WELCOME TO HIDEAWAY TENNIS 2015-16

Vivian Landis & Paula Barry:
Hideaway Residents on Bronze & 3.0-Minus teams

Hello all and welcome to the first report of the 2015-16 season. This season we have 34 non-resident tennis members, 31 of them are ladies on our four Lee County Women’s Tennis League teams. We also have two men and one woman who don’t play on teams, but who have been looking forward to the men’s doubles and mixed doubles round robins. They may be happy to note that we had the first mixed doubles outing this past Saturday (11/7), and I hope we’ll have the men going soon.

Captain "Calamity Jane" Hill and Sheri Marks
playing on our 3.0-Minus team

Rick Walker showed for the men’s round robin this past Friday (11/6) but he was the only one to make an appearance. I know that Jim Larva, Bill Dey and Bob Ostrom are around, so hopefully they will come out to join David Ullum and Zdenek Fiala in the near future.  As for the ladies, I think they are pretty much getting all the tennis they can handle with team matches and mixed doubles round robin.

3.0-Minus Co-captain Terri Turner and Ann Stevens
who play on both Bronze & 3.0-Minus teams

Our tennis activity currently revolves around ladies’ team play, and although it’s a bit early to be too concerned with where we are in the standings, two of our ladies teams are off to a good start while the other two have had it rough in the early going. I’m afraid I’m going to have to take some of the responsibility for the rough start, because even though our teams have been competitive in many of the early losses, we haven’t had the tiebreaks go our way. The coach has to take some responsibility for that, no?

Tina Willard and 3.5-minus Captain Debbie Vollrath
fight for the W...and get it

Before going any further, I’d like to send out a sincere note of thanks to our team captains: Linda Sisco, Donna McVety, and Gutte Carr (Silver); Pat BenDov and Rennie Bassett (Bronze); Jane Hill and Terri Turner (3.0-Minus); and Debbie Vollrath and Jami McCormick (3.5-Minus). These ladies have a tough and often thankless job, so I just want to make sure they know that I am grateful for their efforts!

Angela Middleton & Lynne Price in foreground
Vivian & Paula in background

That acknowledged, of the four Hideaway teams in action, our Bronze team is off to the best start as far as wins and losses go. Our Bronze ladies have won one and tied the other in the two team matches played thus far. They have won six of the eight individual matches played, including a sweep of all four individual matches in their most recent match against Legends on 11/4/15.

Our Bronze players have played two tiebreaks (one set tiebreak, the other a match tiebreak) and have lost them both. Those tiebreak losses resulted in one of the two individual match losses the team has recorded. , However, Hideaway Bronze currently sits in a tie for 3rd-place, and the next home match is Wednesday December 2 at 9:30am.

Hideaway resident Michelle Paquette teams
with Betsy Barnwell to claim victory
in 3.5-Minus match

Our 3.5-Minus team is also off to a good start, sitting in 6^th-place after two team matches, and winning four of the eight individual matches played. Of the four matches we have lost, we have played three tiebreaks (two seven-pointers, one 10-pointer) and have lost them all. If you are counting, that adds up to five tiebreaks played and five tiebreaks lost! Betsy Barnwell and Tina Willard have led the way thus far for the 3.5-Minus team with two wins each. Our 3.5-Minus team plays at home next on Wednesday, November 18, at 9:30am.

Barb Saling & Gwen Burdzy in 3.5-Minus match

Our 3.0-Minus team has come up a bit short in three of our first four matches, but things are looking up as we took two of the four individual matches in our most recent match (11/5/15) against Cape Coral Yacht Club on hard courts, definitely not our favorite surface. As with our 3.5-Minus team, we have been competitive in many of the matches we have lost, but have lost five of the seven tiebreaks played (that’s a total of 10 losses in 12 tiebreaks!). 

Co-captain Terri Turner claimed one match tiebreak win with Lawanna Hulfeld against CCYC, and Lynne Price and Maria Mosco closed out a win against Lexington with a second-set-tiebreak win. Our next 3.0-Minus home match takes place this coming Thursday, November 12, at 10:30am.

3.5-Minus team member and Tommy Carlisle watch first
3.5-Minus home match

The going has been rough for our shorthanded Silver team in the early going, losing our first three matches and having won just two of the 12 individual matches played. Playing two top-ten teams hasn’t helped our cause either, especially playing the No.2 team on their home hard courts. Despite the difficult start, our Silver ladies still approach each match with enthusiasm and give it all they have…

Kathy O'Rourke & Laurie Stanley support
their 3.5-Minus teammates

Oh, and they have a .500 record in tiebreaks, having won one and lost one. Martha Carlisle and Agi Keleman posted a match-tiebreak win against Rutenberg Aces on their hard courts in the second match of the season.  We should have a good shot at doing well in our next match, although it too is on hard courts and we won’t field a full team as a result. Our next Silver home match is Friday, December 11, at 10:30am. In support of their efforts, I can only ask that they keep the faith and continue to enjoy playing the game regardless of outcomes.

Before I close, let me remind you that you can reserve court time at usptaplayer.com and can access Hideaway information such as team rosters and match schedules, meeting minutes, Tennis Handbook etc. with the following link (http://1drv.ms/1L1Uphy).  If you don’t have or know your login information for usptaplayer.com please let me know and I’ll do what I can to assist. Until next, welcome to the 2015-16 Hideaway Tennis season, and I’ll see you around the courts.