Here is how our ladder sits with one week left before playoffs:
1) Seth
2) Drayton
3) Hunter
4) Brian
5) Jonathan C
6) Jordan
7) Duncan
8) Alex
9) Collins M
10) Tyler L
11) Jonathan P
12) Michael
13) Key
14) Christopher
15) Collin S
16) Matt
17) Ahmad
18) Ben
19) Tyler H
20) Jacob P
21) Phillip
22) Caleb
23) Jacob S
Friday, April 24, 2009
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Trojans clinch spot in Playoffs with Season Sweep of Gaffney
A beautiful day for tennis blessed the Northwestern courts today as we played region opponent Gaffney to clinch a spot in the SC 4A playoffs. With the 7-0 sweep of Gaffney, we climb back to .500 with a 6-6 record and are 4-5 in region.
We had a little extra motivation as it was senior night and we paid tribute to Ahmad Sheffield and Tyler Hutson before and after the match as well as Coach Sally Bartelmo. I cannot say enough about these fine representatives of our school. Thank you each for all your hard work this year and for setting a great example for the younger players on our team.
Ahmad and Tyler paired up to play 2 doubles tonight. I hadn't even made my first round by the time these two had already claimed the first set 6-1. They rolled through the second set as well and posted a shutout in the second. Great job tonight seniors!
Hunter Love played a near flawless match tonight and scored a double bagel victory at line 3. Not only was Hunter his normal consistent-self, but he also placed his serve very well and methodically picked apart at his opponent's weaknesses. It was a fine performance.
Seth Russell claimed our third win of the night at 1 singles. His Gaffney opponent has improved since their last meeting and put up a better performance than anticipated. However in the end, Seth was just too much as he claimed the line 6-2, 6-1.
Jonathan Clark clinched the win for us at 5 singles. His Gaffney opponent was a tough, consistent player that hung tough. Jonathan was too good for him at the end and clinched the win 6-3, 6-3.
Drayton Wade closely followed with a win at 2 singles. Avenging an early season defeat, Drayton placed his ground strokes nicely and reduced his errors to dominate line 2 tonight. The result reflects how dominant Drayton was tonight to get the 6-2, 6-2 win.
Brian Fitzpatrick was the last man out on the courts at this point for the varsity squad. After winning a lopsided first set 6-1, Brian found himself frustrated by some consistency problems. He trailed 2-5 in the second set before rattling off a service break and hold to stand at 4-5. Gaffney claimed the next game and forced the decisive tiebreak. Brian's stroke returned to him in the tiebreak as he lead from beginning to end and claimed the win with a 10-5 tiebreak.
Hunter and Seth got their season long wish and I played them together at 1 doubles. Taking on Gaffney's 2 & 5, I was hoping for a stronger showing. The result was a win, but it wasn't a walk in the park.
We are off until Monday when we take on Rock Hill at our place. We'll have the same starting lineup tonight at singles. We then have practice Tuesday and take on Nation Ford on Wednesday. Wednesday will be the last match for all team members and I'll be collecting jerseys on Thursday before or after the Clover match from those that received them. We'll have the top 10 players dress for the trip to playoffs, but all players are asked to come.
Go Trojans!
Box Score:
Location: Northwestern HS
Result: Northwestern 7, Gaffney 0
1s: Seth Russell def James Belue 6-2, 6-1
2s: Drayton Wade def Nick Parker 6-2, 6-2
3s: Hunter Love def Trenton Trauh 6-0, 6-0
4s: Brian Fitzpatrick def Mark Lovingood 6-1, 4-6, 10-5
5s: Jonathan Clark def Clayton Whitt 6-3, 6-3
1d: Love/Russell def Parker/Whitt 8-5
2d: Ahmad Sheffield/Tyler Hutson def Alex Hinchliffe/Adam Payne 6-1, 6-0
We had a little extra motivation as it was senior night and we paid tribute to Ahmad Sheffield and Tyler Hutson before and after the match as well as Coach Sally Bartelmo. I cannot say enough about these fine representatives of our school. Thank you each for all your hard work this year and for setting a great example for the younger players on our team.
Ahmad and Tyler paired up to play 2 doubles tonight. I hadn't even made my first round by the time these two had already claimed the first set 6-1. They rolled through the second set as well and posted a shutout in the second. Great job tonight seniors!
Hunter Love played a near flawless match tonight and scored a double bagel victory at line 3. Not only was Hunter his normal consistent-self, but he also placed his serve very well and methodically picked apart at his opponent's weaknesses. It was a fine performance.
Seth Russell claimed our third win of the night at 1 singles. His Gaffney opponent has improved since their last meeting and put up a better performance than anticipated. However in the end, Seth was just too much as he claimed the line 6-2, 6-1.
Jonathan Clark clinched the win for us at 5 singles. His Gaffney opponent was a tough, consistent player that hung tough. Jonathan was too good for him at the end and clinched the win 6-3, 6-3.
Drayton Wade closely followed with a win at 2 singles. Avenging an early season defeat, Drayton placed his ground strokes nicely and reduced his errors to dominate line 2 tonight. The result reflects how dominant Drayton was tonight to get the 6-2, 6-2 win.
Brian Fitzpatrick was the last man out on the courts at this point for the varsity squad. After winning a lopsided first set 6-1, Brian found himself frustrated by some consistency problems. He trailed 2-5 in the second set before rattling off a service break and hold to stand at 4-5. Gaffney claimed the next game and forced the decisive tiebreak. Brian's stroke returned to him in the tiebreak as he lead from beginning to end and claimed the win with a 10-5 tiebreak.
Hunter and Seth got their season long wish and I played them together at 1 doubles. Taking on Gaffney's 2 & 5, I was hoping for a stronger showing. The result was a win, but it wasn't a walk in the park.
We are off until Monday when we take on Rock Hill at our place. We'll have the same starting lineup tonight at singles. We then have practice Tuesday and take on Nation Ford on Wednesday. Wednesday will be the last match for all team members and I'll be collecting jerseys on Thursday before or after the Clover match from those that received them. We'll have the top 10 players dress for the trip to playoffs, but all players are asked to come.
Go Trojans!
Box Score:
Location: Northwestern HS
Result: Northwestern 7, Gaffney 0
1s: Seth Russell def James Belue 6-2, 6-1
2s: Drayton Wade def Nick Parker 6-2, 6-2
3s: Hunter Love def Trenton Trauh 6-0, 6-0
4s: Brian Fitzpatrick def Mark Lovingood 6-1, 4-6, 10-5
5s: Jonathan Clark def Clayton Whitt 6-3, 6-3
1d: Love/Russell def Parker/Whitt 8-5
2d: Ahmad Sheffield/Tyler Hutson def Alex Hinchliffe/Adam Payne 6-1, 6-0
Schedule update - Match added for Thu 4/30
Clover called me today and had a scheduling problem and were without an opponent for next week. I agreed to play them as a playoff preparation match for both of us next Thursday at 4:00PM at our courts. That is correct, 4:00 PM, not 5:00 next Thursday.
This will be a varsity only match to prepare us for playoffs. We are also going to play it in a playoff style where we will have the 5 singles matches start first and the doubles will hold off so we can save our pairings until we see how the singles contests unfolding.
Again, this match will have an early start of 4:00 PM on Thursday 4/30 at our courts.
And also, as far as drinks and snack go, let's just have the boys playing bring their own for this one. There are vending machines next to the school if they need something.
This will be a varsity only match to prepare us for playoffs. We are also going to play it in a playoff style where we will have the 5 singles matches start first and the doubles will hold off so we can save our pairings until we see how the singles contests unfolding.
Again, this match will have an early start of 4:00 PM on Thursday 4/30 at our courts.
And also, as far as drinks and snack go, let's just have the boys playing bring their own for this one. There are vending machines next to the school if they need something.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Rock Hill stops Trojans
We took the 15 minute cross town trip to take on our rival Rock Hill tonight. The result was a 2-4 defeat that could have gone either way due to a couple late comebacks from the middle of our lineup. Our overall record now stands at 5-6 and we are still 3-5 in our region.
We took an early 1-0 lead on the scoreboard with a dominant win from our doubles team of Hunter Love & Duncan Foy. The first set was a whitewash by our side. The second set was closer, but the match was never in doubt as we claimed the doubles line 6-0, 6-3.
Shortly thereafter, Rock Hill tied the score at 1-1 with a win at 5 singles. Tyler Leonard stepped in to fill in a void at 5 singles left by Alex being out of town and Jordan still being a little jet-lagged from the Hawaii trip. Tyler hung tough in the first set and dropped it 3-6. Unfortunately, Tyler's game got a little shaky at the same time Rock Hill's #5 got hot and the line dropped 3-6, 1-6.
We then fell behind 1-2 after the 2 singles match was decided. The first set had just about every game go to a deuce point, but not enough fell in our favor as Drayton Wade dropped the first set 1-6. Drayton continued to play well and claimed 2 games in the second set before the match was decided in Rock Hill's favor.
We were then able to tie it up at 2-2 courtesy of a huge comeback win from Seth Russell at 1 singles. The first set went to Rock Hill 3-6, but Seth kept battling and hitting beautiful shots to keep Rock Hill's top player on the defensive. Seth won the second set 6-1 and forced a 10-point match tiebreaker. The two players battled back and forth until Seth claimed a 7-5 lead at the second changeover. Rock Hill's player faced 2 match points from Seth, but only defended 1 as Seth won the tiebreak 10-8 to bring us back to even.
Still on the court at this point were Brian Fitzpatrick at 3 singles and Jonathan Clark at 4 singles.
Brian had dropped his first set 2-6 and was trailing 2-5. Brian went on a run to bring the score to 6-6 and force a set 7-point tiebreak. Unfortunately, Rock Hill's #3 played some great tennis to claim the line from us. Regardless, it was awesome to see Brian put the pressure on his opponent and himself in a position to win the line.
Jonathan started the match at 4 singles with a little inconsistency and fell behind by a wide margin early. He won some games late to make the set competitive, but dropped set 1 4-6. He then picked things up in the second and battled hard against a very steady player to win the second set 7-5. On to another tiebreaker we went with all eyes on court 4. Rock Hill's player really cleaned up his game and played well in the tiebreak. It was a shame that a match with so many 15-20 shot rallies ended with a short rally and shot into the net as Jonathan dropped the set tiebreak 5-10.
There's nothing we can do but press on with the rest of our season. We need a victory tomorrow over Gaffney to claim a spot in the playoffs. We then get a rematch with Rock Hill next Monday before a really big match at Nation Ford Tuesday night where we could claim 3rd place with a win.
Go Trojans!
Box Score:
Result: Rock Hill 4, Northwestern 2
Location: Rock Hill HS
1s: Seth Russell (N) def Alik MacLauchlin 3-6, 6-1, 10-8
2s: Austin Lee (R) def Drayton Wade 6-1, 6-2
3s: Kevin Gauldin (R) def Brian Fitzpatrick 6-2, 7-6
4s: Alex Silverman (R) def Jonathan Clark 6-4, 5-7, 10-5
5s: Nick Cauthen (R) def Tyler Leonard 6-3, 6-1
1d: DNP
2d: Hunter Love/Duncan Foy (N) def Cory Tretsky/Michael Adams 6-0, 6-3
We took an early 1-0 lead on the scoreboard with a dominant win from our doubles team of Hunter Love & Duncan Foy. The first set was a whitewash by our side. The second set was closer, but the match was never in doubt as we claimed the doubles line 6-0, 6-3.
Shortly thereafter, Rock Hill tied the score at 1-1 with a win at 5 singles. Tyler Leonard stepped in to fill in a void at 5 singles left by Alex being out of town and Jordan still being a little jet-lagged from the Hawaii trip. Tyler hung tough in the first set and dropped it 3-6. Unfortunately, Tyler's game got a little shaky at the same time Rock Hill's #5 got hot and the line dropped 3-6, 1-6.
We then fell behind 1-2 after the 2 singles match was decided. The first set had just about every game go to a deuce point, but not enough fell in our favor as Drayton Wade dropped the first set 1-6. Drayton continued to play well and claimed 2 games in the second set before the match was decided in Rock Hill's favor.
We were then able to tie it up at 2-2 courtesy of a huge comeback win from Seth Russell at 1 singles. The first set went to Rock Hill 3-6, but Seth kept battling and hitting beautiful shots to keep Rock Hill's top player on the defensive. Seth won the second set 6-1 and forced a 10-point match tiebreaker. The two players battled back and forth until Seth claimed a 7-5 lead at the second changeover. Rock Hill's player faced 2 match points from Seth, but only defended 1 as Seth won the tiebreak 10-8 to bring us back to even.
Still on the court at this point were Brian Fitzpatrick at 3 singles and Jonathan Clark at 4 singles.
Brian had dropped his first set 2-6 and was trailing 2-5. Brian went on a run to bring the score to 6-6 and force a set 7-point tiebreak. Unfortunately, Rock Hill's #3 played some great tennis to claim the line from us. Regardless, it was awesome to see Brian put the pressure on his opponent and himself in a position to win the line.
Jonathan started the match at 4 singles with a little inconsistency and fell behind by a wide margin early. He won some games late to make the set competitive, but dropped set 1 4-6. He then picked things up in the second and battled hard against a very steady player to win the second set 7-5. On to another tiebreaker we went with all eyes on court 4. Rock Hill's player really cleaned up his game and played well in the tiebreak. It was a shame that a match with so many 15-20 shot rallies ended with a short rally and shot into the net as Jonathan dropped the set tiebreak 5-10.
There's nothing we can do but press on with the rest of our season. We need a victory tomorrow over Gaffney to claim a spot in the playoffs. We then get a rematch with Rock Hill next Monday before a really big match at Nation Ford Tuesday night where we could claim 3rd place with a win.
Go Trojans!
Box Score:
Result: Rock Hill 4, Northwestern 2
Location: Rock Hill HS
1s: Seth Russell (N) def Alik MacLauchlin 3-6, 6-1, 10-8
2s: Austin Lee (R) def Drayton Wade 6-1, 6-2
3s: Kevin Gauldin (R) def Brian Fitzpatrick 6-2, 7-6
4s: Alex Silverman (R) def Jonathan Clark 6-4, 5-7, 10-5
5s: Nick Cauthen (R) def Tyler Leonard 6-3, 6-1
1d: DNP
2d: Hunter Love/Duncan Foy (N) def Cory Tretsky/Michael Adams 6-0, 6-3
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Fort Mill defeats Trojans
We took on Fort Mill tonight on our home courts on a windy day. Winds gusted around 20-25 mph all night and played havoc on both teams. We lost 5-1 overall, but had close calls at 1 singles and 2 doubles tonight. With the loss, we drop to 5-5 overall and are at 3-5 in our region matches.
Seth Russell played some brilliant tennis tonight. In a match that featured a lot of hard hitting and constant lead changes, Seth dropped a close one 5-7, 6-7.
Drayton Wade played well at number 2 tonight. Regardless of the 1-6, 2-6 defeat, Drayton hung tough on every point of the match and made his opponent work hard to beat him.
Brian Fitzpatrick hit the ball as well as he has all season tonight. It was impressive given the conditions and I was proud of how far Brian has brought his game this year. Despite the 1-6, 1-6 defeat, Brian can hold his head high knowing that he will only improve the rest of this year and over the next two seasons.
Our line victory came courtesy of Jonathan Clark at 4 singles. The first set of this match was tight and Jonathan eeked it out 6-4. Jonathan caught fire at the end of the first set and rolled into the second set jumping out to an early 3-0 lead. He held strong to close out the set 6-2. Jonathan, thank you - you are my first boys player to take a line from Fort Mill.
Alex Antezana struggled in the winds against a talented line 5 player. He was able to take a game in the first set, but had difficulties finishing in the second.
I really liked our chances tonight at 2 doubles. Fort Mills team is more seasoned and plays a prettier game than Duncan Foy and Hunter Love. I really felt that our team's spins and foot speed would be enough to claim this line. In the end, Fort Mill was too much and took a close one 6-4, 6-4.
This match is over now and we have a match against our in town rival Rock Hill tomorrow. Rock Hill was able to take 1 & 2 singles from Fort Mill yesterday in a 2-5 loss. We have the guns to beat Rock Hill. If we play our game and are determined to take city bragging rights, we will do just that. Lets beat those Bearcats!
Go Trojans!
Box Score:
Result: Fort Mill 5, Northwestern 1
Location: Northwestern HS
1s: Robby Davis (F) def Seth Russell 7-5, 7-6(4)
2s: Kyle Orsburn (F) def Drayton Wade 6-2, 6-1
3s: Daniel Proctor (F) def Brian Fitzpatrick 6-1, 6-1
4s: Jonathan Clark (N) def Chase Lovins 6-4, 6-2
5s: Andreas Leon (F) def Alex Antezana 6-1, 6-0
1d: DNP
2d: Jon Ernst/Chase Riddle (F) def Duncan Foy/Hunter Love 6-4, 6-4
Seth Russell played some brilliant tennis tonight. In a match that featured a lot of hard hitting and constant lead changes, Seth dropped a close one 5-7, 6-7.
Drayton Wade played well at number 2 tonight. Regardless of the 1-6, 2-6 defeat, Drayton hung tough on every point of the match and made his opponent work hard to beat him.
Brian Fitzpatrick hit the ball as well as he has all season tonight. It was impressive given the conditions and I was proud of how far Brian has brought his game this year. Despite the 1-6, 1-6 defeat, Brian can hold his head high knowing that he will only improve the rest of this year and over the next two seasons.
Our line victory came courtesy of Jonathan Clark at 4 singles. The first set of this match was tight and Jonathan eeked it out 6-4. Jonathan caught fire at the end of the first set and rolled into the second set jumping out to an early 3-0 lead. He held strong to close out the set 6-2. Jonathan, thank you - you are my first boys player to take a line from Fort Mill.
Alex Antezana struggled in the winds against a talented line 5 player. He was able to take a game in the first set, but had difficulties finishing in the second.
I really liked our chances tonight at 2 doubles. Fort Mills team is more seasoned and plays a prettier game than Duncan Foy and Hunter Love. I really felt that our team's spins and foot speed would be enough to claim this line. In the end, Fort Mill was too much and took a close one 6-4, 6-4.
This match is over now and we have a match against our in town rival Rock Hill tomorrow. Rock Hill was able to take 1 & 2 singles from Fort Mill yesterday in a 2-5 loss. We have the guns to beat Rock Hill. If we play our game and are determined to take city bragging rights, we will do just that. Lets beat those Bearcats!
Go Trojans!
Box Score:
Result: Fort Mill 5, Northwestern 1
Location: Northwestern HS
1s: Robby Davis (F) def Seth Russell 7-5, 7-6(4)
2s: Kyle Orsburn (F) def Drayton Wade 6-2, 6-1
3s: Daniel Proctor (F) def Brian Fitzpatrick 6-1, 6-1
4s: Jonathan Clark (N) def Chase Lovins 6-4, 6-2
5s: Andreas Leon (F) def Alex Antezana 6-1, 6-0
1d: DNP
2d: Jon Ernst/Chase Riddle (F) def Duncan Foy/Hunter Love 6-4, 6-4
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