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10/4/11: Trip to Navy
Embarking on our first overnight trip together as the 2011-2012 team, the girls and I found ourselves traveling to Annapolis, Maryland -- home of the country’s finest military academy -- at a tournament hosted by the Navy Mids and the prettiest player in their starting line-up, my sister, Stefanie Ton!
Luckily, on Saturday and Sunday, the sun came out and the outdoor courts were dry, making match play a lot more efficient.
In doubles, our #1 and #2 teams, made up of Lili Johnson/Bri Turano and Caitlin Bricketto/Hilary Valenzuela, respectively, competed in the Flight “A” bracket. The rest of the team, myself included, competed in Flight “B.” I teamed up with Alyssa Rosello while Megan Maffei partnered with Cat Clark. Alyssa and I were the only pair to catch a lucky break in the first round, having to face a team from previous opponent Monmouth University. Since we had played them only a week before, we were able to mentally prepare for girls that Alyssa and I had both just competed against.
In singles, only Bri was able to make it through several rounds of the main draw, while the rest of us competed in our respective consolation brackets. Alyssa and Lili played really well in their flights despite going up against some really great players. I think it’s tough having to go to these tournaments because we usually play teams that are much stronger than we are. With all due respect to those girls and their schools, it’s also hard to expect us to do as well as they do considering the fact that Manhattan College has yet to provide substantial training facilities for us. At the same time, sometimes playing against better players only makes us stronger because there is less stress when you play with nothing to lose.
I personally enjoy taking weekend trips with the team because I think it’s the perfect setting to bond. With a new group of freshmen, getting away from the usual distractions of our day allows us to have some downtime to just be together as a team. Not only are we away from school and our own rooms/lives, we obviously stay with each other at the hotel and spend all day together rooting for one another against a variety of teams.
When we’re off court (and not snacking on a million things!) we would take our homework and shift from court to
court as our girls were called to play. Away from the tournament, we spent time in each other’s rooms doing homework, watching TV and movies (from the BET awards to Justin Bieber’s “Never Say Never” to Kim Kardashian’s engagement), as well as going out to eat.
On top of being able to reunite with my younger sister, our dad also got the opportunity to fly out from California to see his daughters play some tennis. Seeing that it’s my last year playing for Manhattan, I was really excited that he had the opportunity to travel 3,000 miles away to spend some time with us. Not only did we get to see each other before Christmas, we were also able to celebrate my sister’s 20th birthday together! As a junior, she recently signed her life away to the Navy, ensuring at least five years of service post-graduation. With a ceremony happening at the end of October, that neither my dad nor I will be able to attend, it was nice to be able to toast her achievements.
All in all, it was a very rough, tiring, yet beneficial experience for the girls and I. During a year where most of our matches are played at home, I was grateful for the opportunity to get to know my team better.
