On May 3 – May 5, 2013 as a
warm up for the USTA season, eight of the Jammers: Teresa Emerson/Kelly Kramer, Julie
Skinner/Nancy Winters, Leigh Lewis/Heidi Smith, and Mary Ann Daum/Karen Griffin
and two former Jammers Huong Doan/Hee
Sun Kim went to St. Louis to play in the USTA-NTRP Central Regional
Championships. It was snowing in
Springfield, yes snow, in May. That
didn’t seem to stop the Jammers from going to compete. There was no snow in St. Louis, just rain all
weekend, so the tournament was forced to move indoor at several different
locations in St. Louis and Illinois.
Most Jammers arrived in St.
Louis early for an afternoon match, but the rest wasn’t playing until Friday
evening so we didn’t get there until early evening. It was a long Friday for the Jammers; the
only victorious Jammers for the evening were the team of Teresa Emerson and
Kelly Kramer. They beat their opponents
Ann Eveker and Kathie Muehlheausler in two straight sets 6-4, 7-5. The rest of the Jammers fought hard but
couldn’t come up with a win. Julie
Skinner and Nancy Winters lost to Maureen Hurley and Cara McJunkin with the
scores of 6-4, 7-6. Mary Ann Daum and
Karen Griffin took their match to a match tie-break, but couldn’t pull it
through. They lost to their opponents
Catherine Dickson and Holly Hamilton with the scores of 6-3, 0-6, 1-0. Our other Jammers team of Leigh Lewis and
Heidi Smith also had a tight match against Stephanie Dintelmann and Cheryl
Wayt, they also lost in two straight sets 6-4, 7-5.
Hee Sun Kim and I had fun with
our match but our opponents were just so dominating on the court, Jodi Ferguson
and Amy Snow defeated us in two straight sets 6-0, 6-2.
The rain finally quit on
Saturday, another day in hope for victories for the Jammers. Some of the Jammers had an early match on
Saturday morning, which seem to favor the Jammers. First round West-Consolation bracket, all the
Jammers were victorious. Julie Skinner
and Nancy Winters had an easy time on the court against their opponents Linda
Landry and Teresa Schlafly with the scores of 6-2, 6-1. Leigh
Lewis and Heidi Smith were also dominated on the court over their opponents
Rebecca Hartfield and Carol Kennedy 6-1, 6-4.
Mary Ann Daum and Karen Griffin were able to advance to the next round,
a walk over against their opponents Lauri Heitz and Becky Skeens.
Later that afternoon, Teresa
Emerson and Kelly Kramer were also victorious in their match against Velma
Carey and Joan Jennings 7-5, 1-6, 1-0, which advance them to the Quarterfinals
of the main draw Saturday evening.
While all the 3.5 Jammers have
all the luck. Hee Sun and I just
couldn’t find our chance at the 4.0 level.
We lost in our second match against Diane Ruzicka and Linda Schaper 6-1,
6-2.
Saturday evening, it was great
to see ALL 8 Jammers playing in the Quarterfinals in the main draw and in the
West-Consolation bracket, pretty impressive I might add. It was a tough evening for some of the
Jammers, Teresa Emerson and Kelly Kramer had a very tough lost against their
opponents. It could have gone either
way; they played a great match but just couldn’t pull it off at the end. They lost to Kim Bradfield and Dawn Melton
with the scores of 6-4, 3-6, 1-0.
In the West-Consolation
bracket, the Jammers won 2 of the 3 Quarterfinals. Mary Ann Daum and Karen Griffin won their
match against Jane Herder and Cindy Rapponotti in two straight sets 6-2,
6-4. The same for Leigh Lewis and Heidi
Smith, they defeated Martha Juhl and Anne Ross also in two sets with the scores
of 7-5, 6-3. Julie Skinner and Nancy
Winters weren’t so lucky; they fought hard in their match and stretched it out
to a match tie-break. They lost to Ruth
Ehresman and Heather Milton 7-6, 3-6, 1-0.
It was a tough loss for them.
A win for Mary Ann and Karen,
Leigh and Heidi mean they will have to face each other in the Semifinals in the
morning. At least we know, one of the
Jammer’s team will be in the Finals for sure.
Early Sunday morning, it was a
match between our own Jammer girls. All
four gals are tough competitors, of course they are. You can’t be a Jammer, if you are not
competitive. I hate to see that the
Jammers had to play against each other, but we all knew, we have to run into
each other at some point. The Semifinals
win that day belongs to Leigh Lewis and Heidi Smith with a win over Mary Ann
Daum and Karen Griffin 6-0, 4-6, 1-0.
Hee Sun and I played Sunday
morning as well. Once again, we ran out
of luck, we got defeated by Regan Hannigan and Patricia Hudson 6-2, 6-4. It was an experience weekend for the both
us. We still have a lot to learn in
playing at this level. We will continue
to work on our game and keep on fighting.
As far as the 3.5 Jammers, the
rest of the Sunday afternoon went great for all of them. Just when Julie Skinner and Nancy Winters
thought it was over for them, they got moved on to play in the
Southwest-Consolation bracket. In the
Semifinals they defeated their opponents pretty easily. Diane Lewis and Nancy Rath didn’t have a chance;
they lost to our Jammers 6-4, 6-0. This
led Julie and Nancy into the Finals for this particular bracket.
In the meantime, Teresa Emerson
and Kelly Kramer were in the Northeast-Consolation bracket. For their Semifinals match, they were also
victorious over their opponents, Nancy Hinkson and Barbara Murray with the
scores of 6-2, 6-3. They are also in the
Finals in their bracket.
By the end of Sunday evening,
the Jammers were victorious in 3 of the brackets. In the West Consolation bracket, Leigh Lewis
and Heidi Smith was the winner when they defeated their opponents Ruth Ehresman
and Heather Milton 6-1, 6-4.
In the Southwest-Consolation
bracket Julie Skinner and Nancy Winters were the winner in the Finals when they
out played their opponents Martha Juhl and Anne Ross with the scores 6-2, 6-4.
Our dynamic duo of Teresa
Emerson and Kelly Kramer took the Northeast-Consolation bracket when they won
their match in the Finals against Michelle Millonais and Lydia Sanders with the final scores of 6-4, 6-2.
It was a perfect ending to the
weekend. All the girls did great. They all went to St. Louis to compete, and
they all competed indeed. The tournament
was a perfect warm up for the Jammers USTA season. They will all be pump up for the 2013 season
to begin. I’m very proud of all of
them. Watch out, the Jammers are back!!!
RECAP
OF THE USTA-NTRP CENTRAL REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS:
NTRP
Women’s 3.5 Doubles:
Quarterfinals: Kim
Bradfield/Dawn Melton d. Teresa Emerson/Kelly Kramer
7-6,
3-6, 1-0
Round of
16: Teresa Emerson/Kelly Kramer d. Velma
Carey/Joan Jennings 7-5, 1-6, 1-0
Round of
32: Teresa Emerson/Kelly Kramer d. Ann
Eveker/KathieMuehlheausler 6-4, 7-5
Maureen Hurley/Cara
McJunkin d. Julie Skinner/Nancy Winters 6-4, 7-6
Catherine Dickson/Holly
Hamilton d. Mary Ann Daum/Karen Griffin 6-3, 0-6,
1-0
Stephanie
Dintelmann/Cheryl Wayt d. Leigh Lewis/Heidi Smith 6-4, 7-5
Consolation
(WEST):
Finals: Leigh
Lewis/Heidi Smith d. Ruth Ehresman/Heather Milton 6-1, 6-4
Semifinals: Leigh
Lewis/Heidi Smith d. Mary Ann Daum/Karen Griffin 6-0, 4-6, 1-0
Quarterfinals: Leigh
Lewis/Heidi Smith d. Martha Juhl/Anne Ross 7-5, 6-3
Mary Ann Daum/Karen Griffin d. Jane
Herder/Cindy Rapponotti
6-2,
6-4
Ruth Ehresman/Heather Milton d. Julie
Skinner/Nancy Winters
7-6, 3-6,
1-0
Round 1: Leigh
Lewis/Heidi Smith d. Rebecca Hartfield/Carol Kennedy 6-1, 6-4
Mary Ann Daum/Karen Griffin d. Lauri
Heitz/Becky Skeens Wo (Ill)
Julie Skinner/Nancy Winters d. Linda
Landry/Teresa Schlafly 6-2, 6-1
Consolation
(SOUTHWEST):
Finals: Julie
Skinner/Nancy Winters d. Martha Juhl/Anne Ross 6-2, 6-4
Semifinals: Julie
Skinner/Nancy Winters d. Diane Lewis/Nancy Rath 6-4, 6-0
Consolation
(NORTHEAST):
Finals: Teresa
Emerson/Kelly Kramer d. Nancy Hinkson/Barbara Murray 6-2, 6-3
Semifinals: Teresa
Emerson/Kelly Kramer d. Michelle Millonais/Lydia Sanders 6-4, 6-2
NTRP
Women’s 4.0 Doubles:
Round of 32: Jodi
Ferguson/Amy Snow d. Huong Doan/Hee-Sun Kim 6-0, 6-2
Consolation
(WEST):
Round 1: Diane
Ruzicka/Linda Schaper d. Huong Doan/Hee-Sun Kim 6-1, 6-2
Consolation
(SOUTH):
Semifinals: Regan
Hannigan/Patricia Hudson d. Huong Doan/Hee-Sun Kim 6-2, 6-4
