The weather cooperated and with the generosity of Anne Thomas and the Walla Walla Country Club, we had 8 awesome outdoor courts and our 4 indoor courts hopping with great tennis, which I'll continue to describe here.
I've already recounted the exploits of much of the team and I'm excited to add that Charlotte in her junior year continues her steady progression as a player and a leader on this team. After a first round loss she moved into the consolation in singles and eventually lost to Willamette's #3 player who won the consolation. Her high level of play and great teamwork carried into the doubles consolation where she teamed with 1st year Leah Siegel of Portland, OR to roll through the consolation doubles and take home the title. Each match they worked better and better as a team and upset some teams that I'm sure will be solid contributors to the lineups of our conference opponents. The best part was through their sniffles (both had colds), they focused all the way to earn huge smiles and hugs from their teammates at the end.
Our other Portland first year, Maggie Eismeier (of Portland, ME), had a tough first round match and recovered to get some great college experience in the back draw, nearly knocking off a solid player from LC. What the scoreboard doesn't show is that Maggie has recently re-worked much of her game and is adjusting to new technique beautifully and now she has an idea of the level of college competition so I know she's ready to keep growing her game and will be a force to be reckoned with in the very near future.
Hannah Palkowitz is not from any city called Portland, but rather, hails from San Diego, CA. Hannah and Amanda had some streaks in doubles and she showed her abilities but also her need to tighten things up a bit. Also, for not having played a lot of singles in high school and coming off of a hamstring injury this summer, her singles game is going to be as good or better than her doubles.
While Dena's 28-26 tie break and our doubles consolation wins were two of the most memorable events of the weekend, it was our top two players who provided some of the best tennis and surely the most excitement and energy to the center of campus.
Elise held to her seed up to the quarterfinals where the first set with finalist and defending champion Abby Olbrich was outstanding. After Abby snuck out the first, she got a lead in the second and held on, but Elise showed that her outstanding form at the end of last season in singles is not far off and that she can play with any player she'll face. Alyssa also held to her seed, but just barely. After falling behind 0-2 in the first set to top seed Natalia Agarycheva of Willamette, Show Pony ran off a string of games to take the set 6-2 in prancing style. As Natalia heated up in the second she got an early lead and stayed ahead to take it 6-3, and at this point, with all respect to the other semifinal match between two outstanding and talented players, the big hitting, wonderful hustle and ability of both to compete made this the highest quality match of the tournament for me - though I am biased since I coach Alyssa. Down 3-5 in the third, Alyssa held easily and fought hard to break for 5-5. Another hold had her a game from the finals, but Natalia, who possesses one of the biggest serves in D3 tennis, came up huge with only one missed first serve and huge groundies to back it up to force a deciding tiebreak. Unfortunately for Alyssa, who maintained a high level through the tie break, Natalia came up with a couple key shots and ShoPo's somehow found the top of the tape to send the #1 seed to the final with a 7-4 tiebreak win.
So, with some much needed time to rest while Abby and Natalia fought out the singles final, ShoPo and Twitch readied themselves to face Abby and her high school doubles partner and new college doubles partner Sarah Click. While we had the #1 seeding and had beaten Abby and multiple time doubles all-American Sallie Katter
So, the regional ended in sunshine and victory, but more importantly, it was a great event for our players and fans to enjoy the hard work they've put in and set their sights on how we must keep improving this year in a conference with amazing parity.
Thanks to all who attended and cheered and especially to all the families who came and supported as well as helped out with making the tournament run smoothly. An extra huge thanks goes to Katie who worked tirelessly to keep things moving, keep our athletes fed and also to coach all at the same time and to the Norsworthy's for running the tournament desk at Walla Walla Country Club, we couldn't have had so much great tennis without you.
From sunny Walla Walla,
