Trojans Claim Second Straight Match Over Byrnes

Another warm night at Northwestern and another victory for the Lady Trojans tonight. The girls got a little revenge for a match that we dropped last season at Byrnes. We again played down a player at the top, but made up for it with depth at the bottom.

The first match to finish was Courtney Cox tonight at #5 singles. To me, it looked like Courtney was looking in the mirror at herself as she played a girl with a very similar style who was simply just left handed. Courtney played the game better and claimed our first win 6-2, 6-2.

The doubles team of Emily Edwards and Erin Brooks was the next to finish. I can best describe this match as one in which the Trojan girls improved as the match wore on. The first set result was closer than I thought it would be after seeing it in the early going. Erin & Emily then took off in the second set to put us ahead overall 2 matches to none.

Lauren Cox played strong tennis tonight at #3 singles against a quality opponent. Lauren's return of serve was the key for her tonight as she was able to go on the offensive early in points and broke her opponent's serve several times. The score seemed closer than the match played out as Lauren won 6-4, 6-4.

Maggie Orr re-entered the lineup tonight after sitting out the last few matches with a sore shoulder. I knew that Maggie had it in her to be the better player, but would have to overcome some rust to take out Byrnes #1 player as she hadn't hit anything overhand in a couple weeks. The first set was really close until the end when Byrnes took it. The second set didn't play as even when Byrnes gained confidence from the first set.

As we lead the overall match 3-1, two matches went to tiebreakers. Betsy Creech had dropped her first set6-1 at #2 while Alexis Peddy had dropped hers in a set tiebreaker. Both girls went on to win their second sets by 6-4 margins. Betsy was the first match tiebreak to finish and dropped it 7-10. Alexis remained the sole player on the front courts for us and clinched the overall team win by a 10-7 margin on her birthday.

With the match decided, we didn't pair up a traditional #1 doubles team and instead are just referring to Emily & Erin as tonight's #1 double pair. Karlee Fox & Caroline Herron will get credited with the #2 doubles match after they were able to claim a win 6-2, 6-0.

Most of the girls are ready for the holiday weekend and need some time to let their bodies recover. While I hope they are active over the weekend, I also ask that they be smart in choosing what kind of activities they participate in. Being on a boat sounds like a good time, but maybe being the person on the wakeboard or tube wouldn't be the best idea.

Go Trojans!

Location: Northwestern HS
Result: Northwestern 5, Byrnes 2

1s: Celena Sneddy (B) def Maggie Orr 6-4, 6-1
2s: Jessica Wang (B) def Betsy Creech 6-1, 4-6, 10-7
3s: Lauren Cox def Saige Allison 6-4, 6-4
4s: Alexis Peddy def Kylie Birch 6-7, 6-4, 10-7
5s: Courtney Cox def MK Flynn 6-2, 6-2

1d: Emily Edwards/Erin Brooks def Arkeia Drummond/Allyson Hollis 6-4, 6-1
2d: Karlee Fox/Caroline Herron def Zee Jah/Brandi Geter 6-2, 6-0

Trojans defeat York

The fall regular season was kicked off with a Trojan victory at our home courts tonight. The match played out a little closer than expected due to some unforeseen circumstances. In the end, we claimed 4 matches to York's 2 and now stand at 2-2 overall after our tournament results last weekend.

The doubles team of Courtney Cox and Lauren Cox posted a complete shutout of the York doubles team tonight. I am very confident in these two girl's ability to play doubles and win a lot of matches for us this year. They showed me tonight that they can put away an opponent and not let them in the match at any point. That is precisely what I wanted to see.

Emily Edwards filled in at #5 singles tonight and claimed our second overall team win. After blitzing ahead to a 5-0 first set lead, the York #5 took advantage of some errors & grabbed two games before Emily finished the set 6-2. Emily played nearly error free in the 2nd set & shut out her opponent to claim our third line win.

At this point, we lead 3-0 and had matches still being played at #1, #3, and #4 singles. Chandler Green had won her first set 6-3 @ #1 and Karlee Fox had won her first set in a tiebreaker. Alexis Peddy had gone to a set tiebreaker as well, but came out on the losing end.

Unfortunately, we had to concede line #1 as Chandler couldn't continue to play. Fortunately for the Trojans, Karlee came alive in set #2 and shutout York's #4 in the second set to give us the overall team victory.

I told the girls after our match that Byrnes will be a little late getting to us on Thursday & our match likely won't begin until 5:30. Seeing as the weather forecast is nearly the same as tonight, I am going to make an adjustment to our warm up routine and shorten it so we don't spend too much time in the heat before our match begins. Therefore, Thursday's schedule is:

4:45 Snack - in shade under trees
5:00 On court warm up
5:15 Clear courts
5:30 Introductions / Begin play

Hopefully, this will allow us to play at a high level without the effects of the heat as we felt today.

Go Trojans!

Location: Northwestern
Result: Northwestern 4, York 2

1s: Michelle Goss (Y) def Chandler Green 3-6, 3-2 ret(ill)
2s: Betsy Creech def Brandi Neely 6-2, 6-1
3s: Mary Goss (Y) def Alexis Peddy 7-6, 3-6, 10-1
4s: Karlee Fox def Katia Patrick 7-6, 6-0
5s: Emily Edwards def Samantha Roush 6-2, 6-0

2d: Courtney Cox/Lauren Cox def Kate Shirley/Sarah Webb 6-0, 6-0