Tennis: Honey Badgers’ second team win

Sometimes the score tells only part of the story.

Tonight our team won four courts against Le Club. Though we did this in straight sets, the scores don't always reflect how hard we had to work.

But first, a little backstory. I’ve known Jody, the Le Club captain, for years. Occasionally our mixed teams have crossed paths or we've met up in a tournament. But we also play together on another team — and it’s an odd relationship to one day be teammates and the next day, opponents.

But Jody is used to this, as she has tons of experience captaining and playing on different teams. Last week she cheered for Patrice and me. Tonight, she and Suzy were our opponents.

And how!

Patrice and I won the first set, then saw our efforts slip away into a 4-1 deficit in the second. My Gatorade wasn’t kicking in, either. I still made a lot of unforced errors. (Also, the very large pre-match lunch at Jose’s may have slowed me down. You know what’s great about Qdoba? Portion control.)

At some point, we arrived at 6-all. The tiebreak was a blur. I don't mean it went fast, I mean I don't remember it. This was the most exhausting match I've played in almost two years. But we did it! And next week, Jody and Patrice and I will again be on the same team, encouraging each other.

Two courts away, Carol and Jean launched their own comeback, rallying from a 5-2 deficit to take the first set 7-5. Then they won the second. Two words: mental toughness.

On court 2, Jan did not disappoint in her season debut. Becks commented, “She’s a wonderful player and she kicked me in the butt.” Not literally. They got it done together, 7-6, 6-4. Great job!

At singles, Katie took a straight-set victory: 6-1, 6-1. Impressive! Katie, I wish I had gotten to see you play.

Lisa took Le Club’s #1 singles player to three sets in a match that lasted two hours. That is a heckuva long time to be playing competitive tennis. Fantastic, Herculean effort!

I was so focused on the post-match Jimmy John’s and cookie assortment, I forgot to record scores. Colleen, thank you for doing that and giving me some time to hang out with our friends. Ron, Matt, and Abbey, it was also nice to know there was someone else rooting for us. I loved that you were there.

Go team!