legends, with Jackie Devita leading, sits in second with 106 points, with their only bad loss coming at the hands of Gulf Harbour, and the Landings, captained by Corinne Howey, is in third with 97 points. Gulf Harbour seems to be the prohibitive favorite to take the title in this division.

3.0-Minus

The Landings 3.0-Minus Team
Photo courtesy of Captain
Bonnie Mohlman

With seven matches in the rearview mirror, The Bonnie Mohlman's Landings leads the way with 125 points and Colleen Praeger's Heritage Palms is camped in second with 115. The Legends, captained by Marilyn Reed, has posted 96 points to hold third. Lisa McKee's Cape Coral Yacht Club (80) and Lexington (76), led by Rona Rosenthal are fourth and fifth respectively.  The top two teams have only posted three sweeps between them, so this division is likely to be competitive all the way through the finish.

3.0

Paula Barry & Hideaway
Captain Pearle Warren

Heritage Palms (177 points), with Jan Donaldson at the helm, is locked in a tight battle with Fiddlesticks (175), captained by Annalisa Smith, for first place in the division after nine weeks of play. Lynn Cabin's Pelican Preserve is not far behind in third with 161 points. 

Pelican Preserve 3.0 Team
Photo courtesy of Captain Lynn Cabin

Another four teams are within nine points of the third-place team. Terry Swensen's Cape Coral Yacht Club (150), Pearle Warren's Hideaway (146), Susan Weir's Breckenridge (145), and Colleen Richardson's Herons Glen TopSpinners (142) are all within reach of the top three.

3.5- Minus

FMRC Player Gale Caron

In five team matches, Ginger Rasmussen's Fort Myers Racquet Club (114 points) has won 18 of 20 individual matches, sweeping three of the five teams it has played, to assume the top spot in the division. Just six points behind, Terri Brown's Paseo is in hot pursuit and Pat Kemp's Cape Coral Yacht Club, with three sweeps of its own, holds third position with 101 points. 

Gulf Harbour 3.5- Captain
Laurie Watson

The Legends (90), led by Cindy West and Gulf Harbour’s LoveLee Ladies (85), captained by Laurie Watson, round out the top five.

3.5

In a clay-court dominated league, kudos must go to Judd Park led by Paula Scheff, a hard-court team that sits in first with 135 points and three sweeps in seven matches played. 

Lee Cross & Linda Jenkins of
Park Meadow's Alley Cats

Henny Eifler-captained Pelican Landing is not far behind with 127 points, and Park Meadow Alley Cats, with Kandy Shobe at the helm, round out the top three with 117. Laura Schueneman's Fiddlesticks (108) holds down fourth and Judy Cushing's Lexington is fifth with 106; however, Lexington has only played six matches to the others’ seven. Another close one is shaping up in this division.

4.0-Minus

Despite losing three courts in two of the eight matches they have played, Colonial, captained by Robin Garner, has tallied 136 points and holds a slim lead over the Judy Lanasa-led Legends (131 points). Legends has played one fewer match and has three sweeps to Colonial’s two, and is likely to be the top team once byes have evened out. 

Gulf Harbour's Lili Canfield
& Connie Hess

Cape Coral Racquet Club, captained by Vera Hahn, is third with 119 points and also has played one match fewer than first-place Colonial. Joyce Verdi's Pelican Preserve and Lili Canfield's Gulf Harbour round out the top five with 114 and 113 points respectively.

4.0

Landings Legends' Lyn Bruner

Two teams, Bonita Bay (212) led by Joan Ceas, and Landings Legends (198), with Carol Downing at the helm, sit in first and second and are putting some distance between themselves and the rest of the division. Bonita Bay has played 10 matches to Landings Legends nine, so the lead is slimmer than it appears. 

Park Meadow's Cindy Cheslosky
& Andrea Trank

Cypress Lake (169), led by Tracy DiBiase, and Joyce Krivenko's Landings4Love (164), in third and fourth respectively, 

Cypress Lake 4.0 Team
Photo courtesy of Captain Tracy
DiBiase

have played nine games as well, and Tina Owenby's Park Meadow claims the fifth spot with 155 points in 10 matches.

Dynamo

Cypress Lake's Dynamo Team
Photo courtesy of Captain Beth Behrhorst

In the highest rated division, Wendy Hechler’s Plantation rests atop the division with 149 points in eight matches. Second in points with 139 in seven matches played is Michelle Rygiel’s Park Meadow Passing Shots. 

Park Meadow Captain Michelle Rygiel
& Angie Guillette

Plantation did take three of four courts from the Passing Shots in their one meeting at Plantation, but lost three of four courts to Park Meadow’s GGs, the fourth-place team that has garnered 96 points in six matches played. Cypress Lake, captained by Beth Behrhorst, sits in third with 123 points after playing eight matches. Paseo is a distant fifth with 72 points in seven matches.

60-Plus

Members of CCRC team: Gail Miller,
Carol Jones, Chris Dixon, Jeanne Moses
Photo courtesy of Captain Chris Dixon

Fort Myers Racquet Club, captained by Donna McVety, notches another division leader, posting 172 points and four sweeps its eight matches played. 

Members of Cross Creek 60-Plus Team

They are significantly ahead of second-place Sabal Springs, led by Paula Scheff, which has posted 150 points in nine matches, and third-place Cape Coral Racquet Club, led by Chris Dixon, which has notched 125 points in eight matches. Cross Creek at Hideaway and Landings Rackettes are tied with 120 points, but Cross Creek Hideaway has played one match fewer than the Rackettes.

Bronze

Gulf Harbour Drop Shots
Photo courtesy of Jenny King

With five sweeps in seven matches, Barbara Dailey's Lexington Net Worthy is proving to be a tough nut to crack atop the division with 162 points. Marilyn Meyers’ Gulf Harbour Drop Shots has posted three sweeps of its own, and holds the second spot with 135 points. Del Tura, captained by Anna Wilson, is close by in third with 130 points, and Herons Glen (124) captained by Bev Arbizzani, and Pelican Landing (118), led by Wendy Staley, are sitting in fourth and fifth respectively.

Copper

Hideaway Copper Team Members
Bonnie Bogli, Captain Bert Ann Haas, &
Lee Cross

Ten matches into the season, Karen Mazzulla’s Heritage Palms Ball Blasters and Francie Samples’ Pelican Landing Smashers are nip and tuck atop the division with 195 and 194 points respectively. Third through fifth places are tightly bunched, separated by just four points. The Forest (174), led by Jeri Carley, Ginger Rasmussen's Heritage Cove (172), and Sharon Benner's Judd Park (170) round out the top-five.

Silver

Gulf Harbour Silver Belles
Co-CaptainMarianne Crouch

Plantation, captained by Jan Clayton, has split just one of the five matches it has played, sweeping three of five opponents and posting 111 points, more than 30 ahead of second-place Pelican Landing (80 points), led by Sue Morgan. The race for second is quite spirited though, with third-place Verandah, led by Patricia Berla, just two points behind Pelican Landing, 

Gulf Harbour Silver Strings Team
Member Sally Mellendorf

Gateway in fourth four points back (74 points), and fifth-place Landings with 73. Gateway has played just four matches to the others’ five, so should be the front-runner for second when all matches played are equal.

Gold

Gulf Harbour's Monde Breton

In one of the most competitive divisions, Cape Coral Racquet Club (CCRC), with Pat Howell at the helm, leads the way with 173 points after playing nine matches. Carlotta Clark’s Gulf Harbour trails CCRC by 14 points, and is the only team in the top five to have played eight matches. Gulf Harbour is likely to be even closer to the top spot when all things become equal. 

FMRC's Kim Mai

The others, Pelican Preserve (151) Heritage Palms Golden Lovelies (145), and Fort Myers Racquet Club (138), have played nine.

Platinum

Karen Orlando & Sara Bracamonte
of Park Meadow

Paseo, led by Joeleen Ralston, sits atop the highest of the senior division levels after seven weeks of play with 146 points. Second-place Park Meadow, led by Jan Wheeler, has 117 points in six matches (as opposed to Paseo’s seven), but Park Meadow lost all four courts when the two teams played in Week 3. 

Kathy Lanzalotta & Gulf Harbour
Captain Janet Craycraft 

The other teams in the top-five are not close, with CCRC, Vasari, and Gulf Harbour all at least 50 points behind second-place Park Meadow. In all fairness, none of those teams have played more than six matches, and CCRC has played just five.

With more than half of the LCWTL season yet to be played, things could be vastly different when I report next. That’s likely to be the case with all of the various leagues.