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Pork chops 1-1 on the season
On Friday, November 12th we played our 2nd match of the season against the Pirates. The Pirates kept us out of the playoffs two years ago and they always play us tough. Neither team had their best lineup available but each court was hotly contested and the Pirates in the end handed us our first setback of this young season. The good news is that we play everyone twice so we’ll get another shot at the Pirates to rectify the wrong 🙂
It is so much easier to play in the important matches than to watch them. I paced the hallway at Tennis Addiction much like an expectant
father in the hospital. I was roaming nervously from court to court and when you are watching more than one court it’s difficult to tell who’s winning. Your impressions are formed by the points you see and considering Federer in his prime only won 58% of the his points – it’s not uncommon to see your team lose what seems like every point you witness and then have your teammates walk up the stairs after the match with a big smile and 2&2 win.
The good news with our newly assembled team is that the parity is incredible. We have two practice courts every Friday night and regardless of the individual matchups on a given week, the sets typically go to tiebreakers and no one team has emerged as a clear starter. We will run our 4th annual Kings & Queens team tournament this year so hopefully we’ll be in contention and our top teams will reveal themselves.
On to the match, at 1st doubles Andrea Napoli and Joe Ferry defeated Liz Eukers and Bill Eyre in straight sets. Although this was a very strong team for us, this was a close match that was never a sure thing. Congrats to Andrea for her successful PCA debut. Liz and Bill are both ex-teammates of mine and they smartly played everything they could away from Joe who is a very top of level 4.5. Fortunately for our team, Andrea really came through with a solid effort.
At 2nd doubles, Stacy Bjorhus and Chris Kyper took on the best team of the night for the Pirates in Laine Dunsheskie and Anthony DeCecco. Stacy and Chris won together at the 2010 Mixed Sectionals in June which was played at Hempfield Rec in Landisville, PA. Chris is a take charge 4.5 guy and so is Anthony. The strategy on both sides was similar and essentially the tide turned when we failed to convert 3 set points in the opening set. Congrats to Laine and Anthony who played great.
At 3rd doubles, Jaclyn Gleber and Rob Attman took on Elizabeth Tassone and Jim Ganley. The first set was a war and we lost it in the tiebreaker 6-8. We played much better in the 2nd set and won it comfortably 6-2. Our momentum continued well into the 3rd set but despite a 5-1 lead and a match point that was hit long, the score was much closer than indicated. After a few tight points and some great play by Elizabeth and Jim (they deserve all the credit) we dropped the 3rd set 5-7.
Our team is all about having fun and this agonizing defeat will serve as a prominent reminder just how competitive USTA tennis is. Up next is Just for Fun on Saturday 12/4 and I consider them the favorite to win our flight. This match has added importance because of our loss. I am confident in our team and I think we will rise to the challenge. A win 12/4 and our flight is essentially back to all-square. Grrrrrrr!
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