the Racquets failed to sign Evert before the 1976 season, the rights to her would revert to the Golden Gaters. The Golden Gaters had tried unsuccessfully to sign Evert after the 1975 season. When the trade was announced, Golden Gaters owner Dave Peterson said, "Chris indicated she had a strong preference for starting her World Team Tennis career in Phoenix. I feel her decision was greatly influenced by the fact that her closest friend, Kris Shaw, is on the Phoenix roster. We hated to make the deal. If it were just a matter of money we would have signed Chris, but money wasn't the major factor." After signing Evert, the Racquets sent Françoise Dürr to the Golden Gaters to complete the deal. In 1976, the Racquets raced to the top of the Western Division standings with a record of 30 wins and 14 losses, 2 games ahead of the Golden Gaters. However, for the second straight season, the Racquet fell in the playoffs to the Golden Gaters in two straight matches, 32–16 and 24–18. The Racquets' new superstar Evert was named Female Most Valuable Player and Female Rookie of the Year. Under the leadership of new player-coach Ross Case, the Racquets had their second consecutive first-place finish (and third in four seasons) in 1977, with a record of 28 wins and 16 losses, 3 games ahead of the Golden Gaters. Chris Evert repeated as Female Most Valuable Player. The Racquets swept the Sea-Port Cascades in the Western Division Semifinals, two games to none, 30–14 and 27–26. Meanwhile, the Golden Gaters fell in their semifinal series to the San Diego Friars, eliminating the chance that the Racquets and Golden Gaters could meet in the playoffs for the fourth straight season. The Racquets dropped the first match of their series against the Friars, who had a losing record during the regular season, 29–26. However, the Racquets came back to win the second and third matches, 27–20 and 30–22, to win the second Western Division Championship in franchise history and first since the team moved to Phoenix. In the WTT Finals, the Racquets faced the defending champion New York Apples. The Apples swept the Racquets in two straight matches, 27–22 and 28–17, to end the season for Phoenix. Key points in the series were Sandy Mayer's 6–1 set win for the Apples over the Racquets' Butch Walts and Virginia Wade of the Apples