Last night, the Rebels’ UN Delegation took home yet another (though under a new name) River Hills Cup by dropping the Dogs of Starkville for the 22nd straight time. Just take a second now, and think about that number—22. So is it possible to be disappointed after a win over a rival and our 10th straight River Hills Cup? When it’s the first time you’ve given up a point in six years, I think so.
In front of a hometown crowd and against another indigenous opponent, Devin Britton faced a lot of pressure, which may have contributed to his dizziness and ill feelings before the match. He played pretty poorly in doubles and the first set of singles but turned it around after calling the trainer out. Unfortunately, he fell just short in the third set tiebreaker but nonetheless showed himself as the superior player on the court. On the bright side, Devin is using up all his bad luck early in the season. I look for things to go up for him.
This put State on the board but was not a real cause of concern for me. The lack of ease with which we sealed off the win, however, is not a good sign. To compete with other top-10 teams, we need to be able to rely on the last three courts as we have in the past. While our shakiness against State worries me, I won’t speculate any further since only a week’s time will tell. We take on top-ranked Ohio State in Columbus on Wednesday and play at ITA National Indoors next weekend.
While none compares to the highlights Tucker Vorster is rocking right now, here are some of the better aspects of the match:
-Swedish dominance: The three Swedes (Jonas, Kalle, and Otto) all played great and were the only winners in singles for the Rebs.
-Dutch/Swedish bilateral cooperation: Our highly touted doubles pair of Jonas and Bram finally showed up and restored some hope to fans.
-Return of the African delegation: Playing with Chris Thiemann in the third doubles slot, Tucker made his return to the team. While he may not have played his best, the duo grabbed three breaks and sealed the doubles point.
In front of a hometown crowd and against another indigenous opponent, Devin Britton faced a lot of pressure, which may have contributed to his dizziness and ill feelings before the match. He played pretty poorly in doubles and the first set of singles but turned it around after calling the trainer out. Unfortunately, he fell just short in the third set tiebreaker but nonetheless showed himself as the superior player on the court. On the bright side, Devin is using up all his bad luck early in the season. I look for things to go up for him.
This put State on the board but was not a real cause of concern for me. The lack of ease with which we sealed off the win, however, is not a good sign. To compete with other top-10 teams, we need to be able to rely on the last three courts as we have in the past. While our shakiness against State worries me, I won’t speculate any further since only a week’s time will tell. We take on top-ranked Ohio State in Columbus on Wednesday and play at ITA National Indoors next weekend.
While none compares to the highlights Tucker Vorster is rocking right now, here are some of the better aspects of the match:
-Swedish dominance: The three Swedes (Jonas, Kalle, and Otto) all played great and were the only winners in singles for the Rebs.
-Dutch/Swedish bilateral cooperation: Our highly touted doubles pair of Jonas and Bram finally showed up and restored some hope to fans.
-Return of the African delegation: Playing with Chris Thiemann in the third doubles slot, Tucker made his return to the team. While he may not have played his best, the duo grabbed three breaks and sealed the doubles point.