The Tigers Finish in the Heart of the Competition

I was proud to watch so many of our players compete so well today at the Eight Annual Tiger Invitational Tennis Tournament.

Hopkins 27
Northfield Mount Hermon 15
Williston 14
Suffield 13
Wilbraham & Munson 8
Gunnery 5
Pomfret 5
Berkshire 1

The weather dramatically cleared in time for some of the tournament’s best competitive tennis to date. While we have had only one rain out in our short history, today bright sunshine and azure, optimistic sky brought out everyone’s best tennis and sportsmanship! There were so many positive examples ofsportsmanship, and many of the coaches reported observing some of the best points played in the season.

In the challenging number one singles flight, Emily found herself battling formidable foes who hit fifteen to twenty balls back in an average exchange. In her own fashion, she won two of her first round matches yet fell to Lulu from Wibraham and Munson, the eventual winner of the number one singles draw. Emily played a competitive second round match against a great player from Germany and earned her teammates another crucial team point. Rebecca excelled in her first round matches, winning a close match against her Gunnery opponent and a convincing one against her Pomfret rematch. Though she lost her last match of the first round to her Hopkins’ opponent, the eventual winner of the flight, she put together some very aggressive groundstroke to win soundly a second round match against a very strong player from Williston. Most impressively today was Rebecca’s power forehand as well as some of her inside out forehand winners.

In the doubles realm, Neelam and Andrea put together some very competitive double points, but in the end fell to some very strong and spirited doubles teams; they lost to the number one doubles team from Hopkins, who also eventually won the flight. Caitlin and Jessie were undefeated in their first round of play; they began the day ready for business and executed some sound groundstroke play as well as a dominant net game. During their second round match against a very skilled and strategic squad from Hopkins, they were not controlling their shots as much as they liked. They successfully regrouped yet encountered an even more motivated Hopkins team. While both teams raised the level of play, Hopkins took an early lead; Jessie and Caitlin then launched an admirable comeback from 1-4, and fought for every point to the end. Unfortunately, the fell a little short and lost the second set, 5-6.

Big team shout-out goes to Alex, Annabelle, and Caroline for their play in the draw. They donned a tournament tee shirt and played for some missing players from another team. Alex played her best tennis responding to some challenging shots from three other number one singles players in her competitive flight. Annabelle gelled with a new doubles partner from NMH and played some of her best doubles in this rigorous environment. Caroline’s game also exhibited great signs of improvement, and she won her last match of the day at number two singles.