The Seattle Cascades were a charter franchise of

World Team Tennis World TeamTennis (WTT) is a mixed-gender professional tennis league played with a team format in the United States, which was founded in 1973. The league's season normally takes place in the summer months. Players from the ATP and WTA take a ...

(WTT). The team first played as the Hawaii Leis in the league's inaugural 1974 season, before becoming the Sea-Port Cascades for the 1977 season, when it played half its home matches in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

and the other half in

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the list of cities in Oregon, largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, Columbia rivers, Portland is ...

. The team left Portland in 1978, and played nearly all its home matches in Seattle. The Cascades announced the team would fold following the 1978 season.

Team history

Founding and inaugural season

The Cascades were founded as WTT's charter franchise for

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United State ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

in 1973, by

orthodontist Orthodontics is a dentistry specialty that addresses the diagnosis, prevention, management, and correction of mal-positioned teeth and jaws, and misaligned bite patterns. It may also address the modification of facial growth, known as dentofacial ...

Dr. Leonard Bloom. The team adopted the name San Diego Swingers. The top 10 draft choices of the Swingers in the WTT inaugural draft were None of these players were on the Leis' opening day roster. Before ever playing in San Diego, Bloom sold the team on February 15, 1974, to

San Rafael, California San Rafael ( ; Spanish for " St. Raphael", ) is a city and the county seat of Marin County, California, United States. The city is located in the North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city's populatio ...

lumber Lumber is wood that has been processed into dimensional lumber, including beams and planks or boards, a stage in the process of wood production. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, wi ...

sales Sales are activities related to selling or the number of goods sold in a given targeted time period. The delivery of a service for a cost is also considered a sale. The seller, or the provider of the goods or services, completes a sale in ...

executive Don Kelleher who relocated the team to

Honolulu Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...

. Rudy Tulipani was Kelleher's minority partner. After a contest was held to name the team, and more than 600 entries were submitted, the Swingers were renamed the Hawaii Leis. The Leis played nine of their 22 home matches at the

Honolulu International Center The Neal S. Blaisdell Center is a community center near downtown Honolulu, Hawaii. The complex has a multi-purpose arena, concert hall, exhibition hall, galleria, meeting rooms, Waikiki Shell and others. Constructed in 1964 on the historic Wa ...

and the other 13 at the Student Council Gymnasium on the campus of

President William McKinley High School President William McKinley High School, more commonly referred to as McKinley High School, is a comprehensive public high school in the Honolulu District of the Hawaii State Department of Education. It serves grades nine through twelve. McKinley i ...

during the league's inaugural in 1974 season. After moving to Hawaii, the team was active in the trade market. The Leis acquired

Dennis Ralston Richard Dennis Ralston (July 27, 1942 – December 6, 2020) was an American professional tennis player whose active career spanned the 1960s and 1970s. As a young player, he was coached by tennis pro Pancho Gonzales. He attended the University o ...

and Ann Kiyomura in trades with the

San Francisco Golden Gaters The San Francisco Golden Gaters were a charter franchise of World Team Tennis (WTT). The Golden Gaters won two Western Division Championships and lost in the WTT Finals both times. The team was founded in 1973 and made the playoffs in each of the ...

and

Valerie Ziegenfuss Valerie Bradshaw (née Ziegenfuss; June 29, 1949) is an American former female professional tennis player. She started as an amateur player at the beginning of the 1970s, then turned professional. She is most famous for being one of the Original ...

and

Ross Case Ross or ROSS may refer to: People * Clan Ross, a Highland Scottish clan * Ross (name), including a list of people with the surname or given name Ross, as well as the meaning * Earl of Ross, a peerage of Scotland Places * RoSS, the Republic of Sout ...

in a trade with the Los Angeles Strings. Other players opening the season with the Leis were Brigitte Cuypers, Mike Machette and Kristy Pigeon. Ralston was the team's player-coach. On May 7, 1974, the Leis played their inaugural match at the

Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum (or simply the Nassau Coliseum) is a multi-purpose indoor arena in Uniondale, New York, east of New York City. The Long Island venue is approximately east of the eastern limits of the New York City Borough of ...

in the

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

of Uniondale in the

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

Hempstead, New York The Town of Hempstead (also known historically as South Hempstead) is the largest of the three towns in Nassau County (alongside North Hempstead and Oyster Bay) in the U.S. state of New York. It occupies the southwestern part of the county, on ...

against the New York Sets in front of 4,999 fans. Under rules used only during the first few weeks of the season, the match comprised two sets of women's singles, two sets of men's singles and two sets of mixed doubles. No men's or women's doubles were played. WTT changed the match format on May 18, 1974, to one set each of men's singles, women's singles, men's doubles, women's doubles and mixed doubles. Ziegenfuss topped

Pam Teeguarden Pam Teeguarden (born April 17, 1951) is a former American professional tennis player in the 1970s and 1980s, ranked in the top 20 from 1970–1975. She won two Grand Slam Doubles Titles and was a quarter finalist in singles at the U.S. Open and T ...

in the opening set of women's singles for the Leis, 6–4. Case took the second set in men's singles against

Manuel Santana Manuel Santana Martínez (10 May 1938 – 11 December 2021), also known as Manolo Santana, was a Spanish tennis player. He was ranked as amateur world No. 1 in 1965 by Ned Potter and in 1966 by Lance TingayHawaiian player Charlie Panui midway through the season. Panui teamed with Kiyomura in mixed doubles on July 30, to take a set from David Lloyd and Ann Haydon Jones of the

Minnesota Buckskins The Minnesota Buckskins were a charter franchise of World Team Tennis (WTT) founded by Lee Meade, Len Vannelli and John Finley. The Buckskins played only one season before folding after the 1974 season. The Buckskins had 27 wins and 17 losses and ...

in a tiebreaker. The Leis lost the match in front of a home crowd of just 545 fans. The Leis signed Barry McKay during the season. The Leis finished the 1974 season with 14 wins and 30 losses, last place in the Pacific Section.

Buchholz becomes new coach

With six teams either folding or being contracted, one suspending operations and one new expansion team joining the league, there were many players who participated in WTT in 1974 who were available for 1975. The Leis brought back Brigitte Cuypers from the prior year's squad. They added

Owen Davidson Owen Keir Davidson (born 4 October 1943) is a former professional tennis player of the 1960s and 1970s. Alongside Billie Jean King, Davidson won eight grand slam mixed doubles titles. In 1967 he won a calendar year slam for mixed doubles, wh ...

(Minnesota Buckskins),

Butch Buchholz Earl Henry "Butch" Buchholz, Jr. (born September 16, 1940) is a former professional tennis player from the United States who was one of the game's top players in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Tennis career Juniors Buchholz was an outstanding ...

( Chicago Aces) and Chris Evert (

Florida Flamingos The Florida Flamingos were a charter franchise of World Team Tennis (WTT) founded by Ted Cohen and Butch Buchholz. The Flamingos played only one season before folding after the 1974 season. The Flamingos had 19 wins and 25 losses and finished in ...

) in the dispersal draft. John Newcombe was on loan from the Houston E-Z Riders who had suspended operations (and would later fold). The Leis selected

Helen Gourlay Helen Gourlay Cawley (''née'' Gourlay; born 23 December 1946) is a retired tennis player from Australia. Personal Helen Gourlay was born in Launceston, Tasmania, Australia. She married Richard Leon Cawley in January 1977, and married William ...

in the dispersal draft when the E-Z Riders suspended operations. They also added Kathy Kuykendall and

Tom Edlefsen Thomas B. Edlefsen (born December 12, 1941) is a former professional tennis player from the United States. Career Edlefsen was a member of three NCAA Championship winning teams while at the University of Southern California, in 1963, 1964 and 1 ...

. Evert, who had not expressed interest in playing WTT in 1975, was traded to the San Francisco Golden Gaters for

Margaret Court Margaret Court (''née'' Smith; born 16 July 1942), also known as Margaret Smith Court, is an Australian retired former world No. 1 tennis player and a Christian minister. Considered one of the greatest tennis players of all time, her 24 maj ...

who sat out 1974, while she was pregnant but signed with the Leis for 1975. Buchholz became the player-coach. The Leis also added four local Hawaiian players: Heather Dahlgren, Stanley Pasarell, Peter Burwash and Jim Osborne. The Leis played a 46-match WTT regular season schedule in 1975. The league used neutral-site matches to cut down on travel and create events where fans could see multiple teams either with one admission or over the course of a few days. These special events were called WTT Spectaculars. Because of these and because of scheduling challenges created when the E-Z Riders suspended operations just days before the season started, the 10 teams in the league did not play an equal number of matches. Seven of them played 44 matches, while the Leis,

Boston Lobsters The Boston Lobsters were a World TeamTennis team based in Boston, Massachusetts. The Boston Lobsters played home matches at the Walter Brown Arena, Boston University, in Boston, MA. The most recent Boston Lobsters were a reincarnation of two pr ...

and San Diego Friars each played 46 matches. The Leis played home matches at both the Hawaii International Center and the Royal Lahaina Tennis Ranch in Lāhainā,

Maui County Maui County, officially the County of Maui, is a county in the U.S. state of Hawaii. It consists of the islands of Maui, Lānai, Molokai (except for a portion of Molokai that comprises Kalawao County), Kahoolawe, and Molokini. The latter two a ...

. With the remade roster filled with big-name stars, the Leis were doing much better at the gate. The team's average home attendance was up 72% over the prior year, the second largest percentage increase in WTT, as of the mid-season Wimbledon break. Newcombe and Davidson were not committed to the Leis full-time. In addition, Newcombe suffered torn cartilage in his knee in June, which caused him to miss matches. The Leis struggled to a record of 14 wins and 32 losses, barely avoiding last place in the Western Division and the worst record in WTT by winning a standings tiebreaker over the Friars who had the same record.

Năstase joins the Leis

Although the Leis (then the Swingers) had drafted

Ilie Năstase Ilie Theodoriu Năstase (, born 19 July 1946) is a former World No. 1 Romanian tennis player. He was ranked world No. 1 in singles from 23 August 1973 to 2 June 1974, and was the first man to hold the top position on the computerized ATP rankin ...

with their fourth pick in the WTT inaugural draft, they had left him unprotected in the 1974 draft, and he was selected by the New York Sets. In late 1975, Năstase expressed interest in playing WTT but not in New York, because New York fans had widely criticized him for his on-court behavior and emotional outbursts. The Sets agreed to allow the Leis to negotiate with Năstase with compensation going from Hawaii to New York if the Leis were to sign him to a contract. The Leis signed Năstase to a one-year contract worth in excess of $100,000. Leis owner Don Kelleher would not describe the amount with any more specificity than, "It was six figures." The Leis sent undisclosed cash consideration and draft picks to the Sets to complete the deal. The announcement of the trade for and signing of Năstase was made at the WTT's 1975 draft at which the most noteworthy player chosen by the Leis was two-sport star John Lucas. On April 23, 1976, the Leis reached a deal with the

Pittsburgh Triangles The Pittsburgh Triangles were a charter franchise of World Team Tennis (WTT). The Triangles won the 1975 WTT Championship. The team folded after the 1976 season. Team history The Triangles were founded in 1973 as a charter member of WTT by Centur ...

whereby the Triangles would loan Sue Stap to the Leis for one year for an undisclosed amount of cash consideration. Under the deal, the rights to Stap revert to the Triangles after the 1976 season. In addition to Năstase and Stap, the Leis also acquired Marcie Louie from the Golden Gaters. Player-coach Butch Buchholz, Owen Davidson and Helen Gourlay all returned from the previous season's team. The rights to John Newcombe were traded to the Los Angeles Strings. Margaret Court retired to have her third child. On June 2, the Leis acquired Nancy Gunter in a trade with the Triangles for Sue Stap which completed both teams' obligations under the player loan agreement for Stap. On June 6, Leis president Don Kelleher announced plans to sue Năstase for breach of contract seeking $4 million in damages. Năstase had left the Leis, because his

visa Visa most commonly refers to: *Visa Inc., a US multinational financial and payment cards company ** Visa Debit card issued by the above company ** Visa Electron, a debit card ** Visa Plus, an interbank network *Travel visa, a document that allows ...

had expired and then informed the team that he was not coming back. The Leis planned to play all their home matches in the Neal S. Blaisdell Arena, the largest venue within the Honolulu International Center complex in 1976, leaving behind the smaller venues they had used in their first two seasons in Hawaii. Attendance at Leis' home matches was disappointing. While it hadn't slipped significantly from 1975, it was averaging about 2,500 fans per match for the first seven home dates of 1976. On July 2, Leis' president Kelleher announced that six home matches in late July would be moved: three to the Veterans Memorial Coliseum in

and three to the Seattle Center Coliseum in

. Kelleher said that he was looking into the possibility of moving the Leis to one of those two cities or having a joint franchise that would play in both cities. When announcing the movement of the six home matches to the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Tho ...

, Kelleher said, "We feel we'll move." He then backed down slightly and said, "Let's say we're thinking of it. If we do move, Seattle is a strong possibility." The Leis finished the 1976 season with 12 wins and 32 losses, last place in the Western Division and the worst record in WTT.

Move to Pacific Northwest

On September 23, 1976, team president Don Kelleher announced that the Leis would leave Hawaii for the 1977 season and play half their home matches in Seattle, Washington and the other half in Portland, Oregon. The team was renamed the Sea-Port Cascades. Kelleher wanted to repair the rift with Ilie Năstase. However, Năstase did not want to live in the Pacific Northwest. The Cascades traded his rights to the Los Angeles Strings who gave him a six-year contract worth $1.5 million and two silver

Corvettes A corvette is a small warship. It is traditionally the smallest class of vessel considered to be a proper (or " rated") warship. The warship class above the corvette is that of the frigate, while the class below was historically that of the sloop ...

. The Cascades selected

Evonne Goolagong Cawley Evonne Fay Goolagong Cawley (née Goolagong; born 31 July 1951) is an Australian former world No. 1 tennis player. Goolagong was one of the world's leading players in the 1970s and early 1980s. At the age of 19, she won the French Open singl ...

in the dispersal draft held after the Pittsburgh Triangles folded. Kelleher was in serious negotiations with her when she became pregnant and decided not to play. The Cascades did have success signing

Betty Stöve Betty Flippina Stöve (born 24 June 1945) is a Dutch former professional tennis player. She is best remembered for reaching the ladies' singles final, the ladies' doubles final and the mixed doubles final during the same year at Wimbledon in 19 ...

whom the team had selected in the draft, after she was left unprotected by the San Francisco Golden Gaters. In February 1977, former Leis player Marcie Louie filed a lawsuit against the Cascades claiming breach of contract, libel, slander and invasion of privacy. She was seeking $1.5 million in damages. Kelleher hired Marty Loughman as the team's general manager. Loughman signed JoAnne Russell,

Erik van Dillen Erik van Dillen (born February 21, 1951) is an American retired tennis player who played over 25 Grand Slam championships at Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon and US Open. Tennis career Born in San Mateo, California, van Dillen first play ...

, Patricia Bostrom and Steve Docherty as free agents. Bostrom had been a star collegiate player with the

Washington Huskies The Washington Huskies are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Washington, located in Seattle. The school competes at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level as a member of the Pac-1 ...

. On March 6, 1977, the Cascades landed another local player when they signed Tom Gorman who was ranked 12th in the world at the time and had played collegiate tennis for the Seattle Chieftains. The Cascades played 11 of their 22 home matches at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Portland and the other 11 in Seattle. Some of the home matches in Seattle were played at the Seattle Center Coliseum. Most of them were played at the smaller

Mercer Arena Mercer Arena (previously known as the Exposition Building, Civic Ice Arena and Seattle Center Arena) was a performing arts venue located at the corner of Mercer Street and Fourth Avenue North in Seattle, Washington. It was built in 1927 adjacent ...

. The Cascades were streaky in 1977. They started their season with 6 wins in their first 8 matches. Then, they lost 9 of their final 11 matches closing the first half of the season. Several players had bright moments during the season. Stöve had a brilliant Wimbledon during the break in the WTT schedule, reaching the final in women's singles, women's doubles and mixed doubles, but losing all three. She did return after the break to win the WTT Female All-Star Match Most Valuable Player Award. Russell teamed with former Leis player Helen Gourlay to beat Stöve and Martina Navratilova in the Wimbledon women's doubles final. In league play, Gorman recorded two set wins over Björn Borg who was at the peak of his Hall of Fame career. The Cascades players maintained residences in Seattle during the 1977 season. After home matches in Portland, the players were expected to catch the first commercial flight back to Seattle, because team president Kelleher refused to pay for

hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a re ...

rooms for them. At the start of the Wimbledon break, Kelleher fired the Cascades public relations director George Hill. In announcing the firing, Kelleher said, "We looked around at all the empty seats and felt we needed to be more sales oriented." However, the team had lost 9 of its previous 11 matches, and Kelleher refused to allocate any money in the team's budget to pay for advertising. Upset with the firing of Hill, salesperson Dianne Shorett and secretary/bookkeeper Molly Cheshier both quit. Shortett later sued the Cascades claiming $3,360.03 in unpaid salary and commissions. The Cascades finished the 1977 season with 18 wins and 26 losses, fourth place in the Western Division and secured the first playoff berth in franchise history. The Cascades went on the road for the first match of the best-of-three Western Division Semifinals and lost, 30–14, to a seasoned

Phoenix Racquets The Phoenix Racquets were a charter franchise of World Team Tennis (WTT). The team was founded as the Denver Racquets and won the 1974 WTT championship in the league's inaugural season, before moving to Phoenix in 1975. Following the 1978 season ...

team on August 16. Two days later, the Cascades hosted the second match at Pamplin Sports Center in Portland. Kelleher was convinced that no advertising was needed for a playoff match in which the opposing team featured Chris Evert. When general manager Loughman saw the advance ticket sales were very low, he drove through the streets of downtown Portland on the day of the match with a loudspeaker on top of his car advertising the playoff match and the presence of Evert and the Racquets. It didn't help. Fewer than 700 people showed up to see the Cascades fall in a tight match, 27–26, ending the season for Sea-Port. After the match, Evert said, "I haven't played before a crowd like this, in a high school gym like this, since I was playing juniors." Loughman resigned as general manager on September 7, saying, "It's Don Kelleher's team and his money, and he's entitled to run the club and spend his money any way he wants. But for me to be involved it had to be more professional."

Final season

On September 11, 1977, Kelleher announced that the Cascades were leaving Portland and planned to play all their 1978 home matches in Seattle and would be renamed the Seattle Cascades. In late 1977, the Cascades announced that John DeVries had been named the team's executive director. Just three months after taking the job, DeVries was fired after a dozen sales people had resigned. DeVries said, "Joining the franchise was one of the worst mistakes of my life. They are still not a first-class operation. What they need are new owners. They are still looking for the Seattle business community to support them. They are Jesse James trying to get into everybody's pocket." Kelleher attracted a group of four local Seattle investors to buy shares of the team. The group was led by radio industry executive Howard Leendersten. At the insistence of the new investor group, the Cascades hired Pat Dawson as operations director. Dawson had experience as a publicist and many connections in the community. The Cascades signed Sherwood Stewart, Marita Redondo, and

Chris Kachel Chris Kachel (born 19 June 1955) is a former professional tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a te ...

during the off-season. They also reacquired Brigitte Cuypers who had played for the team in 1974 and 1975. Player-coach Tom Gorman and Betty Stöve returned from the previous season's team. The Cascades played 1978 home matches at both Seattle Center Coliseum and Mercer Arena. Of the team's 22 home matches, 19 were played in Seattle. Portland, Corvallis, Oregon and

Boise, Idaho Boise (, , ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Idaho and is the county seat of Ada County. On the Boise River in southwestern Idaho, it is east of the Oregon border and north of the Nevada border. The downtown ar ...

each hosted one Cascades home match. The Cascades were involved in a noteworthy incident during a home match against the

New York Apples The New York Apples were a charter franchise of World Team Tennis (WTT). The team was founded by Jerry Saperstein, who sold it to New York businessman Sol Berg during its inaugural 1974 season. The team was originally known as the New York Sets ...

. The Cascades had a 21–17 lead after four sets with mixed doubles remaining. Billie Jean King and

Ray Ruffels Raymond Owen "Ray" Ruffels (born 23 March 1946) is an Australian former professional tennis player and coach. Playing career Ruffels was an Australian Open semi-finalist in 1968, 1969 and 1975, and a quarter-finalist in 1970 and 1977. In 1978 ...

beat Stöve and Stewart, 6–2, to tie the match at 23 and send it to a super tiebreaker. After Stöve and Stewart took a 5–1 lead in the 13-point tiebreaker game, the teams changed ends. During the changeover, Cascades scoreboard operator Bruce Below said, "You guys are in trouble now." King and Ruffels glared at Below, and King yelled, "Do you work for the team?" Below replied that he did, and King said, "Well, then shut up. If you're working for them you shouldn't be saying anything." The Cascades won two of the next three points to win the super tiebreaker, 7–2, and earn the victory in the match. After the final point, Ruffels charged Below, grabbed him by the neck and shook him. He needed to be restrained by the umpire, Brian Howell, and his linesman. King then started screaming at Howell and also approached him, grabbing and shoving him. King slammed her racquet on the scorer's table in anger. The Cascades finished the 1978 season with the best record in franchise history at 20 wins and 24 losses, fourth in the Western Division. Despite their fifth straight losing season, they qualified for the playoffs for the second time in a row. The Cascades met the Western Division Champion San Diego Friars in the WTT Quarterfinals and dropped the first match in

, 30–22, on August 15, losing four straight sets after Gorman and Stewart took the opening set of men's doubles from Rod Laver and

. The Cascades hosted the second match in Seattle on August 17, and posted a 28–20 victory to stave off elimination. Gorman overcame a 4–1 deficit to take the men's singles set, 6–4, against Laver. Redondo took the women's singles set from

Kerry Reid Kerry Melville Reid (née Melville; born 7 August 1947) is a former professional tennis player from Australia. During her 17-year career, Reid won one Grand Slam singles title and 26 other singles titles and was the runner-up in 40 singles to ...

, 6–4, after trailing, 4–2. Stöve and Cuypers took the opening set of the match with a 6–3 set win against Kerry Reid and Mona Guerrant. Stewart and Gorman took the men's doubles set from Laver and Case, 6–3. The series returned to San Diego for the third match on August 18. The Friars opened the match with a set win in women's doubles by Guerrant and Kerry Reid, 7–6, over Stöve and Cuypers. The Cascades took a 12–10 lead when Gorman beat Laver, 6–3, in men's singles. They extended their lead to 18–12 when Gorman and Stewart topped Laver and Raz Reid, 6–2, in men's doubles. Redondo fell behind, 3–1, and then rallied to win five straight games in women's singles against Kerry Reid to extend the Cascades' lead to 24–15. Stöve and Kachel closed out the match with a mixed doubles set win against Raz Reid and Janet Young, 7–5, for a 31–20 victory. The Cascades then lost to the Boston Lobsters in the WTT Semifinals. On September 28, 1978, Kelleher announced that the Cascades would not be in Seattle for the 1979 season, because it was not "economically feasible." Attendance in 1978 averaged approximately 1,695 per match, down from 3,100 in 1977. Kelleher mentioned that a group in

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 i ...

had shown interest in the team and that there were other candidates as well. "It's really kind of funny," Kelleher said, "We've had three or four cities come out of the woodwork recently with offers." Following the 1978 season, between October 27 and November 9, the New York Apples, Boston Lobsters, Los Angeles Strings, San Diego Friars and Indiana Loves all announced that they were folding, cutting the size of WTT from 10 teams to five. On the following day, the Cascades, Anaheim Oranges and

New Orleans Sun Belt Nets The New Orleans Sun Belt Nets were a charter franchise of World Team Tennis (WTT). The team first played as the Cleveland Nets in 1974, and was known as the Cleveland–Pittsburgh Nets in 1977, when it played roughly half of its home matches in e ...

announced that they were folding as well.

Season-by-season records

The following table shows regular season records, playoff results and titles won by the Seattle Cascades franchise since its founding in 1974.

Home courts

The following table shows primary home venues used by the Seattle Cascades franchise. Honolulu International Center and Student Council Gymnasium both served as primary home venues in 1974. Honolulu International Center and Royal Lahaina Tennis Ranch both served as primary home venues in 1975. Seattle Center Coliseum, Mercer Arena and Veterans Memorial Coliseum all served as primary home venues in 1977. One home playoff match was played at Pamplin Sports Center in 1977. Seattle Center Coliseum and Mercer Arena both served as primary home venues in 1978. The Leis also played three 1976 home matches in Seattle and three in Portland. In 1978, the Cascades played one home match in Portland, one in Corvallis, Oregon and one in

Individual honors

The following table shows individual honors bestowed upon players and coaches of the Seattle Cascades franchise.

Hall of Fame players

The following players who are enshrined in the

International Tennis Hall of Fame The International Tennis Hall of Fame is located in Newport, Rhode Island, United States. It honors both players and other contributors to the sport of tennis. The complex, the former Newport Casino, includes a museum, grass tennis courts, an indo ...

played for the Seattle Cascades franchise: *

* John Newcombe *

Final roster

The Seattle Cascades final roster for the 1978 season was * Tom Gorman, Player-Coach * Brigitte Cuypers *

* Marita Redondo * Sherwood Stewart *

References

External links

Official World TeamTennis Website
{{World TeamTennis Defunct World TeamTennis teams 1973 establishments in California 1974 disestablishments in California 1974 establishments in Hawaii 1976 disestablishments in Hawaii 1976 establishments in Oregon 1977 disestablishments in Oregon 1976 establishments in Washington (state) 1978 disestablishments in Washington (state) Tennis in California Tennis in Hawaii Tennis in Oregon Tennis in Washington (state) Tennis teams in San Diego Sports clubs and teams in Portland, Oregon