We're Headed to the National Championships!

This past week-end my mixed doubles tennis team headed to New Orleans for the Southern Sectional tennis tournament. We won our state championship several weeks ago which gave us the berth into the Southern Sectional tournament. We flew to New Orleans on Thursday. On Friday the matches began. A team match consists of 3 courts of mixed doubles. So a score from a team match would be 3-0, 2-1, 1-2, or 0-3. In other words, you have to win at least 2 of the 3 courts in order to win the match as a team. On Friday afternoon we played the Mississippi state champion and won as a team 2-1. My partner, Lanny, and I won our court 7-5, 7-6. It was a tough match! Saturday morning we faced off against the Louisiana state champion and our team won 2-1 again! Lanny & I won 6-4, 6-1! Saturday afternoon we played the Arkansas state champion and our team won 3-0! Lanny & I won 6-1, 6-3! Sunday morning we played the Georgia state champion who happened to also be undefeated! It was a great match and our team won 3-0 again! Lanny & I won 7-5, 6-3! With that win, we had won our half of the draw! Next up was the finals on Sunday afternoon against the North Carolina state champion. Guess what? Our team won 2-1 for the sectional championship!!!! Lanny & I won again 6-1, 6-3! So we won the Southern Sectional tennis championship!!!! Next up is the National Eastern Championship in Orlando! We'll be competing against the champions from the Caribbean, Florida, Middle States, New England, Eastern, Mid Atlantic, and Midwest!! Pretty exciting, huh?!?!?!?!

Winning was awesome!!! Throughout this season, our team has not lost a match! Pretty cool! In our local play we were 10-0. At the state tournament we were 5-0. And now at the sectional tournament we were also 5-0. So we're 20-0 right now! I have played in all 20 matches and my personal record is 19-1. Lanny & I lost a tough match here locally back during the summer, but our team covered for us and won the other 2 courts so that as a team we still won! During the state & sectional tournaments, Lanny & I haven't lost! He's a good mixed partner to play with. He also happens to be one of the tennis pros at the fitness/tennis club where we belong, so he's a pretty good player!

The last leg of our flight last night got cancelled, so we ended up renting a car at midnight last night and driving the rest of the way home. They dropped me off here at home around 3:30 this morning! Of course, my luggage isn't here yet, but I've heard it's at the airport here waiting for the delivery service to deliver it to me. With all that craziness, my teammates who took pictures of us haven't had a chance to upload their pictures and share them with everyone. But once they do, I'll be sure to post a few on here of the SOUTHERN SECTIONAL TENNIS CHAMPS!!!!!