(from left) Peggy Rinaldi, JC Dwiggins, Donna Buchman, Sheila Reitler, Lisa Riggins, Amanda Bailey and Diana Valentine

The Lake Norman Tennis Association women’s tennis team has advanced to the U.S. Tennis Association (USTA) National Championships in the women’s senior 4.0 division.

Led by team captain Sheila Reitler, the group of a dozen players gained entry to the nationals level thanks to recent USTA Southern Section wins against teams from Kentucky, Mississippi, South Carolina and Tennessee, and a victory in the finals over the team representing Louisiana.

In addition to Reitler, the team includes players Amanda Bailey, Amy Ballard, Donna Buchman, Jane Dwiggins, Pam Olsen, Mary Beth Poncin, Lisa Riggins, Peg Rinaldi, Marilyn Spence, Emily Styers and Diana Valentine.

The 2011 USTA League 4.0 Senior National Championships will be held Oct. 14-16, at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in Indian Wells, Calif. The USTA is the largest tennis organization in the world, with 17 geographical sections and more than 700,000 individual members. For more information or to find a local team, visit www.nctennis.com.