The girls were ready for their annual competition to start and were very determined to try and get promoted.  The Hampshire &IOW team had some new younger members this year representing the 18U’s for the very first time.

The Team was:                 Emma Bebbington, Lana Benson, Victoria  Ernsberger, Katie Hart, Tobechi Nwawudu, Evie Pate, Leena Sunil, Mia Zhou

Day 1 v Staffordshire:

The girls were expecting to play Devon, however with a slight change of plan, they were told their new opponents for the day were Staffordshire.

Tobechi and Leena kicked off the day and only dropped 1 game between them.  Fantastic start to the weekend and this was followed by another two great wins from Emma and Lana.  4-0 up so only one more win needed to secure the win for the day.  Mia and Evie secured another two wins, again, only dropping one game between them. What a brilliant singles result for the first day.  6-0 up and the girls were in very good spirits for the doubles knowing they had got the win. Emma and Victoria smashed their way to victory, this was then followed by Lana and Katie taking no prisoners and securing another win. On goes Evie and Mia to secure a very impressive 9-0 win against Staffordshire.

The girls managed to finish in such a time they took to the bowling alley to see who the real champion of the day was.  We can definitely say their tennis skills are far better than their bowling talents.

Day 2 v Devon:

After a very successful first day we decided to keep the playing order exactly the same against Devon.  Tobechi and Leena started the day off with another two fantastic wins.  Emma and Lana followed with matching winning scores of 6-3 6-2. 4-0 up and again Hampshire & IOW only needed one more win to secure the day.  Mia and Evie had some tough opponents, but both managed a great win to take us 6-0.  With a day 2 win the girls went on for their doubles.  The Devon opponents were much better at doubles so the Hampshire & IOW girls were very pleased they had won all their singles.  Emma and Victoria fought hard to get a 7-5 6-3 win.  Lana and Katie had a great battle winning 10-4 in the third set match tie break.  8-0 up but the score has not reflected the quality of the matches.  Evie and Mia had a very tough match and were beaten over the finish line in the third set championship tie break.  What a fantastic second day winning 8-1.

Day 3 v Somerset:

Day 3 is when it really counts to see who gets promoted and relegated.  Both Hampshire & IOW and Somerset had won the previous 2 days, so it was down to today to see who would win the group.  We knew Somerset were going to be tough opponents so the girls were ready to fight hard.  It was decided that the singles players were staying the same.  On go Tobechi and Leena who dug deep and played exactly how we needed them to.  They were exceptional and smashed their opponents.  Wow what a great two wins to start the day.  Next up was Emma and Lana who knew they were in for tougher matches.  Emma stayed solid and took another win for the team. Lana had a very strong opponent who was too good on the day and got Somerset on the scoreboard.  3-1 up and it was time for Mia and Evie to head on court.  Mia pulled off a fantastic win, but Evie had an exceptionally talented opponent who she just couldn’t quite get the better of.  Singles done and Hampshire & IOW were 4-2 up. One more win needed to get promoted so Debbie and Lisa decided to rejig the doubles to try and guarantee just one win, as we knew Somerset had very strong doubles pairs.  After repairing, our third pair was now Victoria and Mia and second pair was Katie and Evie.  Both very strong pairs and we were hopeful one of them could secure us a win.  The matches were very very close, but Evie and Katie lost to Somerset’s strong second pair.  Score 4-3.  Victoria and Mia held strong and with some good concentration and team work they pulled off the win we were looking for.  Emma and Lana played Somerset’s exceptionally strong first pair and after giving it their all, they lost in a close match.

What a fantastic 5-4 win against Somerset.  It couldn’t have been closer but the girls definitely deserved the promotion after their hard work and great tennis all weekend.  The girls had a brilliant time in Taunton and were already talking about next year’s competition.

Well done Hampshire, whoop whoop!

Good luck to Katie and Victoria as they leave the 18U’s at the end of this year.

Debbie Hale – Team Captain and Lisa Hanley – Assistant Captain