IT was a weekend of triumph for Essex Junior girls with THREE of our teams booking their places in next January’s Inter-Counties Championships National Finals.
Two teams – our Under-17’s and Under-13’s first team – have made it through to ICC Finals while our Under-13’s second team are through to the Trophy Finals, an amazing recognition of Essex’s commitment to the girls’ programme over the past three years.
The Essex Under-U-13’s first team of Aliza Sheikh, Hannah Morley and Brooke Smith were in superb form as they dismantled the opposition of Chiltern, Middlesex and Kent in emphatic style. All three girls, under the watchful eye of Essex coach Chris Chitty, went through the day unbeaten to install themselves as favourites for the national crown.
In the Trophy event, Mikayla Mann, Lara Newton ,Jessica Baxter and Rosie Snook overcame the challenge of Bucks, Suffolk and Oxfordshire to put smiles on everyone’s face.
With our younger players setting the standard, Essex’s Under-17’s team of Alice Green, Ellie Hewes, Eleanor White, Piper Tatum, Paige McCoy and Amy Aspinall responded with an equally brilliant display finishing top of the table ahead of Kent, Hampshire and SE Wales. Coach Lauren Selby was full of praise for all our teams ahead of next January’s big weekend date.
She said: “I’m absolutely thrilled by the performance of all our girls. They all had tough challenges and they met them strong mental attitudes and a great deal of determination and skill., They should all be so proud. A full report of the girls’ under-17’s is printed below. Thanks to Ellie Hewes.
The Essex Under-15’s team were in Trophy action in West Sussex producing a terrific performance to beat Surrey 4-1. Hattie Callen, Olivia Broderick, Daisy Newton, Libby Connor, Henna Kaur Ranu and Deeya Kaur Ranu were a total credit to the county delivering gutsy performances throughout the day…even against an extremely strong Sussex squad who finished top of the table and included an England number one ranked player in their line-up.
The triumphant Essex Under-17’s with coach Lauren Selby
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Girls U17 Region 2 – Stage 2 |  |
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Essex Under-13’s and coach Chris Chitty
| UNDER 13 FINALS | P | W | L | D | F | A | Pen | Total | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Essex 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 36 | 2 | 0 | 36 | |
| 2 | Chiltern | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 21 | 19 | 0 | 21 | |
| 3 | Middlesex | HOST | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 12 | 25 | 0 | 12 |
| 4 | Kent | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 9 | 32 | 0 | 9 | |
| View Results Summary | View Results Detail | Host Venue: Cumberland Lawn from Tennis Club | |||||||||
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Essex Under-13’s second team jump for joy. Sadly, Rosie Snook had to leave before our photograph was taken
| UNDER-13 TROPHY | P | W | L | D | F | A | PEN | TOTAL | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Essex 2 | HOST | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 30 | 10 | 0 | 30 |
| 2 | Buckinghamshire | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 22 | 18 | 0 | 22 | |
| 3 | Suffolk | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 18 | 18 | 0 | 18 | |
| 4 | Oxfordshire 1 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 30 | 0 | 6 | |
| View Results Summary | View Results Detail | Host Venue: COLCHESTER GARRISON | |||||||||
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The brilliant Essex Under-15 squad
| Under 15 Girls | ||||||||||
| Trophy | P | W | L | D | F | A | Pen | Total | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sussex | HOST | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 40 | 0 | 0 | 40 |
| 2 | Essex | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 20 | 24 | 0 | 20 | |
| 3 | Surrey 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 40 | 0 | 4 | |
| View Results Summary | View Results Detail | Host Venue: BLUECOATS SPORTS CENTRE | |||||||||
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ESSEX UNDER-17’S Reported by Ellie Hewes
On Saturday 19th November, 6 Essex junior girls embarked to Kent to play the second round of the inter county competition. The team had previously beaten Surrey 3-2 and Norfolk 4-1 and had had a walkover against Hertfordshire (in the first round). The team consisted of Alice Green (captain), Ellie Hewes, Eleanor White, Piper Tatum, Paige McCoy (the birthday girl) and Amy Aspinall.
To start off, the girls had to play Hampshire. First up were 3rd and 5th strings; Eleanor and Paige. Eleanor got us off to a cracking start, winning 3-0. She managed to hit consistently good dying length and volleyed the ball well proving too much for her opponent. Next door Paige was playing controlled squash, again hitting dying length and placing the ball accurately into each of the 4 corners. Paige managed to win 3-0. Essex were 2-0 up in matches already! Next on was captain Alice at number one string who showed her experience and control around the whole court and took the win 3-0. Next door, number 4 string Piper was also showing how good a touch she has, placing drops with precision just above the tin, beating her opponent 3-0. Lastly on were Amy (6th string) and Ellie (2nd string). Ellie had a hard, tough five gamer which eventually went the other girls way whilst Amy placed her shots around the court with control and accuracy and won 3-0. We had beaten Hampshire 5-1! Next up Kent!
We all knew that Kent was not going to be an easy team to beat and after our inspirational chat and determination to get to the final, Eleanor and Paige stepped on court! Eleanor and Paige both put on matches that were very tense and they were both nip and tuck! On the first court, Eleanor won her first game 11-9. The second game didn’t quite go her way at 11-9 again to the other team. The next game was brutal. Point for point, decision after desicion, shouting and more shouting form each teams…the other team narrowly won the 3rd game 15-13! We all knew that Eleanor wasn’t going to give in though and after being 10-8 down in the 4th (match ball) Eleanor pulled it back to win 12-10! Everybody was shaking and everyone was watching with one eye, too tense to watch and in the end, after being 6-2 down in the fifth, Eleanor won 11-7. One of the best matches of the day! Essex were one match up! Next door was Paige with a similar match. Nip and tuck, point for point, shouting and more shouting, decisions after decisions and running and more running…Paige 1-0 down…brought it back to 1-1…2-1 down…2-2! In the end, everybody willing their teams player on… Paige won the fifth 11-6; making Essex 2-0 up in matches! Another one of the best matches of the day! Next on was captain Alice who showed her coolness on court and how experienced she is. She controlled the ball and won 3-0. She is a credit to the team! This put Essex 3-0 up in matches! Next door, Piper was playing. Another really tight game that could have gone either way. Again Piper’s drops were exceptional and each player was running for everything! In the end Piper narrowly lost 3-1 but she will have her next time! Next was Ellie and Amy. Ellie had good rallies, lots of running and good volley drops but her opponent just had the better of her and Ellie lost 3-0. Next door, Amy was controlling the ball nicely and tightly down the wall, volleying well and moving around the court really well too. She beat her opponent 3-0 which made Essex in the end beat Kent 4-2! This was a really good result!
Next was lunch! Lasagne, chicken curry or chilli! The food was amazing and on the teams behalf I would just like to say thank you to the clubs hospitality and great cooking!
Our last match of the day was against South Wales. They only had 4/6 players so we already had two match walkovers! First on were Alice and Eleanor. Alice played really well, showing why she is one of the best players in the country and won 3-0. Next door was Eleanor, who was having a cracking match that again could have gone either way! Eleanor was placing the ball well around the court, with good serves and power. In the end, Eleanor narrowly lost 3-1 but it was a great match! Next on were Piper and Ellie. Ellie had good volley drops and again running as much as she could but in the end lost 3-1 but had a great match with her opponent. Piper was the last match on court and showed how good her drops were and serves were. She managed to finish Essex on a high and won 3-0, letting us win 4-2 in the end! This meant Essex were through to the final (after some maths and uncertainties weather we had actually got through, from the parents, players and coaches).
On behalf of the team, I would like to say thank you to all the parents for driving and supporting the whole team. If you didn’t drive us then we wouldn’t of played and we wouldn’t of got through. Also our coach, Lauren who helped us throughout our matches and helped organise the day. Here comes the finals (for the 5th time in a row for this team!) Well done everyone!