Successful Start in Seattle

Today, Wednesday, I finally played a match. Susan Wright and I played Janice Hostetler and Bonnie Paasche from Washington state. We won 62 60. There was one point that was pretty funny…it was a long one as the courts here are slow, the balls are fluffy and our opponents were tenacious. After several shots we got a short ball in the middle of the court and Susan managed to say “put it away Carolyn!!!! (probably in all caps). I of course froze, let the ball drop and tried a dropshot. Janice, who had played me in the past and remembered the drop shots I hit her then was already to the service line and got to the ball and they won the point.

About the courts…they were resurfaced last week and are very slow and gritty. The tournament chose to use US Open Heavy Duty balls instead of regular duty balls which are recommended for indoor use. The heavy duty balls get really fluffy and slow after a set or so and unless you are Susan or Diane Barker, they are hard to put away….as Andrea Barnes discovered in her match against Shannon Gordon-Carney today.

Shannon is playing her first national, but it won’t be her last. She’s a very good player, quick, and a good volleyer. Andrea though is very experienced and an excellent indoor player. Andrea won the first set 63, as Shannon was erratic for much of the set. However, Shannon got more aggressive and got to net more in the second set, forging a 4-1 lead before Andrea nearly leveled the set by being more aggressive. Shannon though closed it out 64. In the third, with new balls, Andrea went up 3-1, Shannon went ahead 4-3 and then Andrea played a flawless final 3 games to win the set and match 63.

The other women’s quarters were one-sided, though Frances O’Sullivan played a good second set against Susan Wright before losing 60 63. Frances hit a lot of good shots…Susan though pounced on any short balls. Susan plays Leslie Murveit, last year’s finalist, tomorrow and Andrea plays Diane Barker.

In the men’s 60s, there were a few minor upsets. Wes Cash beat #5 seed Rollin Rhone 63 62 and Myron Pushyk beat #5 seed Doug Ditmer. Cash plays #4 seed Tony Crabel who sponsors the men’s portion of this event. (There is $10000 total prize money for the men’s 60 singles/doubles; for women’s and mixed there is an unspecified amount of prize money based on entry size).

In mixed, Shannon and Rhone upset #3 seeds Andrea and Kenny House in straight sets and Diane/Jack Barker took out #4 seeds Frances O’Sullivan/Kevin Kearny, also in straight sets.

I have been successfully (so far) riding a Lime Bike (limebike.com) back and forth to the club. You download the app from google play or apple, then create and account. The first one or two rides are free…then it’s $1 a ride or 50 cents for students, or you can buy 100 rides for about $30. After one or two rides the app will ask you to load a minimum of $5 for rides. To ride a bike, find one nearby on the app, scan the QR code and the bike unlocks. When you are done riding, just lock the bike by turning a knob, leave it at a bike rack or on a curb and that’s it.

Update: Thursday the Lime Bikes were not working so I walked…they kept saying bike already in service, even though they were locked and there was basically no human customer service. Too bad, it was fun to ride them.