The Team was: Lana Benson, Harriet Burley, Scarlett Doman, Victoria Ernsberger, Katie Hart, Ivana Maynard, Evie Pate, Mia Zhou 
Team Captains: Debbie Hale and Lisa Radford
Other Counties: Berkshire, Derbyshire, West of Scotland
This year we had a few last timers, Ivana, Scarlett, Harriet, all moving into adults next year. It will be a great loss for the team. A few debutants, Evie Pate and Lana Benson, so great to have opportunities to play up.
We were set for a weekend of tennis with our supporters and had the dinners all planned.
Day 1 – Berkshire
Scarlett led the team with a close 1st set winning 7-5 and then stormed to a 6-2 win. Harriet battled a tough 3 setter losing 4-6, winning the 2nd set 6-3 and after another hour at least of play lost out 7-5. Victoria played confidently and soared to a 4&3 win. Evie Pate, making her debut, firing all cylinders had a 1&3 victory so the the match was at 3-1. Mia and Ivana had to face two top national players losing out to great potential.
Going into the doubles, the match was now tied 3 all. Pairings secured Harriet and Katie Hart played some great doubles and took a smart win 2&2, followed by Scarlett and Ivana, as no.2 pair, winning in a champs tiebreak. With the match now complete, Evie and Mia could play relaxed and stormed a victory. Successful day 1 – winning the match 6-3. 
Day 2- Derbyshire
Lana Benson made her debut at no 6 winning 0&0. Katie Hart, getting her first run out, had a first close set 7-5 and then settled into her swing 6-3. Harriet loves to battle and lost the first set 7-6(4) and lost out 6-1. Evie stormed a 2&1 win. Mia lost out 7-6(5), 7-5 and Ivana took a win 5&3.
4-2 lead into the doubles, so all to count. Katie and Harriet led the way with a great 6-2 6-0 victory. We replaced Victoria for Ivana in the doubles to rest Ivana for Sunday. So Victoria partnered Scarlett and they won 3 &2 and Mia and Evie in full momentum took the final win 2&2. End of day result 7-2.
Day 3 – West of Scotland
The final day for promotion, with West of Scotland having a high end group of players we knew it would be a challenging day.
Scarlett led the day losing 3&7, but it was great match and she should be proud of her performance. Harriet stole a win 4&0 so was great to finish her singles weekend with a win.
Victoria had a mammoth 3-set match lasting 3 hours, finally running out of steam and facing 5-1 down in second set to lose 7-5. Evie and Mia took the wins with Ivana in a 3-setter finishing after 3 hrs 6-4 so finished the singles 3 all, so all to play for going into the doubles. Harriet and Katie won 5&5 to lead the team 4-3, then Scarlett and Ivana were unfortunately outplayed and lost 4&3 and then Mia and Evie lost out 1&3. So with a 4-5 end of day result meant we were runners-up.
Overall, it was a great weekend, with great play and contribution from the girls. The girls are a great team to manage and we enjoyed our time.
Good luck to Harriet, Ivana and Scarlett as they will be leaving the juniors at the end of the year.
Debbie Hale – 18U Girls Captain
