Commitment, determination and pure hard work see David Lloyd 14 and Under team win second fixture of season.
The team included Samantha Reed, JoJo Booth, Victoria Cornelius and Samantha Cornelius. They travelled to Tennis World on Sunday February 26th and won the match 4-2. However, winning the tie hasn't been the main focus from the team rather doing the correct things and doing them well. All of the girls have been training hard at David Lloyd Teesside over the winter months. Whether this has been in squads, individual lessons or just hitting with each other, captain Jo Cunliffe has been proud of their development,
"Over the last 12 months it has been quite a tough journey with some of the players being very new to competing. However, the emphasis has always been on development and enjoying the opportunities. To hear the girls say that they are really enjoying competing and seeing diferent venues and players has been the most rewarding aspect so far."
On the day against Tennis World, all of the matches were played with great heart and spirit. Particularly Samantha Reed who won a tight match against Lois Page at the number one singles. Samantha got into a great lead and then Lois fought back to bring it to 3-3 in the second set, but the David Lloyd player continued to focus and play the ball and eventually won the match 4-2, 5-3. All of the spectators mentioned what great rallies they were having which was nice to hear. So well done to both of them.
In the second tie singles, Chante Malo played against JoJo Booth with a tight first set seeing a number of nails being bitten on the sidelines. Both players were determined and were running after every ball but Chante just secured the first set 5-3 with some outstanding winning forehands.
Third tie was against Niamh Reid versus Victoria Cornelius. Victoria used her tactics well, particularly hitting high balls on the hard courts and saw her take victory 4-0, 4-2.
Victoria's sister Samantha then took on the fourth position versus Charlotte Stephens. Charlotte was an absolute gem by standing in at the last second to ensure that the fixture was enjoyed by everybody. Samantha appreciated this and they played a good match against each other with Samantha taking the match 4-0, 4-1.
The doubles ties were split between the teams and both captains have some great ideas to work on by watching both matches. Doubles should realy be about being positive at the net and volleying effectively. Lois and Chante showed a good example of this along with Victoria and Samantha.
Next stop for David Lloyd Teesside is their last fixture against Virgin Active Wearside on Sunday March 11th. We wish them well in this tie and as Jo said,
"Whatever happens in this last tie, we are over the moon with the girls."
To see all results in the North East Junior Winter Leagues please go to the British Tennis software site.