Oct 2, 2019

Tonight is a milestone for the tennis ladies.  Much like the near drought conditions of the last month or more, Cowgirl Tennis has had a Conference Championship drought for the last 10 yrs.  Tonight that changed.

SW wins 7-2 over Mt Tabor securing the conference title.

That’s right….the Coggins Gym Women’s Tennis Banner gets a new number.

‘19

In short, we owned three courts from the start and were competitive on the other three.

Audrey blitzed her opponent 6-0, 6-0.  No, there was little hope for the Spartans here.  

Meghan had the edge at 3-2 in the first but left her opponent behind rattling off two breaks and a hold.  Second set was much the same. 6-2, 6-1

Gretchen roared to a 6-2 win in the first and held tight to her game, fending off an advancing and aggressive opponent taking the break and the win 6-2, 6-4.  Well fought Gretchen.

Christina began down in the match 0-3 but battled her way back to a 6-4 victory in the first and played wonderfully in the second winning it out 6-4, 6-0.

Lanie had her hands full with a pusher of a player.  She was competent and could return like a wall. Clearly, this frustrated Lanie to no end.  Lanie played a bit reserved, unable to really hit out due to the lack of velocity in her opponent’s shots.  Again, she was competent and could move the ball, but the loopy shots kept Lanie back and on the defensive. Altering her game, Lanie held, broke, and held again winning the first set 6-4.  Second set was much the same. The wall held, but cracks were forming. Shots were hit shorter and Lanie took advantage. Moving up, and hitting her angles, Lanie broke the Spartan twice and took the match 6-4, 6-3.  Though the win was expected, clearly Lanie’s path was a bit more fraught with obstacles.  

Now the last singles match of the evening.  

Tran Nguyen, though frequently in the top six in doubles, limited opportunity for her in singles.  Well tonight was her night.

Falling behind initially in the game count due to lack of footwork and overhitting, Tran began to find traction in her game.  Pulling back a bit and actually moving to the ball, Tran held, broke, and held again giving her the 1 game lead.

4-3,

4-4,

5-4, 

5-5,

6-5,

And with one more break, the 1st set win.

There was little coach could do...this was not just a match, but a mental game Tran had to overcome.

To no one’s surprise, the second set began much like the 1st.  Tran lost a serve and spent the next 5 games diggin her way out.  Up 30-40, Tran held on an exceptionally long rally.

The break, score even.

A hold, one game advantage.

4-3

4-4

5-4

5-5

(seriously….the same scores of the 1st set)

6-5

And once more, a break over the Spartan handing Tran a well deserved victory.  

7-5, 7-5

Cowgirls sweep Mt Tabor 6-0 in singles.

Having secured the match victory, I dropped out Serb and Alentino and moved Meghan and Gretchen up to court 1.

Maggie Mugi and Bea Calwitan subbed in on court 2

And Avery McCaskill and Lauren Harris were on Court 3.

Avery and Lauren exited the courts first.  Though they played a competent game, showing good aggression towards the net and power shots from the baseline with a dab of cross court thrown in for good measure, the Spartans proved too tough for the Cowgirls with deeper shots and a solid defense of the net.  The Cowgirls played tough in every single game, but couldn’t close out the games. 1-8.

Maggie and Bea.  Playing number 2 dubs a scary treat.  MT Tabor had talent and their coach didn’t sub anyone in.  These two Spartans were MT’s legitimate 3 and 4 seeds. And the Cowgirls held.

They ran

They lifted

They were rivaled at the net winning a few and losing a few.  

Their baseline shots finding their mark more than not...and they didn’t lose a service game to boot.

0-1

1-1

1-2

2-2

2-3

3-3

3-4

4-4

4-5

5-5

5-6

6-6

And then they broke!

7-6

And then they were broken!

7-7

8-7

8-8

A tiebreaker.

Coach’s nerves were shot after watching this and court 1 (more to come shortly)

He walked away to watch some of the exhibition match.

When he came back…

3-3

3-4

4-4

4-5

4-6

4-7

A double fault from the Spartans

5-7

But the Cowgirls couldn’t hold quite enough as the Spartans barely edge the Cowgirls on Court 2  8-9 (5-8)

Now understand this match was going on right next to court 1 with Meghan and Gretchen.

The duo gaining their form once more after a brief absence from Gretchen, These Cowgirls took charge!

1-1

2-1

3-1

4-1

5-1

6-1

7-1

Yes, one game away from winning their match…

7-2

It’s ok

7-3

Lucky

7-4

I don;t like this trend

7-5

Ladies, seriously, what is going on?

7-6

Are you *@#$%^ me?

Spartans Serving

Love -Love

Love - 15 (Servers call the score according to their own person...we would be second here)

Love 30

Do it!

15-30

Crap!

30-30

So help me…..

30-40

Close ...so close!

And with a powerful exchange cross court, a shot to Meghan, a downward slam giving the Spartans a shot at returning, the ball goes up….close ot the net, Meghan steps up, and instead of killing the ball, two handed backhand down and away near the net so there was no chance at redemption….point ended

….and no call of it being out.  The crowd began to cheer and clearly, Coach was quite happy for the two seniors.

Cowgirls finish the match 7-2 and in sole possession of leader of the conference this season.

Though this will need to be vetted during Monday night’s meeting with all of the coaches, Audrey Serb should get the #1 seed in the tourney...and Meghan/Gretchen, with this victory tonight, should  be placed as #1 in dubs.

In addition, with tonight’s win, the Cowgirls should be able to host during dual team beginning in two weeks.  

Way to go Ladies!

Audrey Serb (SW) over Meg Salt (MT) 6-0, 6-0

Christina Alentino (SW) over Madison Rabild (MT) 6-4, 6-0

Meghan Whalen (SW) over Ella Rose (MT) 6-2,6-1

Lanie Van Dorp (SW) over Rebecca Pollard 6-4, 6-3

Gretchen Cross (SW) over Mony Madan (MT) 6-2,6-4

Tran Nguyen (SW) over Chelsea Ivers (MT) 7-5,7-5

Whalen/Cross (SW) over Salt/Pollard (MT) 8-6

Tabloid/Madan (MT) over Maggie Mugi/Bea Calwitan (SW) 9-8 (7-5)

MP York/ Ivers (MT) over Lauren Harris/Avery McCaskill (SW) 8-1

SW finishes the season 4-0 in conference and 10-3 on the season.

PT 3-a conference tourney will be next week - Tuesday and Wednesday - hosted at SW