The Team was: Harley Burley, Freya Davies, Isla Hignett, Lottie Howard, Taro Keens, Magda Kornijczuk, Poppy Marston, Evie Pate, Anna Vinnell
Team Captain: Lisa Hanley
Other Counties: Kent, Lancashire, Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Northumberland
We knew the week was going to be very tough but the team were up for the challenge.
Day 1 v Kent
Monday we were against a young and strong Kent team. Evie and Taz managed to secure a win in the first round to get us on the scoreboard. Freya and Isla played some great tennis and managed to win a rubber in the second round. 4-2 down after two rounds meant we needed all three rubbers in round 3 to try and win the day. All the matches had been close so we knew this was possible but unfortunately it wasn’t to be. Freya and Isla pulled off another great win, but unfortunately Lottie and Poppy lost 10-7 in a championship tie-break and Taz and Evie lost in a second set tie break. Very close but a 6-3 defeat on day 1.
Day 2 v Lancashire
Day 2 started with a delay due to the lovely British weather. The rain was trying hard to disrupt play, but after a few showers the grass was dry and ready for a full day of action. Today was Hampshire & IOW’s turn to try and beat Lancashire. Again a very strong team, but Lottie and Taz smashed their way to victory in the first round putting us on the scoreboard. It couldn’t have been much closer as the other two pairs both lost in third set championship tie-breaks. Now 2-1 down, but Freya and Isla stepped it up a level and won their second round match. The third set tie-breaks were not going H&IOW’s way with Lottie and Taz losing 10-8 in the third. Again 4-2 down after two rounds meant we needed to win all 3 in the last round. Finally a third set tie-break went our way with Freya and Isla winning 10-1. Unfortunately another 6-3 defeat on day two but the Hampshire & IOW girls remained positive.
Day 3 v Derbyshire
Day 3 saw another delayed start due to some more rain but after a few card games of UNO, the girls were ready to fight another day, this time against Derbyshire. After another change up with the pairings we successfully got the upper hand with Taz/Freya and Isla/Lottie winning in the first round. 2-1 up meant the girls were feeling positive and an almighty second round followed with all 3 pairs securing a win. 5-1 up meant the girls had won the day and this was a great feeling knowing the win was secure even with another round to play. The final round consisted of all 3 matches going to a third set championship tie-break. The girls fought extremely hard and won all 3 matches meaning Hampshire & IOW won the day 8-1.
Day 4 v Nottinghamshire
So after a successful day 3, we were faced with Nottinghamshire on day 4. After the departure of Taz and Anna and the arrival of two very talented players for Notts, we knew today was going to be very tough. The girls were ready for a battle and we got on the grass early as rain was forecast for the afternoon. Freya and Lottie narrowly missed out losing 12-10 in championship tie-break and the other two pairs were just too good, so 3-0 down after first round. Rain halted play mid-way through the second round so round 2 had to be finished off indoors. Unfortunately now 6-0 down and rain had stopped play for the day.
Day 5 v Northumberland
Day 5 started with finishing off our day 4 match using the Fast4 format. Freya and Lottie secured a win for us to take the match to an 8-1 defeat. A quick court move and our final day was against the top of the group, Northumberland, who had already secured promotion back to Group 1. With one of their pairs on 12 out of 12 wins they wanted to play full sets rather than Fast4 so on the girls went to try and get as many wins as possible. Round 1 saw Freya and Lottie getting a win for the team. The other matches were much closer than the final score but we were 2-1 down after the first round. Lottie and Freya were on fire and pulled off a brilliant win in the second round winning 14-12 in the championship tie-break. Again another couple of tough matches for our other two pairs so now 4-2 down. Freya and Lottie were now due to face the pair that had not lost all week and they were gunning to beat them to stop them getting the illusive 15 out of 15. Lottie and Freya lost the first set but did not give up. They won the second set and now facing a 10 point tie-break. What a match and one that could go either way. Lottie and Freya put in one final push even though their bodies were in agony from the previous 14 matches and what a push it was to beat them 10-6. An unbelievable final achievement to finish on a high even though we had been relegated.
The team have had a brilliant week at Roehampton and have been very competitive every day. The scores didn’t always reflect how close the matches were and the outcome could have been vastly different if a few championship tie-breaks had gone our way. We will look forward to next year’s event to try and gain promotion.
Lisa Hanley – Team Captain
