Rising sophomore Elizabeth Kilborn and some of her teammates on the women’s tennis team are enjoying their summers on campus by taking classes and training for next year. Elizabeth has agreed to blog for RamblinWreck.com from time to time to update everyone on the team’s progress this summer on and off the court. Check back from time-to-time to see what Elizabeth has to say. Some of her teammates may pop up on here as well.
July 17, 2010
Entry #2
Hey everyone! Sorry that it has been so long since my last post! I did not realize how much time had passed! Summer is flying by, as usual… Only two more weeks of summer school, and then finals!
Last time I wrote was right before July 4th…. My family and I went to Lake Martin for the long weekend over the 4th to my aunt and uncle’s lake house. We always have so much fun with my cousins there… lots and lots of tubing! My uncle is a sport for pulling us around on tubes all day long. I even got my mom out on the tube with me one time, but she didn’t really like it…. says she likes riding on the boat better 🙂
One of our traditions for the 4th is to load up on a bunch of fireworks when we cross the Georgia/Alabama border, and we set them all off from the dock. As we are all amateurs with fireworks, we always seem to have minor accidents and mishaps with our fireworks show. This year was not an exception to that trend. My brother Bradley really enjoys lighting up all of the fireworks (just a little bit of a pyro!), and so does my cousin Andrew. So, they were lighting up this type of firework where you drop a ball into a big tube and light the fuse that comes out of the top. They shoot up very high and look like professional fireworks, except you are soo much closer. So, Andrew and Bradley thought it would be cool to set two off at once. Bradley lit his a little before Andrew, so his went off first. Everything was fine. Then, Andrew’s went off. Andrew put the firework into the launching tube upside down, but still somehow figured out a way to light the fuse. The firework literally went off about a few feet above the surface of the dock. Keep in mind that it was the huge type of firework that explodes in the sky. That was a pretty scary experience, considering all ten of us were standing on the dock watching them shoot off. Its ok, just another story to add to the fireworks memories I guess!
So anyways….
This past weekend I played in the 10K ITF in Atlanta. It was my first tournament at this level, so I really did not know what to expect. My first round of qualies was Saturday morning at 9. First match on! I played a younger girl from the U.S. I won in three tough sets, but I was just enjoying being out there and competing again. It had been a while since my last competitive match (Ole Miss). The girl I played was quick and made me play a lot of shots. Once I settled in after the first set, I was able to attack and started to finish off more points at the net. It’s always a good feeling to get through your first round nerves!
So, my second round was Sunday morning. First match on again! Gotta love getting your match in before it gets insanely hot. I played another college player from Syracuse. She did a very good job of mixing up her shots and making me hit balls that I don’t like to hit. Even though she was a righty, she threw in some left-handed serves and overheads… I had never seen that before! I was able to contain my shots pretty well and get away with a 6-2, 6-3 win.
In the third round I played a girl who had a bye in the first round and a walkover in the second round, so I did not know anything about her going into the match. She had a big serve and a big forehand, so my game plan was to keep the ball deep to her backhand and wait for the right time to come in. I was able to get a break early in both sets which allowed me to relax into the match a little bit. She definitely pushed me on my service games though, and I had to come back from being down multiple times to avoid getting broken. I won 6-2, 6-2. Onto the fourth round, last round of qualifying.
On Tuesday morning I played Lauren Davis, also a younger American. She moved around the court extremely well, and seemed to have an answer to most of my shots. I ended up losing the match. It was a disappointing loss because it was the last round of qualifying, so if I would have won I would have made it into the main draw. There were definitely positives from the loss though. I was able to see some areas I need to work on and also saw areas I have grown in since the season ended. It is always encouraging to see improvement! It was also cool that Coach Shelton was able to see all of my matches in the tournament. One of the many perks of playing a tournament in Atlanta!
After I finished my match, I watched Amanda McDowell close out her match. It was really great to see her playing well and qualify into the tournament, especially after all of the hardships she has faced this year. She definitely deserves some success! After her match, I went to Willy’s with Irina Falconi. It was funny because I said, “Hey, Irina, where do you wanna go to lunch??” And, without hesitation, she said, “Willy’s!” Normally, we are the two most indecisive people ever and it takes us literally forever to decide where we want to eat. We are both so easy-going that we genuinely do not care where we go! So, needless to say, I loved the decisiveness! We had about a two hour lunch, catching up on lots of stuff! It was so great to have her back in Atlanta again. After the season ended, she was like a sister to me, so it feels weird to not be around her every day in the summer. It was exciting to hear about all of the tournaments she is playing this summer.
Lynn Blau, Christina Ngo, and I are in Athens right now for an ITA tournament this weekend. First round started yesterday. It’s fun traveling with these girls again! We always have so much fun together. I will update it about this tournament on my next blog!!
– Elizabeth
