Cinderella story...

[NM_Shooter]

Warning... proud dad bragging below.  Divert now.

My oldest daughter Melissa had a good day today at a high school district tennis match.  This was a bit of a surprise to everybody.

We had drama two days ago.  Melissa plays on the varsity team in the 8th spot, which sometimes means she does not get to play in some of the tournaments as the entries are limited.  This was a six entry tournament... two doubles teams and two singles.  She challenged the 6th seat player on her team who happened to be a senior.  This girl got mad at Melissa because she felt that since she was a senior, and that this was the last tournament, she should be allowed to play.  Melissa was confused and mad, and was upset on the phone to me because she didn't know what to do.  She felt that since this was varsity, the team should be comprised of the best players, not the most senior ones.  But this other girl was making such a stink and saying snide comments to the other girls on the team about Mel.  Melissa asked me what I would do.  I told her she should challenge the girl and try to kick her a$$ (yes, I know, inappropriate language, but I wanted her to know how serious I was).  I heard that there was another senior player on the team who encouraged Melissa to challenge.  Her name is Sara, and she won the state tournament last year.  She told Melissa that the other girl was full of crap and that Melissa needed to challenge her.  So here is the weird part.. the girl refused to play Melissa, so the coach gave the spot to Melissa to play in the tourney.

There were 13 girls from 7 schools in the singles tourney.  Melissa was seed very near the bottom.

Mel was seriously outgunned today and I thought she was going to lose her first match.  It is a single elimination tourney, so if you lose, you go home.   But she won, 6-1, 6-3.  As luck would have it, she then drew the third ranked player in our district.  Since this girl was ranked so high, she also had a bye the first round, so she was fresh.  It was hot today.  Melissa beat her 6-4, 6-2.  The other girl was pretty upset.  Sara came up and hugged Melissa after the match.

Melissa has a very odd style... very beginner-like.  "Unconventional" maybe?  Think "Happy-Gilmore-unconventional style" on the tennis court.  She does not hit the ball hard.  She does not know how to hit with topspin.  So she sort of lobs everything back.  These girls would crush the ball at Melissa, and she would just sort of carefully hit the ball back.  I was actually laughing while I was watching her play.  Her opponents would sometimes come to the net to try and volley, and every time Melissa would lob over their heads for a point.  Her opponents would get mad... you could see them.  It was almost like they were upset that she was not wanting to pound back and forth.  Mel also has really good touch at placing the ball deep.  She can hit the back corners really well.  She also serves pretty good.  She only double faulted twice the whole day.  She also runs like crazy, and never lets the ball drop.  Her saving grace is that she just sort of gets everything back, no matter how hard her opponent hits it.  She just sort of pops it back    this summer we are going to get her some lessons to teach her real ground strokes.

After thinking about what was going on today, I think that most of the players in this tournament are used to a slug fest, where the ball gets hit back to them with speed, and they can play off of that speed to hit a hard shot back.  They are not used to hitting high soft shots at the baseline, and when they try to hit those back, they either hit into the net or out of the court.  Then they get frazzled, and their game really breaks apart.

Tourney continues tomorrow.  Melissa has to play Sara next to advance to the finals, and they were talking smack in the parking lot    There will be a playoff for 3rd place, and the top three players get invited to the state tourney.  The top two girls in this tournament will probably be 1 & 2 in the state.  I am hoping Melissa has a chance at 3rd  in the tourney tomorrow so she can go to the state tournament.  Keep your fingers crossed!

-f-

P.S.  I'm most proud of Melissa's game face when she is playing.  She is completely emotionless.  The other girls are whacking their rackets on the ground or fence, jumping up and down, and just generally throwing a fit.  Mel looks like a poker player when she wins or loses.  Maybe it's the chess?

[MountainDon]

Congrats to Melissa!!!


Poker face is best in anything competitive, I believe; until the end if you win that is.   

[Ernest T. Bass]

I have a hard time keeping a poker face when I'm winning... Congrats to your gal, NM! I've never played tennis, but my dad says I'd like it... No courts out here in the woods, but we do play a lot of badminton and volleyball.

[peternap]

Very nice story Frank!
Give her my congratulations.

[fishing_guy]

Congrats to your daughter Frank.

I coached in our city's athletic association for many years.  I used to love to coach kids like your daughter much more than the spoiled brats who have been told they are the greatest since age 4.

They'll actually listen, and usually give it their all.  I have ran into several of the kids I used to coach in an adult sports setting.  You can still tell who was who...

[glenn kangiser]

Sounds like Mel will do great, Frank.

[Sassy]

Congrats to Melissa!  Reminds me of when I went back to college for my nursing degree - I was 36 - had been playing tennis for about a year, then joined the tennis team.  I played a lot like Melissa - it was funny, because my opponents couldn't predict what I was going to do... we only had a small women's tennis team - I think I was #4 out of 6 players on the team, but it was fun.  Was playing against girls who had played for years - in fact still have a video of when one of our TV stations came out & filmed us playing for the news - it ended up to be mostly me playing - for some reason, I was hitting the ball pretty good at that time 

Lessons would be great for Melissa - tennis is a really fun & challenging game - I used to play it for hours everyday - but it is hard on the 'ole body & joints (at least when you start at the ripe old age of 36 & play as much as I did) all the sudden movements.

[NM_Shooter]

Mel got stomped in the semi finals, 6-0,6-0 by her friend and teammate Sara.  But she won the match for 3rd place, so we are off to the state tourney in two weeks!

The Cibola team did great overall. 

Melissa, on the far left, took 3rd singles.  Her team mate Sara, on the right took second singles.  The girls in the middle are missing one person, but they were the doubles teams from Cibola HS, and they won both 1st and 2nd place in the tourney.  The girl in the middle is holding the 1AAAAA district championship trophy for the season play.  Proud dads / coaches in the back.  We'll be well represented in the state tournament... two singles players and two doubles teams!  Yaaay!

[Homegrown Tomatoes]

Yeah!  Congrats, Melissa, and have fun at state!