Despite Kim Shaefer’s Wins, Buds Beat San Antonio, 27-20

SAN DIEGO —  Kim Shaefer’s first exposure to TeamTennis came in the mid-1970s in the middle of a San Diego Friars match in the Sports Arena.

“They had me out there doing the return-the-serve contest at halftime,” Shaefer recalled. “It was a little embarrassing, but I was hooked. I loved the sport from day one.”

After that first brief appearance in the limelight, Shaefer went on to San Diego State, where she earned All-American honors in 1979 and 1980.

Saturday night, she returned to San Diego as a member of the San Antonio Raquets, and, playing in front of her family, won both of her matches.

Still, the Buds, unbeaten at home this season, rallied behind Todd Nelson to defeat Shaefer’s Racquets, 27-20, in front of 590 fans.

Nevertheless, Shaefer was happy with her homecoming effort.

“This may have been the best I played all season,” said Shaefer, 27, after combining with Anne Smith for a 6-5 (5-4) win over Mary Lou Piatek and Robin White in doubles and a 6-4 win over White in singles.

“I’m starting to play much better right know. This is my third time in TeamTennis and every time I’ve played, it has helped me.”

After her career at SDSU, Shaefer went on the professional tour, where her go-for-broke style caused some problems.

“When I’m on, I can be tough,” she said. “But it was getting me into trouble. I was very erratic a couple of years ago.”

In 1983, however, Shaefer’s fast-paced serves and groundstrokes began to click, and she won the U.S. Pro Indoor title, beating Pam Shriver and Zina Garrison along the way. At the end of 1984, her ranking was all the way up to No. 39 in the world.

On Saturday, San Diego’s win clinched the Buds at least a third-place finish in the league. The Buds (9-4) wind up their season in Los Angeles at 7:30 tonight.

Miami Beach (10-4) clinched the regular season title by beating Oakland Saturday, and St. Louis (9-4) finishes its season at Chicago today.

No matter where the Buds finish in the standings, it does not appear that they will play host to any playoff matches, team officials said. The playoff matches will probably be played in the city where there has been the greatest attendance. The Buds have been last in league attendance all season.