HIDEAWAY OPENS 2014-15 LCWTL SEASON WITH A BANG

The Hideaway’s Bronze team opened its 2014-15 season with a bang today, taking three of four courts to outscore Legends 18-8. There weren’t many spectators, but it was great to see Co-captain Pearle Warren, Susan Macintire and husband Charles in attendance, along with Dave Russ and Barb, a potential new teammate. Surely all who attended were treated to some fun matches to watch!

On Court one, it took Lynne Price (Co-Captain of our 3.0-Minus team), and Fran Negin a while to get going against the strong duo of Jackie DeVita and Carol Sarosik, and that resulted in a 2-6 first set. I’m not sure what happened, because it was 2-2, and next thing I knew the set was over.

Lynne and Fran started strong in the second set, jumping out to an early lead, but Jackie and Carol stormed back with very solid play and took the second set 6-4. I’m sure Lynne and Fran aren’t happy about losing the match, but it was a much more competitive match than the score indicated, and I thought our ladies played well.

On Court 2, Diane Russ and Pat Ben-Dov (Co-Captain of the Bronze team) also started a bit slowly and faced an uphill battle early against Tanya Johnson and Julie Grabiec. I think the nerves of the first match took their toll on everyone today.

Diane and Pat fell behind early (I believe it was 2-4) in the first set, but they stormed back to take the set 7-5. They didn’t let go of the momentum when they took the court for the second set, and they emerged victorious, taking the final set 6-1.

Rennie Bassett (Co-Captain of the 3.0-Minus team) and Jane Hill played a really tough first set against Sue Ann Fahnenstiel and Linda Kollar on Court 3. Again the nerves showed early, and Rennie and Jane faced a 2-5 deficit in the first set.

Ah, but Hideaway women are resilient, and Rennie and Jane chipped away at the lead, coming back to take the first set 7-5. Like their teammates on Court 2, they held their momentum for the rest of the match and claimed the second 6-2.

Our ladies on Court 4 were not to be outdone when it came to comebacks. Nina Carpenter and Vivian Landis (one of two octogenarians on our team, Paula Barry, the other, was on injured reserved but present) came up well short in the first set, losing it 2-6 to Mary Ann Hight and Linda Lowery. But you don’t find yourself closing in on age 90 by giving up when times get tough.

Nina and Vivian fought back to take a hard-fought second set, eventually taking it 7-5 to reach the match-tiebreak. The match-tiebreak was no piece of cake either, as Nina and Vivian edged the competition 10-7 in the tiebreak. It was a tremendous comeback, and I hope Vivian can walk tomorrow. I think she ran a marathon today!

All in all I was really proud of the way our team played today, from top to bottom. I was a little concerned when we started, but all lifted their games once they had warmed up and the nerves had settled. I suspect we will have an even tougher match tomorrow, but I know our team will give it their very best and represent The Hideaway with the utmost class and sportsmanship!