Aug 28, 2023

Cowgirls upset by the Lady Nighthawks of Northern Guilford 6-3 in conference tennis action

In short, Audrey Serb, LY #1 Cowgirl, committed to Queens University (Charlotte) to play D1 Tennis.  So Cowgirls shift by one to the left.  Nighthawks bring in a 5+UTR who sits at #1 pushing their talent down (Shift right).  Head to head match up was as you might expect towards the top while the bottom swung round to favor the Cowgirls.

Anna (~ 3.4 UTR) faced off against the 5+.  With a 1.5+ spread between the two, Anna played exceptionally well.  Adjusting nicely to the speed and spin of Resse’s (Reeses..he he), Anna held tight through most of the points until Reese was able to capitalize off and errant or shorter hit.  Returns were good.  Ball pace was fast.  Reese simply had the advantage for most of the shots played.  Anna takes two games 1 and 1. 

Evelyn played LY’s surprise (but warranted) entry into the Regionals Ms Lambis.  A beautiful player with good to wow shots who had control and established her court presence from the start.  It was all about control of the point through consistency.  Lambis had it from the start.  Evelyn finishes 1 and 0.

Rachael also had a bigger hitter as her opponent.  Tight on consistency through many games, rallies were long and only extended longer into the second set as expected.  Back and forth with both sides trying to find the edge.  Rachael was so close on so many points.  Her time is coming.  Rachael finishes 0 and 1.   

Caroline Church fought well against her opponent.  Equally matched in hitting and stamina, these two had the second longest match of the evening.  Multiple games went and stayed a deuce over 2, 5, and up to 7 times.  Once more, though close in play, the Nighthawks edged the Cowgirls.  Church managed to secure 4 games in each set before being broken, 4-6, 4-6.

Christman fought well but couldn’t get her shots to straighten out to hit to the backhand of her opponent.  The Lady Nighthawk did a commendable job running around most shots to hit with a dominant forehand which caused all sorts of trouble for Caroline.  Finding a better groove garnered her 3 games in the second v 1 in the first. 

Bella had the breakout moment from court 6.  Down on serve since the Nighthawk began serves first, these two fought for a very long time.  Extending Church’s match time by another 20-25 mins, Bella and her hitting partner kept the ball in play, moving each other around in a vicious and gritty game of consistent rallying.  Holding serve took Bella to 5 all.  Breaking her opponent to gp up 6-5, Bella once more held her serve to take the first set.  The second set began with the Nighthawk and Bella both holding serve through the first 8 games before Bella once more broke her opponent’s serve and held to finish out the second set 6-4.  2 hr + long match.  Way to go Bella!

Having lost the dual team in singles play, the Nighthawks subbed in some lower players to give them opportunity to play varsity.

McGinnis/McKnight took on the #3/#5.  Inspired play in the first half, lull in the middle, and building it back towards the end saw the Cowgirls take the win 8-6.  Good net and deeply driven balls to secure the win.

Dee/Church played two big hitters with impressive serves.  The Cowgirls had an easier time than the McTwins did in taking the win.  Notable items were strong baseline play coupled with impressive net dominance.

Unfortunately, the magic didn’t last to Court #3 dubs.  Though up in service games 6-5, the lateness of the night coupled with the first day “Excitement” of school, Christman and Wesney were not able to maintain the lead losing a break while the Nighthawks held.  6-8 was the final.

The shifting of the lineups to favor Northern this first dual team match was not unexpected. The Cowgirls held nicely to challenge the Nighthawks on two singles courts and were able to play their games in dubs.  We continue to grow and develop our shots.

Reese Terrell (NG) over Amna McGinnis (SW) 6-1, 6-1

Lyndsay Lambis (NG) over Evelyn McKnight (SW) 6-1, 6-0

Grace Eise (NG) over Rachael Dee (SW) 6-0,6-1

Cate Wise (NG) over Caroline Church 6-4,6-4

Kieran Smith (NG) over Caroline Christman(SW) 6-1,6-3

Bella Johnson (SW) over Maddie Pollina(NG) 7-5,6-4

Dubs

McGinnis/McKnight (SW) over G Wise/Smith 8-6

Dee/Church (SW) over Isabella Rodriguez/May Westbrook (NG) 8-3

Audrey Wrinkle/Hannah rochester(NG) over christman/Evie wesney (SW) 8-6

Cowgirls fall to 3-4 overall and 1-2 in the conference.

Cowgirls host Wheatmore (weather permitting) Tuesday beginning at 5.