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
