September 27, 2023

It was a close one.  Though the Cowgirls were edged out, this second time through showed good to great strides in play and shots.

The Cowgirls managed to secure two singles from Christman and Johnson with McKnight forcing a third set tiebreaker by coming back in the second set to even play out.  It was hard fought with the freshy running her little legs off tonight tracking down the Whirlies shots.  It came down to stamina and a bit of luck.  Most tiebreakers do when they are as close as this one was tonight.

Picking it up at 1-1.

1-2

1-3

1-4

1-5 swap

2-5

3-5

3-6

4-6

4-7

4-8

5-8

5-9

6-9

7-9

7-10 for the final third set tiebreaker.  Evelyn fought well.  Ladies and gentlemen, she has a game and it will only get better.

Christman roared in the first set but her game was misplaced somewhere in the second set.  After a search party was sent out looking, Christman found it on the court!  Of Course!  This was the last place she had her game.  After picking it up for the third set, she went up 5-1 before trading points to secure the match 10-5 in the third.

Bella picked up the pieces on court 6 tonight.  Moving her opponent at will through most of the match, left and right, and most importantly, back and forth to secure her match 1 and 3.

Rachael and Church held the middle ground once more while the underclassmen could get to work tonight.  Though falling to the Whirlies, Coach noted these two seniors have really come into their hitting strides.  Unfortunately, courts 3 and 4 are the true battlegrounds of talent throughout the conference.  Spin, depth, placement, slices….they were all present tonight in these matches with games ever so close but rarely falling our way when the final point was awarded.  Keep battling ladies!

So too the result from court 1 – Anna.  Anna really wanted to beat the Whirlie #1 tonight.  Topspin, slice, angles, depth, shorty shots…everything was played well, but the Whirlie simply one upped Anna to close out the match.  So in short, no, but what did happen was best described by one of the Grimsley parents…unknown to the Cowgirls before tonight.  In short, “Your number 1 did amazing.  She literally changed every aspect of her game in the second set to try to mount a comeback against <the Whirlie>.  I have never seen anyone else do this to that degree.”  Though not verbatim, this is really close and the sentiment was captured.

Anna goes down 4 and 4.  To look at the score, nothing really stands out until you consider the story as a whole.  The first time these two played, 4 and 3 loss Anna.  She played, she lifted, she moved, but clearly the Whirlie dialed her in and beat her.  Tonight, Anna played her game, but came up short 4-6 in the first.  Down 0-1 in the second, Coach gave limited advise.  No, a win was not likely, but either keep the game you are playing, or change an aspect to truly work out a shot or two.  Anna took this to hear. 

Down 0-1, 0-2, 0-3, 1-3, Anna begin to play…let’s just call it, Anna 2.0 or Anna (Senior yr preview).  Imagine fancy script and a futuristic font.   Anna Sr Year Preview   .  Yeah, that about captures it. Instead of a lifted topspin to hold the Whirlie back, it was a directed topspin.  Instead of waiting for a shot, Anna was moving in.  Instead of volleys going back to the middle, Anna was cutting them off to the side in solid fashion.  It was her game, immensely improved.

Once more, was it enough to take down the giant?  No.  But it was enough to challenge the Whirlie shot for shot instead of a glorified game of attrition.  Anna earned back her two breaks before the Whirlie could pull out of the nosedive.  Anna finished singles tonight 4 and 4 in a great preview for next season.

Down 2-4 in singles…narrowly missing out on court 2, the Cowgirls had to win all 3 dubs to take the win.

Once more, no, it doesn’t end that way, but the Cowgirls made magic tonight.

Dee and Christman did battle at dubs 3.  Though good depth and power from both, it was the solid net play from Rachael that made the difference on this court.  Christman was no slouch, mind you, but Rachael’s hustle, running, and slice were the real stars.  Well played ladies.

McGinnis and Johnson played dubs 2.  Shot to shot, McGinnis and Johnson should have ripped these two, but the Whirlies were a persnickety duo.  One was hot and cold (simmering under the cool misty night) while the other could run down anything.  It was enough to challenge the Cowgirls throughout the pro-8 set.  Though up a break early in play, the Whirlies would not just wave from the dock and allow the Cowgirls to sail.  Points were long.  Play was good.  Anna dominated net with great reach/pull downs of the overheads while Bella finessed the net in her wonderful way.  Both Cowgirls had little issue with the returns and continuance of play, but to close multiple games to their favor was a harder task.  At the end, Cowgirls prevail, 9-7. 

McKnight and Church played court 1 dubs.  From the get go, they began back negating the flow of points the Grimsley girls had apparently been well trained on.  How does Coach know this?  From singles to dubs, both eh Whirlie #1 and #4 completely changed their games.  Where both single courts abounded in power and precision, dubs was marked by longer points and multiple attempts to gain dominance at the net.  In short, the Cowgirls threw them off of their orig game.  Though hit and miss in their attempts, slowly the Whirlies chipped away at the combined strength of the Cowgirls.  These two go down swinging 3-8, but the individual games were much closer than it appears. 

To close….

Coach continues to see progress at each talent spot.  Unfortunately, the wins have not followed the steady growth the Cowgirls have experienced this season. 

The Cowgirls will continue play at home tomorrow (Thursday – 9/28) v BMHS.

Thanks for reading.

Gianna Blacutt(Grimsley) over Anna McGinnis(SW)6-4,6-4

Violet Sprange(Grimsley) over Evelyn McKnight(SW) 6-2,4-6, 1-0 (10-7)

Jordan Britt(Grimsley) over Rachael Dee (SW) 6-0, 6-0

 Morgan Buckrhan(Grimsley) over caroline church (SW) 6-0,6-1

Caroline Christman(SW) over Elly Martin(Grimsley) 6-3 1-6 1-0 (10-5)

Bella Johnson(SW) over Ella Willse(Grimsley) 6-1 6-3

DOUBLES

Gianna and Morgan( Grimsley)  over McKnight and Church(SW) 8-3

McGinnis/Johnson (SW) over Britt and McIntyre(Grimsley) 9-7

Dee/Christman(SW) over Eliza Lee and Ava Peacock(Grimsley) 8-2

Cowgirls lose 4-5 in a quality match

Cowgirls move to 8-11, 3-9 in conf

Cowgirls will host BMHS on Thursday.