No need to email. I did the tennislink lookup. That Richmond team is a bit of a surprise...as they are one of the smaller clubs with no indoor courts. Don't know the guy. While I've never played the gal, she's played plenty of people I know well. Probably solid but not flashy. Sorry things maybe didn't go to plan.
And, sorry, no delivery on cakes.
Well, maybe I'll have to stop by and get one on my way to VA Beach in two weeks!
You know, it was a very strange match. My partner and I both were pretty unfocused, too. I couldn't hit a forehand return to save my life. He had some service issues. Still, we pulled out the second set.
Into our third TB of the weekend...we cruised through the others. We got down 0-3 and then the wheels just really came off. I reached for a ball that was going out. Dumped an easy volley into the net. My partner insists he made misses too, but it seemed like the other pair smelled the blood in the water and just played really aggressively. Smart too.
This was the first tournament where I really felt like other teams were just gunning for NOVA. There was a big contingent cheering for our opponents in that match...to the degree of cheering unforced errors. And even after I was near beaned in the head. I thought it a bit...tasteless? It was after that that we actually pulled ahead in the second set. I don't usually play better when I'm mad, but there was twice this weekend that that happened. Someone should have pissed me off before the tiebreak.
The gal was solid with a strong serve, and he had a great serve...he had the flash with the consistency, too. I had done a bit of research on the team, and didn't pay much attention to anyone who hadn't been bumped up...so I didn't see either of them coming. I was worried about the guy that our number 2 team played (and beat)...they said he was wildly inconsistent and just missed more and more as the match went on.
I actually met and talked a bit to the captain of the team from Tidewater that won it all. Her team beat the other NOVA team in their first match, and she was literally stunned...at the salad bar, just couldn't stop talking, in a lot of astonishment, about how they *never* beat NOVA. (sorry Downs, but at least you guys made the final!)