Our first match of the finals saw us take on Leicestershire, they had quite the reputation and on paper looked were a formidable opposition.
Skye was up first, taking on the opposite number. Skye started well, putting her opponent under pressure and had her rattled, the pressure was high and you could really tell from the first ball that this environment had already got to all the girls. Skye fought hard and competed really well but her opponent was the complete player and took the match in two sets to put our opponents ahead.
Lauren was next to play, she was up against an absolute wrecking ball of a player, strong, powerful and hitting winners for fun! Lauren used her strengths really well, making lots of balls, trying to draw errors but it just wasn’t enough, we were soon 2-0 behind with Lois on next. The match was a marathon, 2 hours of momentum swinging back and forth. Both girls gave it their all and Lois came so close, but just missed out on a match tiebreak by the smallest of margins, it meant we had already lost overall before the doubles but we knew we could use that match as practise for the rest of the weekend.
Skye and Lois teamed up and were really competitive against the two girls from Leicestershire, it was another defeat but we drew lots of positives from it and we looked ahead to our other matches.
On Day two we started against Hertfordshire, they had both their boys and girls at the finals and we got a sense that they really rated their chances of not just beating us, but winning the whole competition. It really motivated us going into the match.
Skye and Lauren both lost their singles, once again, the opposition were just a little better than our girls who really did themselves justice.
It was Lois’ match at number 3 which we knew was the one we had to win and Lois didn’t disappoint. She raced through the first set without dropping a game and had her opponent in all kinds of trouble, however, after a topsy-turvy second set, we were in a match tiebreak. Lois had a battle on her hands as it really looked like her opponent had got her act together just when it mattered! After another fightback from Lois, her opponent buckled giving us the win.
The doubles was another close match, again we dominated the first set, took our foot off the gas in the second and then came storming back in the tie break! The match was to be decided on a match tiebreak shootout, Skye and Lois felt confident and they won the match comfortably to give us our first win and one that may not have been expected! Hertfordshire were all of a sudden very quiet as the Kent team celebrated a great win.
North of Scotland were our next opponents, we knew if we beat them we would compete for 3rd/4th place on the final day. Syke and Lauren both won their matches with considerable ease in no time at all. Madeleine was up against a touch cookie and after a hard fought baseline battle, juts came off second best to once again set up a doubles decider.
By now, Skye and Lois had struck up a great partnership and their opponents were no match for them at all, we were convincing winners and after a tough first day against Leicestershire, who by the way were now in the final, we had completely turned our fortunes around and were guaranteed a top 4 finish.
On the last day, the last match was against Avon, who some believed would win overall as their number one player was a force to be reckoned with. Skye lost the match to her, although she didn’t go down without a fight, Lauren won a tough battle and you guessed it, Lois won a very tense third set tiebreak, I think she tried her best to give me a heart attack over the weekend, but I had every faith in her.
The doubles was a tough match mentally for our girls, they were the better team but tiredness was creeping in to all of their games. The Avon number one was causing all types of problems at the net, we just couldn’t seem to get it away from her. However, we knew Skye and Lois were a great team and great teams work out a way to win, which they did and they did so in straight sets.
It was a great effort from the girls once again and it meant that Kent finished third overall which was a fantastic achievement.
The only team we lost to were the overall winners which made our result feel even better.
I would like to thank all of the girls and their parents for making this year so enjoyable, it really was a pleasure to captain the side, we are getting closer and closer each year and with the great team spirit that we have, who knows what we can achieve next time.
Harry Bushnell
Captain