2 minute read
Blackhawk Ladies Tennis Team plays at Nationals in Orlando, FL
By Lisa Rasband, Resident since 2015
www.BlackhawkLivingCA.com
As told to you in the September 2018 issue of Blackhawk Living, the Blackhawk Ladies 2.5 tennis team went to Orlando, Florida to compete in the USTA National League Championships October 12th-14th.
Not even Hurricane Michael could thwart them from their goal to compete. They all went early to acclimate to the weather which was hot and humid. Practicing hard in the heat prepared them to meet their opponents and meet their opponents they did. The selection for who their opponents were going to be was determined by a random drawing which resulted in some tough competitive teams according to their coach Bryn Powell (Tennis Pro from Blackhawk CC).
The competition was tough with teams from Minnesota, Texas, Connecticut and Puerto Rico. They competed in 2 matches on Friday and 2 matches on Saturday with the hope of going to finals on Sunday. Friday morning brought their 1st win against the team from Minnesota winning 2 of the 3 lines.
Friday afternoon was much more difficult facing one of the pre-tournament favorites Texas, which ended in their first loss winning only 1 doubles line. Lucky for Texas this was their first match and they barely won the tiebreaker in the second doubles match. As disappointing as the first day’s results were, Saturday brought them 2 wins, one against Connecticut and one against Puerto Rico!! At the end of the day, they were in a 5-way tie for third. After going through the tiebreakers, comparing number of sets and games, the ladies of Blackhawk came up just short ending up in 6th place out of 20 teams. Ultimately, Puerto Rico won it all, however, our Blackhawk Ladies were the only team to beat them! Those are definitely some bragging rights!!
As their captain, Rebecca Hayton, and coach, Bryn Powell, stated, “they wouldn’t have changed one line up.”
The friendships formed on this team run deep with these 8 amazing ladies which include: Captain Rebecca Hayton, Co-Captain Joan Leone, Debbie Fuggetta, Wendy Greer, Aliza Grosh, Janine Lappin, Vicky McKeown and Lisa Rasband.
Lisa Rasband, teammate, said,
The team wanted to thank everyone who live-streamed their matches, even the ones at 4:30 AM!! There were text messages of encouragement and even the e-mails saying to move the scoreboard closer towards the camera. The support ran so deep for this group and their cup definitely runneth over. There is no way to express their gratitude except to say a heartfelt THANK YOU!! USTA, look out! We’re coming back next year!
