The Houston Hurricanes 4.0 team went down to defeat in a tight one against Dallas this afternoon. Houston won the first two matches off, with Roberto Narajos dominating 6-2, 6-0 at line 1 singles, but then dropped the next three in third set breakers. I was having flashbacks to Sectionals past with the Mob Squad with all of those lost tiebreakers.
Jason Freeman did a great job of captaining all year. It's really tough to lose a tight one when you're sitting out. In my head, or maybe it's my heart, I feel that I am one of the eight best players on the team...but I also feel that Freeman was TOTALLY correct in putting out the lineup he did. It just didn't work out.
The Noho 4.0 team had a chance to win its way into the final four, but got crushed by Fort Worth 5-0 as Fort Worth overtook Wild Dallas after its inexplicable loss to San Angelo while resting some of its top guns. There are very few pushovers at Sectionals, and depth is even more important at 4.0 with the extra match in round robin play.
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congrats on a good season, I know what it is like to lose a close one to Springpark and I really thought you all had that one sewn up there.
ReplyDeleteYou are right about no pushovers, maybe a few lines might be weak but any team who shows up to sectionals has at least 4 players who can beat anyone on a given day.
Hope we can have another good Houston v. Dallas match next year but can we make it in the finals this time, I hate that only one of these great teams will play on Sunday.
Thanks Cary. Freeman told me you were out there, but I was so busy cheering that I didn't get a chance to meet. I was the dashingly handsome skinny guy with a frown on my face. LOL j/k
ReplyDeleteThe good news is that the Houston area 4.5 and 5.0 teams are doing us proud.
That had to have been one of the best 4.0 Sectionals matches in a long time. Lots of fun to watch just wish for Freeman and the guys the result would have been different.
ReplyDelete4.5 semis and finals should be very competitive. Some ridiculously good tennis.
i dont know was that really the best line up for the canes tam and doug have like 3 to 4 losses. The other doubles team of Alex and Chris is undeafeated so maybe that will be in question the rest of the year. Hell and if they really arent his line 3 team then Alex&chris i will be in touch with yall next year.
ReplyDeleteIt looks like it's Lubbock and Dallas in the 4.0 finals. Dallas rode the same three lines to victory and will hope to eke one more win from those three lines to get to Nationals.
ReplyDeleteUnheralded Lubbock has waltzed into the finals without even being challenged. Former Houston junior Joe Schaunaman is leading the charge for Lubbock.
I just heard that Noho won their match with Waco. Kingwood is down right now, but it looks like it could all come down to Omon versus Rusty Branch as Omon dropped the first but is up 4-1 in the second. Armstrong/Hurlbert beat the "unbeatable" duo of Williams/Slezak, as Mr. Benzon predicted.
ReplyDelete1 Hour til match time for the Finals of 4.5 Sectionals. Quite Frankly NOHO would rather play Houston but if they Have to play Dallas Branch then Let's get READYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY to Rumble. We Have our Full Team and
ReplyDeletethere will be no excuses if we lose. We are fresh and ready to go.
Benzon has all the ringers up there today. Nobody has any chance unless you also happen to have 4 or 5 current and recent division 1 players.
ReplyDeleteIt's all-Houston in the 4.5 final (well, North Houston v. Houston) as Kingwood came through in the clutch. Congrats to both teams. Kingwood may have its hands full as Omon and Glenn Wright really extended themselves to get their team to the finals, and Wanja and Heim are supposedly very fresh.
ReplyDeleteKingwood is using Phi and Hai in singles against Heim and Wanja. On paper, this means they will probably need to sweep the doubles.
ReplyDeleteAt line one, it's Valentine/Wright against Bobo/Whitsett.
At line two, it's Kilshaw/Burris against Huffman/Ballesteros
At line three, it's Hurlbert/Armstrong against Benzon/Deluca
There are no automatic wins for Noho in that lineup. A sweep would not be unheard of, though it's possible Noho is a slight favorite at lines one and two.
Do you think Dallas wishes they would have eliminated Kingwood when they had the chance like Austin did to them (Dallas) last year? Do you think that is a legitimate strategy, to throw a match to get a better draw? I respect Dallas for playing straight up but would they have matched up better against Waco?
ReplyDeleteI have no problem with that strategy. We could have done it and maybe it would have helped, and maybe it would have back-fired. We can coulda woulda shoulda all day. We wish that we would have won today, but we got beat by a team who played better when the matches were on the line than we did. We busted our ass and got what we came for. They beat us.
ReplyDeleteMy hats off to Kingwood and NOHO for being in the 4.5 finals. Today, the two best teams are in the finals - congrats to both.
Also - my hats off to the Kingwood team for being good sports. From the captain on down - that seemed like a classy group of guys and it was fun to compete.
See you guys next year on this blog.
Rusty Branch
Noho just earned a trip to Nationals as Huffman/Ballesteros won to give them a 3-2 win.
ReplyDeleteCongrats!
does anyone know who won the 4.0 finals.
ReplyDeleteLubbock advanced to 4.0 Nationals, beating Dallas 3-2
ReplyDeleteSo who is representing Texas at Nationals for each division?
ReplyDelete