Lucia, along with partners Laura and Maddy, had spent most of the season moving between AAA and AA. Sitting on the cusp of divisions; holding their own in AAA, beating the best, but dropping off in games with expectations for positive results. Making finals or winning whenever they played AA.
That all changed for Lucia in round 9 of the Vic Tour when she paired up with serial semi-finalist Sandy Hope
In a pool with 3rd seeds Zivcic/Slawuta, and 4th seeds Schaw/Baldauf it was not going to be easy. A first up win over Zaraf Zadeh/Raniti (18-13,21-19) was followed by a tight three set loss to Zivcic/Slawuta (18-16, 13-18, 10-15). That loss meant a win or bust in their final pool match against Schaw/Baldauf… achieved in two sets(18-14, 18-13).
A quarter final against Australian Indoor player Jamie-Lee Morrow and partner Mikayla Adam, on a high following their win over top seeds Jenkins/Simonsen, was a tough ask… but Lucia and Sandy were also on a roll, sweeping past their opponents in the third set of a back and forth match. Thumped 9-18 in the first set, the girls came back to hand out their own thumping (18-8), before cruising through 15-5 in the third. Seven straight unplayable jump serves from Lucia the highlight of the match.
A winnable semi-final against 5th seeds Patterman/Donlan was swept from them when the US pairing jumped out to a strong lead in the first set. Lucia and Sandy came back briefly, but couldn’t keep the flow, losing in straight sets 12-18, 7-18.
“Playing with someone so experienced was such a thrill. Sandy was fantastic; she kept me grounded, encouraged me to play my game, and overall made sure I felt like I deserved to be there. I am so thankful.”
As the youngest player in the division, Lucia took some massive steps toward winning events next season.
