18U Girls County Cup Report
Team:
- Eva Haynes
- Grace Bertrand
- Milly Ponting
- Lara Karein
- Lucy Perry
- Ioana Nistor
- Amelia Moore
- Briony Dando
Friday: Gloucestershire v Northamptonshire (Lost 8-1)
The girls’ first match was against a very strong Northamptonshire team whose best player was ranked 12 in the country at U18s. Lara had a close battle during her first ever 3 set match, losing 6-4 in the 3rd set, and Grace and Briony won 10-2 in a match tiebreak at #2 doubles. The standard was high and the girls put in a great effort but Northamptonshire were unfortunately too strong.
Saturday: Gloucestershire v Berkshire (Lost 5-4)
The girls had an excellent showing against the eventual winners Berkshire. Singles wins from Grace, Milly, and Lara meant the score was tied 3-3 in rubbers going into the doubles. Amelia and Ioana were dominant in their win at #3 doubles with a score of 6-4 6-0, taking us to 4-3 up. Eva and Briony lost at #2 with some very close sets, and Grace and Lara fought well at #1 but the Berkshire #1s won them the tie. A really positive day and the girls took a lot of confidence going into day 3.
Sunday: Gloucestershire v Nottinghamshire (Lost 6-3)
The final day was a relegation battle against the home county Nottinghamshire. Ioana put us 1-0 up with a 6-3 6-1 win at #5 singles whilst Briony was having an epic 3 set match, just falling short 7-5 in the final set. Lucy staged a comeback in the second set at #4 singles but couldn’t quite take it to a 3rd set, and another win for Lara made it 2-2 in rubbers. Eva and Milly then lost to 2 very highly ranked players – they competed hard and the scores didn’t reflect the high level of tennis in both matches. Being 4-2 down overall we knew we had to win all 3 doubles to stay in the group. Grace and Lara were solid and won a tough 7-5 6-3 match at #2, and Ioana and Amelia almost brought it back to 4-4 but just lost in a long match ending in a set tiebreak and then a match tiebreak (6-0 6-7(6) 5-10). Eva and Milly played both of their singles opponents at #1 doubles and although they couldn’t get revenge in another quality match, they came off court smiling and happy with how they played.
Overall, the girls worked hard and competed really well. They supported each other on the sidelines and had fun off the court in the evenings. Considering a couple of the girls were carrying injuries the team did a great job and shouldn’t be disheartened by the results – Vicki and I were very proud of all of them and hope they had a good time!
Captains: Laura Eales and Vicki Hodgetts
