The Ballad of “Kiss My Ace”- A Women’s USTA 2.5 tennis team- Club Fit Briarcliff Westchester, Ny If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster, And treat those two impostors just the same By Jeff Scott- Club Fit Pro and 2012 Team Coach A Floating Ball was coming down our Southern “Ace” team’s “heartland” of the tennis court, during our match point for the deciding and final match of the Eastern Sectional Championship tournament. Marcie lunged for it with her backhand two-fisted volley, and steered the ball deep into the home Northern team’s heartland, apparently smack on the baseline! A simultaneous shriek of joy erupted from both Jodi and Marcie, as the match was hard fought, close as can be and deep into the super tiebreak. After all, it was a competition against the team that had clinched the tournament and was heading off to vie for the National Title. The win against the tournament champion certainly would have been gratifying, and would have catapulted the Southern Aces into second place, a very respectable finish to a Cinderella season by unified and determined group of Westchester tennis warrior women! But no! Defeat was snatched from the jaws of victory by the most unlikely of sources- a defiant finger wagged in the air! With an air of duplicity, an admonition and an over-rule were issued simultaneously with one, exultation stealing gesture. The infamous finger belonged not to one of the Northern’s opponents, but to a one of the few local officials assigned to monitor the tournament. He had stumbled onto our court just in time for the deciding tiebreak, as there were no more matches to monitor. The protocol is for the opposing team to make the line’s call, but the home team official was very eager to wield his authority, and reared his ugly finger. Marcie had struck what she thought was the last ball of the day, but it was not to be. The official’s finger had erased one of the match points, but the score stood 9-7 Southern Aces, and there were three more match points ultimately to come. But momentum had already seeped out from the Ace’s duo as air from a balloon, and the match points disappeared like sands from an hourglass, and Northern gained the ultimate victory. It is a moment just like this that Britain’s Rudyard Kipling seems to have written his poem “If”, which inspires us to become heroes and champions. The poem originally written about the exploits of a war hero contains a line that has been diverted for tennis purposes, as it appears on the wall of the Centre Court players’ entrance at Wimbledon. If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster, And treat those two impostors just the same The Ace doubles team match point moment was a disaster, but Marcie and Jodi and every Ace on the “Kiss My Ace” team are all heroes including captain and co captain Kelley and Rachel, Ann, our singles specialist and club and team personal trainer, Patty and Mary and Lauren, singles and doubles hybrids, and Carri and Nancy, the team’s additional doubles specialists, and Samantha, started with the team, but was unfortunately sidelined with injuries. Also deserving mention are Heath, Club Fit Adult director, David, Junior director and the Ace’s 2011 coach, Rodrigo, the club’s tennis director, and yours truly, Jeff, 2012 team coach. What makes this entire team heroes is the way they stayed unified and sacrificed individual concerns & desires for the overall team’s mission. Each contributed in some way shape and form throughout the entire journey, and a rare and successful season emerged, a dream season and a season for the ages! As triumph and disaster are two sides of the same coin, we have suffered our disaster moment. Triumph awaits you in the future! “Kiss My Ace”Team- Club Fit Briarcliff- Southern Region, Ny The Cast of Characters Individual and Team Accomplishments: Southern Region- Division B Champs: undefeated 12-0 record in the regular season! Westchester/ Rockland Champs: 2-0 playoff record v NYAC team2, and Lifeplex! Southern Region Champs: 1-0 playoff record v Mid Hudson Cross Court Social Network USTA Eastern Sectional Championship Tournament Record: 1-3 4th place (could have been 2-2 and 2nd place- lol! That’s where Kipling comes in!) Reg Season Playoffs Total Total Team Match Record 12-0 4-3 16-3 Individual Match Record 48-8 25-10 73-18 Kelley Briggs- Captain 5-0 5-2 10-2 Rachel Audette- Co- Captain 6-0 4-2 10-2 Marcie Cascino 7-1 5-1 12-2 Patty DiSanto 8-0 3-0 11-0 Ann Krobath 4-3 1-2 5-5 Mary Torres 4-1 3-2 7-3 Jodi Venuti 5-0 3-1 8-1 Carri Becker 5-1 1-0 6-1 Lauren Prigozen 2-2 - 2-2 Nancy Liebowitz 2-0 - 2-0 Samantha Miller Inj - - Kelley Briggs- (Team Captain and leader) Undefeated in reg season incl huge win against rival twin oaks. 3-0 in huge single elim playoff matches to get us to sectionals! Rachel Audette- (Team Co Captain & the steady one!) Kelley’s dubs partner and undefeated in reg season! 3-0 in huge single elim playoff matches to get us to sectionals! Marcie Cascino- (Ms Slamboni!) 7-1 in reg season, 5-1 ini playoffs! 3-0 in huge single elim playoff matches to get us to sectionals! Hit fateful triumph and disaster shot! Patty Disanto- (Team Pilot in case we got to nationals, and she’s not competitive!) undefeated in reg season and 3-0 in single elim matches. Was missed at sectionals! Ann Krobath- (Courageous singles warrior and team trainer) 5-5 in reg season and playoffs combined. Specialized in long 3 set matches! Mary Torres- (Ace Specialist and team bartender!) 7-3 record incl reg season and playoffs. 2-0 in singles elim matches to get us to sectionals. Her serve is feared! Jodi Venuti- (Sugar! and team trainer) 5-0 reg season and 3-1 at sectionals! Received MVP honors for sectional tourney. Marcie’s team-mate for “The Point”! Carri Becker- (Team lawyer during all team disputes!) 6-1 record incl reg season and a big sectionals tourney match win! Lauren Prigozen- (Another brave singles player and future star!) 2-2 record in singles and doubles matches during the reg season. Famous for long, epic singles matches! Nancy Liebowitz- (Ambitious player and doubles specialist) 2-0 record in doubles matches during the regular season. Excellent technique and a student of the game! Samantha Miller- (Ambitious team player) determined to train hard and play well for the Aces this year, but sustained a calf injury working hard, and sidelined by previous injury. Jeff Scott- (Heartland! and Team Coach) “Train Hard, Play Well”! Pushed Aces to compete & accomplish all they could possibly achieve. “Play Hard & Smart for Yourselves and Each Other! Remember you can get better if you want to!”