Fighting Spirit on Court: Ladies County Cup Recap
- Lianne Candappa
- 3 days ago
- 3 min read
Winter County Cup 2025 – Somerset (Taunton)
Players
Lianne Candappa (Captain)
Giorgie Jones
Holly Reid
Liz Massie
Alice Wilson Marsh
Lucie Butler
Shennai Chahal
Ellie Buttimore
Mary Hoggard
Friday 21st November – vs Somerset
We opened the weekend against what we knew would be our toughest opposition. Somerset, playing on home courts, came out strong—but our team was ready for the challenge.
Shennai and Alice kicked things off. It was great to have the juniors back, bringing fresh energy to the lineup.
Shennai fought hard but, battling a headache after the first set, couldn’t quite pull through. Sadly, this was her only match of the weekend as illness forced her to withdraw.
Alice stepped up brilliantly, delivering a confident win in straight sets.
Next up were Lucie and Liz. Both played competitive matches and pushed their opponents to the limit, with Liz taking her second set to a tense tiebreak.
Holly and Giorgie rounded off the singles. Holly secured a strong, comfortable win, while Giorgie produced some fantastic points against a Division 1 university player but couldn’t quite clinch it.
In the doubles:
Lucie & Ellie, despite never having partnered before, gelled quickly and came close to forcing a championship tiebreak.
Holly & Alice continued the trend of successful new pairings, taking their match in a championship tiebreak.
Giorgie & Liz played well together, pulling off some brilliant volleys, but didn’t manage to grab the win.
Final Score: 3–6 Loss
Saturday 22nd November – vs South Wales
Determined to bounce back, we went into Day 2 ready for a fight.
Alice & Lucie started us off.
Alice found her rhythm early, securing the win 6–1, 6–3.
Lucie took the first set but her opponent tightened up her game, making fewer errors and edging out the match.
Then it was Mary and Liz—no easy task stepping in fresh on Day 2.
Mary faced an opponent who came out firing, making it a tough start.
Liz had a challenging match against a very strong 15-year-old who refused to give away free points.
Both matches slipped away, leaving us 1–3 down.
But Holly & Giorgie stepped up in style, winning both of their singles convincingly and levelling the tie at 3–3 heading into the doubles.
The doubles pairings were:
Mary & Giorgie, a familiar and reliable partnership from County Week
Holly & Alice, fresh off yesterday’s success
Ellie & Liz, teaming up for the first time
Ellie & Liz took a set to adjust to each other's game but surged back, pushing it to a championship tiebreak. All three doubles matches went to cham tiebreaks—a nail-biting finish!
We managed one win thanks to the dependable pairing of Mary & Giorgie, but narrowly lost the other two.
Final Score: 4–5 Loss
Sunday 23rd November – vs Norfolk
Despite two close losses, spirits were high going into Day 3, and the team came out firing.
Ellie & Alice opened with two confident straight-sets wins, with Ellie fighting hard to claim a tight second set.
Mary & Giorgie dominated their matches, both winning 6–0, 6–0—an incredible display of focus and consistency.
Holly followed with an impressive 6–1, 6–1 win. Giorgie, playing again, battled through a competitive match that went to a deciding set, but just ran out of steam at the end.
With a commanding lead from the singles, we secured a brilliant result:
Final Score: 5–1 Win
A Proud Weekend for the Team
It was an absolute pleasure taking this group away for the weekend. The players supported each other, played with passion, and represented the county with pride. It was especially great to see juniors integrating so well with the adults, particularly in the doubles.
We missed Shennai after her illness on Day 1 and all wish her a speedy recovery.
To view full results click here
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