PHOTOS BY USA PICKLEBALL. every single match,” Whitfield said.“ It makes it a little bit more nerve-racking, at least for me.”
Nerves certainly didn’ t show in the gold-medal match. It was more like most of the Super Bowls from the 1990s. Both teams deserved to be there, but one just caught fire and ran away with the title.
Boyce and Whitfield, in their matching outfits, scored the first six points before their opponents called time-out. After two more points, there was another break as the teams changed ends. The Anaheim pair made it 9-0 before Conover and Thoburn got their first point. But even then, Boyce and Whitfield knew the gold was theirs.
“ I was getting excited, especially when they called the time-out— their second time-out,” Whitfield said.“ I’ m like,‘ OK, we got this.’”
One thing that was very noticeable in their play was how well the twosome talked during the match. The consistent chatter ensured that both were on the same page and they didn’ t get in each other’ s way on balls between them, or in other gray areas.
“ That was our goal going into this,” Boyce said.“ If anything, we need to communicate because when we don’ t communicate, that’ s when we don’ t play very well together. So as long as we are talking during the points, and after the points, I think we really are successful and we really work well together.”
Being able to win close to home— Anaheim is about 100 miles north of San Diego— was also cool for Boyce and Whitfield, who had a small and loyal support group with them.
“ Absolutely,” Whitfield said.“ This is great and it’ s fun playing against different people that we’ ve never played against. We really have been working for this for about a year. This was our goal.”
Women’ s doubles was the only bracket Boyce and Whitfield entered this year in their Nationals debut, but said they would consider expanding their schedules for next year’ s championships.
“ Our goal was to win a couple of matches,” Boyce said.“ That was our goal— and then here we are winning all of it.”
Steve Drumwright is a journalist based in Murrieta, California. He is a freelance contributor to USA Pickleball on behalf of Red Line Editorial, Inc.
NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2025 | MAGAZINE 57