September 20, 2023 Yes, it is late.  No, we didn’t win.  Yes, the ladies improved their play from last meeting with the Nighthawks.   The skinny (just l...

Sept 18, 2023   The weather could not have been any better for tonight.  It is beginning to feel like fall.  The lady hornets had improved, which was evident by th...

Sept 14, 2023 Cowgirls over the Lady Bison of HPC 7-2 in non conf tennis action   Having won against the bison previously, Coach decided to shift the Cowgirls up to all...

Sept 13, 2023 If this were golf, tonight would signify the back nine for the Cowgirls.  Unlike our gridiron brethren, Tennis plays each team twice.  Tonight, we hosted the lady Pi...

Sept 11, 2023 For those of us old enough to remember, a moment of silence for today.     The Cowgirls hosted the Lady Vikings of NW tonight.  Temps were warm, but not excessive.  Singles went great!  No, we did not win it all.  By the end the Cowgirls only won one court with a good look at another, but top down, the ladies play was exceptional.  They took stock, they adjusted, they changed their games in some small way to push back against the wall.  And on every court, the wall began to move.  Move, mind you, not tumble.  But movement is good for a team as young as ours. I remember the first time we won even a court off NW.  The chink in their armor was forever exposed.  Though the Cowgirls fought well, it was Maggie Jermyn, 10+ years ago, who took that first win from the Vikings.  Since then we have performed well, even taking them as a team, but tonight was special. Let’s go through the rest of the line up and save the best stories for last.   Dubs.  On all three courts, play and movement were good.  The Viking simply had us tonight to wrap up the match.  McGinnis/McKnight, Dee/Church, and Wesney/Perko all played well and had good shots.  Crosscourts were excellent.  We have been working on these.  But by the third to fourth shot, the Cowgirls couldn’t hold pace with the Vikings.  Kudos to them for being a very complete team.  We will continue to search for and find the dubs magic.  Singles I think what could end every single write up for singles tonight is this:  the Cowgirl “played her game and upped their consistency which forced their opponents to play a different game, a game where they weren’t always pushing the points on the Cowgirl.”   Again, kudos to the Vikings in their efforts, but the Cowgirls really made them work for it tonight. Evelyn on 2 played her most consistent game yet this season.  Finally having a hitter v a pusher/lobber allowed Ms McKnight to hit out, but yet she stayed reserved in her hitting.  Most points were 5+ shots with Evelyn in every single point.  A Consistent topspin was the key.  Footwork synced as well.   Her opponent continued to pummel, but late in the first set, seeing Evelyn constancy, changed her tactic.  Though enough to win, Evelyn “played her game and upped her consistency which forced their opponents to play a different game, a game where Viking wasn’t always pushing the points on the Cowgirl.” Rachael hits were outstanding tonight.  She had focus and direction.  Deep spin shots were the norm for today.  She moved so well on the court.  Not just right and left but to the net and back with crafted shots.  The best yet, Rachael was in every single game tonight.  At least to 30 if not deuce.  The Viking held strong, but Rachael’s play was big, bold, and confident.  Points were longer thanks to Rachael hitting prowess on the courts.  It was a lovely sight to see her embrace this game tonight.  Rachael “played her game and upped her consistency which forced their opponents to play a different game, a game where Viking wasn’t always pushing the points on the Cowgirl.” Coach believes you have it now.  Coach will mark the last line with a * and allow you to reference the reading above to complete each story. Truth be told, Church, Christman, and Bella should have been pushed off the courts by the shots exhibited by their opponents.  But they were not.  Each of these ladies opted for a new game and made the Vikings work exceptionally hard for their victory. Church played a spitball of a hitter with good angles.  Honestly, the first set Caroline was a bit overwhelmed.  The Viking could do little wrong while the Cowgirl fought to and fro for every point…but most of the returns had the same answer.  Vikings.  In the second though, Church began to slow the Viking’s roll.  Changing strategy, lifting and pushing deeper, this took control out of the Vikings hands.  Church, though unable to secure a break, held each of her first 4 serves in the second.  But adjusting the pace of the ball, Caroline could craft her shots and direct them.  Points pushed longer.  The Viking had to run.  It was lovely.  In the end, Caroline…*. Christman moved her opponent around the most tonight.  The Viking had a good serve and play to back it up.  Caroline had her playing moxie and began from the get go, to slow down the roll of the Viking by hitting (and directing) her shots to not Middle.  Not Middle is a great concept.  It literally means not the middle.  Kinda like “Not the Momma ...

Sept 5, 2023 Didn’t someone give the weather a calendar so it knows we are in Fall? Bad news – heat delay. Good news – The tennis ladies and I were able to catch some of the JV and Varsity VB matches.   The Grimsley Whirlies began today two Whirlies down.  Their LY #1, torn ACL from Lacrosse.  Keri, I told you xLax was evil.  Their now #3, delightful young lady, Violet was ill.  If the Cowgirls were to make a move against the Lady Whirlies, today was the opportunity. Grimsley’s #1 and #2 were mirror and wall good.  Both ladies could negate most hard hitting with simple lifts and direction to the baseline and corners.  For Ladies like this, only a game of consistency or faster “off the sides” hitting vs off the baseline or deep fast shots would shift the advantage to the Cowgirls.  Anna played well.  On serve until game 10 where the Whirlie laid claim to a break and won the first.  Likewise in the second set, claiming two breaks after three very close point for point games.  Ms Blacutt did an exceptional job of playing her opponent with high, near lob like shot with enough pace to push the Cowgirl deeper nearing the fence.  This is a hard position to play from.  Anna comes up short 4 and 3. Evelyn opted for the take no prisoners and over hit against the wall of a player she drew.  No, this did not end well.  Changing tactics for 2 games resulted in a two game jump in her stats for the first set of the evening, but old habits die hard.  Reverting to her over hitting ways, the first set closed out 2-6.  Upon returning to the game in progress, once more Evelyn was reminded to hit with control and increase the spin.  Once more the magic took hold and Eveylyn saw a 2 game jump in the second set.  The Whirlie though had other plans.  Simply lobbing it higher and deeper and slowing the pace of the ball, the Whirlie took control of the rest of the games.  Evelyn goes out 2 and 2. Rachael had an incredible 1 st set.  Down at first, Rachael dug deep, continuing to develop a forehand slice for the lower balls the #3 Whirlie kept her running for throughout the entire match.  Rachael broke back evening the score.  5-5.  A break and a hold, the first set goes to the Whirlie.  The second set saw the Whirlie turn the screws, lengthening and raising her shots forcing Rachael deeper.  Rallies were long.  Points were beautiful.  Games were tight.  The score did not show the intensity of the second set.  5-7, 1-6.  Church took on, at times, a lofty hitter who had the uncanny ability to hit it rather short, though I do not believe it to be particularly with intent on the Whirlie’s part.  This caused all sorts of difficulties for Caroline.  Unable to get into a rhythm in play, though points were long and rallies delightful to watch, Caroline falls short 1 and 1 for the evening.   Kudos to both Church and Dee for reading the court, (their) opponents and anticipating the shots.  Their (running) legs were working overtime tonight.  Though some of their shots did not make the expected trajectory, they held their own point for point on their respective courts, challenging most games to near or to deuce.  This was due to their footwork.  Keep it up ladies! Christman began the evening 1 down in games.  In fact, across the board, all of the Cowgirls began down after the first game.  Caroline, and Bella at #6, turned that into victories on their respective courts.     To begin, Christman’s match lasted 1 hr 50 mins.  In the heat (yes, even though it was delayed for a while), the heat was a factor on all of the courts.  Caroline faced off against her Whirlie down 1-2.  On serve still through the next 4 games, Caroline broke her opponent’s serve and held her own.  5-4, Caroline played through at least 4 deuces.  Coach had to simply walk away.  Upon Coach’s return, it was concluded Ms Christman had taken the 1 st set on either the 5 th or 6 th deuce.  Up a set, it was up to her to maintain and push her game on the Whirlie…but the Whirlie made other plans.  Down once more after the first game of the second set, Caroline held.  1-1.  And that was it for the second set.  The Whirlie began finding her game.  Extending her shots and hitting her corners.  Christman had no answers.  1-6 in the second.  Third set tiebreaker – the race to 10 points. It was tight.  Caroline began to relax after Coach made her come over to the fence.  He told her a joke…”Why did the Chicken Cross the road?”  Caroline’s answer…”To get to the other side.”  And with that crappy joke, Coach made Caroline smile.  The joke wasn’t the point.  The point was to get Caroline out of her own head.  In short, it worked.  Caroline relaxed.  Caroline lengthened her shots.  Caroline began covering her shorter balls by running to the anticipated delivery zone before her opponent hit it there.  Caroline began to read her opponent better and in doing so, moving better out of expectation rather than reaction.  Caroline takes the third in a hard fought match, 10-6.  Bella experienced a level of play she was not use to seeing.  Reader, every player has a different shot…especially in the mid range of player.  This is not a slight to Bella, No!  This is a compliment as to her ability to absorb and find a way around a different ball.  Think a old timey grab bag with some good, and some, well….much like Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans ...

Sept 7, 2023 Cowgirls over the Tiger Clan of Ragsdalia 7-2 in conference tennis action A short heat delay tonight.  30 mins isn’t much so the ladies and Coach simply w...

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September 6, 2023 Tonight, you will read about some of the less heralded Cowgirls.  Though of quality nature and hitting, they are often overshadowed by the top 6 brethren. ...

Aug 30, 2023 Cowgirls hosted SEG in conference tennis action. It didn’t rain. Three days in a row. Let’s give a hand clap of praise to the One who made it happen. Not even kidding. For three days it has threatened with the growing likelihood that the rain and thunderstorms would ruin our tennis plans.  For any coach out there…or anyone who has made plans before…rescheduling is a pain.  For three days, the rains held off.  Sporadic droplets of rain did come down tonight, but nothing the court couldn’t absorb. No, the Cowgirls didn’t win tonight.  After such an opening of the heavens holding back the rain, Coach thought the win was at least a possibility.  Unfortunately the Cowgirls fell 4-5 to our conference foes…and when I say foes, they are just tennis players like us…so ladies, kind and skilled in the ways of tennis. Coach has no regrets over tonight’s play.  Each of the ladies played their talent spot and played as well as they could.  In the process, the Cowgirls culminated the night with 4 solid wins.  Play on the other 5 courts was inspired and on a few, a better outcome could not have been imagined in light of the talents the Cowgirls faced tonight. Let’s jump in. In all, the Lady Falcons found/grew/prayed for and received three freshmen with incredible tennis prowess.  Anna drew the short straw to face off against one of those freshie on number one.  She had a BIG serve, nearly owned the mid court, graceful flow and moves to and fro around the court, and wicked forehand and backhand.  Though in Coach’s humble opinion, not as good as Page’s #1, as a freshie, she will only continue to get better.  And still Anna held throughout.  Not all from her service games, she tallied an impressive 5 games in total from the Lady Falcon.  There were at least 4 other games that went to single or multiple deuce.  Anna’s ability to track down the ball and anticipate the shots save for the guided missiles launched put her in good position to return most of the fast paced play.  Anna’s style of play forces her opponents to play her game at times (as evidenced in her WG match victory) with the much better ones having to find their shots.  To the Lady Falcon’s credit, she did just that.  Anna prolonged the rallies and made her opponent play up to win.  Anna loses 2 and 3. Evelyn played third year Lady Falcon Kennedy.  Kennedy is a splendid player who has trained well and really developed her game over the last three years.  The first year she played down to a UTR 7.0 Reagan.  Last year Audrey took care of business with her.  And this year, behind the Lady Falcon #1, Kennedy’s strength go even further.  Hitting a harder, flatter ball, Kennedy did battle with Evelyn.  Tight at the onset, the biggest difference was the year’s additional experience resulting in a more consistent play.  Evelyn was able to hold point for point, but the longer the rally lasted the more pressure Evelyn took on in running, setting up, and executing the shots.  In the end it was a bit much for our beloved freshy.  Evelyn loses 3 and 1.  Coach did comment to Evelyn…”Kennedy was where you were her freshman year.  With ongoing training and development, You will rise to that level of play or better.” Long time readers will attest to the difficulties of courts 3 and 4.  Last year Cowgirl Lauren (graduated – attending App state) and Rachael (current #3) held those tough spots.  These precarious courts always were talent deep in the metro when the Cowgirls faced off against them.  This year is no different.  In fact, both Northern and SEG (wins last year – not this year) added to their ranks and roster depth to cover those positions with new talent.  Rachael drew Kennedy’s younger sister Jordan.  Jordan has been training alongside her sister for the past three years exclusively focused on tennis.  Rachael was in for a treat.  Rachael got into the swing of things quickly able to go head to head with Jordan on most shots – forehands, crosscourts, backhands – all were extremely good.  Depth was good.  Spin was good.  Angles were developing.  If a shorter ball was hit though, Jordan was keen to approach and destroy.  The Lady Falcon simply had an answer to most of Rachael’s shots.  Jordan’s shots were bigger, deeper, and full of magic Coach thinks.  Unfortunately, this magical combo was more than Rachael’s game could accommodate.  The next three courts all flourished because Rachael held the line on Court 3.  This, ladies and gentlemen, is what on court leadership is about. Church has an unconventional hitting style.  In short, it works for her.  If the readers remember, Grace Parsons (Graduated ’22 – big sister to baseball player Parsons) also had an unconventional style.  Let’s call them disrupters.  If this was politics, they would be Mavericks.  Lady Falcon freshy Court 4 was a bigger hitting, deeper placement, spin happy kinda player.  But clearly, she hadn’t encountered someone like Church before.  Within the first three games, be it the stress of the week, beginning school, or simply shots not falling as anticipated, with Caroline up 3-0 (Wowzer!), the Lady Falcon left the courts in tears.  Since we are not all USTA rules experts (nor is Coach…we have been around a while to learn a few things), ‘players are not permitted to leave the court unless medical attn is required or a bathroom break is needed.’  Coach is sure there are other words involved, but he liked broad strokes.  Not only did the Lady Falcon leave the court, but she was also conversing with her parent.  In tennis, these are two no-nos.  Don’t leave the court and only talk with the coach(es) on record for the match. Coach asked the Lady Falcon coach to correct this and he did.  He is new.  No worries.  No penalties were given.  A simple mistake by the freshy.  Not to worry, no illness or the like, simply nerves and the indignation of not hitting well. Let start again.  Church came out to a 3-0 lead.  The game, consistency.  The Lady Falcon could blast the ball, but in light of a different hitting style displayed by Church, she over-reached, over hit, under ran much to the glee of Coach and Caroline herself.  6-1.  Mind you, this was not a quick 6-1.  The points were long – averaging 6-9 shots each with lots of running to each ball hit from both sides.  In the first 3-4 games, Caroline had totally negated the power difference between the Lady Falcon and the Cowgirl. Second set.  Long.  Grueling.  A joy to watch as a coach.  The Lady Falcon came out swinging.  Having already heard from Coach this gameplan possibility, Caroline was ready for the 2 nd set bump.  Trading serves back and forth through the second set, with the Lady Falcon serving first, it was up to Church to hold serve and to tie the game score again.  On serve, it took Caroline 3 deuce attempts to finally hold serve.  5-5.  Church breaks.  6-5.  Though both sides were tired, Caroline’s energy and hitting prevailed when 1 ball went to the net and two others sailed long.  Caroline wins tonight against her hitting better.  6-1, 7-5. Christman also had a great night.  In looking over the records from last season, SEG’s #5 played as #2 last season.  This is how good this team grew overnight (since last season) with the introduction of 3 fierce freshmen.  Note to the reader, the Cowgirls are looking for young, up and coming eighth graders to join our tennis ranks beginning next season.  If you know of any, send them our way please.  Losing 6 seniors at the close of this season will nearly break poor coach’s heart.  Help him find others to fill this coaching heart’s void.  Back to Christman.  She pulled the ginger straw.  No, Christman isn’t a ginger……those are just auburn looking highlights in her hair.  The Lady Falcon she played was a ging.  A talented Ging too!  The joke was pre-game that whoever pulled the Ging best watch out for their soul.  Lose two times to a Ging in the season and we must sit you out.  Think of this as a Ginger Protocol to prevent soul leakage after a feeding.  Luckily, the protocol never had to be enacted. If Coach had to sum up the match…Christman hit her game.  Much like Church’s game, Christman’s game is neither overpowering or fancy.  It simply gets the job done when talent is in line with each of the players.  Unlike Church, Christman did not have a breakthrough 1 st set. On serve all the through the first 10 games, Christman won the 11 th game to stay of serve.  Up 6-5, both believed the set to be over.  Not yet young one.  You must win by two Coach said.  So off they went back to play what was in hope to be the last game of the set.  With the Ging serving – and Coach must interrupt here.  Ging had an impressive inside out serve, meaning, instead of hitting up and through to the outside of the ball causing it to bounce slight to right upon impact with the court, Ging flowed the other way totally flipping the side the ball would bounce on impact.  Coach and Wesney both commented on how unique it was at this level of play.  With the Ging serving, Caroline had already positioned herself on court to return the funky and effective serve.  Returned into the net.  15 love.  Second serve, Caroline returns it deep, Ging hits it back, Caroline scrambles hitting it back short, Ging pushes her shot into the net.  15 all.  Three more points would do it.  Caroline breaks the Lady Falcon to win the first set 7-5. Tired, but strangely energized, Caroline faced off once more for the second set.  This set was no easier.  Maintaining her hitting and control, Caroline traded with the bigger hitter throughout the second set.  Once more, everyone stayed on serve.  6-6, a tiebreaker.  The Lady Falcon was exhausted.  Caroline too, but the Cowgirls maintained her shots better than the Lady Falcon.  Up 3 match points at 6-4, Caroline hit it into the net on the return of serve.  6-5.  Caroline’s serve….long rally, lots more running…7-5 in the tiebreaker.  Caroline prevails. Court 6.  Bella has a beautiful game.  Her short game is precise, though not powerful.  Her long game is under development.  She drew a wall of a player.  Within the first four games, Bella’s opponent tried her game and power.  Bella was solid enough to return most of the shots back.  Without excellent footwork, the Lady Falcon opted for a more passive game trying to outlast Bella.  Bella too tried a more powerful game which the Lady Falcon mitigated in short form.  *Ding, Ding Ding* Ladies and Gentlemen, Let’s get ready to rumble!” ...