9U Girls North Area Finals Report
After winning the previous county event the girls were through to the North Area Finals which were being played at Loughborough University. The girls were super excited about the event and looked forward to competing against some of the best counties in the country. H&W would come up against West of Scotland, Cheshire, Cambridgeshire and Lancashire.
Team: Luna Lagomarsino, Evelina Skridla, Lottie Haines, Florence Northall and Iona Laidler.
First up the for the girls was West of Scotland. Luna was at no.1 singles and produced an intelligent performance changing the pace of the ball and waiting for her opponent to make the errors to win 4-0. Evelina at number 2 faced a strong player who hit the ball side to side forcing her to make the mistakes and so couldn’t get the win. Lottie at number 3 battled really hard forcing the set to go to a tiebreak with some excellent tennis, moving around the court at speed to chase everything down and hitting some great deep shots to force errors from her opponent. The tie-break was a really close battle with no player able to stretch a lead until right at the end when the West of Scotland girl took her match point to make it 8-6. Florence played at no.4 singles and tried hard but the West of Scotland girl was too consistent and took the win. In doubles Evelina and Lottie produced some brilliant doubles to get the win for H&W but Florence and Luna struggled against a strong first pair.
Result: 4-2 Loss
Next was a strong Cheshire side who had very good strength in depth. Luna faced a very good number 1 player who continually tried to hit the ball hard to the side of Luna coming into the net to try and finish the point but Luna was too skillful and made her opponent play too many awkward shots getting another 4-0 win. Evelina, Lottie and Iona played this time at 2,3 & 4 producing some good tennis but this Cheshire side wasn’t prepared to lose and battled hard to get all 3 wins. Into the doubles and possibly match of the day was an amazing performance at number 1 doubles by Luna and Florence who played so well to win 4-3. Florence produced some amazing shots to win the points in the tiebreak when under real pressure.
Result: 4-2 Loss
Cambridgeshire were the highest ranked county and had a team full of big hitters. A difficult task was ahead for the H&W girls but they were determined to give it their best shots. And that they did, Lottie, Evelina and Florence produced some good tennis but Cambridgeshire were too strong but reliable Luna got a third win without losing a game again controlling the game with her change of pace and skills to defend under pressure. The doubles was difficult and neither pair could get the win.
Result: 5-1 Loss
Last match of the day was against Lancashire who were fighting for second place with Cheshire. Luna topped off her perfect singles performances with a 4th 4-0 win. Iona did really well at number 4 with a performance that deserved a lot more than the score. Lottie and Evelina continued to show their hard work and determination to battle away but the Lancashire girls were slightly too strong this time and took the doubles too.
Result: 5-1 Loss
The girls produced performances that the whole county can be proud of. It was a long day at Loughborough and they were still playing and practicing with each other right until the very end showing their love of the game and determination to keep going and improving. It was a great experience for them to be involved in a county finals and they definitely showed that they deserved to be there. The girls will learn from this experience and I’m sure they will be coming back even stronger. Thank you to all the players and parents who came and supported on the day.
Matt Tully
9&U Girls County Captain
