Aug 30, 2018

Cowgirls playing host to the Lady Comets of Asheboro

The AC was still broken on the outside courts.  Maintenance says it won’t be fixed until October or later.  It remained hot today.

Tennis (like golf, bocce, and shuffleboard) requires the individual to overcome the doubts of one’s self and push through till the end.  In doing so, the player is then faced with the unenviable task of doing battle against a player somewhere her equal on the court. Rudyard Kipling comes to mind:

If you can keep your head when all about you

Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,

If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,

But make allowance for their doubting too;

http://www.davidpbrown.co.uk/poetry/rudyard-kipling.html

It is hard to find opponents who stack evenly with the Cowgirls on every Court, but my goal is to play a variety of teams so that all of the Cowgirls will face their equal or at least, will have to face some of the smaller demons in their play, and persevere.  Four courts faced this tonight. Four courts triumphed tonight...if not in play for a “W” then in spirit about what they accomplished.

For those who usually scroll to the bottom and see the box scores, I will save you a scroll...we won 7-2. Clearly after a set up like this, the respective matches were far closer than the box score lets on.

The Lady Comets have talent.  Their coach, in pre-game chat, confessed this is their strongest fielding of ladies in a few years.  Warily I put down my players names for the line up because unbeknownst to the opponent’s coach, I was missing two of my top six, and a third who would have played in the top six seeing the attrition of the match.  Play would be close.

Knowing our strength down low, I had little concern for the bottom three courts.  Given this advantage, we should take #3 dubs, but the question mark remained on the relative strength of courts 1,2,3 and the top two courts in dubs.

Abby Lowe was the first off the courts.  Playing court 5, Abby went up after the first exchange of holding serve and began to outplay her opponent.  Up 6-1 Abby’s opponent suffered an injury to her elbow forcing her out of the match. This did little for the strength of the Lady Comet’s doubles team since their #5 was not slated to play dubs.

Lydia Specht, court 6, was the next to exit the fenced in playground of the elite.  Battling briefly early on in her play, exchanging serves twice before distancing herself from her opponent, Lydia closes out her match 10-2.

Meghan Whalen, as with most all #1’s in my coaching tenure, prove themselves to be a martyr in game play.  They have skill. Their skill is quite good. But in relation to other #1’s, it is always a heavy mantle to bear in some matches.  Don’t tell Brindon, but if anyone knows of a tennis prodigy and would like to recruit them to play for the Cowgirls, I would not be adverse.  I think Meghan would be appreciative as well. Meghan hit well. Meghan had deep serves, good cross courts, deep play, and still was marginalized in her play 2-10.  Ms Pincus on the Lady Comets could do little wrong. But don’t cry for Meghan...as a spoiler, dubs was still to play.

Lauren Cook took court 4 10-5.  But it wasn’t that easy. Her opponent ran down everything.  Heat bearing down, pace slowed, corners were hinted at, but few were painted.  Depth became in issue on both sides and players footwork became….did somebody spill sticky molasses on this court?!?!?.  This is one of those matches mentioned above. Play was tight. Neither player laid down to allow the other to walk over the other.  Lauren though stood her ground. Did she run incredibly well? No. Did she raise the level of her shots? She was trying. But what she did do was not just sit there and pray for the victory to come.  She hung in there. On rallies long and short, she got there...and she delivered her hits. I don’t remember a single point where in frustration, or desperation, Lauren lashed out at the ball as if it was causing the length of the match to extend.  She settle in, played her game, not just to outlast, but each point leaching away her energy, she continued to deliver her strokes, and this is what won her the match.

Annie Bodin, our international addition from Sweden.  A good stroke, but as with most thoughts we have that aren’t steadfast in our hearts and minds, easily challenged into doubt.  She lost her first serve. She didn’t convert the break. She barely held through her second serve. She didn’t get a sniff of her opponents second service hold and Annie’s thris service game did little to bolster her confidence.  She was angry. Her shots weren’t connecting. Play didn’t look promising. Down 1-4…..Did you hear the angelic chorus? Did coach just step up? Ha! I wish. No, not a miracle worker, but one who simply knows the game. No pressure I told her.  I made her look into my eyes and see that I wasn’t disappointed, that I believed in her game. “My forehand isn’t happening today.” I simply countered this with the advice of “slow down the swing,” and “ lift it a bit more.” Giving her props to the other aspects of her game that were working, I gave her a clean slate which to build a comeback.

1-4

2-4

2-5

3-5

4-5

5-5

5-6

6-6

7-6

8-6

9-6

10-6

It was a beautiful connection between player and coach. She listened, believed, and performed, overcoming her opponent by making peace with herself, and allowing the shots to happen.  It was a beautiful match.

Up 4-1 with only court 2 left to be decided, either we would win and win the match by taking 5 singles, or lose and be forced to play out dubs, of which coach was feeling confident of the Cowgirls’ odds.  

The lead on court 2, by the end, had changed 5 times with a tie at 9 games a piece before the last push.  The Lady Comet had good top spin - movement - serve, but Gretchen Cross had spunk, a wicked backhand, coupled with a forehand that found the corners more often than not.  

0-1

1-1

1-2-

2-2

3-2-

3-3

4-3

4-4

4-5-

4-6

5-6

6-6

7-6-

7-7

8-7

8-8

8-9-

9-9

9-10

9-11

Intense as it was wonderful.  We didn't win, but it was great play. Wired as Gretchen was after this close defeat, dubs would be a treat.

4-2 after singles - Cowgirls

Dubs

Having overcome herself and won on Court 2, I partnered Annie with Abby again to handle court 2 dubs.  Wasting little time, between Annie’s confidence, cross-court and net play and Abby’s stand and deliver from both the net and the baseline, the Cowgirls wiped the Lady comets 8-0 earning the Cowgirls the win for the match.  

Moving Morgan McGuire and Holy Galvin up to Court 3 from exhibition, the Cowgirls took care of business, only allowing their opponents the dignity of service holds through the first three exchanges and finishing them out 8-3.

But dubs tonight belonged to Whalen and Cross.  Loving to give their opponents hope and a lead, the Cowgirls let out the rope of the match to a 1-4 predicament. With the crowd swell of the 4 spectators behind them, the Cowgirls mounted their comeback.  Staying back from the high spin beast of a forehand from Ms Pincus, the Cowgirls began a great foray into the cross-court, down the line, and wide angles to both edges of the court.

1-4

2-4

2-5

3-5

4-5

4-6

5-6

6-6

7-6

7-7