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State is over. The verdict: State Doubles Champions & 3rd place overall as a team.
A returning player who was part of the top-seeded doubles team in the State last year paired up with a freshman phenom who is probably our best player won the State Doubles Title yesterday, our school's first girls doubles title in 27 years and only the 2nd time it's been done.
I'd been aware of the "doubles curse" as I'd been calling it since I took the job, and I insisted we were going to get rid of it while I was still head coach. To do it in a "rebuilding year" is pretty wild.
In order to win it, we had to beat the defending state champs, the team we'd beaten 3 times last year, but had no luck against this year with this new pairing. There were signs of life later in the season, as my 2nd doubles team played them in Districts and lost, but were actually leading on them for half a match. The gameplan we employed with them was pretty much what I had the team do this time, but I also just kind of stayed out of the way and let them figure out the puzzle.
They won 6-1, 3-6, 6-1. The 2nd set we were up 3-2 but then lost the lead and it was worrying, but the mistakes were just tension and pressure, not a fundamental inability to play. The 10-minute break between sets was precisely what we needed to recompose them and they came out with a 3-0 lead in the first set, before dropping a game, but then that was it. At 4-1, 40-love, the opposing team called an injury timeout...but it didn't rattle my kids at all, the won the next point and the game and then closed out the match breaking the defending champs.
The fact that it was our stalwart Captain and our young riser playing their best tennis of the year for two days to get it done, was truly my favorite thing ever.
Winning State was always going to be tough, because you can't lose 5 starters to graduation and another 4 who were injured or didn't come back to tennis this year and expect to reload the way you need to. Our signature depth on our team had been an asset the past few years, but this year instead of being able to run 15-16 deep on varsity, we were pretty much only had 13 players.
Like I mentioned before, I think in a different scenario, I'd have emphasized getting a singles player to state in the hopes of helping us in the overall team points race, but I think the fact that I figured this out AND we had such a good season developing people makes me feel okay with how it all turned out.
A lot of kids got to test themselves in singles that wouldn't have in a different context, most of them are coming back next year too. Seniors got their appropriate swan songs, too.
The all-freshman doubles duo tumbled at State and lost both in the 1st round and in consolation. It was a bummer, because seriously for 6 weeks or so, they looked really good. They'll both learn from the experience, and I think retrospectively, I'd have split them up sooner because I knew from the outset that a freshman/freshman duo is one of those roller coasters that kinda only works when the two people are siblings or related.
Still, I got to use them in different contexts throughout the season, so I think I'll be able to maximize their talents next year just fine.
Winning the State doubles title vaulted us into sole possession of 3rd place as a team, a remarkable accomplishment with only one of our two entries earning us any points, even more ridiculous is that 1) if the defending state singles champ had lost to her opponent, we'd have tied for 2nd place 2) or if my other doubles team had even just won one match in the consolation round.
My captains and I agreed that this year's state doubles title/ finishing 3rd was more satisfying than winning State last year, even though that was awesome and felt a bit like a coronation for good our team had been during the COVID years, but were denied all but one opportunity to show it.
I think when I think of all of the ups and downs of this season, I reflect on how much I changed as a coach. The Wyoming experience really gave me a lot of appreciation for how good my situation here was and I came back renewed and excited to work with kids who seem to generally appreciate my style of coaching. I build more relationships with my own athletic staff; the boys coach -- a hall of famer in her own right -- has become someone I enjoy talking with and who was really helpful to us the day before we left for State.
It's extremely satisfying to think of all of the pieces that made this year work. The big school tournament; significantly beefing up our non-conference schedule; and even changing up the way we did pre-State practice prep where I made the practice schedule more diverse than our regular season situation, and I feel like all of this contributed to the mindset heading into the tournament.
The end of the season is always a bit of an exhale moment and this one feels especially that way. I'm glad I came back, I'd surely have wondered about them if I hadn't and there were so many good moments this year. After spending last year watching our boys team win the state doubles title (to clinch the state championship) it was hilarious and fitting that I got my own opportunity to win a state doubles title a year later.
Thanks for following all these years!
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