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Judy Saul felt like she was in a "steam bath."

The sun hovered overhead, baking her and her tennis partner. They ran back and forth on the court trying to keep up with the competition. Sweat poured down their faces.

Worn out by the 105 degree weather, Saul saw her team's chances of winning a national title during the 1992 USA League Tennis National Championships slip away.

More than a decade later, Saul is on a different team but is headed to the same tournament. She is one of 11 women from the Roanoke and New River valleys who is competing Oct. 29-31 in the 3.5 senior women's division at the Riviera Resort & Racquet Club in Palm Springs, Calif.

Using the name "Branch," the team will represent the United States Tennis Association's Mid-Atlantic section and will have the chance to play against 16 other senior teams, which are made up of people ages 50 and older.

Team members are taking a relaxed approach to the tournament, said team co-captain Betty Branch. Over the past few weeks, they've practiced on their own but not much as a team. They're mostly trying to stay in shape, Branch said.

"We're not really going out there to try to win it," said Saul, of North Roanoke County. "We're going out there because we've worked hard."

But team member Candi Heath couldn't conceal her competitive spirit. Heath, of Southwest Roanoke County, said she will have fun even if the team doesn't win, but she's going to keep her game face on the whole time.

To get to the national tournament, the team won a competition in Roanoke, a district competition in Richmond and the Mid-Atlantic sectional competition in Newport News.

"This has been a fun ride so far," Heath said.

When they're not on the court, team members said they hope to soak in the sights of California.

Of course, the focus of the trip will be on their tennis matches.

"We're going to play the best we can play at that moment," said Branch, of Radford. "Win, lose or draw we're going to have a good time."