I am doing the city league once again, and I have loved it. I have played 4 matches, and I have won 3 of them! the first 2 were played in Spanish Fork, and I won the first one, 5-1. they did a weird thing where it's first to 5 instead of an 8-game pro-set, or even just a single 6 game set. but at least i won. the second girl I was beating 4-0, but a lot of the games were really close, and we were both fighting hard. finally, I just got really tired, and she had this amazing comeback and was able to beat me 5-4. so, being the loser, this sucked. but I do admire her for being able to come back and win! I have always wanted to be able to do that. and we both played really well.
the next 2 were played at Lehi High School. This time, because there weren't a ton of girls on the Provo team, I had to play 2 girls from Lehi. we just played one set. the first girl was my age, and my coach was surprised at how quickly we finished. I won, 6-1. I was getting a lot of my shots in, and I wasn't trying to hit winners. I was just trying to keep the ball in play for as long as I possibly could, knowing she'd eventually get tired and hit into the net. which usually happened. as soon as I reported my score, my coach immediately sent me back out to play my second match. I said, "but I'll get tired!" and he said, "you're playing her sister. so it's like a normal 2 set match against the same person. you will either destroy the whole family, or they will get revenge!" well, this sister had watched the entire first match, and I thought she was either scared, or she had figured me out by watching me, and had a game plan. our first games ended in deuces (we went into 5 the first game), but I would always win the last point. then, later on into the match, I noticed that she would get tired, and I hit a lot of winners, and she would hit....well, out. I won, 6-0. so I guess I'm a family destroyer.
in addition to city league, I have a private coach. My old one, Mike, was wonderful, and we loved him. But this year, he was too busy to coach, so he referred us to Francis, the captain of the BYU Tennis team and the top player. At first, we were really sad because like I said earlier, we loved Mike and we would really miss him. Pretty much, we had no idea what to expect. But we loved Francis the minute we met him, and I have improved so much in just 3 weeks, more than I improved last season! First, he started by changing my serve. I already had a really consistent flat serve, and if I didn't make my first, I would almost always make my second. Well, now Francis wants me to leave behind that perfect flat serve, and develop a powerful, slice serve. At first, I wasn't too excited about that idea because my serve was already good. but a slice serve has so much more power, and you can do so much more with it. now, my slice serve forgets to "slice" about half the time, and ends up crashing into the net, going long, or I freak out and hit a perfect flat serve. Also, I still use a flat serve as my second serve in my matches. But every serve is better than the last, and it "slices" more each time! he has also worked with me on...everything, things that I would have never noticed before. but every day, I learn a new useful technique, and boy, has that helped! today, I had the amazing opportunity to attend his baptism and be the pianist! (I had no idea until about 5 minutes before it started, but I did great.) It was an amazing program, and all the talks were so good, and his testimony was amazing. (I've said that word like 3 times in the past sentence, but really. it was amazing.) I think it's so cool when someone comes to BYU as a nonmember, meets with the missionaries, and is able to get baptized!
(Also, he is from England. And he has an accent.)
well, that was the tennis update. here is something not related to tennis! my lovely friend Hannah has a great camera and offered to take my pictures. we took about 200, but my eyes were closed in 80% of them. we did have a lot of good ones! here are a few of my favs:
that is not snow. that is cotton. and I am extremely allergic to that.
I do not want anyone to see my eyeballs. OK?!
....and then, I told Hannah, "I'm really hungry!" and she said, "let's get ice cream and use it as a prop!"
Good Job Miriam! Sounds like you are good at tennis! Beautiful Pictures!
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