Aug 16, 2023

Tennis Cowgirls @ Reagan HS

Wow!  What a drive!  We were blessed because the humidity was lower today.  And with the sun at our backs, there was little we couldn’t do!

Except for pull off the win v Reagan.

Reagan is another of the 4A counterparts we have in the region similar to SW. 

With GTCC still claiming 2 of the top six and #’s 7-10, Courts 5 and 6 fought well, but the outcome was all but certain from the get-go. 

Highlights:

McKnight listened to Coach and began putting spin on the ball v blistering the ball back causing the ball to land inside the court.  It seems minor, but if the ball lands outside the lines, it isn’t considered a “point.”  This worked well through the first set where Evelyn drew to a tiebreak at 6 all.  Though falling in the tiebreaker and subsequent set, this was a notable milestone in Evelyn’s shot development.

Church found a grinder on court 2.  Though the rallies were long and the points drawn out, the player from Reagan slowly pulled away.  Stamina was deep on both sides of the net.  Though a loss, Caroline reached her goal of consistent play reaching as high as 20+ shots in a point and an overall consistency of 6-9 shot average.  Winning will come soon.  this is simply the building of a tennis game.

Little Christman did a wonder on court 3, holding serve until the very end of the first set nearly forcing a tiebreak, 5-7.  Exhausted from the effort and her opponent finally finding her game, the Reagan player pulled away with sharper play and bigger serving all but pushing Caroline out of contention.

Little Wesney went up against a brute (she was very nice and a quality player….just go with this for a bit).  Think Princess Bride and the role of Fezzik (played by the late Andre’ the Giant).  Compared to Evie, her opponent was the Brute Squad

[https://www.buzzfeed.com/caseyrackham/princess-bride-scenes-that-will-always-make-you-smile?utm_source=dynamic&utm_campaign=bfsharecopy&sub=0_9749650#9749650]

Once more, she was very nice and played a quality game.  A Quality BIG game with lots of power.  Though falling short in the first, Evie ripped up the roots (which were holding her planted in the court) and began to move to the ball, extending the points and rallying.  This led to the culmination of 3 games in the second set.  No, not a win, but an excellent effort against a bigger game.

Little Robinson was nursing a sore ankle, but without any extra players, she held her own against a quality foe without hesitation.  Though outmatched, Riley was able to string together enough points for a game.  Though it doesn’t sound like much, it really was a good effort.  Riley’s opponent moved Riley at will and kept her back pinned at or beyond the baseline for the match.  Riley was able to craft multiple points together, going into tiebreak only twice, to secure the game.  The sweetest park of this was her dedication of the one game to her most wonderful and excellent mother for her Birthday today. Happy B-day Cheryl!!

Lamari Peele, newbie to the team, and now having played in the top 6 for a varsity match, was able to secure two games against a consistent opponent on court 6.   This was not only her first Varsity game, but it was her first foray against ANY opponent short of the hitting partners from the team.  It is simply way different experience when coach isn’t feeding a ball to you.  Way to go Lamari!

Doubles.

Having won the match in singles, Reagan opted to play some of their lower seed players. 

Coach was more than ok with this.  In tennis, this is part of the give and take of varsity matches.  When a team is out matched, the host will play lower to allow the lower seeds varsity playing time opportunity.  If in conference, we leave the top ones in to further beat up on the losing teams.  Think of it as running up the score for stats.

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha

Just kidding.  Too funny!  No, we also swap out to give the ladies a doable challenge and to further develop the talent down the ladder.

OK, now doubles.

 McKnight paired with Church on court 1.  The new opponents were no slouches.  Though going up 5-0 and breaking 3 times, The Cowgirls, at the behest of Coach, challenged themselves to experiment with different strategies.  Think practicing coming up to the net, playing back, or really going for the sidelines and corners.  The thought of it was to expand out the players’ confidence in trying new items before conference play and a general unwillingness to experiment with different play for fear of losing against a conf foe.

Though they dropped three games in this attempt, they found their footing and won the last two games to finish out the pro8.  Change isn’t natural, but with enough practice it becomes second hand when it really counts.  8-3 Win

Riley and Lamari partnered on Court 3 for dubs.  Dubs is challenging.  Having never played dubs together prior, they fought the good fight and managed to make a scoreboard contribution, but the Reagan players were too deep and too consistent for the cowgirls.  We continue to practice and get better.

Evie and Caroline (Christman) partnered for court 2.  This court was very evenly matched between the two teams.  Starting late and the clock ticking ever closer to noon and the stop of play (County rules), play was abbreviated to a pro6 from a pro8.  Points long and the deuces as common as sand on a beach, a tiebreaker was declared for 5-all if they reached this milestone. 

The over under was 4 deuces before play began.  Coach Larson (Reagan) won the bet.  He had over.

In total, 7 deuces to bring it to a tiebreaker.  These two Cowgirls battled well and eventually won the tiebreaker 7-3 giving the another tick mark on the tally sheet.  Congrats to their first wins of the season.

Thursday v HPC should be an easier struggle.  GTCC students come back into the fold (except for Christman…something about Open House?) tonight and the line-up promises to fight hard against out cross town rival. 

Coach will recap the action for the good Cowboys and Cowgirls of the ranch by tomorrow.

Thank you for reading.

Love,

Coach