26th February, 2006: Played hard, performed well...

I guess we all played so hard yesterday. I saved every shot that I normally couldn't. I roll all over on the court. I did play very well to beat our former rival UIUC. Especially in doubles, I teamed with our number one player and beat UIUC's top two players. We finished 3-0 in doubles and overall 3-2. The doubles match was a crucial moment to decide who's the winner. Everyone said I played like I should've been all the time. I was really focused in all the matches. Even I played with some junk players. I left no mercy. The only thing that upset me is that, our team couldn't beat our top rival, IIT. They changed their format. Number one player becomes their number four player. That means I had the toughest matchup in all matches. But I did my best, it's just that I'm not experienced in returning different serves. And our number one player all of a sudden became so nervous all the end of the match. He was leading 10-8 match point in the last game (2-2). But he had so much pressure on him, since he's the one who decide whether SIUC will advance to the national final. He let his opponent tied the game at 10-10. But we had 2 match points in deuce, we just couldn't capitalize and finish it. It's a fun trip even we didn't advance to the final. I hope we'll do better in the future.