Sept 9, 2019

Cowgirls over the Lady Hornets of Western Guilford 7-2 in conference tennis action

Tonight we began conference play.  Our conference is small. Quite small.  Three teams in total. Mt Tabor, Western, and SW.  We lost Smith this season….they couldn’t field a team.  West Forsyth never materialized for a women’s tennis team since being aligned in the same conference.  Dudley has been at least 6 years out from a team. And Parkland 10 years since the last time their fielded a team.

So away we go.

The Cowgirls began up on all courts.  The Cowgirls finished up on all but one singles and one dubs courts.

Hannah Beamon was offered the chance of playing on court 6 tonight.  She didn’t disappoint. Keeping the ball in play was the key. By doing so, she ran away with the match 6-0, 6-0.  This was her first varsity win. Congrats Hannah.

Gretchen Cross (ct 5) had little concern against her opponent.  Unfortunately, the match went the second longest of the evening due to her opponent’s unconventional strokes which caused everything to lob upward and arch very slowly.  Gretchen persevered taking the match 2 and 1.

Lanie blitzed her opponent 0 and 0 in 36 minutes.  Wow.

Meghan, battling several ailments, moved well on the courts and finished her opponent 0 and 3.  

Christina held serve, kept the ball in play, and best yet, didn’t try to over hit tonight.  0 and 1.

The longest Match of the evening goes to Audrey on court 1.  Taking the first set convincingly (6-2), she hiccuped in the second set when her opponent changed up her game and game the freshman a bit of trouble.  WG took the second 3-6. To a tiebreaker Audrey went. In the race to 10 for the super tie break, the two traded strokes and serves. Drawing even at 6-6...4 more points would decide the battle at just under 2 hours in the heat.  

6-7

7-7

7-8

8-8

8-9

And with a slight edge, Western Guilford defeats our Audrey.

Not to worry readers.  Audrey and Coach have regrouped and will nip the Lady Hornet next time.

SW takes singles 5-1 and clinches the match.

Dubs became a bit more relaxed.

Audrey and Christina sat for dubs.

Meghan and Gretchen took the court at the dubs top seed.

Opportunity was given to Lauren Harris and Avery McCaskill for #2 dubs.  

And #3 dubs featured Bea Calwitan and Sandra Striletchi.

Bea and Sandra had little trouble and won 8-0.  It isn’t that it is 11pm and coach is tired….while all of that is true, there simply wasn’t anything great to write about on this court.  Bea ran wonderfully. Sandra hit solid returns. But in the end, this duo proved too much for the LAdy Hornets.

Lauren/Avery began up early in the match leading by as much as 4-2.  But the Lady Hornets had other plans. Changing up their tactics, stroking the ball a bit better, a bit longer, a bit deeper, the Cowgirls struggled to adjust.  Holding on, but their grip loosening, the Cowgirls slip to 6-7 and ultimately 6-8. It was a good match, but one where the Cowgirls ended up not on top.

Meghan and Gretchen went up early in the match by a break, and in one fell swoop, a hiccup developed and the two teams were neck and neck.  When one held, the other held. When one lost serve, the other team lost serve as well. 8-7 Cowgirls as they went into what we now know was the last game.  Western Guilford Serving, fatigue long since an issue, Serve, a strong return by Gretchen, WG counters, Meghan a winner out wide. Second serve, a double fault.  Love - 30. It felt like a wave building. The third serve in, crosscourt to WG #1, fast and low across the net, Gretchen pulls up the shot, deeper, sailing back across...just out.  Love - 40.

One more point to go!  The serve, return a bit short, a reach from the Hornets, lifting, lifting, and just long off the baseline as the Cowgirls defeat the Lady Hornets 9-7 on Dubs court 1.

2-1 dubs

7-2 overall.

Cowgirls rise to 1-0, 5-0 and the Hornets fall to 0-1, 1-6 on the season.

Cowgirls play host to Wesleyan Christian Academy on Tuesday