Living the dream! We won the world championships in France! Yaa Baby! with a 4-3 victory in the semis over a Great German team that had all the ingredients of an heart thumping thriller. Capped off with a 4-1 victory against the Adrenaline infused French team on their home turf in the Title match.
If you want spine tingling tingles? Well listen to our epic semifinal battle against the Germans who were leading the team match 3-2 (all they had to do was win either the men's doubles or the mixed doubles to get to the finals). In the men's doubles the Germans were up a set and a break against Mackenzie McDonald and Austin Smith Right as the Hearse was pulling up to take us to our demise, Macke and Austin stood proud and firm to break the Germans as they were serving for the match ( we then held and then broke again with points laced with fiery courageousness to reach the match deciding 10 point tiebreaker). For the Americans, all was on the line for the USA. We had to win this tie breaker to give our mixed doubles a shot to get a ticket to the Title match. Although the American hearts will willing the first four points were just a blur as Macke and Austin fell behind 0-4 in the 10 point tiebreaker. The American Dynamic duo regained their swag but we were still trailing at 4-7 in the super breaker. Their positive resolve and aggressive shot making only grew stronger as they made an epic comeback to fight off a match point for the Germans. Their enthusiasm in the face of disaster fueled a historic playing. They kept their cool, even after blowing one match point opportunity to eventually soothe the nerves of their coaches and teammates. Their stubborn determination brought home the doubles point for the Red, White and Blue and most importantly get us a 3-3 tie. With joy embedded on their faces they handed over the sword to capture the championship and its accompanying heebie jeebies to our mixed doubles team of Tom Fawcett and Brooke Austin.
Tom and Brooke played with the passion of Bible Belt Tent Revivalists. Every shot was a Hallelujah and Praise the Lord with the Gospel music blasting. We had the mojo and the magic and there was no stopping this freight train.
Tom and Brooke effortlessly muffled the German's 6'7" cannon serve.
They dominated the net like a Lion on the plains of Africa, and they returned serve with laser precision. Both sets were still was nerve wracking (like a Friday the 13th movie when you know that Freddie Krueger could still pop out in a nightmare). They won the first set 6-3 and then finished the Germans off in a nail biting tiebreaker. Tom and Fawcett were Captain America and Wonder Women to save the day. They never blinked or doubted that their time had come to take us into the Championship match agains the French.
We had one of those spine tingling experiences in the Finals playing in front of a packed and boisterous fans for the French. We won 4-1 but the best part was the fact, that our number 2 men's singles player Tom Fawcett from Stanford came back from losing the first set, and down a break in the second to win in three. Our Championship clincher was our women's doubles of Maegan Manasse and Brooke Austn who scratched and clawed with tenacity to erase a 1-5 deficit in the first set to grab the sweet elixir of momentum to win 11 out of the next 12 games and capture the Master'U title for the USA team. The Championship was ours for the fifth straight year! Yaaay USA!!
So much gratitude and praise to our "Joan of Arc" Coach Amanda Augustus whose steely eyed leadership lead and inspired our troops.
Shout out to our Warriors! The Legacy continues...
Danielle Collins (Virginia)
Maegan Manasse (Cal)
Brooke Austin (Florida)
Tom Fawcett (Stanford)
Mackenzie McDonald (UCLA)
Austin Smith (Georgia)
Go USA!!