Border Challenge Day 2

Well, it was a good day for Northwestern. The football team was able to defeat South Pointe in the late afternoon. Unfortunately, the girls tennis team had a different experience in the morning and early afternoon results. We dropped two matches at the hands of a powerful Marvin Ridge squad & a formidable Butler team.

While dissapointed in how the scoreboard looks, I am keeping in perspective that we played split lineups all through the tournament while we were without Maggie Orr at the top of our lineup. We probably would not have been able to overcome Marvin Ridge this morning with a full strength lineup, but I am curious as to whether we could have beat Butler. Regardless, it was good to get players like Betsy Creech & Alexis Peddy some experience playing at a higher position than they are used to. In the long run, I foresee this weekend was a positive thing for us.

We'll get back to practice next week in preparation of home matches on Tuesday and Thursday against York and Byrnes respectfully.

Go Trojans!

2010 SC v NC Border Challenge
Location: Northwestern HS, Rock Hill SC

Friday Results:

Match #1 Northwestern 6, Piedmont 0
Match #2 Marvin Ridge 6, Fort Mill 0
Match #3 Nation Ford v. Butler - Suspended, inclement weather

Saturday Results:

Match #3
Nation Ford 4, Butler 2
1s: Hollie Champion (B) def Jordan Bowers 6-1, 6-0
2s: Emily Larkin (B) def Ashley Trull 6-1, 6-3
3s: Rylee Smith def Kelly Russell 6-4, 6-1
4s: Suzanna Goss def Emery Carlough 6-2, 6-1
5s: Melanie Mullen def Callie Strachan 6-3, 6-2

2d: Olivia Whitener/Kendall Lucas def Alaina Partin/Megan Scott 8-2

Match #4
Marvin Ridge 6, Northwestern 0
1s: Mariel Emery def Chandler Green 6-2, 6-1
2s: Paige Nestor def Betsy Creech 6-2, 6-1
3s: Robyn Buchanan def Alexis Peddy 6-0, 6-3
4s: Danielle David def Courtney Cox 6-1, 6-0
5s: Meredith Sawry def Karlee Fox 6-0, 6-1

2d: Allie Kmee/Erin Foley def Emily Edwards/Erin Brooks 8-6

Match #5
Nation Ford 6, Piedmont 0
1s: Jordan Bowers def Sarah Venn 6-1, 6-1
2s: Ashley Trull def Edy Kemo 6-2, 6-1
3s: Suzanna Goss def Sarah Hedley 6-1, 6-2
4s: Melanie Mullen def Grace Brooks 6-0, 6-0
5s: Morgan Jasper def Hannah Venn 6-0, 6-4

2d: Olivia Whitener/Kendall Lucas def Taylor Barrineau/Lauren Mullis 8-0

Match #6
Butler 4, Fort Mill 3
1s: Hollie Champion def Mady Katz 6-0, 6-2
2s: Emily Larkin def Kayla Blakeney 6-3, 6-2
3s: Emery Carlough def Ali Jensen 7-6, 3-6, 10-8
4s: Persephone McCollough (F) def Jaclyn Auara 6-2, 6-0
5s: Addie Brown (F) def Megan Kenny 6-0, 6-0

1d: Hollie Champion/Kelly Russell def Mady Katz/Kayla Blakely 8-6
2d: Reagan Paff/Laine Touchberry (F) def Callie Strachan/Sarah McIntosh 8-1

Match #7
Butler 4, Northwestern 1
1s: Hollie Champion def Chandler Green 6-1, 6-0
2s: Emily Larkin def Betsy Creech 7-5, 6-2
3s: Kelly Russell def Alexis Peddy 6-4, 7-5
4s: Emery Carlough lead Lauren Cox 6-4, DNF
5s: Jaclyn Auraro def Erin Brooks 6-3, 6-3

2d: Karlee Fox/Caroline Herron (N) def Mertan Kenny/Callie Strahan 8-4

Match #8
Fort Mill 6, Piedmont 0
1s: Mady Katz def Sarah Venn 6-2, 6-4
2s: Kayla Blakely def Edy Kemo 6-2, 6-3
3s: Ali Jensen def Sarah Headley 6-2, 6-1
4s: Persephone McCollough def Grace Brooks 6-2, 6-1
5s: Addie Brown def Hannah Venn 6-2, 6-7, 11-9

2d: Reagan Paff/Laine Touchberry def Morgan Miles/Christa Whaley 8-0

Match #9
Marvin Ridge 5, Nation Ford 1
1s: Mariel Emery def Jordan Bowers 6-0, 6-3
2s: Paige Nestor def Ashley Trull 6-0, 6-1
3s: Hannah Farley def Rylee Smith 6-2, 6-1
4s: Meredith Sawrey def Suzanna Goss 7-5, 6-1
5s: Melanie Mullen (N) def Suzanne Treske 1-6, 6-4, 13-11

2d: Robyn Buchanen/Laura Gough def Olivia Whitener/Kendall Lucas 8-7

Final Tournament Records

Marvin Ridge 3-0 (NC & Overall Champion)
Nation Ford 2-1 (SC Champion & Overall Runner up)
Butler 2-1
Fort Mill 1-2
Northwestern 1-2
Piedmont 0-3

SC v NC Border Challenge - Day 1

Day 1 of our hosted tournament was 2/3 of a success. We finished off Piedmont in just under 2 hours and Marvin Ridge swept Fort Mill in about the same time. Unfortunately, Nation Ford and Butler had most of their matches nearing an end to their first sets when lightning struck just north of the school. That match was suspended and will be completed first thing in the morning.

I was fairly pleased with our results tonight. We had an outmatched opponent & we put them away like we should. I am really pleased that we have already played two scrimmages so that the nerves of competing against a new opponent are minimalized. I'm sure Caroline was dissapointed in her result, but I told her afterwards that I was super proud of how hard she fought against a much older player from Piedmont.

I would have to say that the player of the day for Northwestern was Emily Edwards. Emily played her first singles match of this year for us after playing some singles, but mostly doubles, last year. She hit the ball very clean tonight & made several great hussle plays that made me smile. (Emily - Sorry, but I had to use last year's picture)

The Nation Ford / Butler delay will throw a slight kink in tommorrow's schedule. I texted the captains to communicate to our team that our 2nd match time will be delayed 30 minutes. Clearly, I understand that the girls want to get to the football game at 4. However, we need to be respectful of the schools we have asked to spend their Saturday with us & give some rest time to Butler who now has to play 2 1/2 matches in 5 1/2 hours.

The new match times are posted below the box scores for tommorrow.

Go Trojans!

Day 1 Results - SC v NC Border Challenge

Location: Northwestern HS, Rock Hill SC

Result #1
Northwestern 5, Piedmont 1
1s: Chandler Green def Sarah Venn 6-1, 6-0
2s: Betsy Creech def Edy Kemo 6-2, 6-3
3s: Alexis Peddy def Sarah Headley 6-2, 6-0
4s: Emily Edwards def Grace Brooks 6-0, 6-1
5s: Hannah Venn (P) def Caroline Herron 4-6, 6-2, 10-7

1d: DNP
2d: Courtney Cox/Lauren Cox def Miranda Leazer/Megan Brewer 8-0

Result #2
Marvin Ridge 6, Fort Mill 0
1s: Mariel Finery def Mady Katz 6-3, 6-0
2s: Paige Nestor def Kayla Blakeley 6-0, 6-0
3s: Hannah Florian def Ali Jensen 6-2, 6-2
4s: Minali Nigam def Persephone McCollough 6-0, 6-3
5s: Hannah Farley def Addie Brown 6-0, 6-0

1d: DNP
2d: Danielle David/Robyn Buchanan def Reagan Paff/Laina Touchberry 8-2

Result #3

Nation Ford v. Butler - Suspended due to lightning

Schedule for Sat 8/28:

8:00 Nation Ford v Butler (Resume match from 8/27)
9:00 Northwestern v Marvin Ridge
11:00 Fort Mill v Butler
11:30 Nation Ford v Piedmont
1:30 Northwestern v Butler
3:00 Fort Mill v Piedmont
3:30 Nation Ford v Marvin Ridge

Another Good Showing in Scrimmage vs. York

We officially became the first team to compete at the new York High School tennis courts tonight. We also became the first team to win a contest on those courts.

Playing without our top player, I had a feeling that we would be challenged more than usual with everyone playing up a spot. We generally have a match or two get closer than comfort and have dropped some here and there in the past. Today was no different as we dropped 1 line, after sweeping the other 6 varsity contests.

We've looked good in our first two scrimmages thus far. Entering the weekend and our tournament matches, I am confident in two things:

1) We are much improved from last year
2) We have many players with the talent to win varsity matches

We'll have fun this weekend playing against three schools that we have never faced before. We kick it off Friday night against Piedmont HS out of Indian Trail. Then, Saturday morning we will play Marvin Ridge HS, from Marvin near Weddington. Our last match is against Butler HS from east Charlotte. I anticipate playing multiple different lineups to get different people playing singles and doubles. With the depth of talent our team has, we have the ability to do that.