Aug 18, 2021

SW traveled to HPC tonight.  IT was the beginning of both teams’ seasons…but only one could walk away a winner.

Coach returned to his Alma Mater to play tennis as a coach rather than a player.  Knowing the strength the Cowgirls had at the top of the line-up, coach could count on 4 wins between dubs and singles, but it was the bottom of the top six that could prove volatile from a comfortable win perspective.

Losing 4 players to senior attrition last year/season, the Cowgirls retained their #1, shifted #4 to 2 in the off season and heralded in a new batch of players, two new this year, two solid performers at the lower ranks.

 When the Lady Bison coach pulled me aside so we could trade rosters, she informed me two of her top 6 couldn’t be there tonight…one due to paperwork and one due to her proximity of the beach at match time.  Silly parents!  Season has begun!  This immediately proved to be advantageous to the lower draw.

#6 court Kate Cherry was the first off the court tonight.  Playing a wonderfully sweet opponent, Kate held to her game, returning and moving her opponent left and right…but at the end, simply getting it back one more than the Bison could cover.  0 and 0.  she finishes in 40 minutes flat.

Quick on her heels to exit the court was #1 Audrey Serb.  Though comfortable in her shots, the Lady Bison could do little in direct contest against a bigger hitting and swifter footed Cowgirl.  A few good shots resulted in her pursuit of a opening, but Audrey offered few and quickly covered the gap of those.  Powering through by the end, 0 and 0, another Cowgirl victory for Audrey.

#3 Grace Parsons decided to take the extreme scenic route in her match tonight….now forty + mins into her match…oh look!  They are still in the first set…..Keep it up Grace!

#2 Tran Nguyen was in a small bind early on.  Nerves?  Heat?  Aliens?  No!  none of those, rather, she simply needed a snack!  Someone forgot to tell Tran that proper nutrition and optimal performance in tennis go hand in hand.  Two games and two snacks later, blood sugar normalizing…Go Cowgirls!  Finding her rhythm, Tran quickly made up the single break down, got her serves in, and punished the Lady Bison with wicked side to side corner painting action.  This simply proved too much for the Bison.  Tran takes both sets, 3 and 1.

Court 3 Grace Parsons……still working on the first set.  Looks good.  Initially down 0-2, she has held her own and broken the Bison serve twice!  5-2.  Cowgirls up.  We will check back on you in a bit.

Freshy Anna McGinnis was wonderful on Court 5.  If the reader remembers back to the opening lines of this write-up,  The Bison were playing up.  Due to, in part, to this, Anna was able to control the flow of the match and even work on her placement in both corners while drawing her opponent into forced shots.  Covering the court well, Anna was able to take care of the match 1 and 1. 

Court 3 check in:  Grace now has won the first set…but is behind in the 2^nd set.  The tide seems to be going out…shots from both sides slightly jumbled – still forming their purpose.  Moments of good coupled with streaks of WTF…Where’s the Focus?!?!

Lauren Harris, Court 4, possesses wonderful power and she can generate her own at times…but this match took some doing.  The Lady Bison opponent had good shots coupled with cryptic shorties from miss hits…not a bad plan if she had meant to do so, but I fear she did not.  Lauren ran most of the shorties down and after the first few games, was able to get those back into play and turn the potential drop shot shortie winner into just another shot Lauren could deal with in play.  Though keeping her occupied and drawn into longer points and thus, a longer match, the outcome was never really in doubt.  2 and 2 and the first varsity win for Lauren of this season.

Court 3.  Grace turned the tide once more.  though down 3-4, she has held her streak for three games….Grace, you can do it!!!

Since Grace and Mallory were taking so long…the coaches decided to put #2 and #3 dubs out on the court.

They were playing a pro 8, first one to 8 by 2. 

Audrey and Anna #2…. Lauren and Rachael Dee at #3 dubs.

Audrey and Anna, #1 and #5 respectively, took to the court.  Though the first real match they have played together, they were impressive in their scrimmage victory over RJR last week.  And they didn’t disappoint.  Serving well, returning well, and holding court at the net, these two dominated much of play, forcing their opponents into ill advised shots and quickly taking most points.  No, the Lady Bison had little in their toolboxes to counter the combined strength of the cowgirls.  8-0 win.

Lauren and Rachael also took their opponents to task.  Lauren’s flow finally developed into solid and powerful hitting while Rachael was able to place the ball in spots where only the Cowgirls could reap the rewards.  Foot work was good and the powerful consistency too much for the Lady Bison to get a foothold.  Topping this off was solid serving from both Cowgirls.  8-0, another win.

Though coach wanted to see more of the dubs action, Court 3 held my attention.  Grace drew it back to tie at 4-4 in the second set…but Mallory (Lady Bison) persisted in her ability to hit just one more shot than Grace and keeping it in the court.  4-6 loss in the second…we go to tiebreaker.

Giving court 3 a much needed break from the action, Grace begin serving for the tiebreaker and for the match.  Please understand while the tiebreaker began, Audrey and Anna had just left the court while Lauren/Rachael were putting the final touches on their soon to be victory. 

1-0

2-0

2-1

2-2

2-3

3-3

3-4

Lauren/Rachael are serving for their dubs match

3-5

4-5

5-5

5-6

6 all. Seriously…did you really thing this would have gone the easy route and one player would just turn over to play dead?  Not quite.

6-7

7-7

7-8

7-9

7-10

Congrats to Mallory from HPC and Grace from SW for an excellent match.  Though Grace came up short, The match, lasting just over 2 hours, had its own storyline and tidal pattern…one not dictated by the moon.  Grace will continue to improve.  Remember this is Grace’s first season of play on the tennis team.  To begin at #3 and play as well as she did is a testament to her grit.  The grit will only become more ferocious and the play that much more crisp.  She will take her next time.

In light of the epic play and length of court #3 match, the coaches opted to pass on #1 dubs and allow the ladies to rest for their Thursday match.

Cowgirls take the win, moving to 1-0 on the season, by a 7-1 victory over the Lady Bison of HPC.

Cowgirls play host to Bishop McGuiness Thursday beginning 6pm.

Thanks for reading.  Good night!

Audrey Serb (SW) over Olivia Perez (HPC) 6-0, 6-0

Tran Nguyen (SW) over Rachel Eskew (HPC) 6-3, 6-1

Mallory Cook (HPC) over Grace Parsons (SW) 2-6, 6-4, 10-7

Lauren Harris (SW) over Caroline Boger (HPC) 6-2, 6-2

Anna McGinnis (SW) over Natalie Chrisman (HPC) 6-1, 6-1

Kate Cherry (SW) over Gracie Howard (HPC) 6-0, 6-0

#1 dubs never took to the court due to both Cook(HPC) and Parson(SW) match going so long...no need to run them both to nubs in a non conference match that was already decided.

Serb/McGinnis (SW) over Eskew/Chrisman(HPC) 8-0

Harris/Rachael Dee(SW) over Boger/Monroe (HPC) 8-0

Cowgirls win the opening match of both teams 7-1 in non conference play.

HPC will play the Lady Tigers of Ragsdale on Thursday.

Cowgirls will host Bishop McGuiness on Thursday.

Cowgirls begin the season 1-0.