End of Season Wrap up

It was great to see everyone after a couple weeks away. Again, many thanks to the Cox's & Orr's for all their wonderful efforts to set up the banquet for us. It was a great setting and the food and service was top notch at Old Town Bistro. Also, thank you to Mike Lowery for a wonderful blessing prior to the meal.

To recap the evening, we acknowledged JV and awarded varsity letters. We also acknowledged winners of four individual awards as follows:

The first award handed out was to Hillary Tindall for the Coach's Award. I thank Hillary for being a great team player, always seeking to be a better tennis player, and being willing to help out in any way possible for the team.

The second award handed out was for our Most Improved Player. I asked the team to vote on whom they felt was the player that had either improved the most from the beginning to the end of the season or from last year to this year. The recipient of this award was Randi Honeycutt.

The next award handed out was to acknowledge the team's best practice player. The team voted Chandler Green as the player they feel pushes herself and her teammates daily in practice to be a better tennis player.

The final award of the evening was to acknowledge our team's Most Valuable Player. This award was to acknowledge the player whom was most responsible for the success we achieved as a team this season. Her teammates voted Maggie Orr as the MVP of the 2008 Northwestern tennis team.

I spoke with several girls after the presentations were complete and went over some off-season recommendations for improving and training. To pretty much everyone, her is what I would recommend:

1) Keep yourself physically fit year round. Daily running, sit ups, & some weight training will make the biggest difference for most of us.

2) Keep yourself involved with the game. Some girls are already signed up for clinics and lessons. As a rule of thumb, a varsity high school player will work on their game 2-3 times per week. A good high school player will treat tennis as a part time job (20 hrs/week) during the school year and a full time job in the summer (40 hrs/week).

3) Continue to challenge yourself in competition. The Rock Hill Tennis Center puts together team tennis leagues in the spring and summer. Most of the competitive teams in South Caroling have anywhere from 4-11 girls that play competitively in USTA tournaments on a year round basis.

4) I'll be in contact near the end of the school year to go over summer practice plans (June & July). I am envisioning something similar to last summer, but I am thinking about summer conditioning sessions as well. I just don't know what my schedule will be yet so I don't want to confirm anything at this point. Once I know, I'll post something here and email everyone.

Thanks again for a great year. Go Trojans!

Lady Trojan's Season Comes to an End at Blythewood

The first round of playoffs was not kind to the Lady Trojans as we suffered a 6-0 defeat at the hands of Blythewood. The defeat ends our season with an overall record of 8-11.

Our end of season banquet will be at Old Town Bistro on Main St in downtown Rock Hill on Sunday November 9 at 5:00PM. Cost per person is $22 each and all parties need to RSVP to Alicia Cox, arcox@comporium.net and pay Alicia for your party's attendees.

Go Trojans!

Box Score:

1s: Amanda Maletek (B) def Chandler Green 6-2, 6-1
2s: Lee Ferrell (B) def Maggie Orr 6-0, 6-1
3s: Alyssa Urprung (B) def Brittany Whitrock 6-0, 6-0
4s: Taneisha Mickle (B) def Ruth Anne Burnette 6-4, 6-3
5s: Mikaela King (B) def Joanna Kohn 6-0, 6-0

1d: DNP
2d: Jessica Chavis / Lindsey Trombley (B) def Courtney Cox / Katie Lowery 8-3

SCHSL Releases High School Tennis Brackets

The South Carolina High School League has released the playoff brackets for girls tennis. Our Trojans will travel to Blythewood High School for our first round match. Should we prevail against the Bengals from Blythewood, we will travel to and take on the winner of Dorman vs. Easley in round 2.

The full bracket can be viewed here:
http://www.schsl.org/2008-Brackets/gte%20aaaa.html

Also, I believe that Mrs. Cox has confirmed our end of season banquet at the Old Town Bistro in Rock Hill. Cost is estimated at $22 per person and the event will be held at 5:00 PM on Sunday November 9th. Further details will follow.

Go Trojans!

Maggie Orr Named to All Region 3-AAAA Team

The coaches of region 3-AAAA met at Clover High School last night to determine the order of finish, vote on all region teams, nominate players to the South Carolina State Singles tournament and discuss other tennis related business.

Maggie Orr, freshman from Northwestern, was selected to the All Region team based on her outstanding play, leadership, and sportsmanship this fall. Maggie's region record was 1-0 @ #1 singles and 4-5 @ #2 singles this fall. In addition, Maggie had an overall record of 6-4 at #1 doubles this fall.

The All Region 3-AAAA team for 2008 was as follows:

Ashley Trull - Nation Ford (1 singles)
Kate Stewart - Clover (1 singles)
Molly Miszkiewicz - Clover (2 singles)
Liz Cash - Clover (3 singles)
Morgan Jasper - Nation Ford (2 doubles)
Jordan Bowers - Nation Ford (2 doubles)
Mady Katz - Fort Mill (4 singles)
Spencer Collins - Fort Mill (2 singles)
Sarah Lynch - Clover (4 singles)
Sarah Tourville - Nation Ford (4 singles)
Maggie Orr - Northwestern (2 singles)
Faith Daniel - Clover (5 singles)

Player of the Year - Ashley Trull

State Singles nominees of Region 3-AAAA:

1) Ashley Trull, Nation Ford - Automatic qualifier
2) Kate Stewart, Clover
3) Molly Miszkiewicz, Clover
4) Liz Cash, Clover
5) Juliana Araque, Fort Mill

Trojans Wrap up Regular Season at Spartanburg

We traveled over to Spartanburg Country Club to battle Spartanburg High School in our final regular season match. I wouldn't say we played our best tennis, but I am encouraged by the improvement we showed against a talented Spartanburg team. We dropped all our matches in straight sets, but overall we challenged one of the better upstate teams and their coach was very complimentary in how we've come along since our first meeting. The girls also got a chance to experience a Spartanburg landmark in our post match dinner at The Beacon.

We'll practice the next few days in preparation for our opening round playoff match next Tuesday. The region coaches will meet Wednesday night at Clover High School to confirm our positions and vote on all region players. We should know our opponent by Friday (Monday at the latest) and I assume we will either be traveling to Blythewood or Lancaster on Tuesday 10/28. Lancaster and Blythewood play tonight at Lancaster in a match that will decide their region champion...that's a pretty close race over there! Here is a link to the AAAA handbook if you are interested, page 28 has the bracket: http://www.schsl.org/2008/2008-2009%20AAAA%20handbook.pdf

Go Trojans!

Box Score:
Location: Spartanburg Country Club (clay surface)
Result: Spartanburg 7, Northwestern 0

1s: Caroline Holland (S) def Chandler Green 6-0, 6-0
2s: Charlotte Taylor (S) def Maggie Orr 6-0, 6-2
3s: Isabella Zollinger (S) def Brittany Whitrock 6-2, 6-0
4s: Katherine Eaton (S) def Joanna Kohn 6-3, 6-0
5s: Bailey Foster (S) def Courtney Cox 6-0, 6-4

1d: Holland/Taylor (S) def Orr/Whitrock 8-0
2d: Anna Paul/Sarah Watson (S) def Randi Honeycutt/Hillary Tindall 6-4, 6-1

Records: Northwestern 8-10, Spartanburg 9-3

Northwestern Clinches Fourth Spot in Playoffs with Win Over York

Sorry for the delay getting this post up. On Thursday we were successful in claiming our fourth region win of the season and have clinched our spot in the playoffs. As a team, our record is now 8-9 overall and we finished Region 3-AAAA at 4-6. Below is the final standings of our region teams with region records in parentheses:

1) Clover (10-0)
2) Nation Ford (7-3) - via tiebreak
3) Fort Mill (7-3)
4) Northwestern (4-6)
5) York (1-9) - via tiebreak
6) Gaffney (1-9)

We will not have our playoff opponent confirmed until the end of next week. It will be against the #1 team out of Region 4 (Lancaster, Blythewood, Ridge View, Spring Valley, Rock Hill, South Pointe).

Our last match of the regular season will be Monday night at Spartanburg. All players will be dismissed from class at 2:45 to change and board the bus for departure by 3:15. The trip is a little more than an hour so please bring some homework to complete if you have any.

Go Trojans!

Box Score:

Location: Northwestern HS
Result: Northwestern 6, York 1

1s: Chandler Green (N) def Michelle Goss (Y) 6-2, 6-2
2s: Maggie Orr (N) def Katia Patrick (Y) 6-0, 6-2
3s: Brittany Whitrock (N) def Mary Hall (Y) 6-0, 6-0
4s: Ruth Anne Burnette (N) def Holly Canipe (Y) 7-5, 6-3
5s: Joanna Kohn (N) def Mary Goss (Y) 6-2, 6-1

1d: Orr/Kohn (N) def Mi Goss / Patrick (Y) 8-5
2d: Hannah Whitesides / Brandi Neely (Y) def Courtney Cox / Randi Honeycutt (N) 7-6, 3-6, 10-8

10th ranked Clover sweeps Trojans

We ventured over to Clover for our 9th region match of the year. Clover, being the region first place team, provided a formidable opponent for us. We held our ground at most lines, but suffered a 6-0 defeat to the Eagles. We stand at 7-9 overall at this point and are 3-6 in our region matches.

Our 1 and 2 singles players ran into a couple buzzsaws from Clover. Both Chandler Green and Maggie Orr fought as hard as they could, but simply couldn't overcome the Eagle opponents they faced.

At 3 singles, Brittany Whitrock played neck and neck with her opponent. Both sets were a few bounces from going either way, but in the end she came up short in each by score of 6-3, 6-3.

At 4 singles, Ruth Anne Burnette played a fiery little opponent from Clover. After overcoming some struggles in the first set, Ruth Anne was even with her opponent to 6-5 in the second set. Unfortunately the last set was decided for Clover and Ruth Anne dropped a hard fought match 6-3, 7-5.

Joanna Kohn played an Eagle opponent that played passionately on her senior night. Both sets played fairly even back and forth, but we were unable to capitalize on this line as well and fell 6-4, 6-3.

Our 2 doubles experiment of Team Cox proved partially successful. Lauren and Courtney Cox struggled early on, but came roaring back in the second set and ended up forcing a tiebreak. The tiebreak started off even, but the Cox girls were unable to hang on and suffered a heartbreaker by score of 6-1, 3-6, 10-4 to Clover.

With the match in hand for Clover, we put Brittany and Maggie on at 1 doubles to play a proset for the 1 doubles line. Unfortunately, due to darkness and Clover's lighting issues, we were unable to finish the proset out for safety reasons.

We'll host York on Thursday in our last region match. We need to secure a win to have a shot at claiming the 4th spot in the playoffs that start in 2 weeks. Thursday will be our last match for JV players as we will travel the varsity over to Spartanburg next Monday and hopefully be practicing all week to prepare for our first round playoff match.

Go Trojans!

Box Score:

Location: Clover HS
Result: Clover 6, Northwestern 0

1s: Kate Stewart (C) def Chandler Green 6-0, 6-2
2s: Molly Miszkiewicz (C) def Maggie Orr 6-0, 6-2
3s: Liz Cash (C) def Brittany Whitrock 6-3, 6-3
4s: Sarah Lynch (C) def Ruth Anne Burnette 6-3, 7-5
5s: Sarah Cusark (C) def Joanna Kohn 6-4, 6-3

1d: Orr/Whitrock vs Stewart/Miszkiewicz DNF
2d: Katie Sanderson/Ashley Clemmer (C) def Lauren Cox/Courtney Cox 6-1, 3-6, 10-4

Records: Northwestern 7-10, Clover 12-1

Lady Trojans suffer setback against Nation Ford on Thursday night

Sorry for delay in posting, but my computer has been acting up on me and it is in the shop. Our match on Thursday night was extremely exciting to witness. We were neck and neck with Nation Ford all night, but didn't come out on top in the end. We are now at 7-8 overall and 3-5 in region matches.

We had inspired play at all of our singles lines and Brittany Whitrock picked up a dramatic come from behind win at 3 singles. After trailing 4-9 in the match 10-point tiebreak, Brittany fought off six match points and won the last seven points in a row to come away with a victory.

Our 1 doubles line of Maggie Orr and Ruth Anne Burnette was solid from beginning to end in securing our second win in a proset 8-4.

Practice on Monday will be from 9 - 11:30 am or so. We take on Clover on Tuesday and have our last home match of the year on Thursday.

Go Trojans!

Box Score:

Location: Northwestern HS
Result: Nation Ford 5, Northwestern 2

1s: Ashley Trull (NF) def Chandler Green (NW) 7-5, 6-4
2s: Rylee Smith (NF) def Maggie Orr (NW) 7-5, 6-3
3s: Brittany Whitrock (NW) def Melanie Mullen (NF) 4-6, 6-4, 11-9
4s: Sarah Tourville (NF) def Ruth Anne Burnette (NW) 6-2, 2-6, 10-3
5s: Chelsea Jasper (NF) def Joanna Kohn (NW) 7-6, 6-3

1d: Orr/Burnette (NW) def Mullen/Tourville (NF) 8-4
2d: Morgan Jasper/Jordan Bowers (NF) def Courtney Cox/Katie Lowery (NW) 6-1, 6-0

Records: Northwestern 7-8, Nation Ford 11-3

Trojans pick up another Region 3AAAA win against Gaffney

We came out on fire tonight as we hosted a region match with Gaffney High School at our courts. We grabbed all the lines tonight to complete a 7-0 sweep in stellar fashion. We improve to 7-7 on the year and sit at 3-4 in our region which should still have us in fourth place.

Our first win of the night came courtesy of the most dominant performance of the year from Maggie Orr. I sensed that Maggie was hitting pretty well in warm up and early in the first set she struck some very clean balls. But even I was surprised at how strong Maggie played from beginning to end at 1 singles and closed out a 6-0, 6-0 victory for our first line win of the night.

Ruth Anne Burnette provided our second line win of the evening at 3 singles. Ruth Anne must have been inspired by the beautiful Auburn campus she visited as she hustled down balls and played consistent, smart tennis to pick up a 6-2, 6-1 win for our team.

Courtney Cox played at 5 singles tonight and battled a streaky opponent from the opening serve. The match swayed from one side to the other in both sets, but Courtney proved too much in the end and gave us our 3rd win of the night by score of 6-4, 6-3.

As I looked across the remaining courts, I found that we were up a set at 2 singles, 4 singles, and 2 doubles. However, each match was playing dead even in the second set and all went into set tiebreaks. Images of Fort Mill danced in my head...

The first of the remaining three set tiebreaks to conclude was Katie Lowery and Randi Honeycutt at 2 doubles. We made some minor timing adjustments in the last game and the girls carried the momentum into the set tiebreak. They took an early lead and put their opponents away for our clinching win with a final result of 6-3, 7-6.

Brittany Whitrock had steamrolled in the first set and hung a bagel on her opponent so I was a little nervous when their match went to a set tiebreak. Brittany managed to find her groove and put the match away for our fifth line of the night 6-0, 7-6

Joanna Kohn also suffered some second set inconsistencies after winning a decisive first set at 4 singles. Joanna was also successful in overcoming a late surge from her opponent and forced the set tiebreaker. The early points of the tiebreak played even, but Joanna made some pretty and effective shots to claim the set and match by score of 6-3, 7-6.

We teamed up Maggie and Ruth Anne at 1 doubles to take on Gaffney's top two players. This line was never in doubt as the girls played aggressive and smart early to put their opponents away. The girls complemented each other's play perfectly with Ruth Anne swatting balls down from the net and Maggie scraping up everything that managed to get by the net.

We'll have an early practice tomorrow to take advantage of the late start at school and try to beat the approaching thunderstorms rolling in. I hope that it passes by Thursday for us to host Nation Ford on Thursday and keep the past 2 nights momentum rolling.

Go Trojans!

Box Score:

Location: Northwestern HS
Result: Northwestern 7, Gaffney 0

1s: Maggie Orr (N) def Aubrey Hopping 6-0, 6-0
2s: Brittany Whitrock (N) def Robin LeCroy 6-1, 7-6
3s: Ruth Anne Burnette (N) def Jessi Cook 6-2, 6-1
4s: Joanna Kohn (N) def Charmy Bhanderi 6-3, 7-6
5s: Courtney Cox (N) def Tuahn Tran 6-4, 6-3

1d: Orr/Burnette (N) def Hopping/LeCroy 8-2
2d: Katie Lowery/Randi Honeycutt (N) def Allie Little/Jaclyn Bruton 6-3, 7-6

Trojans complete sweep of rival Rock Hill schools

We played our 4th and final match against our city rivals tonight when we headed over to South Pointe High School for a non region match. I am extremely proud of all of you tonight as we overcame some adversity with players being out to come out with a stellar 5-1 victory. We are currently sitting at 6-7 overall and remain 2-4 in our region.

We'll be back onto region matches tomorrow as we host Gaffney High School at our courts. Be ready to play and let's pick up a region win tomorrow!

Go Trojans!

Box Score:

Location: South Pointe HS
Result: Northwestern 5, South Pointe 1

1s: Gabriella Carpenter (S) def Maggie Orr (N) 6-4, 6-4
2s: Brittany Whitrock (N) def Lierin Monteith (S) 7-6, 6-0
3s: Joanna Kohn (N) def Breyanna Singleton (S) 6-0, 6-3
4s: Courtney Cox (N) def Karen Jaggers (S) 6-4, 6-1
5s: Katie Lowery (N) def Taylor Madsen (S) 6-1, 6-3

1d: DNP
2d: Randi Honeycutt/Hillary Tindall (N) def Jerica White/Jessica Parker (S) 6-1, 6-3

Trojans drop a heart breaker to Fort Mill

It was a tough one for our girls out there tonight. We played even on nearly every court, but came up just short of taking one from Fort Mill tonight. We had many things to be pleased with, especially the heart and passion that we played with.

Four of our six matches went into match tiebreakers tonight. The first of them to finish was Ruth Anne Burnette playing at 4 singles. Ruth Anne had a great first set as her opponent played right into her hands and provided a plethora of points off errors. Unfortunately the Fort Mill player pulled it together and cleaned up her game in the second set and tiebreaker to claim the line from us.

At about the same time that Ruth Anne were finishing up, our 2 doubles line of Hillary Tindall and Randi Honeycutt were also forced into a tiebreaker. Our girls had claimed the first set in a close one and then nearly closed it out in straight sets. The Fort Mill team clawed their way back into it to knot it up at a set a piece and another tiebreaker was upon us. The teams battled back and forth, but we were unable to hold on and dropped the tiebreak in a heart breaker. However, I was so proud of Randi and Hillary for playing smart doubles tennis and using a lot of strategy to go neck and neck with a pretty good Fort Mill doubles team.

At the time that our doubles match was finishing up is when the action really got tight. Chandler Green had just staged a comeback at 1 singles to tie it up at a set a piece. What a beautiful thing it was to see as Chandler in complete control of nearly every point and working her opponent all over the court. The third tiebreak of the night also slanted toward Fort Mill as a few bounces didn't go Chandlers way.

And under the lights we went to Maggie Orr at 2 singles. As Chandlers match wrapped up, Maggie had just overcame a 5-3 deficit while trailing by a set to tie her match up at 6-6 in the second. Maggie played incredible in the set tiebreak to claim the set and force our fourth match tiebreaker of the night. Even though we dropped this tiebreak as well, we could not be more proud of the heart and pride that Maggie played with.

Brittany Whitrock and Courtney Cox played at 3 and 5 singles respectively. Even in straight set defeats, both girls still looked strong and kept positive attitudes which is what I want all our players to be known for.

We'll have a brief hitting practice tomorrow from 400-530 or so after school. Our next match is at South Pointe on Monday where we can hopefully get some revenge for the football defeat our boys suffered tonight.

Go Trojans!

Box Score:

Location: Northwestern HS
Result: Fort Mill 6, Northwestern 0

1s: J Araque (F) def Chandler Green 6-4, 3-6, 10-7
2s: S Collins (F) def Maggie Orr 6-4, 6-7, 10-6
3s: D Proctor (F) def Brittany Whitrock 6-3, 6-3
4s: M Katz (F) def Ruth Anne Burnette 2-6, 6-3, 10-6
5s: K Blakely (F) def Courtney Cox 6-0, 6-2

1d: DNP
2d: A Jensen/M Araque (F) def Hillary Tindall/Randi Honeycutt 5-7, 6-4, 10-6

Records: Northwestern 2-4 Region 3AAAA, Fort Mill 4-2 Region 3AAAA

Trojans fall to #7 Lancaster

We made the long venture over to Lancaster down Hwy 5 to compete against another top team in the state. While coming up short against a solid Lancaster team that was recently voted #7 in the 4A girls poll (http://www.sctenniscoaches2.com/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1 ). I feel the match prepped us for our region match tomorrow at home against Fort Mill. As a team we sit at 5-6 overall and still at 2-3 in our region.

We had strong showings by Maggie Orr at 2 singles and Joanna Kohn at 4 singles. Both scores don't reflect how close these matches played out. I was happy to see Maggie fight through some long rallies at 2 to earn some hard fought points and games. Similar with Joanna as she played some very smart points displaying some great patience in setting up points at line 4.

Tomorrow we are back on the region tilt against Fort Mill. A win would put us in a tie for 3rd place with Fort Mill. We tested Brittany out tonight in a practice match and we should have our original lineup in place tomorrow to go through our second round of region matches.

Go Trojans!

Box Score:

Location: USC Lancaster
Result: Lancaster 7, Northwestern 0

1s: Lyndsey Hegler (L) def Chandler Green 6-1, 6-0
2s: Morgan Gardner (L) def Maggie Orr 6-1, 6-3
3s: Haley Heath (L) def Ruth Anne Burnette 6-2, 6-0
4s: Rebecca Simpson (L) def Joanna Kohn 6-1, 6-2
5s: Sarah Gilreath (L) def Courtney Cox 6-0, 6-0

1d: Hegler/Gardner (L) def Orr/Burnette 8-2
2d: Sara Hicks/McKenzie Blanton (L) def Randi Honeycutt/Hillary Tindall 6-0, 6-0

Records: Northwestern 5-6, Lancaster (#7) 8-1

Trojans get back on track in region match at York

Things went our way tonight over in the western part of the county tonight. York high school hosted us and put up quite a fight for us. Overall, I was extremely pleased with everyone bouncing back from our tough match against Spartanburg to play hard and finish our matches strong. Our overall record is 5-5 and we are 2-3 in region, sitting in 4th place.

Ruth Anne Burnette started the charge for us and cleared the courts for our first point at 3 singles. The match was never really in doubt and Ruth Anne did a great job closing the match out without letting up and posting a 6-0, 6-0 victory.

Maggie Orr was our second victory of the night at 2 singles. Maggie had a small hiccup in the first set and claimed it 6-1 and kept rolling in the second to claim it in a shutout.

Randi Honeycutt was the next match to finish. Playing up in the varisty lineup for the second time this season, Randi played some pretty good tennis against a smart and quick York player. The match was a toss up in both sets and if a few bounces could have gone Randi's way, she would have grabbed this one for us.

Chandler Green came through with our third point at 1 singles tonight. She came out on fire and was up 5-0 in the first set before I got a chance to watch much. The first set ended 6-1 and the second started out the same way. York's number 1 clawed her way back into it and Chandler fought her off to win the second set 6-4.

Joanna Kohn will probably have a good night's sleep tonight. She played a match that finished just barely beat the doubles matches to finish tonight at 4 singles. Struggling through some costly hitting errors in the first set, Joanna dropped a close one 4-6. The second set played out just as close and Joanna found herself down 5-4 returning serve. Joanna went on a run and got hot to break serve and rip off 2 more games to know it at a set a piece. Up 5-0 in the 10-point tiebreaker, it appeared to be smooth sailing to the finish line. York's 5 showed some great fight to bring it to 8-4 on the second changeover and force a third changeover at 9-9. JK buckled in and won the necessary two points to clinch her match 11-9 in the tiebreak and the overall match for us with the decisive 4th point. Excellent fight Joanna!

Due to the fluke netcord breaking before the match on York's #1 court, both doubles lines waited to take the court. Kayla Stogner and Courtney Cox teamed back up at 2 doubles for us tonight. The duo played well, made some smart shots in the clutch to claim victory in a close one 7-5, 6-4.

Ruth Anne and Maggie teamed up at 1 doubles tonight. At the time they went on the court, the match was still undecided so they went out with the attitude that they were going to claim the match for us regardless of the close matches still in play (Joanna & Kayla/Courtney). By the time the girls got to 5-2, Joanna claimed the match and we shortened the line to a proset. Regardless, the girls played aggressive from start to finish and closed it out with three straight games for our final win of the night.

We had a great night in our reserve matches as well and went on to take all our JV lines as well. Overall, I couldn't be happier with the results. But, more importantly, I was very pleased with the fierceness everyone played with. Let's keep it up tomorrow at Lancaster!

Go Trojans!

Location: York HS
Result: Northwestern 6, York 1

1S: Chandler Green (N) def Michelle Goss (Y) 6-1, 6-4
2S: Maggie Orr (N) def Katia Patrick (Y) 6-1, 6-0
3S: Ruth Anne Burnette (N) def Mary Hall (Y) 6-0, 6-0
4S: Joanna Kohn (N) def Holly Caripe (Y) 4-6, 7-5, 11-9
5S: Mary Goss (Y) def Randi Honeycutt (N) 6-4, 6-4

1D: Orr/Burnette (N) def M Goss/Patrick (Y) 8-2
2D: Kayla Stogner/Courtney Cox (N) def Hannah Whitesides/Brandi Neely (Y) 7-5, 6-4

Records: Northwestern 5-5, York 3-6

Clover defeats Northwestern on a windy day

Not that I am a meteorologist, or have any way of gauging wind speed, but I would have to guess the wind speed at tonight's match was around 30-35 miles per hour. It made for some very interesting points in our match against Clover, but unfortunately we weren't able to use it enough to our advantage to get a win tonight. Clover is a good team, but I feel that if we keep improving we can compete with them next time around.

We'll be off from practice tomorrow and will hit the courts next week starting Monday at home against Spartanburg. In the meantime, please have an active weekend and take care of your bodies. We're in the middle of a string of matches that we need to maintain our focus in order to grab a spot in the state playoffs.

Go Trojans!

Location: Northwestern
Result: Clover 7, Northwestern 0

1s: Kate Stewart (C) def Chandler Green (N) 6-3, 6-3
2s: Liz Cash (C) def Maggie Orr (N) 6-3, 6-2
3s: Molly Miszkiewicz (C) def Ruth Anne Burnette 6-1, 6-0
4s: Sarah Lynch (C) def Joanna Kohn (N) 6-3, 6-1
5s: Faith Daniel (C) def Hillary Tindall (N) 6-1, 6-0

1D: Stewart/Miszkiewicz (C) def Green/Orr 8-2
2D: Allison Pruitt/Patterson Joyner (C) def Kayla Stogner/Courtney Cox (N) 6-4, 6-2

Nation Ford defeats Northwestern

We were defeated at the hands of the Nation Ford Falcons tonight by score of 2-5. We stand at 4-3 overall and 1-2 in our region.

Maggie Orr had a strong showing at 2 singles and came away with a straight set win.

Ruth Anne Burnette played neck and neck in the first set at 3 singles. She set it on cruise control in the second and never let up to close out the match with a 6-0 score in that set.

We'll have some much needed practice tomorrow after 3 straight matches. Our next match is home against Clover on Thursday.

Go Trojans!

Box Score:

Location: Nation Ford HS
Result: Nation Ford 5, Northwestern 2
1S: Ashley Trull (NF) def Chandler Green (NW) 6-2, 6-2
2S: Maggie Orr (NW) def Rylee Smith (NF) 6-2, 6-3
3S: Ruth Anne Burnette (NW) def Melanie Mullen (NF) 6-4, 6-0
4S: Sarah Tourville (NF) def Joanna Kohn (NW) 6-0, 6-1
5S: Chelsea Jasper (NF) def Randi Honeycutt 6-1, 6-3

1D: Trull/Tourville (NF) def Green/Orr (NW) 8-5
2D: Morgan Jasper/Jordan Bowers (NF) def Kayla Stogner/Courtney Cox (NW) 6-0, 6-3

Northwestern defeated by Fort Mill

We took a quick trip up to neighboring Fort Mill tonight to test ourselves against our second region rival this season. Although we were defeated 5-2 by the Yellow Jackets, there were several highlights of the evening. As a team, we stand at 4-2 overall and 1-1 in region.

Ruth Anne Burnette staged a huge come from behind win at 3 singles. After dropping the first set 6-2 and seemingly frustrated by her hard-hitting opponent, Ruth Anne came back to outplay her opponent with a very consistent and steady strategy in the second set to claim a commanding 6-2 win in the second. With the match tied, the girls played off a 10-point tiebreak to decide the match. Ruth Anne went up ahead early and held off her opponent for a score of 10-7 to claim the victory for us (although, she'll tell anyone it took 11 points to win it).

Our 1 doubles team of Maggie Orr and Chandler Green thoroughly impressed me with the way they played together tonight. Normally, it is me summoning the players to the side to discuss strategy. However, Maggie called over to me to ask about changing some things up. Not only was I impressed that she and Chandler were planning their attack, but they also made a correct adjustment to the way they played both players back on serve that ended up being a huge advantage and probably the reason they held serve so well throughout and thus won the proset 8-5.

Also, even in defeat, I loved the never say die attitude that Katie Lowery played with tonight. The first set went by in a flurry and Katie dropped it 6-0. At a point when some might have thrown in the towel and given up, Katie fought point for point back into the match and nearly forced a tiebreak as well.

Maggie had a heartbreaker at 2 singles. Playing an opponent that is long and consistent, Maggie dropped a close first set 7-6 after a tiebreak. Rejuvinated and capitalizing on some errors by her opponent, she blew her opponent away 6-1 in the second set. The tiebreaker got away from her early and she was not able to overcome an early deficit and ended up dropping a close one. I see this one going our way the next time around.

We'll head back up to Fort Mill tomorrow to play Nation Ford High School in our third region match of the year.

Go Trojans!

Box Score:

Location: Ft Mill HS
Result: Ft Mill 5, Northwestern 2

1S: J Araque (F) def Chandler Green (N) 6-4, 6-2
2S: S Collins (F) def Maggie Orr (N) 7-6, 1-6, 10-6
3S: Ruth Anne Burnette (N) def D Proctor (F) 2-6, 6-2, 10-7
4S: M Katz (F) def Joanna Kohn (N) 6-2, 6-2
5S: B Larive (F) Katie Lowery (N) 6-0, 7-5

1D: Green/Orr (N) def Collins/Proctor (F) 8-5
2D: A Jensen/K Blackley (F) def Courtney Cox/Kayla Stogner (N) 6-0, 6-1

Northewestern defeats Gaffney to open Region 3 AAAA play

We ventured to the furthest reaches of our region tonight to play Gaffney in our region opener. All lines were successful tonight as we completed the sweep 7-0 as a team.

Ruth Anne Burnette started it off for us tonight completing a dominant 6-0, 6-0 win at 3 singles.

Our second line victory came courtesy of Maggie Orr at 2 singles. Maggie also claimed the first set 6-0 and went on to play it out to 6-2 in the second.

The 2 doubles line concluded next with Kayla Stogner and Courtney Cox win. The first set happened so quick that I pretty much missed it, but the second set went a little longer as the girls held on for a 6-0, 6-3 win.

The clinching line was Joanna Kohn at 4 singles tonight. After blitzing ahead to a 5-0 lead in the first set, Joanna battled some to win the first set 6-2. The second set started out even as well, but Joanna went back on a hot streak to win 6-1 and seal another win for the Trojans.

Katie Lowery secured another win for us at 5 singles. Katie came up with some good put-away shots to claim her victory 6-2, 6-2. And yes, Katie, I saw you get pegged in the belly when you were at the net in the second set.

Chandler Green was next to clear the courts at 1 singles. Chandler was down in the first set 4-5 and returning serve which had us all a little nervous. She broke her opponents serve, then held and broke again to win the first set 7-5. She kept that momentum going and won the first 5 games of the second set and concluded with a dominant 6-1 second set win.

Chandler then teamed up with Ruth Anne to play out a proset at 1 doubles. They went up early and kept it up to close out our sweep of Gaffney with an 8-3 win.

We looked very good in the JV match ups as well. Recording wins in singles were: Randi Honeycutt (6-1, 6-2), Hillary Tindall (8-0), Emily Edwards (8-2), Lauren Cox (8-1), Erin Brooks (8-2), and Emily Cramer (6-2). Katherine Keener & Allison Jenkins teamed up for a doubles win also winning by score of 8-2.

Overall, a good showing for us and a welcomed victory to open our region play. We are off from practice tomorrow and will face off against Fort Mill on Monday in our make up match. The bus will leave at 4:15 as we take on our second region opponent.

Go Trojans!

Box Score:

Location: Gaffney SC
Result: Northwestern 7, Gaffney 0
1S: Chandler Green (N) def Aubrey Hopping (G) 7-5, 6-1
2S: Maggie Orr (N) def Charmy Bhanderi (G) 6-0, 6-2
3S: Ruth Anne Burnette (N) def Tuanh Tran (G) 6-0, 6-0
4S: Joanna Kohn (N) def Allie Little (G) 6-2, 6-1
5S: Katie Lowery (N) def Jaclyn Briton (G) 6-2, 6-2

1D: Green/Burnette (N) def Hopping/Bhanderi (G) 8-3
2D: Kayla Stogner/Courtney Cox (N) def Leighann Fowler/Alena Brock (G) 6-0, 6-3

Records: Northwestern 4-1, Gaffney 0-5

Lancaster defeats Trojans

We faced some stiff competition from Lancaster tonight. They are a team that plays pretty strong from top to bottom and are probably the hot team in the area so far this year. They have recorded wins over Fort Mill and Clover thus far and look to be clicking on all cylinders right now.


We had a couple close matches with Maggie Orr at 2 singles and our 2 doubles team of Kayla Stogner & Courtney Cox, but for the most part we struggled to win games consistently. I hope that we all remember these results today and take pride the next time around in having a stronger all around showing and securing a team win.

On the plus side tonight, things look bright in our future as we were successful in many of our JV matches against Lancaster. Hillary Tindall & Emily Edwards had a dominant 8-2 win in doubles. Allison Jenkins also was successful with an 8-3 singles victory. Katherine Keener was also successful in notching a singles W with an 8-2 score. And to clinch a JV victory for us by team score of 4-2 were Erin Brooks and Caroline Herron in a close match that was decided 9-7 in the end for the Trojans.

We'll regroup and head over to Gaffney tomorrow for our first Region match of the year.

Go Trojans!

Box Score

Location: Northwestern HS
Result: Lancaster 7, Northwestern 0

1S: Lyndsey Hegler (L) def Chandler Green (N) 6-1, 6-1
2S: Morgan Gardner (L) def Maggie Orr (N) 6-3, 6-3
3S: Rebecca Simpson (L) def Ruth Anne Burnette (N) 6-0, 7-6
4S: Haley Heath (L) def Joanna Kohn (N) 6-0, 6-0
5S: Sarah Gilreath (L) def Katie Lowery (N) 6-2, 6-0

1D: Gardner/Simpson (L) def Green/Orr (N) 8-2
2D: McKenzie Blanton/Sara Hicks (L) def Kayla Stogner/Courtney Cox (N) 7-6, 6-3

Fort Mill match rained out

Around 2:00 today I communicated with Fort Mill's coach regarding the weather tonight and it looked like the skies were going to clear for us. Then as I drove to school around 3:00, I got a bad feeling as my windshield covered in mist.

Fort Mill's coach called me after school let out and confirmed the weather changed on them as well and they had to cancel tonight's match due to unplayable courts. The match has been rescheduled to be played on Monday 9/22 at Fort Mill.

Also, since the Stogner's had already purchased goodies for tonight, we are going to bump everyone back a day in snack assignments. Stogners have tomorrow, Honeycutts have Thursday and Kohns will have Monday. On Tuesday, we can resume normal snack operations.

See everyone tomorrow as we host Lancaster....Go Trojans!

Northwestern continues win streak with 6-1 victory over South Pointe.

The skies again threatened rain all afternoon, but cooperated enough for us to get in a match and another win to remain unbeaten in 2008. As I mentioned after the match, we travel to Fort Mill on Tuesday to play our first Region 3AAAA match against a team that will be very talented top to bottom and we need to be ready to give a great effort to continue winning matches.

Ruth Anne Burnette went out on fire tonight and blitzed through her opponent at line 3 singles to claim our first line victory of the night. Dominant from beginning to end, Ruth Anne recorded a shutout 6-0, 6-0.

Maggie Orr was next to claim a line for us at 2 singles. Knowing her opponent personally, I was very impressed with how consistent Maggie played and intelligently let the action come to her. The result was a terrific win by score of 6-1, 6-1.

Joanna Kohn played very well also at line 4 singles. An impressive first set score of 6-1 was followed up with a shutout 6-0 in the second.

Our clinching point came courtesy of Katie Lowery at 5 singles. Katie had to display great patience in her match and wait for some high bouncing balls to execute on. After some early errors in the tight first set, Katie then rolled to a 6-0 final set score for our clinching point in her first varsity action of the season.

Our 2 doubles line of Kayla Stogner and Courtney Cox played a solid first set and claimed it by score of 6-2. The second set was headed in the wrong direction, but the girls held strong to make a comeback and claim our 5th point.

Chandler Green had a tussle at 1 singles tonight that turned into a mini-marathon. The first set played out dead even until South Pointe broke serve to claim the first set 7-5. Chandler went up quick in the second set, but South Pointe's player staged a strong comeback and made some tough shots to take the set and match from us.

Maggie and Ruth Anne teamed up for the 1 doubles point tonight. Early on, it was tight as we trailed by a service break 3-2. The girls played very well after that and won 6 of the next 8 games to claim the proset 8-5.

We are off from practice tomorrow and will be back after it on Monday at practice to prepare for our first region match. As proud as we should be of our start thus far, we cannot afford to let down the rest of the way. Please take some time over the weekend to get some swings in on your own and continue to run and condition on your own.

Go Trojans!

Box Score:

Result: Northwestern 6, South Pointe 1
Location: Northwestern HS

1S: Gabriella Carpenter (S) def Chandler Green (N) 7-5, 6-4
2S: Maggie Orr (N) def Lieren Monteith (S) 6-1, 6-1
3S: Ruth Anne Burnette (N) def Karen Jaggers (S) 6-0, 6-0
4S: Joanna Kohn (N) def Jessica Parker (S) 6-1, 6-0
5S: Katie Lowery (N) def Jerica White (S) 6-3, 6-0

1D: Orr/Burnette (N) def Carpenter/Monteith (S) 8-5
2D: Kayla Stogner/Courtney Cox (N) def Breyana Singleton/Taylor Madsen (S) 6-2, 7-5

Records: Northwestern 3-0, South Pointe 0-4

Northwestern completes sweep of Rock Hill

We started our home campaign off with a victory over Rock Hill High tonight. I was nervous entering the match that we might have a letdown after beating them last Thursday, but the girls played very well and held firm to complete the sweep of our cross town rival. Let's hope the football team follows our lead on Friday!

Brittany Whitrock again wasted no time in her victory for our first point. She eliminated many unforced errors and made quick work of her opponent again with a closer score of 6-1, 6-2.

Ruth Anne Burnette again had the headband kickin' and again was successful in a fairly dominant win. The match had some long rallies and Ruth Anne held firm to secure a 6-2, 6-1 victory.

Kayla Stogner and Courtney Cox teamed up again and were successful again at the 2 doubles line. After a close firs set 6-2 win, the girls played extremely strong to go up 5-0 before closing it out 6-2.

Joanna Kohn clinched the overall match for us as the skies darkened above. Rock Hill's #5 put up a really good fight and made Joanna earn the victory in the end. She finished out strong to clinch our decisive 4th point.

Chandler Green again had a tough one against Rock Hill's 1 singles player. Even despite the result, Chandler played tough and made her opponent earn points and gave very little away. We are all confident that Chandler is going to use these last two matches as stepping stones to the rest of the season.

Maggie Orr played 2 singles again and got off to a blitzing start to post a bagel on her opponent in the first set. The second set made us all nervous and I was happy to see the whole team pull together to cheer Maggie on to victory in the second set 6-4.

We decided not to play a 1 doubles point due to the black clouds overhead. I don't like to do this as I like to see the team play as much doubles as we can. I was even more perturbed when the skies cleared up to a pretty blue sky within minutes of us making this decision. That's the way it happens sometimes.

We'll hopefully practice tomorrow in preparation for South Pointe on Thursday. I'll call Ruth Anne if the weather turns on us, but we'll hope it stays clear until 7 for us.

Go Trojans!

Box Score:

Result: Northwestern 5, Rock Hill 1
1S: Catherine White (R) def Chandler Green (N) 6-1, 6-3
2S: Maggie Orr (N) def Natalie Black (R) 6-0, 6-4
3S: Brittany Whitrock (N) def Barron Hicklin 6-1, 6-2
4S: Ruth Anne Burnette (N) def Addie Brown (R) 6-2, 6-1
5S: Joanna Kohn (N) def Elizabeth Hupp (R) 6-3, 6-3

1D: DNP
2D: Kayla Stogner/Courtney Cox (N) def Brooke Neely/Sarah Hicklin (R) 6-3, 6-2
Records: Northwestern 2-0, Rock Hill 0-2

Schedule Update

We were successful in gaining two additional matches to fill out our fall schedule and I have added them to the schedule at the left. Spartanburg High School will travel to us on Monday September 29 and we will head over there on Monday October 20. Joanna had created a snack assignment sheet that I will hereby ammend and now each of our 18 players has an assigned match:

Cox 9/29 Home v Spartanburg
Cramer 10/20 @ Spartanburg

This puts us up to our full allotment of 18 matches that the SC High School Leauge allows and adds a quality opponent with a rich history in girls tennis. For those of you unfamiliar with Spartanburg's tradition, they went through a stretch in the 90's that they won several state championships and had players win state singles titles as well. They will be a good test for us this year.

Go Trojans!

Lady Trojans defeat Rock Hill to open the fall

We traveled to rival Rock Hill High toinight to take on the Bearcats on their turf. I was pleased with our overall play from top to bottom and our 5-2 result showed the efforts from the past 4 weeks of practice begin to pay off. It was also nice to get to play another opponent as we have been battling ourselves the last two weeks of practice pretty hard.

Our first line win of the season came courtesy of Brittany Whitrock at 3 singles. She posted a shutout first set 6-0 and allowed only one game in the second set to claim the match 6-0, 6-1.

Maggie Orr finished up second at 2 singles. The score would appear a wipeout as she won 6-1, 6-1, but I felt Rock Hill's Natalie Black played better than that result shows and I was impressed with Maggie's response to some tough shots.

Chandler Green finished up after that at 1 singles. Catherine White at Rock Hill is one of the tougher players in the area. Chandler got off to a bumpy start in the first set and managed to squeak out only 1 game. I was very impressed with how she became more aggressive in the second set and took 2 games off Catherine. There was some hard times mixed in, but overall I think Chandler took away a lot from this match.

Ruth Anne Burnette cleared the courts next at 3 singles. Following Brittany's lead, she also posted a bagel on her opponent in the first set and surrendered only 3 games in the second set. The headband was in full effect for the birthday girl throughout the match.

Our clinching victory came from the 2 doubles line of Kayla Stogner and Courtney Cox. These two played a neck and neck first set, which may have had some first-match jitters, and squeaked by 6-4. Both ladies began serving better in the second set and reeled of a 6-4, 6-1 victory to seal our 4th line victory of the night.

Our fifth victory of the evening came courtesy of Joanna Kohn at 5 singles. After a fairly dominant first set, the Rock Hill opponent put up a strong fight in the second. Joanna overcame it in the end for a straight set victory 6-2, 6-4.

We paired up the birthday girl, Ruth Anne, with Chandler at 1 doubles to play out an 8 game proset. The girls played fairly even early, but Rock Hill found some holes to take advantage of and took the point by a score of 8-4.

We're off from practice tommorrow and all are invited to the Winthrop Coliseum at 7:00pm to catch Winthrop's volleyball team take on West Virginia University :) I'll see everyone at practice Monday at 4.

Go Trojans!



Box Score:



1s Catherine White (RH) def Chandler Green (NW) 6-1, 6-2
2s Maggie Orr (NW) def Natalie Black (RH) 6-1, 6-1
3s Brittany Whitrock (NW) def Barron Hicklin (RH) 6-0, 6-1
4s Ruth Anne Burnette (NW) def Addy Brown (RH) 6-0, 6-3
5s Joanna Kohn (NW) def Elizabeth Hupp (RH) 6-2, 6-4

1d White/Black (RH) def Green/Burnette (NW) 8-4
2d Kayla Stogner/Courtney Cox (NW) def Brooke Neeely/Kajal Patel (RH) 6-4, 6-1

Location: Rock Hill HS
Records: Northwestern 1-0, Rock Hill 0-1

Parents Meeting Recap

Just to recap what we went over at the parent's meeting tonight after Meet the Trojans.

1) Uniforms - I collected sizes and money for uniforms and miscelaneous tee shirts and sweatshirts. I am going to go through it all in the morning and place an order tomorrow afternoon. The prices that I quoted are a one shot deal, so if you did not get an item that you wanted, I cannot guarantee the prices if we do a second order. If we do a second order, I would prefer to put you in contact with the screen printer and have a parent organize it - it's just not my favorite thing to do!

2) Racquet issues - As far as racquets go, make sure:

a) your grip is not worn out & if it is, get a pack of overgrips to go over it. Overgrips last a week or two in season, but will allow a solid grip on the racquet.

b) your racquet is strung to an appropriate tension. If your racquet hasn't been strung in a while or if it just doesn't "feel" right, try restringing it before you scrap it to buy a new one. I ordered string for the team out of our budget & will give you string if you can string yourself, or I can string it for you for $10.

c) your racquet isn't causing you pain. If you feel pain in either your elbow or shoulder, try getting a new or different style of vibration "dampener" to alleviate the vibration from hitting the ball. If that doesn't help, then it is time to shop for a new one. You don't want to play with a racquet that hurts you.

3) Shoes - Several girls are wearing running shoes at practice. I will tell you all now that you will spend a lot of money on shoes if you put the girls in running shoes to play tennis in. The soles are just not stable enough to handle the types of footwork that tennis takes and they will rip and tear frequently. I highly recommend getting a tennis shoe to play the sport in. A good pair of tennis shoes should last all season. It will probably take 3 pairs of running shoes to make it.

4) Football concessions - Mrs Cramer passed around a list for volunteers to sign up. We need to provide 12 able bodied people to staff the concessions stand. If you signed up, we need you. Please be at the Goose Creek game on Friday August 29th by 6 PM. Dress very comfortably and wear comfortable shoes. I will be in the middle of my grad school introduction week (Thu - Tue), so I cannot be there.

Below are 2 websites (and I am posting them in My Favorite Links to the left) that make tennis shopping easy. I use both frequently as well as ebay for all my tennis equipment:
http://www.tennisexpress.com/index.htm
http://www.tennis-warehouse.com/

Practice Time Update, effective August 11 til school starts

Due to the heat we are experiencing this week at practice (it looks better for tomorrow & today was fine though) I am moving practice time to the mornings.

Starting Monday August 11th, we will go from 8:30 AM - 11:30 AM (give or take). Once school starts we'll go back to the 4-7PM routine, but until then we'll enjoy the cool Carolina mornings & take the afternoons off.

We should have a full roster established by Monday or Tuesday. Also, for the girls that missed sessions this week, we will have some make up conditioning work after regular practice ends so those girls should plan for rides in the 12-12:30 range. For each session you missed, you will be expected to stay after for make up.

Update to summer OPEN court sessions & Girls Fall Practice

Just wanted to update you all on the schedule for open court sessions for the rest of the summer. I have some conflicts on Tuesdays coming up in July that I had not anticipated. Here are the dates and times that I will be out at the courts for the players to participate:

Tue 6/24 - 530-700 girls, 700-830 boys
Tue 7/1 - 530-700 girls, 700-830 boys
Wed 7/9 - 530-700 girls, 700-830 boys
Thu 7/17 - 530-700 girls, 700-830 boys
Tue 7/22 - 530-700 girls, 700-830 boys
Dead Week 7/27 - 7/29 - no practice permitted by High School League
- see link: http://www.schsl.org/2008/2008%20Sports%20Calendar.htm

Monday Aug 4 will be the first mandatory practice for the girls team members and we will go from 400-700pm for that entire week.

All girls need to have physical forms turned into me before they can practice. For those girls that have not played a sport at NHS, you must also submit a copy of your birth certificate.
- Physical Form: http://www.sctenniscoaches2.com/images/sctennis/Physical%20Forms.pdf

***Physical & Birth Certificate is required to participate on the girls team by AUGUST 4th*** ZERO exceptions can be made to this!!! I can accept these all summer long as the girls show up to summer open court sessions.

Please review my weblog again to make sure you understand all the basics and housekeeping items. Click through all the links and let me know if you have any questions.

Go Trojans!

Welcome Girls tennis Players to my web site designed FOR YOU

Over the past couple of weeks I have had a chance to meet or communicate with some of you briefly and have played tennis with a few. I am looking forward to continuing working with Northwestern Tennis in 2008 by coaching our girls team this summer and fall.

First off, about me. I am still relatively new to the Rock Hill area, moving from Atlanta GA a little over a year ago. I have been playing tennis competitively since I was younger than most of these girls and truly love tennis. I am a USPTA (United States Professional Tennis Association) Developmental Coach (ie - working with beginners is my specialty) and also am working morning camp sessions over at the Rock Hill Tennis Center all summer long. My other hobbies include golf, basketball, strength training & conditioning, reading and writing. I told the boys team over and over that there are three things in life that I love above all else 1) God, 2) Family, 3) Competition. I am sure that you will get to know this quickly when we get to know each other better.

Some of the details that I want to make sure everyone is on the same page about are as follows:

1) Summer Practice: I will have the courts open Tuesdays in June and July from 5:30 - 7:00 PM specifically to work with the girls. These practices will have little structure and are mostly just the girls and me hitting balls or pairing up the girls for competition against one another. All the girls are encouraged to get out and play with us, but these are strictly optional practices.

2) Summer Camps: I am a true believer that the only way to get better at the fundamentals of a sport is to play, play, play, and play. As I mentioned, I am one of the instructors working at the Tennis Center this summer. These are designed to get the junior players a lot of hitting and work on fundamentals while at the same time having fun with other juniors in the area. If you have the time, I strongly recommend this to improve your game: http://www.ci.rock-hill.sc.us/userfiles/file/PRT/PRT%20-%20Tennis/ten%20camp08%20rev.pdf

3) Summer Conditioning: Tennis is also a sport that requires strength, speed, agility and eye-hand coordination. We will not have any formal conditioning sessions this summer as a team, but I will expect that a player next year be able to:
- run a mile in 9 minutes or less
- complete 50 push ups
- complete 150 sit ups
Obviously, the more you can do, the better - these are the minimums that I hope for in order for you to have the basic strength and stamina to survive on the tennis courts without getting injured.

4) Physicals: For those girls that want to participate on the team this upcoming fall, you will need to have a physical submitted to the athletic department (give completed form to coach) along with a parents signature in order for me to allow you to PRACTICE this fall and join the team on August 4. Here is a link to the required form to be signed by parent/guardian and your doctor: http://www.sctenniscoaches2.com/images/sctennis/Physical%20Forms.pdf
Once we have physical forms in the office, the athletic director runs a check on grades to make sure you are academically eligible to participate.

5) Fall Practice: Starting on August 4th, we will have practice Monday - Thursday from 4:15 - 6:30 PM. Our first match will be September 2nd, so this will give me 16 sessions to work with the girls and prepare for the season. These practices will be mandatory for you to participate with the team this year. I have submitted Northwestern Tennis as a No-Cut tennis program, but to clarify what this means I am saying that if you want to participate and get better I will work with you to my fullest ability to make you better. If you do not wish to do this, I will ask that you not participate with the team. I do understand that there are other things the girls are involved with (band, student council, etc) that may interfere with this practice schedule. If a girl cannot attend a practice, or will be regularly late due to a conflict, I simply ask that you notify me by phone or email 24 hours before practice so I can plan accordingly.

My practices will be structured in a manner to improve our team strength, conditioning, and tennis skills. We will be doing running, lifting, and agility drills to get us prepared more than our opponents. As the season goes along, I will strategically alter the makeup of a practice as I see the conditioning of our team improve. However, expect the first few weeks of practices to be a lot of sprints and runs and please be in athletic condition to handle it.

And you may be wondering why no Friday practice. Well, my theory on this is that I also want the girls to participate in tournaments around the area as well. Most USTA sponspored tournaments run from Friday afternoon through Sunday and I want to encourage participation in this for their own betterment. If the girls are not playing in a tournament, then I would also like for them to support the Trojan football team on Friday nights! Below are some links to tournaments in the area:

For girls that have played competitively in the past, understand scoring of games, sets, and tiebreaks and are seeking a good level of competition, consider these tournaments:

http://tennislink.usta.com/tournaments/TournamentHome/Tournament.aspx?T=66049
http://tennislink.usta.com/tournaments/TournamentHome/Tournament.aspx?T=62579
http://tennislink.usta.com/tournaments/TournamentHome/Tournament.aspx?T=63880

For girls that haven't played competitively and are looking at a way to get involved in tournaments and learning the game better, the USTA developed the Rising Stars program. These tournaments will have on court personnel to assist with scoring and rules, but will still offer a competitive atmosphere to adjust yourself to tournament play:

http://tennislink.usta.com/tournaments/TournamentHome/Tournament.aspx?T=65735

6) Fall Matches: Our schedule is posted to the left of this post and is currently tentative as I am seeking two additional opponents to bring us to our full allotment of 18 girls tennis matches. For those unfamiliar with or that were wondering how the lineups are set for a match, feel free to read through the South Carolina High School Leagues rules here (Rules Section, page 31): http://www.schsl.org/2007/07%20handbook.htm or for more detail, the AAAA handbook here (page 26): http://www.schsl.org/2007/2007-2008%20AAAA%20handbook.pdf

I greatly look forward to getting to know all the girls and their families this summer and fall. The best way to get information from me is generally by email, but if you prefer please call me with any questions as well.

Go Trojans!

Boys 2008 Season Wrap up a HUGE success!

Thanks to all who were able to attend our post-season wrap up celebration. It was a fine display of all your cuisine talents that my wife has already began experimenting with trying to copy. We couldn't have asked for more perfect weather and a beautiful sunset to look over Lake Wylie at from the pool at Sunset Point.

Congratulations to the following boys for earning their varsity letter:

Jeff Zimmerman (6th Tennis Letter, 1st Captain pin)
Paul Sabisch (3rd Tennis Letter, 1st Captain pin)
Eric Sabin (3rd Tennis Letter)
Zach Beaver (1st Tennis Letter)
Sudeep Das (1st Tennis Letter)
Alex Atzberger (1st Tennis Letter)
Drayton Wade (1st Tennis Letter)
Seth Russell (3rd Tennis Letter)
Brian Fitzpatrick (1st Tennis Letter)
Jordan Beaver (1st Tennis Letter)

We then moved on to recognize our all-region players and presented them with certificates of their accomplishments as well as an action picture of them (thank you Mrs Russell) which noted their accomplishment.
- Congratulations to Jeff Zimmerman, 2008 All-Region 3-AAAA, 2008 SC North/South All Star
- Congratulations to Zach Beaver, 2008 All-Region 3-AAAA

Also, as I mentioned in my remarks, I polled the team after the season to nominate who they feel were deserving of individual recognition. The results were as follows:

Best Practice Player, being defined as the member of the team that gave the most to the team in practice day-in and day-out to make himself and his teammates better.
- Winner: Drayton Wade

Most Improved Player, being defined as the member of the team that showed the most individual improvement in their own game from either (a) last year to this year or (b) from the beginning of the season to the end.
- Winner: Zach Beaver

Most Valuable Player, being defined as the member of the team who was most responsible for our success this year by their outstanding play.
- Winner: Jeff Zimmerman

Coach's Award, being defined as the player that was the most coachable member of the team and displayed a positive work ethic both on and off the courts.
- Winner: Sudeep Das

Sudeep and I were talking after the events and were wondering if any team at Northwestern has anywhere near the team GPA that we have. I asked Mrs. Beaver to investigate our team GPA and she was able to come up with an overall cumulative average of the team of 4.2 on a weighted scale. I cannot imagine any team at any school in the state that comes close to us in the classroom. This is certainly evident in my dealings with these fine young men as they were very quick learners and so easy to instruct.

Again, I cannot say thank you enough to all of the boys for their hard work this year. It was personally rewarding to see all of you improve and advance your tennis game. To those seniors (and Alex!) moving on, congratulations on your graduation and sincere best wishes in the future. If there is ever anything I can do to help you advance yourself in life, don't hesitate to call or email me. To those team members returning next year, I look forward to working with you all summer long on Tuesday nights from 7:00 - 8:30 and meeting your friends!

North Team defeated by South Team in North/South All Star Match

Jeff Zimmerman traveled down to the beaches of Pawley's Island for a weekend of tennis, beaches, and comroderie with his fellow South Carolina state All-Star's in the annual North/South All-star match. The event was hosted by the South Carolina Coaches Association at the Debrodieu Colony Resort and the teams were put up in a beach house during the tournament.

Despite the North team and Jeff's best effort, the south team prevailed behind top-ranked Waccammaw High School star and Clemson-bound Wesley Moran. Jeff played well at the #2 doubles line and #4 singles line, but came up just short in each match. On a side note, Moran's father is a '79 graduate of Northwestern High School.

Regardless of outcomes, the event was a huge success in providing a fun atmosphere for this group of highly decorated athletes to participate. The match consisted of players committed to Clemson, College of Charleston, Winthrop, The Citadel, Davidson as well as others that I couldn't confirm.

The North team is pictured at the right and listed with current SC rankings: Asst Coach Willie Ware (Fort Mill), Joshua Rumph #24 (Daniel), Jeff Zimmerman #87 (Northwestern), Will Reigel #36 (Fort Mill), Derek Dickey #21 (Lexington), Dylan Hillman #127 (Dorman), Michael Owens #50 (Clinton), Head Coach Clovis Simmons (Clinton)

Post Season Tennis Awards Celebration

I will host a post-season wrap up get-together (banquet would be too formal of a word) at my neighborhood pool commons area on Thursday May 29, 2008.

When: Thursday May 29, 6:30 PM

Where: Sunset Point Subdivision Pool, dress to swim (in the event of rain, we can use the common area shelter area by our beach overlooking Lake Wylie)

Who: All players, parents, and siblings are invited. Grandparents are also welcome, but let's try to limit aunts, uncles and cousins twice removed due to space availability. Also, our athletic administrators are invited.

What: Pot-luck dinner and dessert will procede our presentation of letters to athletes as well as individual awards.

Below are the assignments of food needs...

Seniors, entrees (as creative as you want to get!):

Jeff Zimmerman: Chicken dish
Paul Sabisch: Beef dish
Zach Beaver: Chicken dish
Eric Sabin: Beef dish
Sudeep Das: Pasta dish (vegetarian)

Sophomore / Junior, salad:

Alex Atzberger: Green Salad
Drayton Wade: Caesar Salad

Freshmen, sides:

Seth Russell: Potatoes
Brian Fitzpatrick: Green Beans, or caserole of such
Jordan Beaver: Baked Beans & Bread

8th Grader, drinks:

Jonathan Patton: 2 liter soda bottles, cooler with ice

7th Grader, dessert:

Charlie Roble: Cookies, Brownies or both

Coach: plates/cups/napkins

Feel free to dress very casually and all are welcome to take a dip in the pool if you feel so inclined. A tentative order of events will be to swim or mingle from 6:30 - 7:00, eat from 7:00 - 7:30, followed by the presentation of letters to varsity letter winners, recognition of our seniors, and then presentation of awards for Most Valuable Player, Most Improved Player, Best Practice Player, and Coaches Award for Dedication.

For those unfamiliar with Sunset Point, directions would be as follows from Celenese Road:

Turn north onto India Hook Rd, go approx 3 miles through the light at Mount Gallant Rd
Go past the main entrance of Sunset Point
Turn left onto Elks Park Rd (too far if you see ROAR academy)
Go past the rear entrance of Sunset Point
Pool area will be on your left and use second entrance, parking available for 25 cars

Jeff Zimmerman selected to SCTCA North/South All Star Classic

The accolades keep rolling in for senior Jeff Zimmerman. We received confirmation today that Jeff has been selected to represent the North team in the annual North/South All Star Classic May 22-24 in Pawley's Island SC at the Debordieu Colony Resort.

Jeff had an overall record of 11-6 and was 10-4 in region for the Trojans this spring. Jeff has played for the Trojans for the past six seasons in every imaginable capacity. Jeff was previously named to the all region 3-AAAA team along with fellow senior Zach Beaver and Jeff was ranked the #2 player overall in our region.

Jeff and I have been working hard individually this week to keep his game sharp over at the Rock Hill Tennis Center and we will continue to do so up to this tournament. I have no doubt that he will represent Northwestern High School in a fine manner at this event.

Trojans defeated by Spartanburg in State Playoffs

We ventured over to Spartanburg to take on the #3 ranked Spartanburg Vikings at their courts. Spartanburg was the top seed out of Region 2 and played like it was very well deserved.

Although our scores don't reflect it, we did display some moments of brilliance and solid play at all courts. I was impressed with Seth's attempts to set up and finish off points at #2 singles. His opponent is undefeated this year and has not dropped a set in singles matches. Although Seth was blanked, he made a lot of correct decisions in how he tried to attack him.

Jeff served very well at times, but struggled with consistancy at 1 singles against a highly talented opponent. Zach played well at 3 singles in the second set after an unusually quick first set. Alex started off well at 4 singles and had some opportunities that he just came up short on.

On the top courts, Drayton struggled to find his flow at 5 singles, but hit very well against an extremely strong #5 player from Spartanburg. I actually felt that Drayton was controlling most of the points, but was coming up with errors in spots that he is used to scoring points. Our doubles line of Brian & Paul had a tough time getting going today and were blanked by a fairly dominant Spartanburg team. However, even with such a lopsided score, I was happy that they were making their serves and not giving away points. Their opponents were just very good at making the right shots.

This does conclude our team's season with an overall record of 10-8. I am proud of all the boys that participated on the tennis team this year and will cherish our time together at practice, matches, and post game meals. This job is one that has brought me great personal satisfaction this year in seeing you guys grow and improve on a daily basis. I look forward to the off-season and seeing how hard you will work to elevate your games even further. I have previously expressed my thanks to our seniors that participated this year, but again - a big thank you for your hard work and leadership.

I mentioned to the boys that I will have a team meeting on Friday after school to collect their washed uniforms if they do not wish to keep them. I will need one (1) of the following from each boy on Friday 5/2
- shorts, white jersey, and purple jersey (washed) - or -
- $8 for shorts, $12.50 for each jersey if the boys wish to keep their uniforms

Go Trojans!

Box Score:

1S: Alex Holland (S) def Jeff Zimmerman 6-0, 6-1
2S: Benjamin Barnette (S) def Seth Russell 6-0, 6-0
3S: Forest Weir (S) def Zach Beaver 6-0, 6-2
4S: Ben Bramhall (S) def Alex Atzberger 6-2, 6-0
5S: Jonathan Allsbrook (S) def Drayton Wade 6-0, 6-1

1D: Azucey / Azucey (S) def Russell / Eric Sabin 8-2
2D: W Weir / W Epps (S) def Brian Fitzpatrick/Paul Sabisch 6-0, 6-0

Northwestern's Jeff Zimmerman & Zach Beaver selected to Region 3 AAAA All Region Team

The coaches tonight met in Rock Hill to vote on all region athletes from boys tennis. Two Northwestern athletes were selected to the all region team.

Senior Jeff Zimmerman was the first non-Fort Mill player to be selected. Jeff had a region record of 10-4 this year playing 1 singles for the Trojans all year. The coaches unanimously voted Jeff all region for 2008. Jeff was also nominated to play in the South Carolina state singles championships May 16 & 17 in Columbia. Jeff is the second nominee from the region on the list of five potential names, behind only Will Reigel of Fort Mill who was undefeated in region matches and is the region's automatic qualifier. I submitted Jeff's current USTA & Southern Section rankings and am hopeful that he will be selected by the South Carolina High School League to participate in the 32-player field. Jeff is a two-time all region athlete for the Trojans.

Senior Zach Beaver was also selected to the all region team by the coaches. Zach had a region record of 10-4 this season as well playing anywhere from line 5 through line 3 singles for the Trojans. The coaches agreed that based on his region record as well as input from other coaches on the exemplary sportsmanship that he displayed. I also brought up that Zach is one of the top students in the senior class and stressed the fact that he was an all around athlete that had never played competitive tennis before this year.

We are very proud of both these senior athletes and thankful for their contributions to this team and hope that their leadership will push us through our first round playoff match tomorrow at Spartanburg.

Go Trojans!

2008 All Region 3 AAAA

Will Reigel - Fort Mill
Jeff Zimmerman - Northwestern
Glen Thomason - Rock Hill
Chase Altieri - Clover
Robbie Davis - Fort Mill
Nick Deahl - Clover
Paul Shaw - Fort Mill
Will Decker - Clover
Kyle Osborne - Fort Mill
Ken Long - Clover
Zach Beaver - Northwestern
Chase Lee - Fort Mill
Nihal Patel - Rock Hill
Mitesh Patel - Rock Hill

Player of the Year
Will Reigel - Fort Mill

Coach of the Year
Willie Ware - Fort Mill

AAAA State Playoff nominees:

Will Reigel - Fort Mill (automatic)
Jeff Zimmerman - Northwestern
Glen Thomason - Rock Hill
Chase Altieri - Clover
Robbie Davis - Fort Mill

State playoff Bracket released

The South Carolina High School League posted the brackets this morning for the boys tennis state playoffs. As expected, we will travel to Spartanburg tomorrow afternoon to take on the Spartans of Spartanburg. If we are successful in taking down the Spartans, we will face the winner of South Aiken & Easley on May 1.

Our athletic director has arranged for our boys to be dismissed from class at 2:45 PM so the boys can load the bus and we can be on the road by 3:00 or 3:15 at the latest. The trip to Spartanburg High is a little over an hour and 15 minutes.

To view the full bracket, click on the following link:

http://www.schsl.org/2007%20Brackets/bte%20aaaa.htm

Go Trojans!

Northwestern defeated in regular season final match by Clover

We traveled to Clover today to play in a match that decided the final region standings. With a win, we could have forced a three-way tie for second place. However, we were defeated in a match with a lot of close results at the individual line. Their coach even agreed that we were a better team than we were earlier in the year even though the overall score reflects a 0-7 loss as all the matches played closer than he remembered.

With the loss we finished in fourth place, regardless of the Rock Hill outcome against Fort Mill tonight. The region champion is Fort Mill (assuming win 14-0), followed by second place Clover (11-3), then Rock Hill (assuming loss 10-4), and then us (9-5).

Thankfully, I discussed the playoff dates with the Clover coach as I assumed that our first match would be played on Thursday May 1 as per the information I received from the SCHSL at the initial coaches meeting (see below top link). However, we will actually play on Tuesday April 29 against the #1 seed out of Region II at their courts. I am predicting this to be against Spartanburg High School as they have been in the #3 spot in the state rankings all year and have not moved down (usually you move down with a loss, especially in region).

http://www.schsl.org/2007/2007-08%20Rules%20Section.pdf - see page 31 playoff dates

http://www.schsl.org/2007/2007-2008%20AAAA%20handbook.pdf - see page 58 playoff dates, these are the rules we are going by for playoffs

I advised the boys on the busride home that we will need to get them out of class on Tuesday around 2:45 so that we can change and hit the road by 3:15 at the latest to get to Spartanburg. If we are successful in an upset of Spartanburg, our next match would be Thursday and on the road again as we are the lower seed in our bracket. I assume that any remaining matches would be played on the road, so we need to get in Road Warrior mindsets over the weekend.

Go Trojans!

Box Score:

1S: Chase Altieri (C) def Jeff Zimmerman 7-6, 2-6, 10-6
2S: Nick Deahl (C) def Seth Russell 7-5, 6-1
3S: Ken Long (C) def Zach Beaver 6-2, 6-2
4S: Will Decker (C) def Alex Atzberger 6-0, 6-2
5S: Tucker DeLoach (C) def Drayton Wade 6-3, 2-6, 10-8

1D: Altieri/Deahl (C) def Russell/Atzberger 8-6
2D: Josh Watts/JC Dougherty (C) def Brian Fitzpatrick/Paul Sabisch 7-6, 6-4

Northwestern Clinches playoff berth with 7-0 win over York

The Trojans were on fire tonight as we blitzed past York 7-0 to clinch a spot in the playoffs. Our overall record now stands at 10-6 with a 9-4 standing in our region matches. We saluted our seniors (and Alex) tonight after the match with some cake to thank them for their dedication. I again want to express my sincere thanks to our seniors Jeff Zimmerman, Paul Sabisch, Zach Beaver, Eric Sabin, and Sudeep Das for their hard work this year and for all their years of competing on behalf of Northwestern. And thanks to Alex, for coming to Rock Hill via foreign exchange and participating with us this year. You are all intregal pieces of our team!

Our first win of the night came courtesy of Zach Beaver with a 6-0, 6-0 win at 3 singles. Closely following Zach was Alex Atzberger with a win of 6-0, 6-1. Seth Russell finished next after playing good tennis at line 2 to come away with a 6-0, 6-1 win as well.

Drayton Wade provided our clinching win at 5 singles by taking a first set by score of 6-0 and playing a fairly even second set of 6-4.

We played both doubles lines at the same time again tonight as a courtesy to York who wanted to get the match played quickly for academic reasons. Our 1 doubles line was comprised of Paul Sabisch and Eric Sabin. Paul had asked me earlier in the season to play the two of them together and I obliged on this occasion. The fact that Paul left out of this request (and informed me of after their match) was that they hadn't ever won together. Well tonight was their first win together as they defeated the 1 doubles line from York 6-3, 6-4.

Sudeep Das and Brian Fitzpatrick teamed up to play our 2 doubles line against York. After a strong start and first set win of 6-0, they dropped the second set by score of 6-7 and were pushed to a decisive 10-point tiebreak. They never trailed in the tiebreak, although it got interesting near the end, and clinched the line with a score of 10-6.

York's number 1 gave Jeff some trouble last time around and today was no different. Jeff trailed in both sets 1-4 and staged a comeback in each to win by score of 7-6, 6-4 and went through 2 sets of racket strings in the process.

This win likely has put us in a tie for third with Rock Hill if they were successful tonight over Lancaster. Clover has only 3 losses and played South Pointe tonight and I assume they were successful. We travel to Clover to try to throw a monkey wrench into the region standings on Thursday. I assume that the tie breaker between us and Rock Hill is # of lines won and they have the advantage with their 6-1 defeat of us at their place. We suffered a defeat to Clover by score of 5-2 previously as well. If we are able to even our tiebreak with Clover with a 5-2 win or better, it could be an interesting meeting with the region coordinator on Monday night.

Go Trojans!

Box Score:

1S: Jeff Zimmerman (N) def Chris Suggs 7-6, 6-4
2S: Seth Russell (N) def Tyler Sloan 6-0, 6-1
3S: Zach Beaver (N) def Mitesh Patel 6-0, 6-0
4S: Alex Atzberger (N) def Rick Carver 6-0, 6-1
5S: Drayton Wade (N) def Jensen Fisk 6-0, 6-4

1D: Paul Sabisch/Eric Sabin (N) def Joe Gegraw/Kyle Spears 6-3, 6-4
2D: Sudeep Das/Brian Fitzpatrick (N) def Nathan Patrick/Charlie Lawson 6-0, 6-7, 10-6

Northwestern wins rematch over rival Rock Hill High

The Trojans won their match tonight by score of 4-3 over arch-rival Rock Hill. With the victory, we improve to 9-6 overall and 8-4 in region.

Our first win came courtesy of Alex Atzberger at 4 singles. By score of 6-4, 6-0 Alex put us on the board first. Some errors in the first set made it close, but Alex played nearly flawless to close out the second set with a bagel.

Next to finish was Jeff Zimmerman at 1 singles. Jeff avenged his defeat earlier this season to Rock Hill by dominating from beginning to end and scored a win by score of 6-1, 6-2.

The third match to clear was Seth Russell at 2 singles. After dropping the forst set 6-4 and trailing 5-2, Seth nearly came back in the second set. Unfortunately, it was not meant to be and the second set was an identical 6-4 score for Rock Hill's first point.

Fourth to finish was our 2 doubles line of Brian Fitzpatrick and Paul Sabisch. Rock Hill's doubles team played strong and took the line by score of 6-2, 6-4. We now sat even up for the match at 2-2.

Next to finish was another victory for us at 3 singles. Zach Beaver played a strong first set and won by score of 6-3. The second set played a little closer and Zach eeked out a straight set victory by score of 6-4. The Trojans now lead by score of 3-2.

At 5 singles, Drayton Wade had dropped a first set in a tiebreaker 6-7. Drayton came up with the second set by score of 6-3 and forced our clinching point into a tiebreaker for the match. Drayton lead the entire way of the tiebreak and won it 10-4 to clinch his match and the overall match with our decisive fourth point. We then proceded to drop the 1 doubles point for a final score of 4-3.

We have put ourselves in a position to lift up our overall region standing to second or third place with a lot of it on our shoulders. We first need to focus on York High tomorrow night at home and take care of business on the road at Clover on Thursday.

Go Trojans!

Box Score:

1S: Jeff Zimmerman (N) def Glen Thomason 6-2, 6-1
2S: Jared McCoy (R) def Seth Russell (N) 6-4, 6-4
3S: Zach Beaver (N) def Kevin Gaulden (R) 6-3, 6-4
4S: Alex Atzberger (N) def Nihal Patel (R) 6-4, 6-0
5S: Drayton Wade (N) def Alex Silverman (R) 6-7, 6-3, 10-4

1D: Thomason/McCoy (R) def Zimmerman/Russell (N) 8-3
2D: Mitesh Patel/Austin Shores (R) def Brian Fitzpatrick/Paul Sabisch (N) 6-2, 6-4

Order of finish: 4s, 1s, 2s, 2d, 3s, 5s

Northwestern completes sweep of Nation Ford

If one were to scroll through my previous match post, I actually foresaw what happened tonight - Nation Ford improved dramatically in pretty much all areas. I feel we have improved too, but I was impressed with how far along they have come, especially at doubles and the lower singles lines. With our team win, we improve to 8-6 overall and 7-4 in region matches. This keeps us in 4th place in the region and still in the playoff hunt.

Jeff Zimmerman made similar work at 1 singles as he had previously by overpowering his opponent to a 6-0, 6-2 victory. Seth was also successful at 2 singles in a closer match this time around by score of 6-4, 6-2. Zach Beaver played a long match, but was dominant with a 6-0, 6-2 win at 3 singles.

Alex Atzberger won his first set 6-2, but hit a wall in the second set and dropped it 3-6. In the decisive tiebreak, Alex was successful at 4 singles to clinch our win with the decisive 4th point.

Paul Sabisch took on double duty tonight by playing a hard fought match at 5 singles that was dropped by score of 3-6, 3-6 before teaming with Seth at 1 doubles when the match was in hand. Our 2 doubles line of Brian Fitzpatrick & Drayton Wade that had been successful in recent matches never seemed to get in full stride and dropped the line by a close score of 4-6, 5-7 in a back and forth match.

The most impressive match of the night was played by Seth and Paul at 1 doubles. The match held little meaning as far as the end result, but these two played as hard as if it were a state championship clincher. They fell behind 2-7 in the 8-game proset and I honestly started looking around to clean up all our stuff to get on the bus. They went on a tear at that point to win 5 straight games and then trading off at the end to a tie score of 8-8. A tiebreaker was needed to decide the point which they unfortunately dropped 7-3. Regardless, I liked the teamwork they displayed and the competitiveness they played with.

The match that we were expecting to have last night with Rock Hill is rescheduled for Monday 4/21 at 5 PM. I still have not confirmed exactly everything that happened, but we are making this match up and hopefully will improve our region standing then.

Box Score:
Location: Nation Ford HS
Result: Northwestern wins 4-3

1S: Jeff Zimmerman (NW) defeated Madison Ott (NF) 6-0, 6-2
2S: Seth Russell (NW) def Michael Little (NF) 6-4, 6-2
3S: Zach Beaver (NW) def Danny Randar (NF) 6-0, 6-2
4S: Alex Atzberger (NW) def Alex Mcelland (NF) 6-2, 3-6, 10-7
5S: Paul Hoberek (NF) def Paul Sabisch (NW) 6-3, 6-3

1D: Little/Randar (NF) def Russell/Sabisch (NW) 9-8
2D: Tyler Morris/Brendan McGlohon (NF) def Drayton Wade/Brian Fitzpatrick (NW) 6-4, 7-5