It was good to see everyone tonight. A lot of familiar faces and several new ones. I am super excited to get into boys season. We have the ability on our boys team to win Region 3-AAAA this year. I hope I have motivated you all to get to work preparing over the holiday break.
I provided my cell phone number & email address. I want all players to have my number. If an emergency comes up, I want them to contact me as soon as possible if it affects their attendance of tennis stuff.
I also introduced Betsy Creech to the boys. Betsy played #3 for the girls team and is looking to work more year round on her game. She will be helping out with scorekeeping stuff for me during practice and matches and also will be participating in drills and practice matches to improve her game this spring.
Eligibility: This is a 3 part process. 1) Grades, 2) Physical, 3) Birth Certificate. See your guidance counselor if you have any doubts about your academic eligibility. The physical form was available at the meeting tonight, but can be accessed at northwesterntrojans.org under the "files" section. If you haven't turned a physical form in to the Northwestern Athletic Office since May 2009, a new one is required. A copy of a birth certificate is required to be on file. If you have played a sport at Northwestern, we have it. If this is your first season, turn in a copy along with the physical. If a physical or birth certificate copy is not received in the athletic office by February 1, you will not be able to participate this season.
Try Outs: This will be a 5-day process starting Monday February 1, 2010. We will try out Mon-Thur only, so if weather cooperates we should have our initial varsity team decided by Monday February 8. These sessions will be 3 hours long from 4:00pm-7:00pm.
To try out, you will need to be at all 5 days to compete in a continuous round robin. A varsity team of 9-10 players will be selected at the end of these 5 days. Players not on varsity will continue to play daily round robins all season. If a player is able to stay at the top of the round robin groups for several consecutive days, he will probably get a chance to challenge for a spot on the varsity team. Once a player is on varsity, they will stay on varsity. I am hoping to have 12-13 varsity players by the end of the season.
Practice: Once the try out process is decided, practice will be from 4pm-6pm Mon-Thu. Practice is mandatory for all players and very few exceptions will be made. I am looking for a commitment from the boys for 8 hours per week in the preseason and some more time once matches start. If you cannot commit to this, the season will probably not be successful for you or the team.
If a varsity player misses practice, they will forfeit any challenge match they were involved in and sit out the next match. If a second practice is missed, the player will sit out the next two matches. Additional misses will likely result in dismissal from the team. Being late to practice will be treated as a missed practice, but if a player is late they can still defend their position in a challenge match, but match penalty will still happen.
If a non-varsity player misses practice, they will forfeit all challenge opportunities that day. After 3 misses, that player will likely be dismissed from the team. I really hope that these scenarios do not take place. I do take attendance very seriously and believe that hard work at practice makes the difference in how good we perform in matches.
Matches: We will play approxiamately 14 regular season matches plus 1 or 2 pre-season scrimmages. We are also co-hosting a tournament on March 19 & 20 with South Pointe HS that will involve 8 schools from all over the state. I will likely have our varsity match schedule complete in January, if not sooner. Matches are typically on Tuesday & Thursdays at 5:00, but some will fall on a Monday or Wednesday. The season runs from early March until early May.
Rules: I will be having players & parents sign and agree to rules at try outs. Most of them will be simple - show up on time, work hard, and have a good attitude. However, some of them will be different than other sports. One, we will be wearing practice tee-shirts and look like a team at practice this year as all the quality teams at school do. Second, all players must wear tennis court specific shoes any time they are at practice or in a match. Third, varsity players must wear ALL BLACK shorts for matches. Shorts will be available for purchase when we do a team order the first week of February.
Shoes / Uniforms: Prices for shoes have been quoted previously and I posted them again tonight. Nike Air Ballistic 1.3's are $85, Nike Air Ballistic 1.2's are $60, and Nike Air Court del Mar's are $52. The Ballistic's are very durable and will hold up for an entire season. The del Mar's are a good shoe, but less durable and may wear out near the end of season. If a player needs shoes and wants to take advantage of our 35% discount on Nike, they will need to take a check or cash to the athletic office and give it to Rose Baker, the athletic secretary. I will be placing the order Friday afternoon so they will hopefully arrive before school lets out. There will only be one order placed so if you need shoes and like Nike, take advantage of this.
Varsity uniforms will be the same as last year and varsity players will get 1 purple and 1 white jersey. I have ordered more smalls of each since they ran a little big last year.
We will also do a clothing order the first week of February to order sweats, tee-shirts, long sleeve t-shirts and shorts. I will require the players to order 3 t-shirts to wear at practice for $30. All other items will be optional, but tend to be popular for players and parents. I generally only do one order for the group so make sure you get everything that you want.
Questions: The only group question that was asked was more to point out the Tennis Center is putting together weekly clinics for the winter and spring. In the past, I have done conditioning in January before practice starts. I am not doing that this year. My expectation is that players will show up to day 1 of try outs in the best shape and at the top of their tennis ability. I would like the boys to be practicing tennis all December & January on their own. They will need to be ready to play 3 hours of tennis for 5 straight days at the highest level to which they are capable.
Call or email if you have questions.
Go Trojans!
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Girls Tennis Banquet
Thank you to all the parents, players, and school administrators for attending our end of the year banquet. A special thanks to Mr & Mrs Cox for organizing the event in an ideal venue at St John's United Methodist Church.
We began the evening with a wonderful blessing courtesy of Mr Faulkner before a feast fit for our queens of the court. The families of Northwestern tennis again did a top notch job in preparing our pot luck dinner. The awards presentations began after dinner.
I first off thanked Coach Warren and the Trojan Club for all the support of the tennis programs at Northwestern. We are truly lucky to have such a wonderful athletic director who does a lot of things behind the scenes that don't get recognized. He also gives me a lot of flexibility in running the program the way I want to and is supportive of us in every aspect.
I also thanked Dr & Mrs Edwards for assisting the program with our new court numbers this year. Dr Edwards and I spent a couple hours putting them up around the courts back in September and they truly add a touch of class to our facility.
I also thanked the Surgical Specialists of the Carolinas as well as Rock Hill Radiology Associates for their support in providing us with financial contributions that made our new windscreen purchase possible. I believe that we have the finest tennis facility in the state of any program that has school courts. Without the financial assistance of these two companies, this purchase would not have been possible. If you run into Dr Schroeder or Dr Leonard, please thank them. But also, the funds from football concessions over the past two seasons was a huge asset as well so thank you to the parents who helped out back in September.
Our first player awards went to our non-letter winning players this year. This group allowed our team to have tremendous depth this year. Good teams in any sports have depth and it is my belief that this depth will allow us to be successful for many years to come. Congratulations and thank you to the following young ladies:
- Natalie Hageman
- Hannah Cramer
- Emily Cramer
- Randi Honeycutt
- Karlee Fox
- Caroline Herron
- Alexis Peddy
- Olivia Huckabee
Letters were then presented to the players who contributed to the varsity team this year in matches. This group's results on the court representing our team resulted in a team that again qualified to the state tournament in 4A girls tennis:
- Chandler Green (3rd Letter)
- Maggie Orr (3rd Letter)
- Betsy Creech (3rd Letter)
- Courtney Cox (2nd Letter)
- Lauren Cox (1st Letter)
- Emily Edwards (1st Letter)
- Hillary Tindall (2nd Letter & Captain Pin)
- MC Faulkner (1st Letter & Captain Pin)
- Erin Brooks (1st Letter)
- Mia Barber (Manager pin)
Individual awards were then presented to the girls as voted for by their teammates.
Most Valuable Player - The player who the girls felt was most valuable to our team on and off the court. This player made the biggest impact to our team during matches, on the sidelines, and in practice: Chandler Green
Most Improved Player - The player the girls felt made the biggest improvement in their game. The players could vote for who improved the most from the beginning of the year to the end or from last season to this season: MC Faulkner
Best Practice Player - The player who worked the hardest each day in practice. This player not only worked hard themself, but worked to make others around them better: Hillary Tindall
Coach's Award - I hand out an annual award to a player who is coachable in all aspects of the game. This player sets a great example to their teammates not purely by their ability, but mostly by their work ethic and willingness to learn. This is a player who makes every effort to execute strategies in their matches and learns from both their successes and failures to improve themself: Lauren Cox
I will certainly miss our seniors as they move on to their next great challenges in life. It has certainly been a privilege to get to know each of you. I do make a promise to my seniors that I will always be available to you if you need any further assistance in life, being letters of recommendation, networking, or any other advice I can provide. Most of all, I hope you stay in touch with the program and remain assets to us after your graduation.
For our returning fourteen girls, our future is bright at Northwestern. I encourage any of you that know of athletic 7th, 8th, or 9th graders to encourage them to learn the game of tennis. We have a strong core of sophomores that will be juniors returning next year along with one senior. The program needs talented younger players that are willing to take the time and put in the work that it takes to become a good tennis player. Please look to share your experiences with younger student athletes that can fill this role for us in the future.
I also mentioned what I expect as far as off season tennis work for our returning players. A pro player that I met over the past few weeks told me that she believes that the difference in a tennis match between two equal players playing at a high level will be decided by three factors:
1) Fitness
2) Quickness
3) Mental Toughness
In a nutshell, a good tennis player must be a great athlete. Take pride in becoming athletic and continue to work out with agility drills, jump rope, and quick sprints. Get some 1-2 mile runs incorporated into your workout as well. The player in better physical shape has an advantage
Mental toughness, in my opinion, is the ability to feel comfortable in seemingly uncomfortable situations on the court. I think the only way to get mentally tough is by continuing to put yourself in competitive situations. Whether you are in a league or travel to play in tournaments, match-play experience is crucial. If you play more matches, you will become more comfortable in match situations. Morgan Chumney from Fort Mill has played 85 (50-35) tournament matches over the past 12 months. It shouldn't be a surprise that she stays cool and calm on the court.
Also, in practicing during the off season I think that you should set a goal of the following:
1) Work with an instructor once per week, whether in a clinic or private lesson
2) Play a practice match against someone near your ability level
3) Play a practice match against someone slightly below your ability level
4) Compete in one tournament per month, or junior tennis leagues in the spring and summer
I am moving into the boy's season for the spring. I would like to see girls come out to participate in the boy's varsity practices. However, I do ask that if you plan to come practice with the guys, that you have a goal for practicing with us. If you are practicing for an upcoming tournament, let me know and you will have priority over girls that just want to practice for fun. Call, text, or email me before you come out so I can confirm we have 3 or less girls at a boy's practice (off-season maximum).
Good season Lady Trojans!
(L to R: Chandler Green - Most Valuable; MC Faulkner - Most Improved; Hillary Tindall - Best Practice Player; Lauren Cox - Coach's Award)
We began the evening with a wonderful blessing courtesy of Mr Faulkner before a feast fit for our queens of the court. The families of Northwestern tennis again did a top notch job in preparing our pot luck dinner. The awards presentations began after dinner.
I first off thanked Coach Warren and the Trojan Club for all the support of the tennis programs at Northwestern. We are truly lucky to have such a wonderful athletic director who does a lot of things behind the scenes that don't get recognized. He also gives me a lot of flexibility in running the program the way I want to and is supportive of us in every aspect.
I also thanked Dr & Mrs Edwards for assisting the program with our new court numbers this year. Dr Edwards and I spent a couple hours putting them up around the courts back in September and they truly add a touch of class to our facility.
I also thanked the Surgical Specialists of the Carolinas as well as Rock Hill Radiology Associates for their support in providing us with financial contributions that made our new windscreen purchase possible. I believe that we have the finest tennis facility in the state of any program that has school courts. Without the financial assistance of these two companies, this purchase would not have been possible. If you run into Dr Schroeder or Dr Leonard, please thank them. But also, the funds from football concessions over the past two seasons was a huge asset as well so thank you to the parents who helped out back in September.
Our first player awards went to our non-letter winning players this year. This group allowed our team to have tremendous depth this year. Good teams in any sports have depth and it is my belief that this depth will allow us to be successful for many years to come. Congratulations and thank you to the following young ladies:
- Natalie Hageman
- Hannah Cramer
- Emily Cramer
- Randi Honeycutt
- Karlee Fox
- Caroline Herron
- Alexis Peddy
- Olivia Huckabee
Letters were then presented to the players who contributed to the varsity team this year in matches. This group's results on the court representing our team resulted in a team that again qualified to the state tournament in 4A girls tennis:
- Chandler Green (3rd Letter)
- Maggie Orr (3rd Letter)
- Betsy Creech (3rd Letter)
- Courtney Cox (2nd Letter)
- Lauren Cox (1st Letter)
- Emily Edwards (1st Letter)
- Hillary Tindall (2nd Letter & Captain Pin)
- MC Faulkner (1st Letter & Captain Pin)
- Erin Brooks (1st Letter)
- Mia Barber (Manager pin)
Individual awards were then presented to the girls as voted for by their teammates.
Most Valuable Player - The player who the girls felt was most valuable to our team on and off the court. This player made the biggest impact to our team during matches, on the sidelines, and in practice: Chandler Green
Most Improved Player - The player the girls felt made the biggest improvement in their game. The players could vote for who improved the most from the beginning of the year to the end or from last season to this season: MC Faulkner
Best Practice Player - The player who worked the hardest each day in practice. This player not only worked hard themself, but worked to make others around them better: Hillary Tindall
Coach's Award - I hand out an annual award to a player who is coachable in all aspects of the game. This player sets a great example to their teammates not purely by their ability, but mostly by their work ethic and willingness to learn. This is a player who makes every effort to execute strategies in their matches and learns from both their successes and failures to improve themself: Lauren Cox
I will certainly miss our seniors as they move on to their next great challenges in life. It has certainly been a privilege to get to know each of you. I do make a promise to my seniors that I will always be available to you if you need any further assistance in life, being letters of recommendation, networking, or any other advice I can provide. Most of all, I hope you stay in touch with the program and remain assets to us after your graduation.
For our returning fourteen girls, our future is bright at Northwestern. I encourage any of you that know of athletic 7th, 8th, or 9th graders to encourage them to learn the game of tennis. We have a strong core of sophomores that will be juniors returning next year along with one senior. The program needs talented younger players that are willing to take the time and put in the work that it takes to become a good tennis player. Please look to share your experiences with younger student athletes that can fill this role for us in the future.
I also mentioned what I expect as far as off season tennis work for our returning players. A pro player that I met over the past few weeks told me that she believes that the difference in a tennis match between two equal players playing at a high level will be decided by three factors:
1) Fitness
2) Quickness
3) Mental Toughness
In a nutshell, a good tennis player must be a great athlete. Take pride in becoming athletic and continue to work out with agility drills, jump rope, and quick sprints. Get some 1-2 mile runs incorporated into your workout as well. The player in better physical shape has an advantage
Mental toughness, in my opinion, is the ability to feel comfortable in seemingly uncomfortable situations on the court. I think the only way to get mentally tough is by continuing to put yourself in competitive situations. Whether you are in a league or travel to play in tournaments, match-play experience is crucial. If you play more matches, you will become more comfortable in match situations. Morgan Chumney from Fort Mill has played 85 (50-35) tournament matches over the past 12 months. It shouldn't be a surprise that she stays cool and calm on the court.
Also, in practicing during the off season I think that you should set a goal of the following:
1) Work with an instructor once per week, whether in a clinic or private lesson
2) Play a practice match against someone near your ability level
3) Play a practice match against someone slightly below your ability level
4) Compete in one tournament per month, or junior tennis leagues in the spring and summer
I am moving into the boy's season for the spring. I would like to see girls come out to participate in the boy's varsity practices. However, I do ask that if you plan to come practice with the guys, that you have a goal for practicing with us. If you are practicing for an upcoming tournament, let me know and you will have priority over girls that just want to practice for fun. Call, text, or email me before you come out so I can confirm we have 3 or less girls at a boy's practice (off-season maximum).
Good season Lady Trojans!
(L to R: Chandler Green - Most Valuable; MC Faulkner - Most Improved; Hillary Tindall - Best Practice Player; Lauren Cox - Coach's Award)
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Trojans Season Ended by Bruins in 1st Round of Playoffs
We had high hopes of advancing this year in the playoffs, but it wasn't to be as the Lancaster Bruins played a strong match from top to bottom and handed us a 5-1 defeat. The loss eliminates us from the state AAAA playoffs and leaves us with a final overall record of 6-8 on the season.
Chandler Green played really well against Hegler for the Bruins. Hegler has an aggressive game that was a little overpowering for Chandler tonight. The score may have been a little lopsided, but I was proud of Chandler for giving Hegler a run for her money. Chandler has the potential to beat these types of players with some off season work on her serving and forward and backward speed.
Maggie Orr put the first set of her match at 2 tonight into a tiebreaker before coming up on the short end against Gardner. The second set was tight as well as the Bruins claimed it 6-4. There was little that seperated these two tonight other than maybe just the one year of experience for Gardner who is a junior. I am hopeful that Maggie plays competitively in the off season to gain the experience and confidence that it takes to overcome this type of opponent. She has the heart and the talent as we all can see, but she still needs to put the work in and play competitive matches.
Betsy Creech had a rough go at it tonight at 3 singles. Hicks of Lancaster is a much improved player over the past year and has committed herself to improving her game. It wouldn't surprise me at all if Hicks is the #2 player at Lancaster next season. Betsy also needs a little more experience and confidence to compete with this type of player next year. Hicks is no faster in a footrace than Betsy, but her reaction time puts her a step ahead on each shot. If Betsy can force herself to anticipate better, she can play with anyone around town.
Courtney Cox had a tough first set when her opponent, Blanton of Lancaster, just couldn't miss. At the same time that Blanton was hot, Courtney had trouble making good contact and sustaining rallies. She really started clicking early in the second and went up 5-3 to have me start thinking about a tiebreak strategy. Unfortunately, Blanton picked herself back up to claim the second set with four straight games. It was another case of experience overcoming the Trojan singles players tonight. I look forward to Courtney becoming competitive in the off season so she is able to finish out sets like she could have tonight and put herself in a position for success.
Lauren Cox has come a long way in the past year, from a player that was 13th in the ladder last year to a dependable #5 this year. She was defeated by Gilreath of the Bruins squad at 5 singles 6-1, 6-2 tonight. Gilreath is another player that plays year round tennis and competes in the local USTA tournaments. Lauren can no doubtedly compete with Gilreath if she continues to work as hard over the next 10 months as she has the last 12. Lauren has the competitiveness in her to rise to a very high level.
What a great night it was for our senior captains Hillary Tindall & MC Faulkner
. I pulled the trigger a little earlier than I had anticipated when I saw how behind we had fallen in the singles matches. The senior Trojans claimed our lone line win for us tonight by score of 6-4, 1-6, 10-6. They played a team that clearly had a stronger player and they wisely decided to attack the lesser of the two. I have spent two seasons with Hillary and I certainly will miss her next year. She has been a tremendous role model to the younger players which was the biggest asset this team had this year. MC played just this season for us and rose through the ladder from as low as #11 up to #7 where she ended her career. I have said it many times and she's probably tired of hearing me say it, but...why didn't you pick up a racquet a few years ago MC? You will also be truly missed by us and I am thankful for the small amount of time I was blessed with to work with you.
I told the girls on the bus ride home that this has been the most enjoyable season for me as a coach. I probably won't remember this group as having a 6-8 record and finishing 4th in the region. I will forever remember the hard work that they put in from day one to make themselves better.
And that doesn't end with just these varsity players. Erin Brooks & Emily Edwards were out at the courts nearly every day this summer & they rocketed to near the top of the ladder. The Cramer girls have come light years from where they were when they started playing last year. I see them and think about what Natalie could become if she keeps working hard. Caroline Herron, one of our youngest players, shot up through the ladder this year further than I would have thought possible when you look at the ages of the players she passed up. Alexis worked super hard every practice and is someone that could really make a difference next year as a player and leader. One of my favorite parts of practice was to see Randi & Karlee in warm up jogs competing with each other to finish first. Both of their athletic abillity is great, but their willingness to work is what will make each of them a success.
So many memories you young ladies gave me & for that I will forever be thankful...Coach
Box Score:
Location: Lancaster
Result: Lancaster 5, Northwestern 1
1s: Lyndsey Hegler (L) def Chandler Green 6-2, 6-1
2s: Morgan Gardner (L) def Maggie Orr 7-6, 6-4
3s: Sara Hicks (L) def Betsy Creech 6-1, 6-0
4s: McKenzie Blanton (L) def Courtney Cox 6-0, 7-5
5s: Sarah Gilreath (L) def Lauren Cox 6-1, 6-2
Chandler Green played really well against Hegler for the Bruins. Hegler has an aggressive game that was a little overpowering for Chandler tonight. The score may have been a little lopsided, but I was proud of Chandler for giving Hegler a run for her money. Chandler has the potential to beat these types of players with some off season work on her serving and forward and backward speed.
Maggie Orr put the first set of her match at 2 tonight into a tiebreaker before coming up on the short end against Gardner. The second set was tight as well as the Bruins claimed it 6-4. There was little that seperated these two tonight other than maybe just the one year of experience for Gardner who is a junior. I am hopeful that Maggie plays competitively in the off season to gain the experience and confidence that it takes to overcome this type of opponent. She has the heart and the talent as we all can see, but she still needs to put the work in and play competitive matches.
Betsy Creech had a rough go at it tonight at 3 singles. Hicks of Lancaster is a much improved player over the past year and has committed herself to improving her game. It wouldn't surprise me at all if Hicks is the #2 player at Lancaster next season. Betsy also needs a little more experience and confidence to compete with this type of player next year. Hicks is no faster in a footrace than Betsy, but her reaction time puts her a step ahead on each shot. If Betsy can force herself to anticipate better, she can play with anyone around town.
Courtney Cox had a tough first set when her opponent, Blanton of Lancaster, just couldn't miss. At the same time that Blanton was hot, Courtney had trouble making good contact and sustaining rallies. She really started clicking early in the second and went up 5-3 to have me start thinking about a tiebreak strategy. Unfortunately, Blanton picked herself back up to claim the second set with four straight games. It was another case of experience overcoming the Trojan singles players tonight. I look forward to Courtney becoming competitive in the off season so she is able to finish out sets like she could have tonight and put herself in a position for success.
Lauren Cox has come a long way in the past year, from a player that was 13th in the ladder last year to a dependable #5 this year. She was defeated by Gilreath of the Bruins squad at 5 singles 6-1, 6-2 tonight. Gilreath is another player that plays year round tennis and competes in the local USTA tournaments. Lauren can no doubtedly compete with Gilreath if she continues to work as hard over the next 10 months as she has the last 12. Lauren has the competitiveness in her to rise to a very high level.
What a great night it was for our senior captains Hillary Tindall & MC Faulkner
. I pulled the trigger a little earlier than I had anticipated when I saw how behind we had fallen in the singles matches. The senior Trojans claimed our lone line win for us tonight by score of 6-4, 1-6, 10-6. They played a team that clearly had a stronger player and they wisely decided to attack the lesser of the two. I have spent two seasons with Hillary and I certainly will miss her next year. She has been a tremendous role model to the younger players which was the biggest asset this team had this year. MC played just this season for us and rose through the ladder from as low as #11 up to #7 where she ended her career. I have said it many times and she's probably tired of hearing me say it, but...why didn't you pick up a racquet a few years ago MC? You will also be truly missed by us and I am thankful for the small amount of time I was blessed with to work with you.I told the girls on the bus ride home that this has been the most enjoyable season for me as a coach. I probably won't remember this group as having a 6-8 record and finishing 4th in the region. I will forever remember the hard work that they put in from day one to make themselves better.
And that doesn't end with just these varsity players. Erin Brooks & Emily Edwards were out at the courts nearly every day this summer & they rocketed to near the top of the ladder. The Cramer girls have come light years from where they were when they started playing last year. I see them and think about what Natalie could become if she keeps working hard. Caroline Herron, one of our youngest players, shot up through the ladder this year further than I would have thought possible when you look at the ages of the players she passed up. Alexis worked super hard every practice and is someone that could really make a difference next year as a player and leader. One of my favorite parts of practice was to see Randi & Karlee in warm up jogs competing with each other to finish first. Both of their athletic abillity is great, but their willingness to work is what will make each of them a success.
So many memories you young ladies gave me & for that I will forever be thankful...Coach
Box Score:
Location: Lancaster
Result: Lancaster 5, Northwestern 1
1s: Lyndsey Hegler (L) def Chandler Green 6-2, 6-1
2s: Morgan Gardner (L) def Maggie Orr 7-6, 6-4
3s: Sara Hicks (L) def Betsy Creech 6-1, 6-0
4s: McKenzie Blanton (L) def Courtney Cox 6-0, 7-5
5s: Sarah Gilreath (L) def Lauren Cox 6-1, 6-2
2d: Hillary Tindall/MC Faulkner (N) def Carley Adams/Katherine Lalla 6-4, 1-6, 10-6
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
1st Round Playoff Match Postponed until Wednesday 10/28
As expected, our match against Lancaster to open the playoffs has been postponed. We will travel to USC-L tomorrow for the match. Schedule of Events for tomorrow:
Uniforms: White top, purple skirt
- Bring sweats to wear before and after (forecast is hi 75, low 53)
4:00 - snack
4:15 - bus departure
5:00 - Stretch and warm up at Lancaster
5:30 - Match starts
We will cancel practice for today. I'm comfortable that we have had 5 good practices in a row to get ready for this match. Taking the day off will probably be a good thing. However, I make the following request of the #1-9 girls:
1) Get any and all homework completed tonight that you know is due over the next three days. We have a good chance to advance to play the winner of Easley/Spartanburg and could have two long nights ahead of us. Don't get behind in your school work.
2) Spend 15-20 minutes tonight doing some form of physical activity. If your parents own a stationary bike or treadmill - use it. If you have a gym membership - go there. If you have neither, run up and down the steps at your house. Be creative, just get your legs working and make yourself sweat a little. Do it for your team, all 9 of you need to be ready to make a difference tomorrow.
3) If you have friends on the volleyball or cheer teams - send them a good luck text. Cheer has their region meet at the school tonight & volleyball is traveling to Blythewood for their first round match.
Go Trojans!
Uniforms: White top, purple skirt
- Bring sweats to wear before and after (forecast is hi 75, low 53)
4:00 - snack
4:15 - bus departure
5:00 - Stretch and warm up at Lancaster
5:30 - Match starts
We will cancel practice for today. I'm comfortable that we have had 5 good practices in a row to get ready for this match. Taking the day off will probably be a good thing. However, I make the following request of the #1-9 girls:
1) Get any and all homework completed tonight that you know is due over the next three days. We have a good chance to advance to play the winner of Easley/Spartanburg and could have two long nights ahead of us. Don't get behind in your school work.
2) Spend 15-20 minutes tonight doing some form of physical activity. If your parents own a stationary bike or treadmill - use it. If you have a gym membership - go there. If you have neither, run up and down the steps at your house. Be creative, just get your legs working and make yourself sweat a little. Do it for your team, all 9 of you need to be ready to make a difference tomorrow.
3) If you have friends on the volleyball or cheer teams - send them a good luck text. Cheer has their region meet at the school tonight & volleyball is traveling to Blythewood for their first round match.
Go Trojans!
Friday, October 23, 2009
Two Trojans Named to 2009 All Region 3-AAAA Team
The coaches of our region met on Thursday night at Clover high school with three tasks in front of us. We were to confirm playoff seedings, nominate 5 players for possible acceptance to the AAAA-AAA state singles tournament, and to select the 12 member all region team.
The Trojans were confirmed to be in 4th place of the overall standings which are below:
1) Clover (10-0)
2) Nation Ford (8-2)
3) Fort Mill (6-4)
4) Northwestern (4-6)
5) York (1-9)
6) Gaffney (1-9)
SC AAAA State Playoff Bracket: http://www.schsl.org/2009%20brackets/gte%20aaaa.pdf
Chandler Green & Maggie Orr were both selected to the 2009 All Region team in recognition of their athletic achievments on the courts this year as well as exemplifying good sportsmanshipp on and off the court. The two girls shared duties this year as the Trojans #1 & #2 singles players and teamed up to be the #1 doubles team when needed. Overall, the Trojan girls provided a strong presence at the top of our lineup as they combined for an overall 11-9 singles record against the other schools' top players. I feel that it is due to these two young women that we were able to qualify for the state playoffs and maintain our lead over both York and Gaffney. The All Region Team was as follows:
1) Kate Stewart - Clover*
2) Morgan Chumney - Fort Mill**
3) Ashley Trull - Nation Ford**
4) Chandler Green - Northwestern**
5) Molly Mieskiewicz - Clover**
6) Mady Katz - Fort Mill
7) Maggie Orr - Northwestern
8) Faith Daniel - Clover
9) Olivia Whitener - Nation Ford
10) Rylee Smith - Nation Ford
11) Sarah Tourville - Nation Ford
12) Jesse Cook - Gaffney
Coach of the Year: Phil Wingard - Clover
Co-Players of the Year : Kate Stewart - Clover, Morgan Chumney, Fort Mill
Rookie of the Year: Anna Mieskiewicz - Clover
*Automatic qualifier to state singles tournament
**Submitted for at-large consideration for state singles tournament
There are 8 regions in 4A & 8 Regions in 3A. Therefore, there will be 16 at-large spots handed out among those 16 regions. We feel that Chumney of Fort Mill has an excellent shot at getting one of those 16 slots. It has been a few years since our region has gotten 2 qualifiers in the state singles draw so we are quite excited about the level of tennis that is being played in this part of the state this year.
Go Trojans!
Monday, October 19, 2009
Trojans Sweep Cougars to Close Out Regular Season
York was a terrific host tonight to celebrate our last match of the region schedule and probably of the season. The 6 to 0 sweep of the Cougars gives us an overall record of 6-7 and we had a 4-6 record in our region. We finished in 4th place overall behind Clover, Nation Ford, and Fort Mill. York finished in a tie for 5th with Gaffney. We will very likely travel to Lancaster for the first round of the playoffs next Tuesday.
Courtney Cox was our first victory tonight with a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Patrick of York at 4 singles. Sister Lauren Cox followed very shortly after with a 6-3, 6-2 win at 5 singles over Whitesides of York. Chandler Green took care of business at 2 singles with a 6-3, 6-2 win at 2 singles over Neely. Maggie Orr clinched the match with the decisive 4th team win at 1 singles over Mi Goss.
Betey Creech kept the sweep alive at 3 singles with a 6-3, 7-5 win over Ma Goss. Our senior captains Hillary Tindall & MC Faulkner completed the sweep of the Cougars with a 6-2, 6-2 doubles victory.
I really enjoyed York having us stay after for a cookout. I like that idea and I think it is something we should do in return for them next season. I also had a blast playing doubles with Chandler against Coach Clark of York and Neely. I let Chandler down in the end and we were taken out 8-6.
The regular season has come to a close for our reserve players. They ended on a strong note as we had wins at nearly every line including Emily Edwards 8-1, Erin Brooks 8-2, Alexis Peddy 8-1, Caroline Herron 8-0, Karlee Fox 8-0, Randi Honeycutt 8-1, Emily Cramer 8-0, and Hannah Cramer 8-6. Reserve players are no longer required to attend practice the next couple weeks as we prepare for playoffs. However, feel free to come out and play if you can make it.
Tomorrow will be time to get down to business and prepare for the playoffs. A 4 seed has defeated a 1 seed three times since 2000 in the AAAA state playoffs. I would like to be the 4th team to do that and I believe that we can. If the girls believe it, it can and will happen.
Go Trojans!
Box Score:
Location: York Comprehensive HS
Result: Northwestern 6, York 0
1s: Maggie Orr (N) def Michelle Goss 6-1, 6-3
2s: Chandler Green (N) def Brandi Neely 6-3, 6-2
3s: Betsy Creech (N) def Mary Goss 6-3, 7-5
4s: Courtney Cox (N) def Katie Patrick 6-1, 6-2
5s: Lauren Cox (N) def Hannah Whitesides 6-3, 6-2
1d: DNP
2d: Hillary Tindall/MC Faulkner (N) def Allison Rogers/Kate Shirley 6-2, 6-2
Records: Northwestern 4-6 Region 3AAAA, York 1-9 Region 3AAAA
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Next Week & Playoffs
OK, here is where we are at as of right now:
Next Week...
Monday: All Players - @ York, 5pm (Senior Night / Cookout after), bus leaves at 4:15
- Players need to be at courts at 3:55pm
Tuesday: Top 8 & captains - Practice/Challenges 4-6
Wednesday: Top 8 & captains - Practice/Challenges 4-6*
Thursday: Top 8 & captains - Home v. Clover 5pm*
Friday: Top 8 & captains - Practice/Challenges 9am-11am
Week of 10/26-10/30...
Monday: Top 8 & captains - Practice/Challenges 4-6
Tuesday: Playoffs 1st Round - @ Lancaster or Blythewood 5pm
Wednesday: Top 8 & captains - Practice/Challenges 4-6 (if we advance)
Thursday: Playoffs 2nd Round - @ Winner of Region I (#2) or Region II (#3)
*The varsity match at home against Clover is very tentative. I am trying to get Indian Land to come to us on Wednesday night. Clover needs to play an additional match if they lose to Nation Ford and are tied for 1st place. I have offered to have them over to play us if we only have 1 match next week. Therefore, this match will only be played if Clover loses to Nation Ford and we are unable to schedule a home match with Indian Land. The York match Monday may very well be our final regular season match.
I told the girls at practice Thursday that the York match will be our final match as a whole team. However, I would very much like for all players to travel to our playoff matches. The strength we have in numbers could be the difference in cheering us on to victory in the playoffs. I certainly hope that all can come.
For the York match, we are still having a cookout afterwards. Originally, we were going to bring individual desserts. Since it is senior night, I am picking up cake to bring over for both teams. If each girl can just bring $3 each, this will cover all the costs for the cookout on our end.
I believe the Faulkner's have snacks for York & the Edwards were next up on the snack list. The Faulkner's can bring sport drinks & a very light snack on Monday since we are doing the cookout after. The Edwards will have either the Indian Land/Clover match or the playoff first round, whichever happens first. We'll draw straws for the playoffs after that.
Go Trojans!
Next Week...
Monday: All Players - @ York, 5pm (Senior Night / Cookout after), bus leaves at 4:15
- Players need to be at courts at 3:55pm
Tuesday: Top 8 & captains - Practice/Challenges 4-6
Wednesday: Top 8 & captains - Practice/Challenges 4-6*
Thursday: Top 8 & captains - Home v. Clover 5pm*
Friday: Top 8 & captains - Practice/Challenges 9am-11am
Week of 10/26-10/30...
Monday: Top 8 & captains - Practice/Challenges 4-6
Tuesday: Playoffs 1st Round - @ Lancaster or Blythewood 5pm
Wednesday: Top 8 & captains - Practice/Challenges 4-6 (if we advance)
Thursday: Playoffs 2nd Round - @ Winner of Region I (#2) or Region II (#3)
*The varsity match at home against Clover is very tentative. I am trying to get Indian Land to come to us on Wednesday night. Clover needs to play an additional match if they lose to Nation Ford and are tied for 1st place. I have offered to have them over to play us if we only have 1 match next week. Therefore, this match will only be played if Clover loses to Nation Ford and we are unable to schedule a home match with Indian Land. The York match Monday may very well be our final regular season match.
I told the girls at practice Thursday that the York match will be our final match as a whole team. However, I would very much like for all players to travel to our playoff matches. The strength we have in numbers could be the difference in cheering us on to victory in the playoffs. I certainly hope that all can come.
For the York match, we are still having a cookout afterwards. Originally, we were going to bring individual desserts. Since it is senior night, I am picking up cake to bring over for both teams. If each girl can just bring $3 each, this will cover all the costs for the cookout on our end.
I believe the Faulkner's have snacks for York & the Edwards were next up on the snack list. The Faulkner's can bring sport drinks & a very light snack on Monday since we are doing the cookout after. The Edwards will have either the Indian Land/Clover match or the playoff first round, whichever happens first. We'll draw straws for the playoffs after that.
Go Trojans!
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Back to back Rainouts
With yesterday & today both getting rained out, here is what our schedule will look like under two scenarios:
What I HOPE for:
Mon 10/19 - Home v. Boiling Springs
Tue 10/20 - at York/Cookout after
Wed 10/21 - Home v South Pointe 4:30, Home v. Rock Hill 6:00 (Senior Night)
Thu 10/22 - Practice & challenges for playoffs, Top 8 & captains 4:00-600
Fri 10/23 - Practice for playoffs, Top 8 plus captains 4:00-5:30
Mon 10/24 - Practice & doubles challenge for playoffs 4:00-6:00
Tue 10/25 - Playoffs First Round @ Lancaster or Blythewood
Wed 10/26 - Practice (if we advance)
Thu 10/27 - Playoffs Second Round @ TBD (Region I or Region II)
However, this is what I PREDICT:
Mon 10/19 - Home v Boiling Springs (Senior Night)
Tue 10/20 - Practice & Challenges - Last mandatory practice for reserves
Wed 10/21 - at York/Cookout after
Thu 10/22 - Practice & challenges for playoffs, Top 8 plus captains 4:00-6:00
Fri 10/23 - Practice for playoffs, Top 8 plus captains 4:00-5:30
Mon 10/26 - Practice & doubles challenges for playoffs 4:00-6:00
Tue 10/25 - Playoffs First Round @ Lancaster or Blythewood
Wed 10/26 - Practice (if we advance)
Thu 10/27 - Playoffs Second Round @ TBD (Region I or Region II)
This, of course, is pending the weather...which has not been too friendly to us lately.
Go Trojans!
What I HOPE for:
Mon 10/19 - Home v. Boiling Springs
Tue 10/20 - at York/Cookout after
Wed 10/21 - Home v South Pointe 4:30, Home v. Rock Hill 6:00 (Senior Night)
Thu 10/22 - Practice & challenges for playoffs, Top 8 & captains 4:00-600
Fri 10/23 - Practice for playoffs, Top 8 plus captains 4:00-5:30
Mon 10/24 - Practice & doubles challenge for playoffs 4:00-6:00
Tue 10/25 - Playoffs First Round @ Lancaster or Blythewood
Wed 10/26 - Practice (if we advance)
Thu 10/27 - Playoffs Second Round @ TBD (Region I or Region II)
However, this is what I PREDICT:
Mon 10/19 - Home v Boiling Springs (Senior Night)
Tue 10/20 - Practice & Challenges - Last mandatory practice for reserves
Wed 10/21 - at York/Cookout after
Thu 10/22 - Practice & challenges for playoffs, Top 8 plus captains 4:00-6:00
Fri 10/23 - Practice for playoffs, Top 8 plus captains 4:00-5:30
Mon 10/26 - Practice & doubles challenges for playoffs 4:00-6:00
Tue 10/25 - Playoffs First Round @ Lancaster or Blythewood
Wed 10/26 - Practice (if we advance)
Thu 10/27 - Playoffs Second Round @ TBD (Region I or Region II)
This, of course, is pending the weather...which has not been too friendly to us lately.
Go Trojans!
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Clover hands Trojan Region Loss
Clover came over on a beautiful Carolina day to battle us for the second time in a region match this season. Unfortunately, Clover played really well across the board and took all the matches tonight. The loss puts us at 5-7 overall and 3-6 in the region. Our final region match will be Thursday at York.
We had some wins in reserve matches tonight. Olivia Huckabee claimed an 8-2 victory as did the doubles tandem of Caroline Herron & Karlee Fox by score of 8-6.
Depending on when the rains come and go tonight, we have South Pointe on the schedule for tomorrow. It is planned to be Senior Night so we will be having a celebration afterward to thank our seniors: Hillary Tindall, MC Faulkner, and Olivia Huckabee.
Go Trojans!
Box Score:
Location: Northwestern
Result: Clover 7, Northwestern 0
1s: Kate Stewart (C) def Chandler Green 6-3, 6-4
2s: Molly Miszkiewicz (C) def Maggie Orr 6-1, 6-2
3s: Liz Cash (C) def Betsy Creech 6-3, 6-2
4s: Faith Daniel (C) def Courtney Cox 6-4, 6-2
5s: Anna Miszkiewicz (C) def Lauren Cox 6-0, 6-1
1d: Stewart/Cash (C) def Green/Orr 8-5
2d: Patterson Joyner/Elizabeth Edmunds (C) def Emily Edwards/Hillary Tindall 6-2, 6-2
Boiling Springs match Rescheduled
Boiling Springs was able to shuffle around some things & make room for us in their schedule. Hopefully, we will avoid rain in the next few nights & get to play this match on top of our final region matches and rivalry matches with Rock Hill & South Pointe.
The schedule to the left is accurate at this time. Boiling Springs will travel to us Monday 10/19 and match start time will be 5:00pm.
The schedule to the left is accurate at this time. Boiling Springs will travel to us Monday 10/19 and match start time will be 5:00pm.
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Trojans Defeated at Nation Ford
The Lady Trojans suffered a tough region loss to Nation Ford tonight by score of 2 matches to 4. We now stand at 5-6 overall, but are 3-5 in region matches. The loss to Nation Ford makes it nearly impossible for us to finish higher than 4th in our region, but we still have a mathematical chance if we are able to get a win over Clover & York next week. We'd need the minor miracle of Fort Mill losing the rest of their region matches, but hey - we're not out yet.
Sometimes, it's tough to find great positives from a loss, but it was really good to see Chandler Green & Maggie Orr get straight set wins at 1 & 2. Maggie dominated her match at 2 & was up 6-1, 5-0 before a late charge by Bowers. For Chandler, this was probably the biggest win of her young career as she knocked off last year's region player of the year for us. In the end, Nation Ford has more depth and has dominated lines 4, 5 , & 2 doubles all season long. That is what seperates them from us, Fort Mill, Gaffney and York right now.
We were able to claim 3 wins in reserve matches as doubles teams of Alexis Peddy & Olivia Huckabee, as well as Caroline Herron & Randi Honeycutt claimed 8-2, and 8-6 wins respectively. Natalie Hageman was also successful by an 8-2 margin.
I mentioned to the girls on the bus that I have tried to contact Boiling Springs coach about possibly pushing Monday's match back by a week to Monday 10/19. I really would like to have a practice and another round of challenges before 4 straight matches, but we'll see what they can do to try to accomodate us. If we are able to push the match back, I will text the captains & post something here.
I really look forward to playing Boiling Springs. I think they will be very evenly matched with us. Gaffney's coach showed me the scores from when they had played them & Gaffney lost by about the same scores to Boiling Springs and us. She felt it would be a great matchup.
I'll keep ya posted...Go Trojans!
Box Score:
Location: Nation Ford HS
Result: Nation Ford 4, Northwestern 2
1s: Chandler Green (NW) def Ashley Trull 6-4, 7-5
2s: Maggie Orr (NW) def Jordan Bowers 6-1, 6-4
3s: Olivia Whitener (NF) def Betsy Creech 6-3, 6-1
4s: Sarah Tourville (NF) def Courtney Cox 6-4, 6-1
5s: Morgan Jasper (NF) def Lauren Cox 6-1, 6-1
2d: Melanie Mullen/Rylie Smith (NF) def Hillary Tindall/Emily Edwards 6-0, 6-1
3AAAA Records: Nation Ford 7-1, Northwestern 3-5
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Trojans Down Gaffney
The venture over to Gaffney was a success as we defended 4th place in Region 3AAAA. The overall team win by score of 6-1 puts the Trojans back at .500 with a 5-5 overall record and a 3-4 mark in region matches. A win over Nation Ford on Thursday is crucial in that we can outright claim 4th place with the win and a spot in the state playoffs. Also, a win over Nation Ford, Clover, and York are all necessary in order for us to move up to 3rd over Fort Mill.
Lauren Cox was huge tonight for us at 5 singles as she nearly blanked Little of Gaffney. She allowed 1 game in the first set before shutting her out in the second.
Maggie Orr gave us our second convincing win at 2 singles. She rolled early to a 4-1 lead in the first set before Hopping of Gaffney claimed 2 games. Maggie closed out the match with an 8 game tear for a 6-3, 6-0 win.
Our doubles team of Hillary Tindall & Emily Edwards was the third point of the night for the Trojans. They asserted themselves early and handled the first set 6-2. The second set was all Trojans as the 6-0 second set pushed the team lead to 3 to 0 in our favor.
Things became a little interesting at this point as we had first set wins by Chandler Green & Betsy Creech at 1 & 3 singles respectively and were down a set at 4 singles with Courtney Cox. We needed one win out of these three matches to decide the match.
Chandler was the decider for us tonight. Her first set had played even, with Chandler leading the majority of the way against Lecroy of Gaffney to a 6-4 result in our favor. She took off in the second and claimed game, set, and match for herself and her team with a 6-1 second set.
Courtney had dropped her first set in a set tiebreaker and was rolling in the second set. She finished the second set 6-2 in her advantage and the match was to be decided in a 10 point match tiebreak. Courtney fell behind early and faced match point after the second changeover at 3-9. She was able to fight off two match points before the point was decided in Little's favor for Gaffney's team point.
Betsy Creech had played a tough, close first set in a match that featured some great hitting between herself and Gallman of Gaffney. The first set was Betsy's in a tiebreaker and the second set played nearly as close. Betsy toughed out the second 6-4 for our 5th point of the night.
With the match decided, I decided not to play the normal 1 doubles point and instead counted the reserve match of Erin Brooks & MC Faulkner as an official varsity match. The two have worked really hard lately and are playing really well and they deserve credit for their 8-6 victory tonight.
Practice tomorrow will be from 5pm-7pm with some top half challenges after the Beta Club induction ceremony. We need to focus hard on Nation Ford as we continue toward the finish line of the 2009 season.
Go Trojans!
Box Score:
Location: Gaffney HS
Result: Northwestern 6, Gaffney 1
1s: Chandler Green (N) def Robin LeCroy 6-4, 6-1
2s: Maggie Orr (N) def Aubrey Hopping 6-3, 6-0
3s: Betsy Creech (N) def Jessi Cook 7-6(5) 6-4
4s: Mel Gallmon (G) def Courtney Cox 7-6(3), 2-6, 10-5
5s: Lauren Cox (N) def Alli Little 6-1, 6-0
1d: Emily Edwards/Hillary Tindall (N) def Jaclyn Bruton/Leighlan Fowler 6-2, 6-0
2d: MC Faulkner/Erin Brooks (N) def Brittany Gibson/Mikaela James 8-6
Records: Northwestern 5-5, 3-4 Region 3AAAA Gaffney 1-7, 1-6, Region 3AAAA
Lauren Cox was huge tonight for us at 5 singles as she nearly blanked Little of Gaffney. She allowed 1 game in the first set before shutting her out in the second.
Maggie Orr gave us our second convincing win at 2 singles. She rolled early to a 4-1 lead in the first set before Hopping of Gaffney claimed 2 games. Maggie closed out the match with an 8 game tear for a 6-3, 6-0 win.
Our doubles team of Hillary Tindall & Emily Edwards was the third point of the night for the Trojans. They asserted themselves early and handled the first set 6-2. The second set was all Trojans as the 6-0 second set pushed the team lead to 3 to 0 in our favor.
Things became a little interesting at this point as we had first set wins by Chandler Green & Betsy Creech at 1 & 3 singles respectively and were down a set at 4 singles with Courtney Cox. We needed one win out of these three matches to decide the match.
Chandler was the decider for us tonight. Her first set had played even, with Chandler leading the majority of the way against Lecroy of Gaffney to a 6-4 result in our favor. She took off in the second and claimed game, set, and match for herself and her team with a 6-1 second set.
Courtney had dropped her first set in a set tiebreaker and was rolling in the second set. She finished the second set 6-2 in her advantage and the match was to be decided in a 10 point match tiebreak. Courtney fell behind early and faced match point after the second changeover at 3-9. She was able to fight off two match points before the point was decided in Little's favor for Gaffney's team point.
Betsy Creech had played a tough, close first set in a match that featured some great hitting between herself and Gallman of Gaffney. The first set was Betsy's in a tiebreaker and the second set played nearly as close. Betsy toughed out the second 6-4 for our 5th point of the night.
With the match decided, I decided not to play the normal 1 doubles point and instead counted the reserve match of Erin Brooks & MC Faulkner as an official varsity match. The two have worked really hard lately and are playing really well and they deserve credit for their 8-6 victory tonight.
Practice tomorrow will be from 5pm-7pm with some top half challenges after the Beta Club induction ceremony. We need to focus hard on Nation Ford as we continue toward the finish line of the 2009 season.
Go Trojans!
Box Score:
Location: Gaffney HS
Result: Northwestern 6, Gaffney 1
1s: Chandler Green (N) def Robin LeCroy 6-4, 6-1
2s: Maggie Orr (N) def Aubrey Hopping 6-3, 6-0
3s: Betsy Creech (N) def Jessi Cook 7-6(5) 6-4
4s: Mel Gallmon (G) def Courtney Cox 7-6(3), 2-6, 10-5
5s: Lauren Cox (N) def Alli Little 6-1, 6-0
1d: Emily Edwards/Hillary Tindall (N) def Jaclyn Bruton/Leighlan Fowler 6-2, 6-0
2d: MC Faulkner/Erin Brooks (N) def Brittany Gibson/Mikaela James 8-6
Records: Northwestern 5-5, 3-4 Region 3AAAA Gaffney 1-7, 1-6, Region 3AAAA
South Pointe Match Reschedule
The date for South Pointe has had to be rescheduled again due to rainouts on South Pointe's end and their need to get their region matches finished in preference of non-region matches.
The schedule to the left is updated & the match is now set for 5:00 on Wednesday October 14 @ Northwestern.
It will still be Senior night for us and is still our last home match of the year.
Sorry for the inconvenience, but I am cooperating with South Pointe as they would with me in the same situation.
The schedule to the left is updated & the match is now set for 5:00 on Wednesday October 14 @ Northwestern.
It will still be Senior night for us and is still our last home match of the year.
Sorry for the inconvenience, but I am cooperating with South Pointe as they would with me in the same situation.
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Trojans drop close one to Fort Mill
We hosted the Yellow Jackets in a battle for third place in region 3-AAAA. It went about as close as we could have hoped for, but the bounces were not our way today and we didn't get to claim any lines tonight. The loss puts us at 4-5 overall & 2-4 in the region. We are at least in a tie for 4th place in the region standings.
We had hyped this match up pretty well in practice and had a good number of fans show up tonight including many of the boys players. It was great to show off our updated courts now that our windscreens finally arrived.
We had tremendous performances from our reserves tonight and officially took the reserve match by score of 6-1. The youth and depth of our program is definitely something to be excited about.
We're on the road to Gaffney next Tuesday and then to Nation Ford Thursday. The Start time for our Gaffney match had to be pushed up to approximately 4:15 (or whenever we get there & stretch) since Gaffney's courts have no lights and the days are getting shorter. The girls will be excused from 4th block at 2:45pm next Tuesday so the bus can leave by 3:00pm for the hour long drive.
We have to come out for a strong practice Monday so that we can get back on track in the region standings. A win over both Gafffney & Nation Ford could move us back into a tie with Fort Mill for third place, but it will take some luck to claim the 3rd seed out of our region unless we can also upset Clover and Beat York again.
Go Trojans!
Box Score:
Location: Northwestern
Result: Ft Mill 7, Northwestern 0
1s: Morgan Chumney (F) def Chandler Green 6-1, 6-0
2s: Mady Katz (F) def Maggie Orr 6-3, 6-3
3s: Ali Jensen (F) def Betsy Creech 6-4, 4-6, 10-7
4s: Lauren Williams (F) def Courtney Cox 3-6, 6-2, 10-8
5s: Sierra Hoisington (F) def Lauren Cox 7-5, 3-6, 10-8
1d: Chumney/Katz (F) def Green/Orr 8-1
2d: Dori Wilson/Persephone McCullough (F) def Emily Edwards/Hillary Tindall 6-2, 7-6
Region Records: Ft Mill 4-2, Northwestern 2-4
Reserve Box Score:
Northwestern 6, Ft Mill 1
1s: Addie Brown (F) def Erin Brooks 8-6
2s: MC Faulkner (N) def Ashlee Chumney 8-6
3s: Olivia Huckabee (N) def Katie Wilbanks 8-6
4s: Alexis Peddy (N) def Martha Scott Alford 8-2
5s: Caroline Herron (N) def Kendall Wright 8-4
1d: Karlee Fox/Randi Honeycutt (N) def Laina Tuckleberry/Christine Vallereck 8-6
2d: Emily Cramer/Hannah Cramer (N) def Addie Brown/Ashlee Chumney 8-3
We had hyped this match up pretty well in practice and had a good number of fans show up tonight including many of the boys players. It was great to show off our updated courts now that our windscreens finally arrived.
We had tremendous performances from our reserves tonight and officially took the reserve match by score of 6-1. The youth and depth of our program is definitely something to be excited about.
We're on the road to Gaffney next Tuesday and then to Nation Ford Thursday. The Start time for our Gaffney match had to be pushed up to approximately 4:15 (or whenever we get there & stretch) since Gaffney's courts have no lights and the days are getting shorter. The girls will be excused from 4th block at 2:45pm next Tuesday so the bus can leave by 3:00pm for the hour long drive.
We have to come out for a strong practice Monday so that we can get back on track in the region standings. A win over both Gafffney & Nation Ford could move us back into a tie with Fort Mill for third place, but it will take some luck to claim the 3rd seed out of our region unless we can also upset Clover and Beat York again.
Go Trojans!
Box Score:
Location: Northwestern
Result: Ft Mill 7, Northwestern 0
1s: Morgan Chumney (F) def Chandler Green 6-1, 6-0
2s: Mady Katz (F) def Maggie Orr 6-3, 6-3
3s: Ali Jensen (F) def Betsy Creech 6-4, 4-6, 10-7
4s: Lauren Williams (F) def Courtney Cox 3-6, 6-2, 10-8
5s: Sierra Hoisington (F) def Lauren Cox 7-5, 3-6, 10-8
1d: Chumney/Katz (F) def Green/Orr 8-1
2d: Dori Wilson/Persephone McCullough (F) def Emily Edwards/Hillary Tindall 6-2, 7-6
Region Records: Ft Mill 4-2, Northwestern 2-4
Reserve Box Score:
Northwestern 6, Ft Mill 1
1s: Addie Brown (F) def Erin Brooks 8-6
2s: MC Faulkner (N) def Ashlee Chumney 8-6
3s: Olivia Huckabee (N) def Katie Wilbanks 8-6
4s: Alexis Peddy (N) def Martha Scott Alford 8-2
5s: Caroline Herron (N) def Kendall Wright 8-4
1d: Karlee Fox/Randi Honeycutt (N) def Laina Tuckleberry/Christine Vallereck 8-6
2d: Emily Cramer/Hannah Cramer (N) def Addie Brown/Ashlee Chumney 8-3
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Schedule Change
First off, I don't want to detract from tomorrow's match vs. Fort Mill. However, I know that Beta Club announced they are doing the induction ceremony Wed 10/7 & that involves about 80% of our roster.
We will have a late practice next Wednesday from 5:00-7:00 so that we can get in a good practice before traveling to Nation Ford Thursday.
I have changed our match with South Pointe to Monday 10/19 @ 5:00. This match will be special for a couple reasons:
1) Senior Night - We will recognize the seniors before the match & all seniors are going to be put into the varsity lineup for this match regardless of current ladder standing.
2) Senior Night Celebration - I have booked us to do a recognition dinner/fundraiser at Donato's Pizza on Herlong. We will receive 15% of the revenues from Donatos between 7:30pm-10:30pm. We will need some players and/or parents to assist with food running to the tables, but it will be worth it as I hope we can raise significant amounts of money to help our program.
Spread the word about the celebration afterwards. The more food and drinks that Donatos sells, the more money we will get back afterwards. Rock Hill's football team did this same event last Friday and the restaurant donated $450 to them.
Go Trojans!
We will have a late practice next Wednesday from 5:00-7:00 so that we can get in a good practice before traveling to Nation Ford Thursday.
I have changed our match with South Pointe to Monday 10/19 @ 5:00. This match will be special for a couple reasons:
1) Senior Night - We will recognize the seniors before the match & all seniors are going to be put into the varsity lineup for this match regardless of current ladder standing.
2) Senior Night Celebration - I have booked us to do a recognition dinner/fundraiser at Donato's Pizza on Herlong. We will receive 15% of the revenues from Donatos between 7:30pm-10:30pm. We will need some players and/or parents to assist with food running to the tables, but it will be worth it as I hope we can raise significant amounts of money to help our program.
Spread the word about the celebration afterwards. The more food and drinks that Donatos sells, the more money we will get back afterwards. Rock Hill's football team did this same event last Friday and the restaurant donated $450 to them.
Go Trojans!
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Trojans Get Back in Win Column
York brought a great group of kids over tonight to battle us in a region match up. Overall, we played really well from top to bottom both varsity and reserves. The 6 to 0 win tonight pushes our record back to .500 at 4-4 and we are sitting alone in 4th place in the region at 2-3. The Fort Mill match Thursday will be a big opportunity for us to try to climb into a tie with them for 3rd place as I am sure they are 3-2 right now after playing at Gaffney tonight.
Maggie Orr gave us our first line win tonight at 2 singles. She nearly posted a straight shutout as she finished off Neely from York in about 40 minutes by score of 6-0, 6-1.
Chandler Green provided the second win tonight at 1 singles. 8th grader Goss of York will be quite a good player in the future, but Chandler never let her get into a rhythm and took the match by score of 6-2, 6-0.
Our third win came off Courtney Cox's racket at 4 singles. She played a familiar foe, Whitesides from York, whom she had played last year in doubles. Courtney served really strong tonight and limited her errors in the end to finish out really strong 6-3, 6-1...I believe that I called that Mrs. Cox!
Our victory was sealed when our decisive 4th line win was secured by our doubles team of Emily Edwards & Hillary Tindall. I mixed up our doubles this week to get Emily playing a more aggressive style and Hillary seemed the right partner for her. I was right for today as the girls started strong and held off a late charge from Webb & Rogers of York to seal our victory with a 6-1, 6-3 win.
Lauren Cox played 5 for us tonight in our new lineup. This was Lauren's first varsity singles match of her young career and she made us all proud., Her opponent, Shirley, could hit hard through the ball and mix up some different shots. Lauren overcame some early nerves to hold strong in the end for a 6-4, 6-3 W.
Betsy Creech has been battling through some elbow pain recently and had me a little nervous of being able to finish tonight. She struggled early against a pretty quick York opponent in Patrick. The first set went into a long tiebreak in which Betsy came back, saved a set point at 5-6 and won by score of 9-7. Once that set was done with, Betsy really seemed to feel more comfortable and cruised to the end with a second set win by score of 6-1.
I'm sure everyone got a good chuckle out of the old guys trying to play some mixed doubles tonight with our players. I had a blast trying to keep up with Coach Clark of York (who played college tennis at Eastern Washington University), but unfortunately Maggie & I dropped a really fun proset 4-8.
Our reserve action was slanted heavily in favor of the Trojans tonight. We actually ended up getting a full reserve match in and the results were as follows:
1s: Erin Brooks (pictured) W 8-2, 2s: MC Faulkner W 8-1, 3s: Olivia Huckabee W 8-1, 4s: Al
exis Peddy W 8-0, 5s: Caroline Herron W 8-0, 1d: Karlee Fox & Randi Honeycutt W 8-0, 2d: Emily Cramer/Natalie Hageman L7-9, 6s: Hannah Cramer W 8-0.
The official reserve match would be a 6-1 win in our favor.
Thursday is a big match and we need every girl ready to play and cheer to the best of their ability. Fort Mill will come strong at us and we cannot afford to back down. We have the ability to be successful, but it will only happen if everyone gives it their best.
Go Trojans!
Location: Northwestern
Result: Northwestern 6, York 0
1s: Chandler Green (N) def Mary Goss 6-2, 6-0
2s: Maggie Orr (N) def Brandi Neely 6-0, 6-1
3s: Betsy Creech (N) def Katia Patrick 7-6(7), 6-1
4s: Courtney Cox (N) def Hannah Whitesides 6-3, 6-1
5s: Lauren Cox (N) def Kate Shirley 6-4, 6-3
1d: DNP
2d: Emily Edwards/Hillary Tindall (N) def Sarah Webb/Allison Rogers 6-1, 6-3
Records: Northwestern 4-4, 2-3 Region 3AAAA, York 4-5, 0-5 Region 3AAAA
Maggie Orr gave us our first line win tonight at 2 singles. She nearly posted a straight shutout as she finished off Neely from York in about 40 minutes by score of 6-0, 6-1.
Chandler Green provided the second win tonight at 1 singles. 8th grader Goss of York will be quite a good player in the future, but Chandler never let her get into a rhythm and took the match by score of 6-2, 6-0.
Our third win came off Courtney Cox's racket at 4 singles. She played a familiar foe, Whitesides from York, whom she had played last year in doubles. Courtney served really strong tonight and limited her errors in the end to finish out really strong 6-3, 6-1...I believe that I called that Mrs. Cox!
Our victory was sealed when our decisive 4th line win was secured by our doubles team of Emily Edwards & Hillary Tindall. I mixed up our doubles this week to get Emily playing a more aggressive style and Hillary seemed the right partner for her. I was right for today as the girls started strong and held off a late charge from Webb & Rogers of York to seal our victory with a 6-1, 6-3 win.
Lauren Cox played 5 for us tonight in our new lineup. This was Lauren's first varsity singles match of her young career and she made us all proud., Her opponent, Shirley, could hit hard through the ball and mix up some different shots. Lauren overcame some early nerves to hold strong in the end for a 6-4, 6-3 W.
Betsy Creech has been battling through some elbow pain recently and had me a little nervous of being able to finish tonight. She struggled early against a pretty quick York opponent in Patrick. The first set went into a long tiebreak in which Betsy came back, saved a set point at 5-6 and won by score of 9-7. Once that set was done with, Betsy really seemed to feel more comfortable and cruised to the end with a second set win by score of 6-1.
I'm sure everyone got a good chuckle out of the old guys trying to play some mixed doubles tonight with our players. I had a blast trying to keep up with Coach Clark of York (who played college tennis at Eastern Washington University), but unfortunately Maggie & I dropped a really fun proset 4-8.
Our reserve action was slanted heavily in favor of the Trojans tonight. We actually ended up getting a full reserve match in and the results were as follows:
1s: Erin Brooks (pictured) W 8-2, 2s: MC Faulkner W 8-1, 3s: Olivia Huckabee W 8-1, 4s: Al
exis Peddy W 8-0, 5s: Caroline Herron W 8-0, 1d: Karlee Fox & Randi Honeycutt W 8-0, 2d: Emily Cramer/Natalie Hageman L7-9, 6s: Hannah Cramer W 8-0.The official reserve match would be a 6-1 win in our favor.
Thursday is a big match and we need every girl ready to play and cheer to the best of their ability. Fort Mill will come strong at us and we cannot afford to back down. We have the ability to be successful, but it will only happen if everyone gives it their best.
Go Trojans!
Location: Northwestern
Result: Northwestern 6, York 0
1s: Chandler Green (N) def Mary Goss 6-2, 6-0
2s: Maggie Orr (N) def Brandi Neely 6-0, 6-1
3s: Betsy Creech (N) def Katia Patrick 7-6(7), 6-1
4s: Courtney Cox (N) def Hannah Whitesides 6-3, 6-1
5s: Lauren Cox (N) def Kate Shirley 6-4, 6-3
1d: DNP
2d: Emily Edwards/Hillary Tindall (N) def Sarah Webb/Allison Rogers 6-1, 6-3
Records: Northwestern 4-4, 2-3 Region 3AAAA, York 4-5, 0-5 Region 3AAAA
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Clover Hands Trojans Region Loss
The venture over to Clover was not quite as successful as we were hoping tonight. The girls battled hard, but were unable to overcome the Eagles tonight. Our record now stands at 3-4 overall and we are 1-3 in our region. Our next match next Tuesday, against York, will complete the first round of region matches.
Chandler Green secured our line win at #2 singles tonight. Playing against Miszkiewicz of Clover was more of a mental showdown than anything, and Chandler held strong. I was proud of how Chandler handled herself in some awfully uncomfortable situations to be the better player tonight.
We weren't shut out of any matches tonight. We had some matches get interesting, but overall we struggled to out hit Clover. This was a tough week for us as we played Nation Ford & Clover, both of whom are undefeated after the first 4 region matches.
Our reserves claimed a couple matches tonight against a relatively deep Clover roster. Caroline Herron & Randi Honeycutt claimed an 8-3 victory while Hannah Cramer won a singles match by a score of 8-3.
We'll get back after it tomorrow to prepare for York and then the second half of our region slate.
Go Trojans!
Box Score:
Location: Clover
Result: Clover 5, Northwestern 1
1s: Kate Stewart (C) def Maggie Orr (N) 6-2, 6-1
2s: Chandler Green (N) def Molly Miszkiewicz (C) 6-3, 6-2
3s: Liz Cash (C) def Betsy Creech (N) 7-5, 6-0
4s: Faith Daniel (C) def Emily Edwards (N) 6-1, 6-0
5s: Anna Miszkiewicz (C) def Courtney Cox (N) 6-2, 6-3
1d: DNP
2d: Patterson Joyner/Elizabeth Edmunds (C) def Lauren Cox/Hillary Tindall (N) 6-3, 6-2
Records: Clover 7-1, 4-0 Region, Northwestern 3-4, 1-3 Region
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Trojans Drop Close Match to Nation Ford
Nation Ford came down I-77 to take us on tonight. We battled hard, but fell 1-5 in the match up. The loss drops us to 3-3 overall and 1-2 in our region. We travel to Clover tomorrow night and host York next Tuesday to conclude the first round of our region matches.
Maggie Orr played her tail off at #1 singles against last year's region player of the year, Trull of Nation Ford. I truly thought she was on the verge of forcing a tiebreaker for the match, but Trull was able to hold serve to close out the match 6-4, 6-4.
Chandler Green was able to take the #2 singles from Bowers. The first set outlasted some of the other entire matches as the girls went to a first set tiebreaker. The second set went much quicker as Chandler took care of business for a 6-1 clinching set.
Betsy Creech faced a streaky, hard-hitting #3 singles play from Nation Ford in Whitener. Betsy was able to succeed playing defensively against the power coming at her, but was unable to string enough games together in the end.
Emily Edwards faced a tough and consistent hitter in Tourville at #4. The match ended up more lopsided than it probably should have been as the speed of Tourville took away from Emily's wisely placed hitting. I believe Emily will be eager to get another shot at this one next time around.
Courtney Cox struggled with consistency tonight against M. Jasper at #5 singles. The match was a streaky one as the lead swayed from our favor to theirs in the end.
Probably the mos
t exciting match of the night came from the doubles match up. Nation Ford's duo of C. Jasper and Smith were probably the better individual players on the courts tonight. However, Lauren Cox and Hillary Tindall traded blow for blow with the two of them and took the first set in a tiebreaker before dropping the second set with teamwork and strategy. The girls looked ready to turn the match back in their favor, but had some points go against them early and fell behind. They tried to charge back, but came up a little short in the end.
Reserve doubles matches were claimed by two teams tonight. Randi Honeycutt & Karlee Fox won 8-4 while Emily Cramer & Natalie Hageman won 8-1.
Courtney's BBQ after the match tomorrow at Clover.
Go Trojans!
Box Score:
Location: Northwestern
Result: Nation Ford 5, Northwestern 1
1s: Ashley Trull (NF) def Maggie Orr (NW) 6-4, 6-4
2s: Chandler Green (NW) def Jordan Bowers (NF) 7-6, 6-1
3s: Olivia Whitener (NF) def Betsy Creech (NW) 6-2, 6-3
4s: Sarah Tourville (NF) def Emily Edwards (NW) 6-0, 6-1
5s: Morgan Jasper (NF) def Courtney Cox (NW) 6-3, 6-3
1d: DNP
2d: Chelsea Jasper/Rylie Smith (NF) def Lauren Cox/Hillary Tindall (NW) 6-7, 6-3, 10-4
Maggie Orr played her tail off at #1 singles against last year's region player of the year, Trull of Nation Ford. I truly thought she was on the verge of forcing a tiebreaker for the match, but Trull was able to hold serve to close out the match 6-4, 6-4.
Chandler Green was able to take the #2 singles from Bowers. The first set outlasted some of the other entire matches as the girls went to a first set tiebreaker. The second set went much quicker as Chandler took care of business for a 6-1 clinching set.
Betsy Creech faced a streaky, hard-hitting #3 singles play from Nation Ford in Whitener. Betsy was able to succeed playing defensively against the power coming at her, but was unable to string enough games together in the end.
Emily Edwards faced a tough and consistent hitter in Tourville at #4. The match ended up more lopsided than it probably should have been as the speed of Tourville took away from Emily's wisely placed hitting. I believe Emily will be eager to get another shot at this one next time around.
Courtney Cox struggled with consistency tonight against M. Jasper at #5 singles. The match was a streaky one as the lead swayed from our favor to theirs in the end.
Probably the mos
t exciting match of the night came from the doubles match up. Nation Ford's duo of C. Jasper and Smith were probably the better individual players on the courts tonight. However, Lauren Cox and Hillary Tindall traded blow for blow with the two of them and took the first set in a tiebreaker before dropping the second set with teamwork and strategy. The girls looked ready to turn the match back in their favor, but had some points go against them early and fell behind. They tried to charge back, but came up a little short in the end.Reserve doubles matches were claimed by two teams tonight. Randi Honeycutt & Karlee Fox won 8-4 while Emily Cramer & Natalie Hageman won 8-1.
Courtney's BBQ after the match tomorrow at Clover.
Go Trojans!
Box Score:
Location: Northwestern
Result: Nation Ford 5, Northwestern 1
1s: Ashley Trull (NF) def Maggie Orr (NW) 6-4, 6-4
2s: Chandler Green (NW) def Jordan Bowers (NF) 7-6, 6-1
3s: Olivia Whitener (NF) def Betsy Creech (NW) 6-2, 6-3
4s: Sarah Tourville (NF) def Emily Edwards (NW) 6-0, 6-1
5s: Morgan Jasper (NF) def Courtney Cox (NW) 6-3, 6-3
1d: DNP
2d: Chelsea Jasper/Rylie Smith (NF) def Lauren Cox/Hillary Tindall (NW) 6-7, 6-3, 10-4
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Trojans Get Back in Win Column with Narrow defeat of Gaffney
Well, I for one can say that I wasn't ready for what Gaffney brought to us tonight. Last year, they were a team that we handled easily at almost every line. Tonight was a testament to how much they have worked and improved. I think it would be appropriate to say we escaped with a win tonight. We claimed 5 wins and dropped two lines by the narrowest of margins. The win improves our overall record to 3-2 while we rise to 1-1 in the region.
The player of the night honors go to Courtney Cox. She steamrolled her opponent at #5 singles 6-0, 6-0. Once the match was decided, Gaffney's coach asked me if we wanted to play a #1 doubles proset. I immediately said yes, even though Maggie Orr was still on the courts starting a tiebreaker. Courtney has plenty of doubles experience from last year to handle it and she was playing at the top of her game tonight. Why not give her the nod to team up with Chandler Green for the doubles spot? It turned out to be a good call by me as the duo claimed an 8-2 victory. For those of you keeping track, she won 20 games and dropped only 2 on the night.
Our #2 doubles team played excellent tonight. Brilliant communication and teamwork on the service game as well as strong all around groundstroke and net play allowed Hillary Tindall and Lauren Cox to win a decisive match by score of 6-1, 6-0.
Chandler played an opponent at #2 tonight that she had played in a close match last year at Gaffney at the #1 spot. Chandler never let it get close tonight as she played a very aggressive baseline game and covered the net appropriately and intelligently to claim a 6-3, 6-1 victory.
With 3 lines claimed by the Trojans, things got a little interesting. Maggie, at #1 singles, and Emily Edwards, at #4 singles, had dropped close first sets and were both entering tiebreakers after coming back to win their second sets. Betsy Creech had won her first set and was about to enter a tiebreaker to decide the second set.
Emily Edwards ended up claiming the victory for us tonight. She battled to overcome some early mistakes to gain confidence in herself to make her shots instead of just reacting to her opponents’ shots. The match had truly shifted into her favor midway through the second set and Emily used her momentum to claim the tiebreaker 10-2.
I am sure that both Betsy and Maggie would like to have a redo in their matches tonight. I accept blame in both results as I am not sure I coached either girl effectively to lead her to success. I promise you both that I will do better next week.
Our reserves posted a shutout as many girls got multiple opponents as we finally faced a team that could match us in numbers. I was happy to see everyone on the courts playing hard for Northwestern and most of all, having fun.
Next week we take on two more quality region opponents as we host Nation Ford (16 players) on Tuesday and travel to Clover (14 players) on Wednesday. See you all at practice on Monday!
Box Score:
Location: Northwestern
Result: Northwestern 5, Gaffney 2
1s: Robin Lecroy (G) def Maggie Orr (N) 7-5, 2-6, 12-10
2s: Chandler Green (N) def Aubrey Hopping (G) 6-1, 6-3
3s: Jessi Cook (G) def Betsy Creech (N) 5-7, 7-6(3) 11-9
4s: Emily Edwards (N) def Mel Gallman (G) 3-6, 7-5, 10-2
5s: Courtney Cox (N) def Jaclyn Bruton (G) 6-0, 6-0
1d: Green/C Cox (N) def Hopping/Gallman (G) 8-2
2d: Lauren Cox/Hillary Tindall (N) def Alli Little/Leighton Fowler (G) 6-1, 6-0
The player of the night honors go to Courtney Cox. She steamrolled her opponent at #5 singles 6-0, 6-0. Once the match was decided, Gaffney's coach asked me if we wanted to play a #1 doubles proset. I immediately said yes, even though Maggie Orr was still on the courts starting a tiebreaker. Courtney has plenty of doubles experience from last year to handle it and she was playing at the top of her game tonight. Why not give her the nod to team up with Chandler Green for the doubles spot? It turned out to be a good call by me as the duo claimed an 8-2 victory. For those of you keeping track, she won 20 games and dropped only 2 on the night.
Our #2 doubles team played excellent tonight. Brilliant communication and teamwork on the service game as well as strong all around groundstroke and net play allowed Hillary Tindall and Lauren Cox to win a decisive match by score of 6-1, 6-0.
Chandler played an opponent at #2 tonight that she had played in a close match last year at Gaffney at the #1 spot. Chandler never let it get close tonight as she played a very aggressive baseline game and covered the net appropriately and intelligently to claim a 6-3, 6-1 victory.
With 3 lines claimed by the Trojans, things got a little interesting. Maggie, at #1 singles, and Emily Edwards, at #4 singles, had dropped close first sets and were both entering tiebreakers after coming back to win their second sets. Betsy Creech had won her first set and was about to enter a tiebreaker to decide the second set.
Emily Edwards ended up claiming the victory for us tonight. She battled to overcome some early mistakes to gain confidence in herself to make her shots instead of just reacting to her opponents’ shots. The match had truly shifted into her favor midway through the second set and Emily used her momentum to claim the tiebreaker 10-2.
I am sure that both Betsy and Maggie would like to have a redo in their matches tonight. I accept blame in both results as I am not sure I coached either girl effectively to lead her to success. I promise you both that I will do better next week.
Our reserves posted a shutout as many girls got multiple opponents as we finally faced a team that could match us in numbers. I was happy to see everyone on the courts playing hard for Northwestern and most of all, having fun.
Next week we take on two more quality region opponents as we host Nation Ford (16 players) on Tuesday and travel to Clover (14 players) on Wednesday. See you all at practice on Monday!
Box Score:
Location: Northwestern
Result: Northwestern 5, Gaffney 2
1s: Robin Lecroy (G) def Maggie Orr (N) 7-5, 2-6, 12-10
2s: Chandler Green (N) def Aubrey Hopping (G) 6-1, 6-3
3s: Jessi Cook (G) def Betsy Creech (N) 5-7, 7-6(3) 11-9
4s: Emily Edwards (N) def Mel Gallman (G) 3-6, 7-5, 10-2
5s: Courtney Cox (N) def Jaclyn Bruton (G) 6-0, 6-0
1d: Green/C Cox (N) def Hopping/Gallman (G) 8-2
2d: Lauren Cox/Hillary Tindall (N) def Alli Little/Leighton Fowler (G) 6-1, 6-0
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Trojans drop first Region matchup of 2009 to Fort Mill
Our first region match did not fall in our favor tonight. The defeat puts us at 2-2 overall and 0-1 in region 3-AAAA.Maggie Orr played her heart out tonight and proved to me that she can compete with any top player in our region. Chumney from Fort Mill is in a class of her own at this level and Maggie made her earn every single point. Easily, Maggie could have folded and let Chumney walk all over her. She never did and I was proud of her effort.
Chandler Green went up the first set and had Katz frustrated early. The second set ended up slipping away and the match went to a tiebreaker to decide it. I tried to pump up Chandler to become more aggressive and play her shots. Unfortunately, some early hitting errors in the tiebreak put her in a hole that was too big to overcome.
Betsy Creech bounced back from her defeat at Byrnes to put a W on the board for us tonight in the 3 singles line. She went out to early leads in both sets against Jensen from Fort Mill and never let up. Her score reflects how hard she worked to put the match away for her team.Courtney Cox struggled to find a consistent rhythm against Williams from Fort Mill at 4 singles. The first set could have gone our way, but was dropped in a set tiebreak. Strategy wise, Courtney tried to turn the match in the second by playing more aggressive to Williams backhand. It worked at times, but not enough as the match was dropped 6-4 in the second set.
Senior captain MC Faulkner debuted in the starting lineup tonight at 5 singles. She played her heart out and truly seemed to be the better baseline hitter against Hoisington of Fort Mill. Hoisington just kept ball after ball in play and forced MC out of her comfort zone to claim Fort Mills line 5 win.
Our doubles girls didn't look like the same pair that had played the last three matches for us in the first set and a half. Still, senior captain Hillary Tindall and Lauren Cox were able to gut out the second set and force the match to a tiebreaker. They also fell behind early in the tiebreak and were unable to string together enough points to come back for us tonight. I like the effort that was made to comeback, however we needed it earlier in the match to set the tone in our favor.
I was pleased overall with how hard the girls played tonight. I can't say that I was totally impressed with the way we thought our way through some situations. We continue to keep playing balls down the middle to our opponents and we don't make them work as hard as we are working. There are many opportunities for us to play smarter points out there.
Our reserve doubles action showed favorable for the Trojans tonight. Wins were secured by the teams of Alexis Peddy / Randi Honey cutt as well as Karlee Fox / Caroline Herron by scores of 8-5 and 8-2 respectively. I am happy with the depth of our team and believe that the middle and bottom of our roster is as good as any in the upperstate this year.
Gaffney is headed over for a region matchup Thursday. We need to focus hard in practice tomorrow to get the team moving back in the right direction.
Go Trojans!
Location: Fort Mill HS
Result: Fort Mill 6, Northwestern 1
1s: Morgan Chumney (F) def Maggie Orr (N) 6-1, 6-0
2s: Mady Katz (F) def Chandler Green (N) 3-6, 6-3, 10-6
3s: Betsy Creech (N) def Ali Jensen (F) 6-3, 6-2
4s: Lauren Williams (F) def Courtney Cox (N) 7-6, 6-4
5s: Sierra Hoisington (F) def MC Faulkner (N) 7-5, 6-0
1d: Chumney/Katz (F) def Orr/Green (N) 8-2
2d: Persephone McCullough/Dori Wilson (F) def Lauren Cox/Hillary Tindall (N) 6-2, 4-6, 10-5
Schedule Change - Clover match
Clover requested a rescheduling of our match that was set for Thursday 9/24. The new match day will be:
Wednesday, September 23, 5:00 PM
I have updated the schedule to the side, but please make note of it on your home schedules. Thursday 9/24 will now be a regular practice from 4pm-6pm.
Go Trojans!
Wednesday, September 23, 5:00 PM
I have updated the schedule to the side, but please make note of it on your home schedules. Thursday 9/24 will now be a regular practice from 4pm-6pm.
Go Trojans!
Monday, September 14, 2009
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Trojans Drop Close Decision to Byrnes
We ventured down to Spartanburg to test ourselves against a formidable opponent tonight from Region 2AAAA. Byrnes High School is a senior laden team that showed guts tonight and played well enough to claim a close decision from us. The 2-4 defeat puts us at 2-1 overall as we head into our region schedule next week.
Emily Edwards struggled to find her stroke tonight and was first to clear the courts tonight. Her opponent was a scrappy athlete that was a senior and played Emily tough from beginning to end.
Maggie Orr played number 1 for the Trojans tonight and I was really proud of her total effort tonight. Her opponent was a senior that has played #1 at Byrnes for 6 years. The match was much closer than the score reflects as Maggie dominated some points, but came up short on closing out games.
The third match to finish was a win courtesy of our #2 doubles team of Hillary Tindall and Lauren Cox. These two proved they are dependable for us deep into our roster. The first set had them trailing early, but they staged a huge comeback due to excellent teamwork and communication as the girls claimed the first set 6-4. They stayed hot in the second and grabbed our first line win with a 6-2 second set.
Courtney Cox was the fourth match to finish. Byrnes #4 player was not necessarily a dominant force, but she kept balls in play that put Courtney in tough spots to try to set up her shots. She fell behind 1-4 in the first set before making a charge to go up 5-4. Byrnes took 3 of the last 4 games for the first set. Courtney continued to play hard, but struggled to outlast her opponent and Byrnes claimed their third line of the night.
Betsy Creech had a match that had a difficult flow to it due to her senior opponent taking a spill early in the first set which required some medical attention to a scraped up knee. Betsy took advantage of the injury for a while and closed the 1-4 deficit before falling in the first set 4-6 and the third 3-6.
Our last remaining varsity line on the courts was Chandler Green at 2 singles. Chandler battled through a tough first set to come out on top 7-5. She controlled the play of the second set and went out to a 5-2 lead. I crossed my fingers and pulled for her to close it out quickly. Unfortunately, Byrnes senior #2 player went on a brief run and closed the gap to 5-4. Chandler didn't let it bother her. She closed out the next game quickly to claim our second team line win of the match.
We'll be back at practice tomorrow to prepare for our region schedule which starts next week. We travel to Fort Mill next Tuesday and will host Gaffney on Thursday. All matches are important, but region matches determine seeding in the post season and every individual effort will determine our team's success level.
Go Trojans!
Emily Edwards struggled to find her stroke tonight and was first to clear the courts tonight. Her opponent was a scrappy athlete that was a senior and played Emily tough from beginning to end.
Maggie Orr played number 1 for the Trojans tonight and I was really proud of her total effort tonight. Her opponent was a senior that has played #1 at Byrnes for 6 years. The match was much closer than the score reflects as Maggie dominated some points, but came up short on closing out games.
The third match to finish was a win courtesy of our #2 doubles team of Hillary Tindall and Lauren Cox. These two proved they are dependable for us deep into our roster. The first set had them trailing early, but they staged a huge comeback due to excellent teamwork and communication as the girls claimed the first set 6-4. They stayed hot in the second and grabbed our first line win with a 6-2 second set.
Courtney Cox was the fourth match to finish. Byrnes #4 player was not necessarily a dominant force, but she kept balls in play that put Courtney in tough spots to try to set up her shots. She fell behind 1-4 in the first set before making a charge to go up 5-4. Byrnes took 3 of the last 4 games for the first set. Courtney continued to play hard, but struggled to outlast her opponent and Byrnes claimed their third line of the night.
Betsy Creech had a match that had a difficult flow to it due to her senior opponent taking a spill early in the first set which required some medical attention to a scraped up knee. Betsy took advantage of the injury for a while and closed the 1-4 deficit before falling in the first set 4-6 and the third 3-6.
Our last remaining varsity line on the courts was Chandler Green at 2 singles. Chandler battled through a tough first set to come out on top 7-5. She controlled the play of the second set and went out to a 5-2 lead. I crossed my fingers and pulled for her to close it out quickly. Unfortunately, Byrnes senior #2 player went on a brief run and closed the gap to 5-4. Chandler didn't let it bother her. She closed out the next game quickly to claim our second team line win of the match.
We'll be back at practice tomorrow to prepare for our region schedule which starts next week. We travel to Fort Mill next Tuesday and will host Gaffney on Thursday. All matches are important, but region matches determine seeding in the post season and every individual effort will determine our team's success level.
Go Trojans!
Location: Byrnes HS, Duncan SC
Result: Byrnes 4, Northwestern 2
1s: Karmen Redding (B) def Maggie Orr (N) 6-1, 6-0
2s: Chandler Green (N) def Celena Sneddy (B) 7-5, 6-4
3s: Saige Allison (B) def Betsy Creech (N) 6-4, 6-3
4s: Mazie Jasper (B) def Emily Edwards (N) 6-0, 6-0
5s: Jessica Wang (B) def Courtney Cox (N) 7-5, 6-2
1d: DNP
2d: Hillary Tindall/Lauren Cox (N) def Lix Ng/Jaquie Montoya (B) 6-4, 6-2
Record: Northwestern 2-1, Byrnes 2-1
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Trojans defeat Bearcats
Rival Rock Hill came across town for a non region meeting with the Trojans tonight. The Trojan girls played well and were able to claim a narrow 4-3 win. The win puts us at 2-0 overall for the season.
The first match to complete was Courtney Cox at 5 singles. Courtney stormed out to a early lead and took the first set 6-0. The second set was a little tougher as Courtney battled some correctable errors. She pulled together her game at the end to win 6-4 in the second set.
The second match to finish was the doubles line of Hillary Tindall and Lauren Cox. These 2 played textbook doubles and were able to dominate from beginning to end. They played aggressive and made every effort to close points out with volleys and overheads. It paid off with a 6-0, 6-1 victory.
Maggie Orr cleared the courts next to give us a 3-0 lead with her win at 2 singles. Maggie battled her inconsistencies early in the match. Once she regained her confidence, she took care of business in the second set to win by score of 6-4, 6-0.
Rock Hill's number 1 gave the Bearcats their first point of the night over Chandler Green. Despite the score of 6-2, 6-2, the match was highly entertaining from beginning to end. Long rallies pushed this match to take an hour and 20 minutes to complete. Chandler forced her Bearcat opponent to take chances and play out of her comfort zone to beat her. Despite the loss, Chandler became a better player tonight.
Emily Edwards clinched our win tonight at 4 singles. Emily also stormed out to an early lead and 6-0 first set. The second set got a little tight and the battle was on near the end. Emily proved the better player tonight as she gutted out a 6-4 second set to give us the team win tonight.
And then there was Betsy. All by herself out there after an hour-plus of tennis in the first set alone. Betsy struggled all night keeping the ball in play during long rallies. Despite the errors, she was able to scrap out a first set, 7-5 in a tiebreaker. She fell behind early in the second 1-4 and stayed down to 2-5. She gutted out the next two games before eventually dropping the second set 4-6. The 10 point tiebreak didn't go her way and the Bearcats claimed the line by a final score of 6-7(5), 6-4, 10-5. Match time was 2 hours 18 minutes...quite long for no-ad scoring with a 10-point tiebreak instead of a third set.
Our number 1 doubles team of Maggie and Chandler started strong and secured an early service break. The proset tilted back in Rock Hill's favor as their #1 player asserted herself effectively. I then informed the girls that they were no longer allowed to hit more than 2 shots in a row to the #1 player from Rock Hill or else they were going to run extra at practice. What do you know - it worked. The girls pulled back to 7-7 and forced a tiebreak for the proset. Even though they dropped the tiebreak 5-7, I was proud of their teamwork - even if I had to semi-threaten them:)
We'll travel to Byrnes HS in Duncan, SC on Tuesday after the holiday. The bus will leave at 3:00 from the tennis courts. The girls will all be excused from Northwestern at 2:40 from their 4th block classes. The bus trip is 1 1/2 hours to Byrnes & I urge the girls to get homework done either in advance or on the bus trip. It will be a long night, but it will be worth it to hit up The Beacon in Spartanburg after the match.
Go Trojans!
Location: Northwestern
Result: Northwestern 4, Rock Hill 3
1s: Catherine White (R) def Chandler Green (N) 6-2, 6-2
2s: Maggie Orr (N) def Sarah Hicklin (R) 6-4, 6-0
3s: Natalie Black (R) def Betsy Creech (N) 6-7(5), 6-4, 10-5
4s: Emily Edwards (N) def Katie Ledford (R) 6-0, 6-4
5s: Courtney Cox (N) def Meredith Smith (R) 6-0, 6-4
1d: White/Hicklin (R) def Green/Orr (N) 8-7(5)
2d: Hillary Tindall/Lauren Cox (N) def Kajel Patel/Ashley Wise (R) 6-0, 6-1
The first match to complete was Courtney Cox at 5 singles. Courtney stormed out to a early lead and took the first set 6-0. The second set was a little tougher as Courtney battled some correctable errors. She pulled together her game at the end to win 6-4 in the second set.
The second match to finish was the doubles line of Hillary Tindall and Lauren Cox. These 2 played textbook doubles and were able to dominate from beginning to end. They played aggressive and made every effort to close points out with volleys and overheads. It paid off with a 6-0, 6-1 victory.
Maggie Orr cleared the courts next to give us a 3-0 lead with her win at 2 singles. Maggie battled her inconsistencies early in the match. Once she regained her confidence, she took care of business in the second set to win by score of 6-4, 6-0.
Rock Hill's number 1 gave the Bearcats their first point of the night over Chandler Green. Despite the score of 6-2, 6-2, the match was highly entertaining from beginning to end. Long rallies pushed this match to take an hour and 20 minutes to complete. Chandler forced her Bearcat opponent to take chances and play out of her comfort zone to beat her. Despite the loss, Chandler became a better player tonight.
Emily Edwards clinched our win tonight at 4 singles. Emily also stormed out to an early lead and 6-0 first set. The second set got a little tight and the battle was on near the end. Emily proved the better player tonight as she gutted out a 6-4 second set to give us the team win tonight.
And then there was Betsy. All by herself out there after an hour-plus of tennis in the first set alone. Betsy struggled all night keeping the ball in play during long rallies. Despite the errors, she was able to scrap out a first set, 7-5 in a tiebreaker. She fell behind early in the second 1-4 and stayed down to 2-5. She gutted out the next two games before eventually dropping the second set 4-6. The 10 point tiebreak didn't go her way and the Bearcats claimed the line by a final score of 6-7(5), 6-4, 10-5. Match time was 2 hours 18 minutes...quite long for no-ad scoring with a 10-point tiebreak instead of a third set.
Our number 1 doubles team of Maggie and Chandler started strong and secured an early service break. The proset tilted back in Rock Hill's favor as their #1 player asserted herself effectively. I then informed the girls that they were no longer allowed to hit more than 2 shots in a row to the #1 player from Rock Hill or else they were going to run extra at practice. What do you know - it worked. The girls pulled back to 7-7 and forced a tiebreak for the proset. Even though they dropped the tiebreak 5-7, I was proud of their teamwork - even if I had to semi-threaten them:)
We'll travel to Byrnes HS in Duncan, SC on Tuesday after the holiday. The bus will leave at 3:00 from the tennis courts. The girls will all be excused from Northwestern at 2:40 from their 4th block classes. The bus trip is 1 1/2 hours to Byrnes & I urge the girls to get homework done either in advance or on the bus trip. It will be a long night, but it will be worth it to hit up The Beacon in Spartanburg after the match.
Go Trojans!
Location: Northwestern
Result: Northwestern 4, Rock Hill 3
1s: Catherine White (R) def Chandler Green (N) 6-2, 6-2
2s: Maggie Orr (N) def Sarah Hicklin (R) 6-4, 6-0
3s: Natalie Black (R) def Betsy Creech (N) 6-7(5), 6-4, 10-5
4s: Emily Edwards (N) def Katie Ledford (R) 6-0, 6-4
5s: Courtney Cox (N) def Meredith Smith (R) 6-0, 6-4
1d: White/Hicklin (R) def Green/Orr (N) 8-7(5)
2d: Hillary Tindall/Lauren Cox (N) def Kajel Patel/Ashley Wise (R) 6-0, 6-1
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Northwestern Claims Opening Win of 2009 Girls Season
We traveled over to South Pointe for our first match of the year. From top to bottom we were consistent in claiming wins at all the lines. South Pointe is a little undermanned this year and only has 5 players on its roster currently. This makes me sad for South Pointe to have such little interest. It also makes me very thankful that I have 18 wonderful tennis families supporting our team.
We are at home tomorrow against Rock Hill. Rock Hill should provide stiffer competition and we need to be ready to play at our best. I look forward to seeing everyone at our first home match tomorrow night.
Go Trojans!
Result: Northwestern 6, South Pointe 0
1s: Chandler Green (N) def Brittany McDaniel 6-0, 6-0
2s: Maggie Orr (N) def Taylor Madsen 6-0, 6-0
3s: Betsy Creech (N) def Karren Jaggers 6-1, 6-1
4s: Emily Edwards (N) def Tati'yana Gladden 6-0, 6-1
5s: Courtney Cox (N) def Kuira Cruz 6-1, 6-0
1d: Hilary Tindall/Lauren Cox (N) def McDaniel/Jaggers 8-3
2d: DNP
We are at home tomorrow against Rock Hill. Rock Hill should provide stiffer competition and we need to be ready to play at our best. I look forward to seeing everyone at our first home match tomorrow night.
Go Trojans!
Result: Northwestern 6, South Pointe 0
1s: Chandler Green (N) def Brittany McDaniel 6-0, 6-0
2s: Maggie Orr (N) def Taylor Madsen 6-0, 6-0
3s: Betsy Creech (N) def Karren Jaggers 6-1, 6-1
4s: Emily Edwards (N) def Tati'yana Gladden 6-0, 6-1
5s: Courtney Cox (N) def Kuira Cruz 6-1, 6-0
1d: Hilary Tindall/Lauren Cox (N) def McDaniel/Jaggers 8-3
2d: DNP
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Excellent effort in scrimmage tonight
The trip over to Lancaster was exactly what I was hoping for. We had a chance to travel together to a match, play competitively against another opponent, and shake off the nerves of playing against another school.
I am extremely proud of all the girls tonight. I thought that our doubles play was good and could be great as the season rolls on. I will continue to pair up our strongest doubles teams in matches as I think those lines will be crucial for us this year.
As for our singles lines that lost, I think all the girls understand why and how they can improve. I am really excited to get back to practice next week to iron out the kinks.
Remember, this scrimmage as well as Myers Park next week were scheduled not for the expectation of wins. They are to put us against top competition that will show us where we are and where we need to go. If you were successful tonight, enjoy it & congratulations. If you came up short, learn from it and have a quick memory to forget the defeat.
Go Trojans!
I am extremely proud of all the girls tonight. I thought that our doubles play was good and could be great as the season rolls on. I will continue to pair up our strongest doubles teams in matches as I think those lines will be crucial for us this year.
As for our singles lines that lost, I think all the girls understand why and how they can improve. I am really excited to get back to practice next week to iron out the kinks.
Remember, this scrimmage as well as Myers Park next week were scheduled not for the expectation of wins. They are to put us against top competition that will show us where we are and where we need to go. If you were successful tonight, enjoy it & congratulations. If you came up short, learn from it and have a quick memory to forget the defeat.
Go Trojans!
Trojan Individuals in USTA's Latest State Rankings
Several boys and girls have competed all year long in USTA sanctioned events and have earned ranking points this year. Ranking results are based on the best 12 tournament results from the current 12 months. Points are earned toward this year, but at the same time points are dropped as time goes on so that you are ranked by your current 12 month results
Here are our current players ranked in the state of South Carolina as of August 18, 2009:
Boys 16 & under
#83 - Seth Russell
#95 - Hunter Love
#145 - Brian Fitzpatrick
Boys 14 & under
#85 - Alex Antezana
#120 - Jonathan Clark
#140 - Christopher Cassidy
Girls 16 & under
#185 - Chandler Green
#189 - Maggie Orr
Girls 14 & under
#143 - Karlee Fox
Keep it up everyone. And remember, you can't get ranked if you don't compete!
If you are interested in year round tournaments, I'd be happy to go through the list and pick ones out that would be suited to your age and skill level. Playing tournaments exposes players to a variety of opponents and teaches the mental aspects of the game that might be lost during the off season.
Here are our current players ranked in the state of South Carolina as of August 18, 2009:
Boys 16 & under
#83 - Seth Russell
#95 - Hunter Love
#145 - Brian Fitzpatrick
Boys 14 & under
#85 - Alex Antezana
#120 - Jonathan Clark
#140 - Christopher Cassidy
Girls 16 & under
#185 - Chandler Green
#189 - Maggie Orr
Girls 14 & under
#143 - Karlee Fox
Keep it up everyone. And remember, you can't get ranked if you don't compete!
If you are interested in year round tournaments, I'd be happy to go through the list and pick ones out that would be suited to your age and skill level. Playing tournaments exposes players to a variety of opponents and teaches the mental aspects of the game that might be lost during the off season.
Monday, August 17, 2009
Scrimmage at Lancaster Wednesday 8/19 & the next few days
We decided to wear white tops with purple skirts for this week's scrimmage. Our uniform tops may be in tomorrow, but have your white practice top clean just in case.
For those new to high school tennis, Lancaster High does not have courts at the school. They play at USC Lancaster's facility. They are not the easiest courts to find, but the simplest directions are:
Follow Hwy 9 toward Lancaster and veer south onto Hwy 521. Turn right at the Chevy dealership (Hubbard Dr). After you go through one light but before you get to the main campus, the Gregory Health & Wellness Center is on your left. The courts are tucked behind the facility.
With a GPS, type in: 476 Hubbard Dr. Lancaster SC 29720
- just be on the lookout for the Gregory Health and Wellness Center once you are on Hubbard
Lancaster will have 9 or 10 players available so I will try to get matches for the varsity 7 plus 3 or 4. I will have stuff for everyone else to do during the matches to help out the team. Once the varsity courts clear I'll pair up the remaining girls either against a Lancaster opponent or one of our own players as time permits.
USC Lancaster is one of the nicer facilities to photograph our players in action since the fences at the center are low and unobstructed for #1, #3, #5 singles and #1 doubles. I'm going to bring my camera to get some shots of the girls & I would encourage you to bring yours as well.
We will bus to and from the scrimmage. If a girl wants to ride home with her parents, just let me know so I don't think we lost someone after the match.
We will be off from practice Thursday & Friday since I have to start back at school as well. The girls will be off until Monday's practice. Following our brief practice on Monday will be "Meet the Trojans" night at 7:00 PM in the school's F-Gym. All fall sport athletes will be introduced and we will do a team picture before as well. I'll have the captains decide what we want to wear as a team for the picture and assembly. Dinner is being provided by Papooli's pizza at 6PM so no one should go hungry.
Go Trojans!
For those new to high school tennis, Lancaster High does not have courts at the school. They play at USC Lancaster's facility. They are not the easiest courts to find, but the simplest directions are:
Follow Hwy 9 toward Lancaster and veer south onto Hwy 521. Turn right at the Chevy dealership (Hubbard Dr). After you go through one light but before you get to the main campus, the Gregory Health & Wellness Center is on your left. The courts are tucked behind the facility.
With a GPS, type in: 476 Hubbard Dr. Lancaster SC 29720
- just be on the lookout for the Gregory Health and Wellness Center once you are on Hubbard
Lancaster will have 9 or 10 players available so I will try to get matches for the varsity 7 plus 3 or 4. I will have stuff for everyone else to do during the matches to help out the team. Once the varsity courts clear I'll pair up the remaining girls either against a Lancaster opponent or one of our own players as time permits.
USC Lancaster is one of the nicer facilities to photograph our players in action since the fences at the center are low and unobstructed for #1, #3, #5 singles and #1 doubles. I'm going to bring my camera to get some shots of the girls & I would encourage you to bring yours as well.
We will bus to and from the scrimmage. If a girl wants to ride home with her parents, just let me know so I don't think we lost someone after the match.
We will be off from practice Thursday & Friday since I have to start back at school as well. The girls will be off until Monday's practice. Following our brief practice on Monday will be "Meet the Trojans" night at 7:00 PM in the school's F-Gym. All fall sport athletes will be introduced and we will do a team picture before as well. I'll have the captains decide what we want to wear as a team for the picture and assembly. Dinner is being provided by Papooli's pizza at 6PM so no one should go hungry.
Go Trojans!
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
2009 Girls Captains
The team has voted in our two captains for this fall. Congratulations to Hillary Tindall & MC Faulkner!
Hillary is a returning letter winner from last year's team. She was a consistent contributor to the team last year in matches and in practice. She was given the 2008 Girls Coach's Award for her excellent attitude and work ethic.
MC is in her first year as a tennis player at Northwestern. She also competes on the Lady Trojan basketball team. Although just in her first year of tennis, she has the potential to make a strong impact in matches and in practice every day.
Congratulations to both of you. I look forward to seeing you demonstrate superior leadership to the sixteen other hard working ladies this year.
Go Trojans!
Hillary is a returning letter winner from last year's team. She was a consistent contributor to the team last year in matches and in practice. She was given the 2008 Girls Coach's Award for her excellent attitude and work ethic.
MC is in her first year as a tennis player at Northwestern. She also competes on the Lady Trojan basketball team. Although just in her first year of tennis, she has the potential to make a strong impact in matches and in practice every day.
Congratulations to both of you. I look forward to seeing you demonstrate superior leadership to the sixteen other hard working ladies this year.
Go Trojans!
Scrimmage v. Indian Land Cancelled
As most of you probably have figured out, the rain is not going to stop in time for our courts to be playable.
Indian Land also will not be able to come to us tomorrow evening as they will not have enough players to field a team. We may reschedule for a future date, but at this point it is cancelled.
We'll meet in the mini gym tonight at 6 pm - 8 pm for indoor workouts. I will announce captains, hand out snack schedule (I forgot in the dash from the rain this morning), and Mrs. Cox will have some uniform pieces that the girls can try on to confirm sizes.
Once captains are announced, my day to day communications will all filter through them. I will text information on rainouts to the captains, they will in turn forward it to the team, and the team members can notify parents. Information will still be posted here, but I feel that texting can get the information out faster and they will know information immediately after school.
Also, a note to snack assignments:
- If your date doesn't work, please try to reschedule amongst yourselves. I don't really care who has which day as long as all dates are covered
- Try not to purchase perishables in advance. Pick them up on the way to the match so that nothing goes bad if a match gets rained out.
Go Trojans!
Indian Land also will not be able to come to us tomorrow evening as they will not have enough players to field a team. We may reschedule for a future date, but at this point it is cancelled.
We'll meet in the mini gym tonight at 6 pm - 8 pm for indoor workouts. I will announce captains, hand out snack schedule (I forgot in the dash from the rain this morning), and Mrs. Cox will have some uniform pieces that the girls can try on to confirm sizes.
Once captains are announced, my day to day communications will all filter through them. I will text information on rainouts to the captains, they will in turn forward it to the team, and the team members can notify parents. Information will still be posted here, but I feel that texting can get the information out faster and they will know information immediately after school.
Also, a note to snack assignments:
- If your date doesn't work, please try to reschedule amongst yourselves. I don't really care who has which day as long as all dates are covered
- Try not to purchase perishables in advance. Pick them up on the way to the match so that nothing goes bad if a match gets rained out.
Go Trojans!
Friday, August 7, 2009
Team Selection - Girls 2009
Congratulations to the girls that were selected to represent NHS this fall as a part of the 2009 Girls Tennis Season. I met with the girls this morning to inform them of their team rank and expectations for this season and the future.
If the player is accepting my offer to be a part of the NHS Girls Tennis team this fall, I asked them to read, initial and sign with their parent agreeing to the rules for the team. They also were handed out an order sheet for uniforms, skirts, and extra clothing options to wear as representatives of our team.
Thank you to Mrs. Cox & Mrs. Orr for organizing the team clothing orders this fall. Hopefully they can answer any questions you might have.
If the player is accepting my offer to be a part of the NHS Girls Tennis team this fall, I asked them to read, initial and sign with their parent agreeing to the rules for the team. They also were handed out an order sheet for uniforms, skirts, and extra clothing options to wear as representatives of our team.
Thank you to Mrs. Cox & Mrs. Orr for organizing the team clothing orders this fall. Hopefully they can answer any questions you might have.
Congratulations to all the girls that were selected to the team this year. I look forward to getting to work next week to make this team as good as it can be!
Go Trojans!
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Girls Tryouts
In two weeks we will begin having tryouts to determine the 2009 Girls Tennis team at Northwestern High School. I am excited to get to work on making this team as good as it can be.
To remind everyone, tryouts will be held:
Mon 8/3 9am - noon
Tue 8/4 9am - noon
Wed 8/5 9am - noon
Thu 8/6 9am - noon
Fri 8/7 9am - noon (team selection by 12 noon)
I do expect that all players are familiar with tennis rules and scoring. I will briefly cover it on days 1 & 2 to refresh everyone on things such as no-ad scoring and tiebreakers. Hopefully this will be just a refresher and not a new learning session.
I have sent out several notices this summer about shoes, physicals, birth certificates, etc. Attached to the emailed tryout message was a list of things that are required and/or suggested for players to have with them to tryouts. Please be familiar with it.
As for shoes, I ordered them last week and they should arrive by the end of next week for the 5 girls that paid for shoes (Cramer, Cramer, Tindall, Barber, Sosebee). In the event that something goes wrong with the order; bad size or fit or an order delay (which I do not anticipate), I encourage players that ordered shoes to wear something athletic the first morning of try outs. In a nutshell, plan for the worst but expect no issues.
If you still have not gotten a physical, it is not something I will look the other way on. If your family doctor cannot see you before 8/3, please go to Riverview on Celenese Road. They are open 24 hours 7 days per week and are very familiar with the physical needs of student athletes and their pricing is reasonable. Here once again, is the form to have the doctor fill out:
http://northwesterntrojans.org/library/files/NorthwesternTrojans_org/files/ppe_form.pdf
At try outs, plan on it being hot - even at 9 am. If you are not physically ready to play 3 hours of tennis every day in the heat it will affect your chances of making the team. However, the worst thing that I can imagine is for a girl to be seriously harmed from the heat. I am CPR trained and the school does have a trainer at school. That doesn't mean that I want to gain real time experience using my CPR training. Be physically fit and ready for try outs.
For the girls that do end up making the team at NHS, I will be handing out an equipment order form on Fri August 7th. I will be asking that at a minimum all girls order three practice tee-shirts ($10 ea, $30 total per player). I will list out additional items as well that may be purchased such as long sleeve tees, sweats, etc. Parents are also encouraged to purchase items to support our girls this season!
Also, I had mentioned at the parents meeting that I would try to purchase skirts for the girls from our budget. However, with the high cost that is going to happen replacing the windscreens this is just not going to be possible. Team members will be expected to own at least one (1) white tennis skirt and one (1) black tennis skirt no later than Wednesday August 12. These should preferably have no stripes or trim so that we all look relatively the same. Here are some options:
http://www.tennisexpress.com/category.cfm/tennis/Skirts-womens-tennis-apparel/displaycount/300
http://www.tennis-warehouse.com/searchapparel.html?search=args&type=WOM&xcat=waskirts&scode_size=&scode_color=BK&x=9&y=14
http://www.midwestsports.com/womens-tennis-skirts-skorts/c/605/
Let me know if you have any questions. I'll be out of town next week at the high school coach's convention and on vacation, but if you email or call me I'll return your message as soon as possible.
To remind everyone, tryouts will be held:
Mon 8/3 9am - noon
Tue 8/4 9am - noon
Wed 8/5 9am - noon
Thu 8/6 9am - noon
Fri 8/7 9am - noon (team selection by 12 noon)
I do expect that all players are familiar with tennis rules and scoring. I will briefly cover it on days 1 & 2 to refresh everyone on things such as no-ad scoring and tiebreakers. Hopefully this will be just a refresher and not a new learning session.
I have sent out several notices this summer about shoes, physicals, birth certificates, etc. Attached to the emailed tryout message was a list of things that are required and/or suggested for players to have with them to tryouts. Please be familiar with it.
As for shoes, I ordered them last week and they should arrive by the end of next week for the 5 girls that paid for shoes (Cramer, Cramer, Tindall, Barber, Sosebee). In the event that something goes wrong with the order; bad size or fit or an order delay (which I do not anticipate), I encourage players that ordered shoes to wear something athletic the first morning of try outs. In a nutshell, plan for the worst but expect no issues.
If you still have not gotten a physical, it is not something I will look the other way on. If your family doctor cannot see you before 8/3, please go to Riverview on Celenese Road. They are open 24 hours 7 days per week and are very familiar with the physical needs of student athletes and their pricing is reasonable. Here once again, is the form to have the doctor fill out:
http://northwesterntrojans.org/library/files/NorthwesternTrojans_org/files/ppe_form.pdf
At try outs, plan on it being hot - even at 9 am. If you are not physically ready to play 3 hours of tennis every day in the heat it will affect your chances of making the team. However, the worst thing that I can imagine is for a girl to be seriously harmed from the heat. I am CPR trained and the school does have a trainer at school. That doesn't mean that I want to gain real time experience using my CPR training. Be physically fit and ready for try outs.
For the girls that do end up making the team at NHS, I will be handing out an equipment order form on Fri August 7th. I will be asking that at a minimum all girls order three practice tee-shirts ($10 ea, $30 total per player). I will list out additional items as well that may be purchased such as long sleeve tees, sweats, etc. Parents are also encouraged to purchase items to support our girls this season!
Also, I had mentioned at the parents meeting that I would try to purchase skirts for the girls from our budget. However, with the high cost that is going to happen replacing the windscreens this is just not going to be possible. Team members will be expected to own at least one (1) white tennis skirt and one (1) black tennis skirt no later than Wednesday August 12. These should preferably have no stripes or trim so that we all look relatively the same. Here are some options:
http://www.tennisexpress.com/category.cfm/tennis/Skirts-womens-tennis-apparel/displaycount/300
http://www.tennis-warehouse.com/searchapparel.html?search=args&type=WOM&xcat=waskirts&scode_size=&scode_color=BK&x=9&y=14
http://www.midwestsports.com/womens-tennis-skirts-skorts/c/605/
Let me know if you have any questions. I'll be out of town next week at the high school coach's convention and on vacation, but if you email or call me I'll return your message as soon as possible.
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