Last match a bummer ... but with a good singles win

Hi all--

Our match yesterday vs. Duffy/Amoyal was frustrating for most of us-- we just couldn't beat this team for some reason (and some of us lost really badly -- see #1 doubles, below ;-)). However, Sue Lin had a great straight-set victory at #1 singles, which gave us something to cheer about :-). Here are the final scores:

1D) Jean & Kelly let the match run away from them, losing to Ann Chouinard & Karla Lee 3-6 0-6. (OUCH! It still hurts to say it a day later!)
2D) Emily & Karen fell just short in a great contest with Janice Dent & Jenneca Ward, losing 6-7 (0), 4-6
3D) Trish & Jane lost to Farah Duffy & our former teammate Karen Sellinger 3-6 2-6
1S) Sue Lin had a comfortable victory vs. Courtney Nichols, 6-3 6-4
2S) Meghan Callahan had a great first set before running out of steam vs. Laura Bull, losing 4-6 1-6

So-- not the most uplifting way to end the season, but there it is. We end with a 7-9 record and are currently in 6th place out of 9 teams, and will either end up in 6th or 7th depending on what happens during the final matches on Wednesday (we have a bye). My guess is that Smith (the team below us) will likely end up squeaking past us into 6th place. Ah well. Teams 4-7 were all very close this season--it's nice to be in that middle group this year, after struggling to stay out of last during our first 2 seasons (we had a record of 2-13 (!!!) in both of those years). So-- we are making progress, ladies!!

Looks like the team get-together is ON for Wednesday, July 10. I'll call Tark's & see if they can reserve some outdoor tables for us. Between now & then look for a wrap-up post-- we have many things to celebrate this season!

Team get-together Wed 7/8?

How many of you would be able to do a happy-hour get-together on Wednesday, July 8? Most of the girls at the match today could make it. Last year we met at Tark's (in Greenspring Station), which worked out really well. Post a comment below with your yea/nay. Hopefully we can get at least half the team there like we did last year. Thanks!

Best win of the season ... 4-1 vs Dysart/Baker

Yes, we achieved a milestone today-- we win 4 matches for the first time this year, and about time, too! If the story of last Wednesday was being unable to win the important points, the opposite was the story today. Everyone played very well and made the key plays. Note that all 4 Ws were in straight sets as well:

1D) Sue Lin & Emily defeated Liz Deford and Sydney Hopkins, 6-4 6-3

2D) Joy & Kelly defeated Sue Basch and Irene Baker 6-1 6-2

3D) Trish & Katharine defeated Ann Hubbard and Bonnie Thomas, 6-0 6-1

1S) Donna defeated Nancy Murray 6-4 6-0

2S) Sara lost to Ellen Lichtman, but got a set off of her this time (she lost to Ellen in straight sets during the first round of play), 7-6 (7-2) 2-6 0-1 (6-10).

Note the bagels in the scores. We have not commanded a win like this all season. Let's carry this energy over to tomorrow's match.

Duffy/Amoyal is just ahead of us in the rankings right now, with a 7-6 record (we are at 7-8--they've had a rainout & a bye, so have played 2 fewer matches at this point than we have). We have been neck and neck with this team all season, and a win tomorrow could put us ahead of them for the year (their remaining opponents are the 1st and 3rd teams in the standings, Zylberberg and Schlerf, so they could very well lose to both of them). Our match against them in the first round was very very close, so let's try to push through for the W.

Match is at Bryn Mawr at 10 am; come for warmup at 9:30.

Arrgh--hard losses to Levy, 1-4

Last night was full of great tennis but only one win. All of the matches (except Gayle's win!) were closer than the scores indicate:

1D) Jean & Katharine lost to Anne Blue and Sharon Tennyson, 2-6 1-6

2D) Karen & Donna lost to Laura June & Beth Bolton, 4-6 2-6

3D) Cecile & Sue Lin lost to Carol McCarra and Wendy Day, 6-7 (5) 1-6

1S) Mary lost to Anna Qualls (after beating her the first time we played Levy), 2-6 1-6

2S) Gayle DEFEATED Mary Anne Facciolo 6-1 6-2

As Karen put it after the match, "I've never lost a match where I felt so much like I was winning!" (or something like that). I think what we see here is some really experienced teams who are used to winning sticking to their guns and, well, winning. This may be why Levy is now 10-3 and we are 6-8.

That said, we're still much improved this season and it would be great to close out the year with 2 wins to even out our record. This Saturday we play the last-place team in the league, Dysart/Baker (1-12). If you played this team in the first round (where we won 3-2), you will recall a lot of lobbing, not much pace, basically advanced 3.0 level tennis. But we need to be careful not to sink to their level. Let's stick to our game ... and go for a 4-1 (dare I say 5-0?) win-- it would be a first for us this season.

Sunday we play Duffy/Amoyal, to whom we lost 2-3 in the first round with that killer 15-17 third-set tiebreaker. Obviously, we are capable of beating this team but we will all have to have our A game on to do so. So whether you are playing Saturday or Sunday, get a good night's rest, hydrate, and show up early for warmup. Most of all, be set to have fun and play great. Go team!

McMillian squeaks by, 3-2

OK. We got this match in today, despite the crazy weather-- played indoors at Balto Fitness and Tennis (Pikesville Hilton) Saturday night instead of outdoors at St. Tim's on Sat. afternoon. Thanks to everyone who got lots of phone calls and tried to rework schedules in order to get the match played!

So this was a great team effort that came up just a smidge short-- our two Ws were easy victories, and two of the 3 Ls came in the 3rd set tiebreak. Arrgh! Oh well-- we beat McMillian in the first round and this is a team that has beaten all the teams we've been unable to beat this season, so kudos to them. The key to their wins has been having 2 very strong singles players who have won nearly all the matches they have played. Both of those players came out tonight. Here are the scores:

1S) Jane took one for the team, playing Jemine Bryon & losing 1-6 1-6.

2S) Donna took Frances Ferdinand to 3 sets, but lost 6-1 0-6 0-1 (4-10).

1D) Jean & Katharine beat Elaine (Val) Parker and Joan White-McCain, 6-1 6-4.

2D) Emily & Karen lost to Toni Williams and Lauren Landskroner in a 3-set heartbreaker, 3-6 6-1 0-1 (7-10).

3D) Sue Lin & Cecile handled Meg McLean and Kim Caspari 6-1 6-2.

All in all, it would have been great to get a W here, but as far as Ls go, this was a very respectable one. This loss leaves us in the bottom half of the league (we currently have a 6-7 record), but there are still 3 matches to play, so gird your loins, girls! Let's end what has been a very good season for us as strong as we can.

Next match vs Levy (record 9-3): McMillian beat Levy (#2 in the league) in a match that was just completed this week (3-2), so let's take this close loss today and turn it into a W on Wednesday. Levy went to districts last year and lost some players who got bumped up, so they have weaknesses (especially in singles). However, you can't take anything for granted with this team so be prepared for anything. 8:30 pm @ Greenspring-- be there or be square ;-)

Ouch! A bad fall and a loss to Schlerf, 1-4

Well, this is what happens when your captain decides that getting a bobblehead is more important than tennis. Yes, we lost to Schlerf, 1-4 (more on this in a moment), but even worse, we've lost a teammate for the rest of the season due to injury. In the fourth point of their match, Wendy, one of the substitute captains, fell onto the back of her hand and had to go to the ER with the other substitute captain, Emily, leaving the team with no captains at all. After 3 hours in the ER, Wendy found out that luckily, her hand is badly bruised--no breaks or tears-- but she will be in a splint for a while and is dealing with a lot of swelling. Wish her a speedy recovery!

So #1 doubles (Wendy & Emily) had to retire vs. Joan Garlow & Beth Nguyen. Here's how everyone else fared-- some really close matches and a great singles win:

#2 doubles: Karen & Kelly were edged out by Sherry Dodson & Dale Gray, 5-7 4-6

#3 doubles: Sue Lin & Jane couldn't make the comeback vs Rebecca Hyman & Sydney James, losing 0-6 3-6

#1 singles: Donna shook off her first-round loss vs. Carolyn Norris and beat her this time in 3 sets, 3-6 7-6 1-0 (not sure of the tiebreaker scores, sorry--perhaps Donna could fill us in with a comment?)

#2 singles: Joy lost a close one to Beth Walters, 5-7 4-6

So really, despite the actual match score, things were very close here. In fact, I actually think we did better this time than we did the last time we played Schlerf; while in that match we lost 2-3, the losses were far more lopsided than last night. Great playing, everyone.

And yes, I got the bobblehead (Adam Jones) and it is immensely cool. Plus the Os won (6-4, vs. the Mets), even if Team Cole did not. So that's something.

Thanks to Wendy & Emily for subbing as captains in what ended up being a very eventful match. Luckily we were able to get the indoor courts without any problem.

On to McMillan this Saturday, 4 pm at St. Tim's. McMillan is just behind us right now in the standings and have been playing very well. So be ready for some tough opponents. Storms are being forecast--unfortunately, this team does not like to go indoors, so be prepared to have to reschedule if it rains. Lineups also may be changing, so stay tuned on all fronts.

Check tennislink--we win, 3-2 vs Smith

Hi all--Sorry I can't do a writeup tonight but it is late, I have an early match tomorrow (vs Cecile's interclub team ... GRRR! ;-)), and I am going out of town. The news is, we win, 3-2, in a very balanced effort and some really close matches. Check Tennislink for the scores.

Enjoy your weekend off-- after this, it's the last big push to the end of the season. We have some people leaving to go to the beach & other leisurely activities, so the rest of us will need to pick up the slack. Laura is moving back to Richmond tomorrow, and we will soon be saying goodbye to two of our most consistent winners, Mary & Gayle. *tear*

I'll post more if I have time when I am in Portland (Maine). Looking forward to cooler, drier weather! 

Congrats to the team for the win tonight!!

Tough team L but a nice singles W vs Zylberberg

So, it was another tough match vs. Zylberberg (currently #2 in the league), which we lost 1-4. However, as with our last confrontation with this team, the singles players did very well, and I think the doubles teams put up a better fight this time than they did the first time around. Progress must be measured incrementally, right? Anyway, here are the scores:

1D) Jean & Trish had a great time losing to a very good team, Mary Carter & Debbie Hill, 2-6 2-6. I know you are not supposed to say you have a good time losing, but it was really true in this case.

2D) Mary & Laura lost to a very seasoned team, Key Wagner & Karen Cigrang, 1-6 1-2.

3D) Donna & Karen lost despite being up 4-2 in the first set to Jaime Brennan and Dovita Lerner, 4-6 2-6.

1S) Emily almost but couldn't quite eke out a win vs. Tracy Butz, 2-6 6-2 0-1 (4). Hats off to Emily for *almost* beating Tracy, who very rarely ever even gets to the 3rd set tiebreaker!

2S) Joy notched the big win for the day vs. KC Murphy in straight sets, 6-3 7-5.

With our win yesterday and our loss today, we remain in the middle of the scrum with all of the other teams that, like us, have .500 (or close to it) records. All the teams are very close this year, which has made for a lot of great tennis. 

Now-- on to our next match. This Wednesday, we need to say good-bye to one of our stalwart players, Laura Doub. She is moving back to Richmond and may not be coming back to Baltimore next year. She told me today that she would definitely be at Greenspring this Wednesday (our match is at 8:30)-- please come if you can to hang out, watch the courts you can (we will be occupying courts 5-9), & have a beer with Laura. We beat Smith last time--let's go for another W for Laura! :-)

finishing, beginning

The finishing part: Mary completed our first-round match vs. Levy (from several weeks ago) by winning the second set vs. Anna Qualls, 6-1. So we lost the match 4-1, with several 3rd-set-tiebreaker losses. Congrats to Mary for hanging in there and getting the W despite the team L! Let's try to turn that around in the second round.

And now for beginning: we started the second round today by defeating Dorkan-Messersmith, the 2nd-to-last-team after round 1, 3-2. This is the same score we beat them by during the first round, but the margin seemed a little more comfortable this time. Here are the individual match scores:

1D) Jean & Wendy lost to Jeanne Mirchin & Anna Culiner, 5-7 5-7

2D) Emily & Karen defeated Susan Valerino & Lauren Bott, 6-2 6-3

3D) Joy & Jane lost to Tina Turk & Gina Messersmith (who should not be playing at #3, but whatever), 1-6 2-6

1S) Gayle blanked Diane Carson 0&0 

2S) Cecile defeated Trish Pollak 6-1 6-3

All in all, a good win. Great playing, everyone!

Tomorrow we play Zylberberg, who is currently in 2nd place. It will be a very different day in the ball park ... but if we are all "on" and playing well together, we can pull this one out. One slight change in the lineup--Kelly is ill and so Donna is taking her place (make note, Karen) at #3 doubles. Mary, Joy, Trish, Emily, Laura, Karen, Donna-- let's plan to meet at Bryn Mawr at 3:30 pm tomorrow for warmup.

We will also be playing a tough match this Wednesday at 8:30 pm vs. Smith at Greenspring. As you can see on the blog, I've put together lineups for the rest of the season so please contact me if you have any conflicts.

Go team!

Jean