11U Girls County Cup Report

The Herefordshire & Worcestershire 11U Girls County Team played teams representing Cambridgeshire, Nottinghamshire, Yorkshire, Lancashire and West of Scotland at The Manor Park Club, Malvern on Saturday 15th and Sunday 16th June 2024 in Group 1B of this year’s County Cup event.

Captain: Chris Marlow
Assistant Captain: Katy Lewin

Team: Ruby, Allegra, Summe, Lizzie and Luna

Day 1 Arrival:

The team arrive on a wet drizzly morning at 8:45am to warm up, hit some balls and prepare for their matches. As the acrylic courts are wet and the forecast is for more rain it is certain there will be delays today!

After clearing the courts twice and trying to stay ready to play the matches finally get underway in the indoor centre at 12:30pm.

Singles v Nottinghamshire:

Summer and Luna are on first. Luna plays a solid game with few unforced errors against Roksana and wins comfortably 4-0 4-1. Summer starts aggressive and takes the first set 4-0. A couple of missed balls early in the second set and Summer stats to play with less conviction in her attacking game and Imogen picks up her level and wins the second set 0-4. After the reset of the second set Summer starts the match tie-break well with more composed positive tennis. Summer leads 7-1 in the tie break and looks comfortable but the Nottinghamshire player fights back to 7-6. Summer takes it point by point and just sees out the match 10-7 in a match that could have gone either way. Allegra plays with conviction and going for her shots wins 4-2 4-2. Ruby plays well against Sofia who is able defend and attack well and although Ruby fights hard she loses out 2-4 2-4.

Score: H&W 3-1 up after the singles

Singles v Cambridgeshire

After more waiting around the Luna goes on to play her singles on the Astroturf and Summer plays on the acrylic. The referee is doing his best to catch up with matches and get them on where he can. Luna finds Lillians pace on the damp Astro difficult to deal with as the balls come through fast. The only way to compete in this match is to go for her shots. After losing the first set 0-4 Luna does well to go for her serves and play more of the match on the front foot. Luna loses the second set 2-4 in a much more competitive set. Summer has a really close battle with Anamaya. In a match of good quality that could have gone either way Summer just loses out 3-4(5) 2-4. Allegra plays Megan who has a strong all court game. Allegra tries hard and even hitting with power on the Astroturf, Megan seems to be able to retrieve everything and then find the space well. Ruby and Analya have a great match. Ruby feels out of it in the first set and loses 1-4 but increasing her aggression she takes the second 4-3(5). Fighting to the end Ruby loses out 5-10 in the match tie-break.

H&W 4-0 down after the singles.

Doubles v Nottinghamshire

Allegra and Lizzie go on to play the doubles that will win us the tie over Nottinghamshire. The girls play good attacking tennis with balls being hit hard down the line making the net players defend. A couple of unforced errors from the Nottinghamshire pair and Allegra and Lizzie win the match 4-2 4-2. Summer and Ruby go on for their match just before 7pm. Although the singles matches had been close, Ruby and Summer looked confident in their doubles play against Sofia and Imogen. With some great cross court consistency and solid volleys (although the girls could be closer to the net!) the H&W girls were too strong and win 4-0 4-2.

Score: H&W Win 5-1

Doubles v Cambridgeshire

Luna and Lizzie go on to play Cambridgeshire at around 7pm while Ruby and Summer are playing doubles against Nottinghamshire. The girls find the match tough and although there are some good points played but the Cambridgeshire pair were too strong and take the match 0-4 0-4. As the tie is already 5-0 to Cambridgeshire and it is now past 8pm the decision is made not to play the last doubles. It has been a very long day.

Score: H&W Lose 5-0

Day 2 Arrival:

The team arrive on a lovely sunny morning at 8:15am – it’s looking like today there is no chance of rain! The girls warm up and get ready to play. H&W came second in their group and now play-off against Lancashire who just lost out to Yorkshire in a shootout in the other group. Matches start at 9:00am.

Singles v Lancashire:

Luna and Summer go on first. Luna is looking very comfortable against Jia who, although a very nice player, finds Lunas drop shot lob combination very difficult to deal with. Luna mixes the depth well and wins 4-0 4-1. Summer goes on against Chloe who plays an incredible match. Summer fights and stays calm but Chloe seems to be hitting winners from anywhere on the court including her serve. Allegra comes on and faces Esha. Allegra is performing at her top level, not only attacking well but really working hard on her retrieving. Although Esha takes the match 3-4(3) 2-4 it was a gutsy effort from Allegra. Ruby tries her best loses out to Vannesa 1-4 0-4.

Score: H&W 3-1 down after the singles

Doubles v Lancashire

The match is still live at 3-1 down and we know the girls can play great doubles. Allegra and Luna really push Chloe and Amarachi close. The H&W pair keep getting to ball back and the Lancashire pair who dominate so many rallies start missing a few. Luna and Allegra do well to take the first set to a tie-break and even better a 5-2 lead! Unfortunately, an H&W double fault, a couple of big serves from Chloe and the tie-break gets close! The Cambridgeshire pair take the set 6-8. The second set was also tight. The H&W pair battle but Chloe and Amarachi see out the match 2-4. Last match of the weekend Ruby and Summer go on. Although there is nothing to lose in the match the girls seem uptight and not gelling. The H&W pair lose the first set 2-4. Working better on their teamwork and helping each other the girls start to gain some momentum. As the belief gets stronger the girls play some great doubles with fantastic reaction volleys and attacking baseline play. H&W win the second set 4-1 and stay strong in the match tie-break to win 10-7.

H&W lose 4-2.

In short:

• 4th place out of 6
• Well done Cambridgeshire – 1st Place
• The players fought hard against a lot of quality opposition who in many instances had much higher rankings.
• We play, we learn, we move forwards!

Well done everyone!

Thank you Katy for your help over the weekend!

Chris Marlow