What was as memorable as today's unique Senior Day on the road was how we recovered from a tough 3-2 playoff loss on Monday with a win over an Olympic Conference tough Winslow squad on Tuesday. It was great to see an old friend, John Tutoro, the head coach at Winslow, who I went head to head with many times while I led the Paul VI girls and boys tennis teams. I have a ton of respect for him as a coach and the boys and girls programs he has led for decades, which are always successful, but play in one of the toughest and deepest conferences in the state. Playing each Indian school, plus Eastern and Cherry Hill East, every season, is the only thing I don't miss about coaching in the Olympic Conference. I'd take half that schedule each season, for the boys or girls, and be more than happy that my players are getting the necessary amount of challenges to benefit the growth of their tennis games.
The match was perfectly timed for us and I was super proud with how we responded. Gateway may have beaten us 3-2 on Monday in the Group 1 quarterfinal
match but we got right back on the horse the next day and flipped 3-2
over in our favor. We could have come out flat, having lost something we had been striving for since last season ended, but we didn't and that speaks highly to the character of our team. We ended with a 10-10 record, thus back to back seasons with a winning record, and that's something we should all be proud of.
The pictures below goes as followed and in order; the Gateway match, with our opponents in blue, the Winslow match with their players in a similar dark green as we wear, and of course the classic yellow and royal blue of Woodbury, the oldest school in the Colonial Conference.
I'll do a season ending picture collage, with some shots from Coach Bay I hadn't put up yet in the coming days.
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| Gateway in blues gave us the Monday blues, but it was only one day |
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| Is that Kyle Bright, the lock down #1 singles player from Gateway, with his back to us here in the picture. I thought Felix was chasing him down, and I think he wanted to assist Ryan with the tough task on Court 1. |
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| See the ball! I love finding the ball at the right time and place with my camera. |
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| Winslow wore a slightly different shade of green, but I think we're familiar with that shade of green also. Brandon fought hard and played a great match. he claimed another crucial win. For this he got one more game ball to add to his collection. This Winslow 2nd singles player had a pretty nice game too, and I made sure to tell him that after the match | | | | |
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| Winslow's #1 whipping that forehand |
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| I tried to catch the ball to make it the center of the action, which Felix did too. |
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| Felix, Gus & Goodie |
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| Finding his slice |
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| 3-2-1 .. Contact |
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| Yep that's Ryan again, with the ball almost in his strike zone |
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| Gus and Goodie on the move |
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| Senior Days festivities |
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| Brnadon and his family |
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| Pauly and his mom, a pretty cute picture if I don't say so myself |
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| The team honoring seniors Paul and Brandon, both played on the Varsity squad for all four years. Thanks guys! |
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| The ball, watch the ball! |
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| Good sportsmanship by Ryan O'Donnell to end the 2nd doubles match against Woodbuty. Sorry Sean, I mussed that photo-op on your between the legs shot for match point. My question is what color blue are your new kicks, maybe eskimo fluorescent blue? I think your Woodbury opponent there had the same color in his socks. Is this shade of blue the new black and no body told me. |
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| Serious and fun on Woodbuy's court number 1 |
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| Tyler and Pauly ready for some action |
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| Maybe its the end court, and where I can get a closer picture near the gate opening. I am not quite sure why I get such good action shots of RS |
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| After that win we're all going to Rita's for a post Woodbury match water ice. The Woodbury tennis courts aren't at the high school so we had to hike 2 miles in and then back out, near an elementary school, which made that hunger for a water ice grow greater than it already had. |
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| We needed the bus to help us get that water ice. |
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| Thanks for the water ice Coach Sylvester and many thanks to Coach Bay for her support throughout the season. |
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| Season ending team photo shoot with Coach Sylvester. |
