August 15, 2016

SW played host to Trinity’s Lady Bulldogs                             

What a night full of mystery…maybe not, but it was hot out there.  With temperatures approaching nuclear fusion, or 14 million Kelvin for those in the know, though showing a good start top down, two Cowgirls had to drop out due to heat issues in the first couple of games.  Did I mention it was hot?  To allay any concern, the two in question are doing fine, resting and hydrating.  They will roll back into the line-up by Wednesday match @ Western.

So almost immediately we are down 0-2.  Gretchen Cross, Freshman and pigtail wearer, took an early lead and didn’t look back winning an impressive 8-2. 

1-2

Zakeyia Clark held nicely in the opening games but succumbed to a strong baseline with placement.  She ran them down, but in the end, couldn’t convert those efforts into points. 

1-3

Meghan Whalen (Freshman) and Kristen Taylor (Senior) decided to play with their opponents before finishing them off.  Meghan, first timer to the top six and varisty play, went up early on her opponent securing a 6-2 lead, but Martinez of the Lady Bulldogs fought hard, raising her game up, putting Meghan on the defensive and thus clawing her way back to 6-6.  Meghan, not to be outplayed, though taking a bit of hitting, found her rhythm once more, holding serve and breaking Martinez for the win. 

2-3

Kristen Taylor played a keen match, but her opponent wouldn’t roll over and die, no!  She held tight.  No one broke the other’s serve 10 service holds when the Lady Bulldog’s Devin Welch held and then broke Kristen going up 6-5.  Kristen, struck back, holding hers and breaking theirs, 7-6 Cowgirls.  One more game and it was tied 7 all.  Heat sucking away the energy with each serve and subsequent play, Kristen held her resolve, her serve, and in breaking Devin’s serve, won 9-7 as the Cowgirls entered into dubs even.

3-3

Though tighter than Murphy would have wanted, he knew the incredible play possible out of the dubs selected to bring the match home. 

#1 dubs featured Meghan Whalen and veteran Ellen Druebbisch.  They won convincingly 8-2.

#2 dubs featured Kristen Taylor and veteran Kyra Akande.  8-1.

#3 dubs featured the relatively newbies to top six play Abbie Lowe and Alethea Yu.  Though they didn’t secure a win, for their first time in the top six, they played with solid skill holding promise of their future play together.

So with the dubs now finished, the Cowgirls win the match over a very talented yet young team from Trinity, 5-4.

The Cowgirls etch their first win of the season while narrowly handing a loss to the Trinity Bulldogs.

Southwest returns to play on Tuesday, August 16 hosting Wesleyan Christian Academy at the Southwest Tennis Complex. 

Sam Hamrick (SW) loss to Maddie Sykes (T) 0-3 Ret

Meghan Whalen (SW) over Izzy Matinez (T) 8-6

Kristen Taylor (SW) over Devin Wlech (T) 9-7

Gretchen Cross (SW) over Mackenzie Pierce (T) 8-2

Johaina Apolinario (SW) loss to Priscilla McCroskey (T) 1-3 Ret

Zakeyia Clarke (SW) loss to Mayra Santos (T) 2-8

3-3

Dubs:

Meghan Whalen/Ellen Druebbisch (SW) over Martinez/Welch 8-2

Kristen Taylor/Kyra Akande (SW) over Pierce/Anna Kate Patterson (T) 8-1

Abbie Lowe/Alethea Yu (SW) loss to Maddie Sykes/Stephanie Vail (T) 3-8

2-1

SW over Trinity 5-4