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| Iowa City Men's USTA 4.0 18+ Tennis Team. |
We added one more exciting chapter to our Iowa Men's tennis adventures this last weekend in Oklahoma. Our first round in the USTA 4.0 18+ Midwest sectionals against St. Louis, MO started out strong with a 4-1 win. We faced Oklahoma next in the second match of pool play in a round robin format. Every match was close but we came up short, losing 4-1. In round 3 we faced an undefeated Kansas team in a must-win situation which was moved indoors due to incessant rain. We prevailed 4-1 and finished in second place in our pool. One more match win in any of the first three rounds would have given us an automatic bid into the semifinals and a chance to play the other Iowa team who edged us out in the state championship match 3-2 in June.
Our quarterfinal match against Nebraska was a rematch from one year ago. My partner and I were still battling late into the evening long after all the other matches were completed. We had a couple of match points with my partner serving and both times the ball narrowly missed landing in. Our team gave them everything we had. The other team came back and beat us 9-7. Final score: Nebraska 4, Iowa 1. We were really hoping for a chance to redeem ourselves in the semis against the other Iowa team but the ball didn't bounce our way. The Des Moines team held off Nebraska 3-2 in the semis and advanced to play Heart of America in the finals. Des Moines won 3-2. They will go to Surprise, Arizona in October. Congratulations to Des Moines. I would like to thank my teammates for an amazing season. Tennis is alive and well in the great Midwest and our dreams will never die. We'll be back next year for a third attempt against the best players in the region. I'm grateful for the wild card entry and the opportunity to represent the great state of Iowa. I wish the Des Moines team well in the National Championships. Have a great day.
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