Had a great end to my season, coming second in my last two events.
Charlottesville Open 10k:
I really enjoyed my time in Charlottesville. My billets were incredible, the facility at UVA was amazing, and the weather was nice and warm. My tournament started with a 3-0 win against Lume Lundman (RSA). Despite playing on the glass court, I felt really comfortable with my movement and my attacking shots. My quarterfinal match against Emilia Soini (Finland) was a little more nerve racking. I was attacking prematurely in the first couple games, but wasn’t covering my shots at the front. She had tough counter drops that I wasn’t getting to. I found myself down 2-0. Fortunately, I focused just in time to come back and win in 5. I hit better length and got my legs moving. My semifinal was against Haley Mendez (USA). I played her once before at university and knew she would be tough. Since I had this mindset going into the match and felt really prepared and warmed up, I ended up playing some of my best squash and managed to win 3-0. Despite being up 2-1 in the final against Rowan Elaraby (EGY) I was unable to finish it off. We had a tough, long match. I felt really good during it, but made a couple of errors at key points and lost my length occasionally. While it was disappointing to lose, I was happy with the progress I made and how I maintained my focus.
Canadian National Championships:
Going into Nationals this year I felt really excited to play, but relaxed. A lot of players from Calgary flew out to compete as well as my coach Jon Hill, and my dad. It was encouraging to have a support team in Toronto. My first round match was a success with a 3-0 win against Marnie Baizley. In my quarterfinal I played Alyssa Medha who is currently going to university at Harvard. Before she started school she was playing great and was a tough competitor. Since I hadn’t seen her play in a while, I was nervous for this match. We had a high paced match and we were both hitting hard deep length. Fortunately I was able to exploit her movement with some holds and drops, winning the match 3-1. Onto the semis against Sam Cornett. This season I have had some crazy matches against Sam, with the last one not going my way. However, I learned a lot from my last match against her and had an idea of what game plan she would have. In this match, I felt more focused and confident than I had in the past, and played really well. We had a great, close match that unfortunately ended on a debatable stroke. However, I definitely couldn’t complain- I was in the finals! Similar to last year, I was up 2-1 in the final, but lost in the 5th. There were times when I was pushing the pace with my volleys, attacking shots, and deep length. To my disappointment and frustration, I ran out of gas partway through the fourth game and was struggling to maintain the high quality squash I was previously playing. Hopefully next time!
Now it’s time for a break then summer training!
Danielle Letourneau 