Team: Gracie Tickler, Scarlet Gogol, Emmeline Maisey, Elizabeth Vellacott, Mia Taank
Captain: Tom Edis
Assistant: Josh Bright
Counties: Dorset, Essex, Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire, Avon, Gloucestershire
Venue: Great Missenden
A late start after some torrential rain was not the ideal preparation for Bucks in their Division 1A playoff group that also featured Dorset, Essex, Herts, Avon and Gloucestershire. The 6 counties were placed in 2 boxes of 3, with subsequent play-off matches for each county against the equivalent-placed county from the other box. Bucks had Dorset and Essex to contend with in their box, with the former their first opponents on day 1.Elizabeth and Emmeline had near identical matches versus Morgan May and Scarlett Edwards respectively; both coming back strongly from a set down (2-4) to level up by the same score (4-2), only to run out of steam in the match tie break (Emmeline losing out 5-10, Elizabeth 2-10).Scarlet had other ideas against Heidi Collison, completely overwhelming her opponent 4-0 4-2 in a dominant and impressive display - definitely the standout of the day.A las, Gracie couldn’t follow suit, despite having chances in her eventual defeat to Lara Mohamed (4-2 4-1).
This meant Bucks went into the doubles 3-1 down, but with a real desire to come back and take the overall tie to a ‘shootout’ match tie break. Scarlet and Elizabeth got off to a flier by taking the opening set 4-2 against Aimee Lees and Morgan, but the Dorset pair came roaring back in the second (4-1) before excruciatingly taking the match (and the tie) away from Bucks with a super-tight 10-8 match tie break win. Gracie and Emmeline lost their rubber 4-0 4-2 to Scarlett and Lara who were very impressive, meaning a very frustrating if encouraging day 1 for Bucks; surely the team’s luck would turn on day 2…
Sunday would prove to be a dramatic day! Essex, like Bucks, had already been beaten by Dorset the previous day so both teams felt they had something to prove. However Bucks got off to a super start with Emmeline taking care of Darcey Noble 4-0 4-3, and Elizabeth impressively coming from behind to defeat Sridasree Alavala 1-4 4-1 10-6. However, the Essex top 2 were strong and they managed to level the tie at 2 rubbers each as Sophia Fisk proved too strong for Gracie (4-1 4-2) and the ever-impressive Scarlet narrowly losing out in a match tie break against Pola Macharzewska 3-4 4-1 10-5. Therefore, at 2-2 the doubles were crucial. Thankfully Bucks were up to the task. Scarlet and Elizabeth rediscovered their normal magic to take Darcey and Amelia Krizelbach 4-2 4-1, meaning a win for Gracie and Emmeline against Sophia and Pola would guarantee second place in the group. After losing the first set 3-4 it wasn’t easy, but after an incredibly tight set that went in Bucks favour by the same score, Gracie and Emmeline held their nerve in the match tie break to win it 10-6, and a 3rd/4th playoff match versus Avon awaited.
If anything this match would end up being even tighter! It certainly didn’t look like it would as Emmeline finished an excellent singles day for her with a 4-0 4-3 victory over Lena Shields, followed by yet another match tie break involving Elizabeth! For the second time in succession the Bucks player came through though, triumphant against Ayesha Craig after dropping the first set: 1-4 4-3 10-8. After the hard-hitting Isobel Bamford got the better of Gracie 4-1 4-1, Scarlet’s cool 4-2 4-1 victory over Valentina Zazas put Bucks in a commanding position (3-1) going into the last round of doubles of the weekend. Avon came storming back! In what seemed a comfortable afternoon for Gracie and Emmeline after taking the first set 4-1 versus Isobel and Ayesha, the Avon pair dug in to take the second set 4-0 and remarkably the match following a 10-7 score in the match tie break. This heaped the pressure on Scarlet and Elizabeth, as a win would guarantee 3rd overall, whereas defeat would force the tie into a shootout tie break set - not what Bucks wanted! In a grandstand finale to the weekend, Bucks had 6 match points to 4 for Avons’ Lena and Valentina as both teams pushed each other all the way to an extended (and exhausting) match tie break (what else!) before Bucks finally took the rubber (and the tie) 2-4 4-0 14-12! This was a great performance from Bucks overall. Dorset won the group in the end by beating a very capable Herts team to 1st place, and all matches from all the counties were very closely contested. Certainly some encouragement for the Bucks girls as they look ahead to tackling the 12u age group next year.
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