Cowgirls over the Lady Falcons of SE Guilford 6-3 in conference tennis action

Having studied their previous two conference matches, one against a knowingly weakened Ragsdale team, Coach had great confidence in adjusting the roster for top six play against Southeast Guilford.

 With temperatures not much cooler than yesterday’s near heat wave (after such a mild beginning to August), the Cowgirls took to the courts to improve upon their unbeaten streak vs the Lady Falcons during Coach’s tenure.

Audrey faced off against the young player Kennedy whom she did battle and beat during the second rd of the conference tourney last year.  The Lady Falcon fared the same as she did during the tournament…gaining only two games in total, this time split across the two sets.  Audrey was able to impressed her game on Kennedy which proved too much for the Falcon.  1 and 1.  Clearly Audrey is ramping up to take on Page’s #1 once more and hopefully split with her in overall play.

Lauren Began strong, able to keep the ball in and push the Lady Falcon around the court a bit.  With little pain in her ankle, she kept the pressure on winning the first set 6-3.  Unfortunately, the Lady Falcon had different plans for the second set.  On serve for the first few games, Lauren’s serve failed to penetrate the veil and she lost a serve allowing her opponent to go up a break and keep it there, winning her serve and forcing a super 10 point tiebreak.  Sluggish with her ankle now giving her difficulty, the Lady Falcon simply raised her game and Lauren was unable to match her efforts.  6-3, 3-6, 0-1 (3-10).

It was at this point in their lineup there was a drop in the talent offered up to play.  To SEG Coach’s credit, she had a top six and 5 more players to draw from.  Unfortunately, the talent pool was a bit shallow having almost no one who had played competitively prior to this year.  Reader, do not think this as an insult to the Lady Falcons, No!  Coach had adjusted his roster accordingly so as to secure the win but allow lower seeded Cowgirls a chance to play, and possibly win their opportunity at a varsity match. 

Before we tell of Seeds #3-6 in singles, let it be know #4 Lady Falcon was feeling under the weather and had to withdraw prior to the start of singles forcing the Lady Falcons to push up their talent.  Clearly this was not ideal in maintaining a strong presence against a conference match.

#3 Anna played very well.  Pacing herself, she had little issue taking the match.  Save for the first two games of play where she found herself and her hitting against a sweet but underwhelming talent concerning her own ability (think Audrey, but brought down a couples notches of play).  Anna wins 2 and 0.

Dropping Rachael and Betsy from singles today (Don’t worry!  They come back in Dubs play), Caroline Church was able to play in the top six for both Singles and Doubles.  Normally she plays just outside the top 6 at #7 seed.  A bit closer than originally thought the play would go, Church was heading in the right direction.  On serve throughout much of the 1^st set, Caroline breaks the Lady Falcon and secures the 1^st set 6-3.  Finding her range and groove in movement and hitting, She was able to maintain back and forth movement of the ball across the baseline forcing the Lady Falcon to move and in doing so, tiring her as well.  Between the movement, the heat, and having to hit the ball back one more time, spelled the end of the Lady Falcon play.  Caroline breaks twice as she takes the match 3 and 2.

Tamara, senior and proud Gold Award recipient for her work around the school with the murals and positive vides extended to both students and staff alike, took to the courts as the Cowgirl’s 5^th seed.  Tamara moved well and kept the pressure on the Lady Falcon.  Her playing superior, Tamara was able to keep her back near the baseline while walking in slightly to mid court forcing the Lady Falcon to hit very well to either pass her or to lob over her.  Not a strong player, these shots proved too difficult to continually draw from the well of shots and as they faltered, Tamara took the advantage and pressed even more.  The best thing about today, aside from winning, was Tamara’s recognition of a shorter ball and her movement to cover the shot.  Well done, Tamara!  0 and 1.

Keri McFeeley still needed a varsity win.  Understanding the relative strength of the Lady Falcons, this was a great time to put her into the line-up.  Having battled well against the Western Guilford player, but ultimately coming up short against the bigger hitter, Keri took to the court with a renewed sense of vigor.  She ran.  She ran and she ran some more.  These ladies were playing twins.  They both had the same serve, same depth of hitting, and almost identical shots.  The Lady Falcon simply had a smidge more consistency that ultimately decided the match.  Few points ended in under 5-7 shots between the both players.  So….What did Keri learn?  Running is easy when it is cooler….a lot harder when the heat is elevated.  Gatorade is good…especially the blue one.  Consistency, approach shots, and an earlier recognition of the depth of the ball is critical and as it is embraced, her game will only grow and flourish.  Not bad for a young lady who just picked up the game over the summer.  Don’t worry reader, Keri will have another opportunity to earn her Varsity letter next week.

Though not winning out in singles, the Cowgirls were up 4-2 after singles. 

Calculating the risk, Coach pulls Audrey and Anna out of #1 dubs, allowing Rachael and Dee to take top dubs billing, Jada and Church @ #2 and Perko/Wesney at #3.

Two-fold rationale.  One, Coach likes to live dangerously.  Ok, this wasn’t really one of the reasons…just a bullet point of truth in the thesis of his life.

Two-fold rationale: 

Knowing their strength and focus today, they would have won easily over the #1 Lady Falcon’s dubs team.  This would have put Rachael and Betsy playing a lesser caliber team and not adequately prepping them for their run in the Conference tourney.  Simply put, win or lose, they needed to see and play against a bigger hitting team.  #2 dubs is not the place to see this action against the Lady Falcons. 

And Evie Wesney and Elena Perko also needed an opportunity to win a Varsity match and earn their letter this season. 

This was both their opportunities. 

The unwritten third reason…..well, it is unwritten, but Coach knows you are an astute reader and can understand what he planned to write.  Coach says..”Good job.”  Take that as high praise devoted reader.  ….and if you don’t know….don’t ask, just accept the accolade and keep reading.

The duo of Elena and Evie was the first off the courts.  Up at first and then down because the two sophomores like the analogy of a see-saw, the Cowgirls fell into a slight hole due to a rougher than expected patch of service woes.  This coupled with a stagnation of their footwork allowed the Lady Falcons to take a break from the Cowgirls.  Behind at this point, the Cowgirls could only focus on their own shots and try to outlast their opponents.  Honestly, the serves were rough throughout, but the play began to bounce back.  Unable to hit shots down the lines due to the ball placement of their opponents and simply lack of a working toolkit, multiple shots were aimed down the middle and allowed for not too few points being earned in this manner.  Holding the Lady Falcons at only 3 games, the Cowgirls held the rest of their serves and in fact, took two breaks from the Lady Falcons in their win, thus giving the team their 5^th win of the night and securing the match outright.

Rachael and Betsy exited the courts next.  Playing well, taking aim at the weaker opponent (figuratively!, not literally! Seriously readers, we are football and men’s lacrosse players) by pushing hard to break her returns, the Cowgirls managed to earn 5 games from a tough and more so talented duo.  The highlights were the Cowgirls ability to hit down the line instead of crosscourt…in essence catching the Lady Falcons off balance and winning multiple shots this way.  Continuing to hit towards the #2 Lady Falcon and keeping the ball away from their #1.  Getting their serves in and by playing a more aggressive net, feigning or actually poaching many net shots, also contributed to the Cowgirls success.  But in the end, the stronger team from SEG prevailed….but this still showed the Cowgirls the possibilities of this play sustained and where it could lead them by the end of the season.  5-8.

The dubs of Jada and Church proved to be a close playing matchup to their counterparts from SEG.  Down to start plus a break for SEG, Jada and Church had to rally together and put some games on the board.  Serves were simply off today for Dubs court #2, but they managed to stave off most attempts to secure an additional break.  Failing in this endeavor twice overall, it was up to the play of the Cowgirls to break back and excel ahead.  Down 3-5, the Cowgirls managed to break and draw even.  Church continued her long and higher crosscourt shot keeping it away from the racquet of the SEG net player.  With Jada at the net, if the lob wasn’t sufficient, she was there to assist the ball back to the opponent’s courts.  Coach could say “They CRUSH’ed IT!”, but overheads still cause some issues with these two players. But play was enough to hold their own serve and take another break allowing the Cowgirls a victor 8-6 on dubs court #2.

4-2 after singles

Added to that a 2-1 victory in dubs

6-3 overall score.

Audrey Serb (SW) over Kennedy Penn (SE) 6-1 6-1

Ally Hardie (SE) over Lauren Harris (SW) 3-6 6-3 10-5

Anna McGinnis (SW) over Cassie Hufschmitt  (SE) 6-2 6-0

Caroline Church (SW) over Kennedy Daniel (SE) 6-3 6-2

Tamara Davis(SW) over Macie Johnson (SE) 6-0 6-1

Hannah Ayers(SE) over Keri McFeely(SW) 6-2 6-3

Penn/Hardie (SE) over Dee/Chen (SW) 8-5

Speight/Church (SW) over Hufschmitt/Smith (SE) 8-6

Perko/Wesney (SW) over Daniel/Johnson (SE) 8-3

Southwest Cowgirls over the Lady Falcons of SE Guilford 6-3

Cowgirls climb to 3-1 in conf and 5-2 overall

SEG fall to 1-2 in both conference and overall.

Cowgirls travel to Grimsley on Tuesday.