Coming Up Short

Last weekend was the Midwest Sectional Tournament for mixed doubles. My team, a team from Livonia, had started this journey months ago in January. For some of us, like our captain, Archie, the dream was much older than that.

I don't know when, exactly, I started to believe in the talent of this team. Maybe it was when we won the winter playoffs back in April. My partner and I played on the first court and loss. And because other teammates had elected to use the red score cards to record their score rather than the black that Fred and I used, I assumed we lost the match. It wasn't until later that our individual loss meant so little as I found out that our team had advanced to the next stage, playing the winner of the summer league in September.

Maybe I started to believe when we beat the summer league winners, a highly selective and scouted team from my home club, players who, year after year, appear in the final stages of the playoffs. The win for SE Michigan champions was dramatic and despite my partner being injured and not playing, we were able to overcome the slight bump and forge ahead to states.

Maybe I started to believe when we went to states and in three matches, manged to win all three courts each time. We advanced to Sectionals without dropping a match.

Sectionals in Indiana was a little intimidating. We had to go without one of our starting women and one of our starting men. Lineups were jumbled a bit and we put our best foot forward, winning the first match against Illinois.

The real competition came from Indiana, a team who boasted all morning about their plans to go to Nationals. They had their trip all planned out. Sectionals to them was just a formality. For us, we wanted to prove ourselves, to earn a right to compete for the National Championship in Vegas. Although we lost the match, my partner and I had to play a team that had not lost a match all year. On paper, they looked more intimidating than anyone we'd ever played, and yet, we won.

Our team came up short at the very end. In order to advance we had to take all three courts. For Indiana to advance, they needed us to take two courts. And for our opponents, the quietly advancing Ohio, all they needed was to simply win the match. And they did.

Of course, we wish them luck. Part of me is not the gracious loser I pretended to be after watching our chance slip away. I wanted to go to Vegas. I wanted to compete for that championship. And the hardest thing to swallow is knowing that we were good enough, that we were a capable team. The hardest thing to swallow is that we simply came up short.

Coming up short on a Sunday leaves you with a hangover on Monday. Even a five hour drive home was not enough to kill the buzz and the disappointment of the weekend. But, I move on. Our team moves on.

Today was a day of training. And hitting and working toward the next goal. In three trips to Indiana, I'd never come as close as I had to advancing to Nationals and you know what? I want it. I am going to work for it. And I hope my team works for it as well.

Thank you, Team Livonia. It was a wonderful ride, but that journey is over and its time to plan for the next one.

Stay tuned...

KS