Bethany Christian vs. Angola {Scrimmage}

Well, we got the season off to a start last night by playing against another team for the first time in 2007. Between the confusion of needing enough courts for 20 people to play all at the same time, the other team arriving a bit late, and a crazy competition format invented by the IHSAA, it was a good night. Maybe because the wind finally cut down the heat a bit.

The format for the night went like this. There were three different sessions:
SESSION I: Everybody plays singles (30 min)
SESSION II: Everybody plays doubles (30 min)
SESSION III: Everybody plays in normal positions, and only plays tiebreakers (20 min)

The goal from the coaching side of things was to mix things up a bit and see how our players perform under different circumstances. In that regards, last night was a big success. Some of the highlights for me:

- Luke destroying their #1 singles player in the first session.
- There were six matches decided by one game in the first session, we won five of those (Daniel, Jonny, Mikey, Seth, and Jared C.)
- Watching Johhny and Jared play pretty even up with their top two players in the doubles segment.
- Watching Jonny Shenk and Jared Schwartzentruber fight through their matches in the third session to pull out two wins.
- Hearing both Luke's opponent and Jonny's opponent whining and complaining because Luke and Jonny were frustrating them and grinding them down on every point.
- Watching all of the freshman play well at some point (Ben in the beginning of his first match, Kyle and Seth in the tiebreakers, Russell also in the tiebreaker).
- Getting to see my old coaches (for those who don't know, I attended Angola and Coaches Tony Wright and Scott Hottell were my coaches and still are the coaches).

While there are obviously areas to work on, last night was exciting to me, a realization that the real season, the competition season, is almost upon us. I think that last night was a very positive start. I asked everyone to think about their favorite point that they played. I encourage all of the players to tell someone your favorite point, and all of the parents to ask their sons.

And because we're talking about it, I'll tell you mine.

It happened during the singles matches, #2 singles, from Mr. Jared Schwartzentruber. It was a simple point really, but one played in perfect Bethany Christian tennis style. Jared hit a great serve and decided to come to the net behind it, to serve and volley. He got to the net and had a fairly normal forehand volley to hit. So he angled it nice and controlled. It wasn't a winner but it made his opponent sprint and then stretch to get it. It popped up to Jared's forehand after his opponent got it and Jared smashed it right down the center of the court. It was so Bethany Christian tennis, because it was the simplest winner possible. Jared never hit the ball super-hard, but because of the way he played, we ended up with a simple winner hit down the middle of the court. It was the thing of beauty that I could take with me from last night's match.

We have new athletic core values that Bryan Kehr talked about at the parent's meeting to open the season. This is what I think he was talking about when he named the fifth value as beauty. I want to continue to celebrate those moments of beauty throughout the season, they are the things we can't stop talking about!

Results:
Bethany --- Score --- Angola


Singles Round
Luke Hostetter --- 5-2 --- Nick Burlingame
Jared Schwartzentruber --- 2-6 --- Josh Quandt
Daniel Buschert --- 5-4 --- Ben Hoffman
Jonny Shenk --- 5-4 --- Logan Gay
Mikey Kelly --- 5-4 --- David Johnson
Ben Mast --- 5-5 --- Taylor Zank
Johnny Kauffman --- 8-2 --- Justin Elston
Jeremy Thomas --- 7-3 --- Brian Biancardi
Matt Amstutz --- 3-5 --- Kevin Heierman
Seth Krabill --- 5-4 --- Todd Byrne
Kyle Miller --- 3-4 --- Gavin Bush
Will Troyer --- 5-3 --- Jeremy Snyder
Austin Loucks --- 8-1 --- Travis Simmons
Russell Klassen --- 4-6 --- Brian Benz
Jared Christophel --- 4-3 --- Scott Moberg

Doubles Round
Jared Schwartzentruber/Johnny Kauffman --- 3-4 --- Nick Burlingame/Josh Quandt
Jeremy Thomas/Daniel Buschert --- 3-5 --- Ben Hoffman/Logan Gay
Matt Amstutz/Mikey Kelly --- 4-4 ---David Johnson/Taylor Zank
Luke Hostetter/Jonny Shenk --- 7-1 --- Justin Elston/Brian Biancardi
Ben Mast/Seth Krabill --- 3-4 --- Kevin Heierman/Gavin Bush
Kyle Miller/Will Troyer --- 1-6 --- Todd Byrne/Andrew Stayback
Austin Loucks/Russell Klassen --- 3-5 --- Jeremy Snyder/Brian Benz
Jared Christophel/Weston Troyer --- 6-1 --- John Shumaker/Brendan Smoker
Jake Gerig/Justin Gregor --- 2-5 --- Travis Simmons/Scott Moberg


Tiebreakers Round
Luke Hostetter --- 7-10, 4-5 --- Nick Burlingame
Jonny Shenk --- 11-9, 5-2 --- Josh Quandt
Jared Schwartzentruber --- 5-7, 7-3, 4-3 --- Ben Hoffman
Johnny Kauffman/Jeremy Thomas --- 10-4, 4-7, 7-7 --- Logan Gay/David Johnson
Matt Amstutz/Daniel Buschert --- 5-10, 5-7, 3-2 --- Taylor Zank/Justin Elston
---
Mikey Kelly --- 10-8, 8-6 --- Brian Biancardi
Ben Mast --- 10-6, 3-7 --- Kevin Heierman
Russell Klassen --- 9-11, 6-6 --- Gavin Bush
Seth Krabill/Kyle Miller --- 10-4, 2-5 --- Todd Byrne/Andrew Stayback
Will Troyer/Austin Loucks --- 7-10, 5-7 --- Jeremy Snyder/Bryan Benz