It's fall y'all, and you know what that means! Fall sports are wrapping up.
As I'm sure all of you are aware, many fall sports could not take place this year due to Covid-19. Thankfully, tennis wasn't one of them.
My team and I have been able to compete during our fall season (with some adjustments
of course) and make some noise at our final competitions.
Last week's challenge: Conference.
Throughout the season, we played each team in our conference tournament individually. We won each dual meet without giving up more than 3 matches each time. It wasn’t our first year going through our conference matches undefeated, but it was the most matches we had won in a year. It was a good way to head into the weekend tournament.
Each team is allowed six players in the tournament as a whole. Those six players make up #1 singles, #2 singles, #1 doubles, and #2 doubles. Heading into the tournament undefeated in conference, all four of our entries were seeded first in their respective brackets. But this was just the starting point, and each of us had to earn our spots at the end.
Number 1 doubles finished first. They dominated their first match, leaving no room for the other team to even hope for a comeback. Although their second match wasn't as easy, they still finished with a towering score over the other team. Their success was well deserved, and they got two shiny blue ribbons to prove it.
Number 2 doubles were done next. Their first match was a little closer than they had anticipated it to be, but they fought through to make it to the next round. In their final match, they let up just enough for the other team to get ahead at the beginning. But they fought back again to take the lead and pull out a win. Two more blue ribbons were awarded to them.
Number 2 singles earned her blue ribbon next. Cruising through both of her matches, any other place than first was never in the picture for her.
I was the last one to come off the court. My first match was against a girl I'd never played before. She had a very consistent play style. In other words, she got everything back. This was tough at first, but I was able to secure 12 games and continue on to the finals. By the time my final match went on, it was well over 80 degrees. While this may have been normal in August, it was unexpected in October, and both my opponent and I had trouble adjusting.
Our grueling match went on for over an hour. Although it got close at times, I was able to come off the court with a 6-2, 6-2 victory. I happily accepted the final blue ribbon and joined my team to collect the team trophy.
That was it! We had swept the conference tournament. A feat that even our coach couldn't remember ever happening in a girl's season before.