Bethany Christian vs. LaVille {Match Report}

Click here for photos from the LaVille match.

So LaVille has a small team, only 3 varsity players and 1 JV, but I was very impressed by their level of play and desire to get better. That said, we worked very hard last night to come away with a deserved victory in each of the three varsity singles positions.

Luke played a four year varsity player in Andrew McGee. McGee had played on the varsity for LaVille as a freshman, when they had a full team. Now in his senior year he leads the way for the Lancers, but without much support. A fine player, McGee simply lacked the consistency to deal with Luke. Luke was also able to exploit this weakness by applying some attacking pressure to McGee's strokes by charging the net and by playing with heavy topspin. I was also encouraged to see Luke continue to work on a faster and better placed first serve throughout the match, although double faults are still an area for improvement.

Jared Schwartzentruber played two opponents in the first set, LaVille junior Karl Cooper and himself. But in a turnaround that made his coach and parents very proud, Jared flowed with confidence and positive energy in the last two sets. Jared's strokes and footwork went from being tentative and hopeful to being confident and assured. The easiest indicator of this was in his serve. The first set was full of over-cautious double faults, but as Jared began to know he had each stroke, as he became more positive the double faults rarely became an issue. Jared also played some of the most beautiful points of the season. One point he lobbed over Cooper twice and then was able to place a passing shot down the backhand sideline. One point he hustled forward to a short, backspinning drop shot and then was able to hunt down a backhand that he whipped crosscourt for a passing shot winner. True beauty at its finest.

Jonny Shenk played gracefully in destroying an inexperienced opponent at #3 singles. Jonny really had his groundstroke game flowing in the match, and his consistent and deep forehand and backhands forced errors from young Trenton Stout. When Stout was able to attack the net, Jonny had his lob working well, especially from the backhand side. Stout was able to take just one game from Jonny.

We move on to play Prairie Heights Tuesday. We are in the middle of a three game winning streak right now and are picking up confidence with each win. We will need to play with the confidence and assurance of a team that deserves to win as the season goes on. This current stretch of wins should begin to provide that assurance.


Scores
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Bethany --- Score --- LaVille

#1S - Luke Hostetter (11) --- 6-1, 6-1 --- Andrew McGee (12)
#2S - Jared Schwartzentruber (11) --- 2-6, 6-3, 6-3 --- Karl Cooper (11)
#3S - Jonny Shenk (11) --- 6-0, 6-1 --- Trenton Stout (9)
#1D - Bethany Christian wins by default
#2D - Bethany Christian wins by default

JV
#1S - Johnny Kauffman (11) --- 6-0, 6-0 --- Lucas Pearson (10)