30 OTA players – not to mention 4 coaches – traveled to Little Rock to sit in the rain… I mean, for the Arkansas State Closed.  Actually the rain wasn’t so bad.  While it made the Saturday schedule jam-packed, and Sunday DID last a little longer than usual, it was still the coolest Closed anyone there could ever remember!!

To be honest, the real beneficiaries of the weather were the spectators.  Our players are in such good shape that they were generally able to physically handle everything the weekend threw their way, and could have handled the usual Closed heat as well or better than the rest.  The final day showed that, as even when it got a little warmer, we closed out the tournament with a flurry of wins.

Here are the top finishers from the weekend:

Ella Coleman – G 10s – Champion in Singles and Doubles

Brooke Killingsworth – G 12s – Champion in Singles and Doubles

Emma Baker – G 16s – Singles Champion, Doubles Finalist

Ryan Hargrove – B 16s –Singles Finalist

Emily Anne Gean – G 14s – 3^rd place

Kyle Henry – B 18s – 4^th Place in Singles, Doubles Finalist

Harshit Dhayal – B 10s – 5^th place

Matthew Freeman – B 12s – 5^th place

Catherine Nettle – G 16s – 5^th place in Singles, Doubles Finalist

Kruti Shah – G 16s – Doubles Champion

Lexi Beaver – G 18s – 5^th place

Dylan DeLuca – B 18s – 5^th place

Clearly, our girls were the stars of the tournament this time!  To win 3 of the 5 girls divisions – and to place in all 5 – is a pretty rare event at this tournament.  (We were actually close to having a girl in the finals of 4 divisions, as Emily Anne narrowly dropped a third set breaker in the Girls 14 semis!)  In all, over a third of the players we brought placed in their divisions, and we are happy to see the group’s effort and dedication this summer pay off.

Thank you to all of the players and parent who attended, you represented yourselves and OTA incredibly well!!!

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Our 4^th Annual OTA Team Event was quite possibly our most FUN ever!!  4 teams duked it out for the top spot, and in the end the Screaming Banshees avenged a 1 point Day 1 loss to the Street Fighters to take the top spot.

Your 2013 Champions – The Screaming Banshees:

Dylan
Hunter
Ryne
Kruti
Brooke
Will
Ella
Arjun

As usual, the fun continued off the court as well, whether in cheering for teammates or playing at the pool.  Thank you to everyone who participated, it was a blast!

At the Wichita ITA Event last weekend, OTA sent 7 players: Lexi Beaver, Catherine Nettle, Emma Baker, Colton Cheek, Kyle Henry, Andrew Miller, and Jack Neal.  For those that don’t know, the ITA series is a collegiate-focused tournament schedule, where most players are either incoming or returning college players.  We came away with 6 wins as a group, which is not bad for a group of high schoolers playing with the big kids! 

All of our girls won a singles match, and Emma added a doubles victory as well.  Kyle won two rounds (including one over a Division I player from Dallas), and lost 3^rd set breakers to players from the Big 10 and Big East conferences.

Overall it was a very good tournament for the group, and we had a great time, too!  A movie night, separate coaches and player rooms, and (most importantly) a restaurant that served grass-fed beef… what more could we ask for???  How about our mental training coach coming along to observe the group in action?  Check.   Jason showed up for both days, offering many quality insights to Christy and Jared about all of our players.

We’ll be planning on this again next year, so keep it in mind – It’s a great experience!!