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Team: Rebecca Finch, Alice Gillan, Sophie Botham, Sophia Thomas, Gaby Paul, Olivia Parsons, Rachel Wray, Ellie Murphy, Anouska Newman and Mia Smith.
Team Captain: Pippa Lane
Assistant: Holly Richards
Dates: 1-3rd March 2013. Venue: Deal, Kent. Group 2A
County Cup got off to a great start with several good practice sessions taking place between January & March. My goal was to focus our individual talents to combine well on the doubles court, something I knew would be the difference between winning and losing.
Thursday, 28th February we practiced for the final time before heading to Deal. I felt confident with the team knowing most of the team were actively competing in junior events at national and county level.
Friday 1st March: Kent v Durham & Cleveland
Rachel Wray & Anouska Newman were on first, both playing lower rated players. I was very confident and the outcome of both matches was inevitable. Anouska played well and made quick work at #5 winning 0&2. Rachel playing her first 18s match was a little nervous to start but far too strong for her opponent, cleaning up 3&0.
Playing at #4 singles was Ellie and she played a steady match to win 1&2. Soph Thomas was far too strong and fast to waste any time beating Iona Amos at #3 singles 1&1.
Rebecca Finch played #2 singles and took a little time to relax and compete as I knew she could so played a close first set, winning 7-5. Once Rebecca had taken the set she performed much better to close out the match 6-0.
Kent 5-0 up after five singles rubbers giving us the win for the day.
Gaby went on at #1 singles against a very inform Farah Abdel-Aziz. The first set Farah controlled well, moving Gaby a lot and punishing her at the net. The second set Gaby competed better and focused on a few tactics to push Farah around a little more. Although Farah took the set 7-5 it was a much better performance from Gaby.
That was to be the only rubber Durham took off Kent on the first day. Sophie Botham and Alice Gillan played a solid match at #3 doubles. They combined well and were too consistent winning 2&4. Anouska and Mia played very well at #2 doubles, hitting with good pace from the back court and intercepting well around the net. Mia's serve and movement around the net was impressive for a girl of 14. A good win for Kent 2&3.
The final match of the day was #1 pairing of Becs & Gaby. Their experience shone through as they played consistent tennis, took opportunities at the net and served consistently. A comfortable win by them took the Kent total to 8 rubbers to Durham's 1.
A very good day for the girls winning 8-1.
Saturday 2nd March: Kent v Hampshire & IOW
Although we had a good result on day one I knew today's match would be far tougher. Playing #6 to start the day was Mia Smith. She wasted no time and started strongly, producing good serves and heavy ground strokes. A comfortable win for her 3&2.
Anouska played very well at #5, moving the ball around well and moving forwards to win points from the net. She took the match 0&3.
Ellie at #4 didn't play like I know she can. Lack of match practice showed as she made too many mistakes losing 3&6.
Sophia T. Played strong tennis at #3 although made a lot of errors in the first set. She managed to hang in there and competed well to win 5&5.
Rebecca fought very hard for three sets and really turned the match around after dropping the first set. She didn't quite manage to grasp the win losing 6-3 in the 3rd.
Gaby struggled to find her game at #1 singles. She worked very hard and tried various tactics to beat Natalie Sayer but ultimately Natalie came out on top 3&4.
After singles Kent and Hampshire were level at three rubbers each.
Alice and Rachel took to the court at #3 doubles and had a very competitive match splitting sets and having to play a match tie break. Thankfully they took an early lead and won 10-4 in the third.
Anouska & Mia played well as a pair, combining well around the net and playing a solid back court game. A tight first set but 6-1 in the second took Kent to five rubbers.
Gaby & Becs played well at #1 doubles and showed maturity in playing consistently and keeping the errors to a minimum. A solid 6-3 6-1 win gave Kent a 6-3 win for the day over Hampshire & IOW.
So after Kent taking their first two matches and Sussex doing the same it all came down to Sunday. Which team was going to play toughest and really fight for promotion to group 1?
Sunday 3rd March: Kent v Sussex
Mia and Rachel went out for singles first at #5 and #6 respectively. Mia played to her strengths using powerful serves and ground strokes to attack Sussex, dispatching Elise Van Heuvelen comfortably 3&0.
Rachel struggled with her consistency, making too many errors she lost 3&2.
Anouska wasn't playing at her best, she was very nervous but competed well and earned the win 3&4.
Sophia Thomas put in a fantastic performance at #3 singles. She fought for every point, hitting well at the back and mixing up drive volleys and angles. She deserved the win but unfortunately Elspeth Griffiths had other plans and won 6-3 in the third. A tough loss for Kent.
Rebecca Finch didn't have the consistency from the back to overcome Sussex at #2 singles but still gave everything she had, losing 2&2.
Gaby playing #1 had a very tough opponent in Helen Clements but took a great 4-1 lead before dropping the set 6-4. Gaby kept fighting but couldn't quite get to the finish line, Sussex won 4&5.
Kent were facing an up hill battle as the score stood at 4-2 to Sussex after the singles.
I was confident we could win our #3 doubles as Soph and Rachel went out battling. I also believed in our #2 pairing of Mia & Noush.
Both matches were incredibly tight, being played next to each other meant we had plenty of action. Mia & Noush had a horrible start dropping the first set 6-0 but came back in the second to level the match with a 6-0 set win. Into the tie break on one court as Rachel & Soph fought and kept their first set all level. Noush and Mia took a 7-4 lead in the breaker before silly double faults meant the match levelled at 7-7. Sussex took their chances and ran away with the 6 points and with the tiebreak they took the match and the five rubbers were theirs.
So Sussex gain promotion after coming down from group 1 last year, Kent as hard as we tried came runners up for a fifth consecutive year.
Both Holly and I couldn't have asked for a better group of girls, the weekend was fantastic and I can't wait to see this team develop over the coming years.
The girls nominated Mia for most valuable player and Gaby for sportsmanship.
I'm so proud of these Kent girls, they showed team spirit from morning to night and were brilliant to work with. I hope they come back next year fighting.
A big thank you to Holly for being a great assistant and giving up her weekend to help. Also thank you to the girls and their parents who supported and to Janice in the office who does so much to make the weekend run smoothly.
It looks like 2014 will now have to be our year!