BASILDON tennis player Olivia Sofroniou made it a full house as she made her LTA County Cup debut for Essex.

The 16-year-old from Steeple View competed at Wrexham as Essex remained in Group Three in the national competition at the weekend.

And helping the county to third place in Group 3B meant the Southend High School for Girls sixth former had played at all age groups for Essex after progressing from the youth ranks to the ladies’ team.

“Olivia played for the under-18 team this year and got her county colours and being selected for the ladies’ team meant she has now played for every age group,” said proud mum Julie.

“Playing in the county cup was a great experience for her and she really enjoyed it, winning two out of her three singles matches.

“It was good for Olivia because she was playing singles against other players from different parts of the country who she had not played before.

“And she also got to play against older players that she had heard of but never player against, so that was good experience too.

“Now she is hoping to keep plugging away and progressing.”

Sofroniou made her debut in Essex’s 7-2 win against Northumberland on the first day in Wales.

She beat Ceara Harvey 6-1 6-2 before partnering Sian Green to a 4-6 7-6 (3) 10-7 win against Amy Hoburn and Stephanie Booth.

Sofroniou, who is coached at David Lloyd Basildon by Darren Rogers, followed it up with a 6-1 6-2 singles win against Hampshire & Isle of Wight’s Christin Louw.

But Sofroniou and Green lost 6-2 6-3 to Lisa Hanley and Debbie-Louise Hale as Essex pipped the south coast county 5-4 overall.

However, Essex crashed 6-3 to group champions Cheshire on Sunday. Sofroniou lost 1-6 6-1 6-1 to Bethan Taylor in the singles before losing 6-1 6-0 to Taylor and Hannah McColgan while partnering Green.

It left Essex third in the standings but knowing one more match win would have been enough to see them promoted to Group Two for next year’s competition.