USTA

"Always Be Closing" match #11 vs. Four Seasons "Nice Aces" This was as close as it gets. Seriously. Jeez!!!!! The last time we played against the "Nice Aces", we lost on all of their damp and musty Har-Tru courts. And the only court that was not a blow-out was singles (thanks, Lorraine!). It was a super tough match against very strong players on all courts. The things that were different this time were that there were NO uneven scores, the courts were our nice hard fast ones and that they did not sweep us. It's nice to play at home, that is for sure. Although the "Nice Aces" are a strong team and are currently only 1 individual win away from the top spot in the flight... they are always pleasant to play with and a nice group of women. SINGLES: Monica I played against Christiane, who also plays and wins a good number of 3.5 matches. She is a seasoned singles player and wins most of her matches at both levels. I knew this would be a tough match from the get go. Christiane won the first game, but I took over pretty quickly and won the next 3 in a row. It was neck and neck from then forward. I was able to keep a step in front and won the first set, 6-4. She started very strong in the second set and I completely lost all power in my forehand. I was pushing the ball and knew I was playing too tentatively. But I just couldn't find my mojo. I was down 5-2, but I never quit.... I managed to recover to 5-5 , but she closed it. So, we went to [...]

MATCH #7: INTENSITY "Always Be Closing" at Kings Hwy. "Shake and Serve". Today our "Always Be Closing" team rose to the challenge of playing against the team that holds the number one spot in our flight. Kings Hwy. "Shake and Serve" was ready for their typical smack-down match. But we surprised them. After all the courts were quiet and the ladies had started their way back home, the "Shake and Serve" captain (Deanne Coad) admitted that we were, in fact, the toughest team that they had played against this season. This was, indeed, a good match on all courts. Amazing points, tight games and scores don't get much closer. Here is how is played out: D1: Randa / Caroline The "Shake and Serve" team had just finished their team practice. They were warm and ready to play. With no pre-match open courts, our team was no where near as fired up. Randa and Caroline won the toss and chose to let Deanne and Michaela serve so that they would have a little warm up game. This ended up working against them because Randa and Caroline both had a hard time returning their tricky and very different serves (Deanne was hard and fast, Michaela was slower and required a completely different return). Many points were lost in the first set by the lack of service return. So the first set flew by quickly and Randa and Caroline were only able to squeak out one game win. But the feeling of panic subsided as they re-grouped and took notice of their opponents weaknesses.... hit at Michaela's feet and Deanne's backhand. Randa and Caroline were finally warmed up. But Caroline's serve was off and they decided to have [...]

October 16th, 2014 3.5 Matches First Match - Chelsea Piers - Blew Bayou (dork name): Nancy Singles: Nancy played a tough singles match losing in the first set but coming back strong second set beating her player 6-4, they split sets and went to the tie breaker which we know is a crap shoot...good job Nancy and thank you for playing singles! Theanne/PJ D1: Theanne and PJ had a good match against some fresh opponents who were tough on line calls and overall play. First match is always an adjustment thank you ladies for playing, next time you blow the ball by the blew bayou team! Ronit/Liz D2: Liz told me after that the match that it was a tough one but the opponents were definitely beatable, some times we are on and sometimes we are not and that is all part of the game. I know Ronit and Liz as a team are hard to beat, Ronit gets everything back no matter what and Liz is a force to be reckoned with at the net and she is one of the best most accurate lobbers I know. I have no doubt that if they played this team again they would do some damage...I won't use the blew bayou comment again. Tina/Betty D3 Congrats Betty and Tina on your win! Betty's first USTA 3.5 match too! WOOHOO! Nice clean up on court 3 with a 6-2 6-3 win! And Betty did tell me her opponents were actually nice! HEHE! Thank you everyone who played in the match! I know we all want to win but having a good match and playing well is almost just as good! Next time we will BLOW out the BLEW [...]