This year’s 9U County Cup was held at David Lloyd Southampton with the Girls playing on Saturday 25th March.
The Team was: Alina Al-Hafidh, Diana Florence, Kate Macaulay, Liliana Mawo, Sophia Rutorova
The Captains were: Joe Revelle and Assistant Isla Hignett
Match 1 vs Dorset
Our first fixture against Dorset was a close contest, tough matches straight away and the girls had to hit the ground running. Sophia won her singles with Liliana winning her singles tiebreak to give us 2-2. Some excellent doubles followed, Diana & Sophia playing superbly to win the tiebreak which led us to an exciting match shoot-out! Diana & Liliana paired up to win Hampshire & IOW the tie and put us in the running to top the group! Hampshire & IOW 4 – 3 Dorset
Match 2 vs Wiltshire
The girls were straight back onto court following the high performance vs Dorset. Diana, Sophia and Kate all won their singles without dropping a game. The girls were aggressive and imposed their game throughout the matches. Diana & Sophia teamed up to clinch us the tie in the doubles. The Hampshire & IOW girls showed great fight, skill & team spirit. Hampshire & IOW 4 – 2 Wiltshire
Match 3 vs Sussex
The girls were focussed going into the tie knowing a win would put them in place for a decider against Kent. Diana, Sophia, Liliana and Kate all won their singles to put us 4-0, Liliana clinching her match in yet another tiebreak, these girls fight hard! We then won the doubles dropping 1 game to give the girls a massive confidence boost for our next round. A great win to setup the last tie with Kent to decide the #1 spot. Hampshire & IOW 6 – 0 Sussex
Match 4 vs Kent
Our final round vs Kent to decide the winners of the group and who would be going to the finals.
We started strong in the singles, Diana getting a fantastic win at #1 with Sophia winning a fantastic tiebreak to send us into the doubles drawing at 2-2. Kent however proved too strong in the doubles with some fantastic baseline play and brave volleying taking both rubbers to finish as top in the group. Hampshire & IOW 2 – 4 Kent
A massive well done to all the girls for competing so fiercely and representing Hampshire & IOW so proudly. Two shout-outs to Sophia for winning all her singles matches and Liliana for playing up a year early and handling the pressure so well.
Overall Result – Runners-Up
Joe Revelle – 9U County Captain
