Aug 15, 2018

Southwest Cowgirls @ HPC Lady Bison

Warm, sunny, ideal for the beach...we were not at the beach.

Heat was an issue from the first game.  It is pervasive. It gets into your head.  Fatigue sets in shortly there after. In short, it can kill a game.

Central playing down 2 players mid line-up and the Cowgirls without their top 2 player forcing all of the ladies to shift up made for an interesting match tonight.  Add in the heat and fatigue. And did I mention the roaming stegosauruses? Ok, maybe it was just the band marching and playing up and down the crescent drive and what was with the 4 wheeler and mini bike?!?!?!?!?  OK, there seemed to be distraction too, but I will let you on a little secret...we won.

Alethea triumphed on court 3.  Deep with corner shots...the Lady Bison had little in response.  In fact, courts 4,5, and 6 all went in favor of the Cowgirls. Abby Lowe at 5 and Johaina Apolinario on 6 really came through tonight.  

Cowgirls up 3-0.

The problem was, it takes 5 individual match wins to declare a winner...and the top three singles looked to split the count right down the middle.

Gretchen Cross had the great opportunity to play against HPC’s bona fide #1...also Ms. Cross.  Not to confuse the reader with the play between Ms. Cross and Ms. Cross, we will reference Gretchen’s opponent in less formal ways.  Gretchen’s game was on today. Her serves deep and in (always helpful), she answered her opponents shots deep and wide. She held two game to a ridiculous number of deuces.  Clearly she was playing well...but for not. Her opponent answered nearly every shot Gretchen made. The opponents serve was wicked and angry. And her cross courts stretched Gretchen to the sides of the court and beyond.  

Gretchen didn’t win today, but she played a very level-headed and well hit game.  She checked off all of her playing boxes and for that, it was a very good match.

Lanie Van Dorp fell victim to her opponent in the first three games.  Staring at naught - three to begin a match is never comforting. After a chat with coach, an adjustment to her game, Lanie began the climb...Woah!  No, not the climb. Let’s not reference that pop song song at one too many graduations from middle schools and choral concerts. Let’s redo….Lanie began her comeback [cue the music….inspirational...with a beat].  Stepping back to counter the better topspin of her opponent and easing off of her stronger serve, Lanie began playing Lanie’s game. I tell the ladies, you play your game better than anyone else out there. You may not always win with your game, but undoubtedly you will always feel comfortable with that playing style.  And Lanie was. Instead of trying to hit harder to catch up with her opponent, Lanie began to slow her opponent’s roll, hard to off pace, just enough to disrupt her opponent’s rhythm. And it worked. [crescendo the music]. The heat began to factor in with Lanie’s opponent. Lanie went on a 10-2 run, 5-0 run before her opponent clawed back a game.  Heat rising on the court, temper rose and play fell. Smart tennis was replaced by more power shots, and most never found their target for Lanie’s opponent. Lanie overcame the heat and mental game and won against HPC’s bona fide # 2.

Lauren Cook played at #3.  The highest she has ever played.  Heat an issue. Butterflies abounding.  The first 4 games were not stellar from the Cowgirl.  Down 3-1 she and I had a chat...either wilt away, give up and finish the match soon to save energy for dubs, or actually play her opponent the way she knows how to do so.  Yes, she doubled down, screwed her courage to the sticking-place and carried on.

1-3

2-3

2-4

3-4

4-4

4-5

5-5

6-5

6-6

6-7

6-8

7-8

7-9

8-9

9-9

9-10

9-11

Unfortunately, the next line that accompanies the quote above is “And we’ll not fail.” This did not turn out in the Cinderella fashion we all envisioned.  This is very hard to the psyche of...ANYONE! Every game went long. As was told in yesterday’s recap, I rate players according to how many shots they can hit on average.  Lauren’s opponent was a 11-13. Lauren on her best game had been a 7-8. By all measures, Lauren shouldn’t have been in this match...but she was, she did, she hit better than she had ever hit, she kept the ball in play for rallies longer than she had ever before, she ran side to side better and more than she had been forced to do in any match previously...she played her heart out.

Did she triumph?  Not in score, but honestly, I don’t do this for a score or a table of W’s and L’s...I do this for the money, glory, time away from my family, long nights writing this epic story after every match love of the game and for the edification of my players.  Did she triumph. YES! She outplayed her best match to date.  She proved to herself a new limit to her own performance. Lauren better realized her new potential in the game of tennis.

I love coaching.

Singles 4-2 in favor of the Cowgirls.

Having secured 4 of the 6 singles matches, I knew I only had to win one more in dubs.

Once more, Gretch took to the courts, this time with Lanie as her co-pilot.  They held their own, but ultimately lost to a well oiled team. But in doing so,the dubs teams of  Lauren/Alethea and Abby/Johaina were able to play their talent spots and come out victorious.

Abby and Johaina easily handed their opponents 8-1.  Lauren/Alethea played an adjusted team after heat got the better of HPC’s #2 and a late sub was introduced, taking them out 8-1 as well.

Cowgirls defeat the HPC Lady Bison, 6-3 in non-conference tennis action.

The Cowgirls raise their non-conf record to 4-0 on the season.

Cowgirls will play HPCA on Monday, Smith (conf) on Wednesday and HPC once more next Thursday.  With the top two back in the line-up and the new addition from Sweden-Annie (you will certainly hear more about her in the matches to come), this season potential grew by leaps and bounds after the first week of play.

Thank you for reading.  We will catch you up on next week's matches beginning Monday evening.

Singles:

Ginny Cross (HPC)  over Gretchen Cross (SW) 1-10

Lanie Van Dorp (SW) over Anna Yarborough (HPC) 10-5

Olivia Perez (HPC) over Lauren Cook (SW) 9-11

Aletha Yu (SW) over Elizabeth Boger (HPC) 10-3

Abby Lowe (SW) over Rachel Eskew (HPC) 10-2

Johanna Apolinario (SW) over Sarah Faith Amos (HPC) 10-0

Dubs:

Cross/Perez(HPC) over Cross/Van Dorp (SW) 2-8

Cook/Yu (SW) over Eskew/Boyer (HPC) 8-1

Lowe/Apolinario (SW) over Ames/Lilly Bovio (HPC) 8-1

6-3 (SW)

SW Rises to 4-0 in Non-conference action and will begin their Conf play next week.