On Wednesday afternoon the St Peter's Senior Girls 1st team travelled to Ampleforth to play in a much delayed Semi-Final of our section of the National Cup. It was an extremely windy day and the players were in the midst of their busy exam period which all played a part in making it a challenging afternoon.
The team of Millie, Elpeth, Ailsa and Polly began with two singles and a doubles match, before switching once those ties were finished. Millie won well at number 1, playing smart tennis considering the difficult conditions. Ailsa and Polly staged a good comeback to make their doubles a good contest but lost a close second set and ultimately the match. Elspeth, making her national cup debut at number 2, had an incredibly long and tough match against a worthy opponent. Elspeth was consistent, fought for every point and hit some great shots but lost a brilliant match 4-6 5-7.
Polly and Ailsa both enjoyed their singles, with Polly winning comfortably and Ailsa playing well but losing to a solid opponent. This meant that Mille and Elspeth needed to win their last doubles to keep the tie alive. They did so in dramatic fashion, holding their nerve to win a 3rd set tiebreak 14-12!
After a 3-3 draw overall, a tiebreak shootout was needed with Ailsa and Millie teaming up in an attempt to get us 1 match away from the National Finals. It was tense and there were lots of nerves before stepping on court but it certainly didn’t show as their extremely strong start unsettled their opponents and allowed them to claim a resounding win 10-0!
The team will now play Bradford Grammar School in the final match next week with the winners joining the last 16 teams in the UK at the National Finals in Nottingham later this term.
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