Team: Anna Buckley, Millie-Mae Matthews, Amelia Rajecki, Moira Johnson, Jasmine Ramsden.
Notts were in a group of 6 at Stourbridge Tennis Club. Essex were seeded in our group, with Buckinghamshire in the other group.
The first round for our girls was against Essex. Anna played well to win 6-3, 6-1, against Ashlie Hale. Millie-Mae was against Sarah Skaria, who she had played before, she played well wearing her opponent down , also winning 6-1, 6-2. Confidence was building as Amelia went on court, a very strong player at number 3, she also played solid tennis to win 6-3, 6-1. There had been a rain delay so the matches were now on the clay courts, which really suited Amelia’s game. Moira lost the first set 3-6, but having adapted to the clay, and with a lot of support from the team she won the second set on the tie-break 7-4. She then went down in the third set, but pulled it back to win7-5, a great win, giving the team a win over Essex. They still had to play out the doubles which Anna and Amelia won 6-1, 6-3. Millie- Mae and Jasmine played well but lost 4-6, 2-6.
The second team in our group was Shropshire who had a young team and the Notts girls were just too strong for them. Anna , Millie-Mae, Amelia and Moira all won in straight sets only dropping 3 games between them. Anna and Amelia won their doubles easily, Moira and Jasmine lost the first set 4-6, won the second 6-1, and the tie break 10-0. We did stay at the club to see who we would be playing for first place, as Derbyshire had beaten Buckinghamshire, Leicestershire had lost to Buckinghamshire. Leicestershire were 3-1 up against Derbyshire after the singles, so it was down to the doubles, which they won on tiebreaks.
So the girls were playing Leicestershire for a place in the finals. Anna won the first set against
Lilia Boukikova, but at 2-1 up she turned her ankle. She was allowed time for it to be iced, played on and won. Her ankle then had to be iced, strapped and rested and she is still recovering. Millie-Mae did not have a straight forward match, but she fought on and won in two sets. Amelia had an easy win, the girls were very excited – a lot of chanting, when Moira was playing, which yet again pulled her through. Four singles wins had taken the team to the finals. They were expected to play the doubles, but the rain was very disrupting. As all Counties had results the Captains all decided to concede the doubles.
The girls will be in the National Finals on May 13th, 14th,15th at the Nottingham Tennis Centre, well done girls, thank you to the parents who came to support and to Edward Benson for his help and support over the weekend.
Jane Stokes (Captain).