It was a bird-flapping affair on the courts as the South Hills Blackhawks clashed with the Cranbrook Cranes!  The South Hills Blackhawks doubles teams absolutely dominated the skies against the Cranbrook Cranes! It was a clinical display of teamwork and skill, with the duos of Nheel/Omar, Evan/Tre, Kai/Charles, Benny/Chase, and Arjun/Landon all delivering flawless 6-0 shutouts. The sixth doubles match featuring Max / Levi added a bit of spicy drama, securing a significant 6-1 victory that reportedly involved an accidental (or perhaps not-so-accidental?) hit to one of their opponents in a sensitive area! Even the third doubles team of Nico / Luca showed impressive grit, shaking off an initial challenge to stage a comeback and clinch a 6-4 win. This was an overwhelming performance by the Blackhawks' doubles lineup, leaving no doubt about their competence on the court. On the singles side, we encountered challenges of persistence from opponents at 1^st singles and 5^th singles but falling short of a successful comeback.  2^nd Singles Quentin S. kept steady until a couple breakaways to make final score 6-3, while 4^th singles Liam K. stayed in the lead and took care of business 6-4.  3^rd Singles Jack W. showed patience adapting to opponents long-rally style and finished 7-5.  6^th singles Ethan C. learned from past matches to stay cool and smart and went to a tie-breaker win 6-5.  Our exhibition pairs went 2-2 with Jasper/Declan and Nheel/Zayan winning 4-2, while Steven/Anthony and Christian / Newton learning 1-4. 

Thank you Mala R. (Arjun R.) and Ashlee H. (James H.) for the snacks and drinks! 
SHMS Boys Tennis won 11-2 and our record upgrades to 2-1 going into HOME match tomorrow against fellow North Hills Middle School Blackhawks…which Blackhawk will win?

SHMS Boys Tennis checked in with nice weather and breeze in the background taking down Birmingham Berkshire Wildcats 9-4 and 2 out of 3 exhibition matches. With a modified lineup, significant wins of 6-0 came from 1st doubles pairing of Liam K. / James H. and 4th doubles brothers Luca / Nico B. while very notable wins came about in the singles lineup at 2nd singles Quentin S. and 3rd singles Max F. both winning 6-1.  Debuting in singles, Tre V. at 5th singles and Evan B. at 6th singles both proved strong performance and previous USTA/UTR match experience winning 6-2 (5th singles) and 6-3 (6th singles).  Both 1st singles of Jack W. and 4th singles Ethan C. had very close matches and difference of a couple deuce (no-ad) deciding points could have both been wins for SHMS.  4 out of 6 flight wins for SHMS at singles.  Match of the day goes to 7th doubles pair Chase F. / Levi P.   As last match on, the pair was losing 2-5 and facing several match points to lose…Chase and Levi trenched down, communicated, transformed into walls with ninja movement, fighting for every shot and returning high-deep balls.  Chase and Levi won 7-5!  3rd Doubles Kai S. / Austin P. and 5th Doubles Arjun R. / Bennet S. both battled but were clawed back and bit harder by the Wildcats.  

SHMS finish this week 1-1.  Next week matches are (Away) against Cranes of Cranbrook and (Home) against fellow Blackhawks North Hills Middle School.

SHMS Boys Tennis first match of season, as well as first home match, proved to be challenging on multiple fronts including mother nature's wind. Pre-match team huddle included reminders to factor the wind strength and direction on the ball, sun and cloud shade when serving, and doubles communication.  Quote of the day and week “How bad do you want to win, or How fast do you want to lose.” relating to focus on the court and in the points, and being smart about risk and reward when choosing which ball to be more offensive or defensive.  Team Players Omar S. and Max F. gave an additional pump-up/motivational talk too.  With initial display of competitive teammates during practice, these preparations proved friendly and ineffective against the experienced, focused and hungry Covington Cobras. Blackhawks clawing to victory included 2nd Singles Jack W. winning in longest match of the day fashion and tie-breaker 7-6, very strong and confident showing of 1st Doubles James H./Nheel V. 6-1, first match debuts(fmd) of 6th graders at 2nd Doubles Tre V./Evan B. claiming 6-1 W, and (fmd) Kai S./Nico B. coming back to focus and winning 7-5.  Last match on court and pair of 7th doubles Charles S./Max K. unanimously said communication was key in match success to win 6-3.  Exhibition 8th doubles Levi P. / Landon K. confidently won 4-2 reinforcing that they communicated during each point and positively reinforced during good shots and unforced errors.  As players finished the matches, they were asked to think about how they won or lost and to think about how they would have done things differently to improve the results for next practice.

Next match is 4/23 (H) vs Berkshire.  Let's go Blackhawks!