Bethany Christian vs. Fairfield {Sectional}

SECTIONAL

Breath-taking.

What a great first round matchup this was between the Bruins and the Falcons. After losing 5-0 to Fairfield early this year, we were able to come into this match with a certain looseness that I hope carries on with us, as we turned the scoreline today to beat Fairfield 3-2! This had to be the most exciting match that I've ever coached or participated in. And it's a great step in a new direction for our team.

What made this match so exciting was the way that it unfolded, and the level of hard play and quality play that we had at each postion.

The first match to finish on the day was #2 singles. Jared Schwartzentruber played Weston Bontrager, a great player who seemed to have all the answers. So while Jared played an extremely good match, there didn't seem to be anything that Weston did wrong. He volleyed well, he stroked well, he passed Jared when he came to the net. Weston simply had his game going. He took the first set 6-1. Then Jared seemed to turn it up a bit, and the second set started out very close. However, at 4-3 in the second, Weston stepped it up and finished off the first match. 1-0 to Fairfield.

At #1 doubles, Johnny and Jeremy struggled against Spencer Crilow and Lucas Schrock. the Bruins played a very confident first eight games, and were tied 4-4 with the Falcons. Johnny and Jeremy then had two points to take a 5-4 lead and weren't able to convert. Fairfield took the lead instead and then broke to close of the set. Johnny and Jeremy had to then fight feelings of frustration to move through the second set. Spencer and Lucas really shook off their nerves and picked up their game, as they moved through the set. The Falcons won the match, to make the overall score 2-0.

Then there was the amazing #2 doubles. After losing 3-6, 3-6 just a week and a half ago, Mikey and Daniel were completely dominant in this match. Attacking the net, hitting overheads, playing confident, they took a 5-2 lead to open the first set. After letting Fairfield back in a 5-5, they went back to their dominant ways and won the first set 7-5. Fairfield looked like they could not get back together, and quickly Daniel and Mikey had them in a 3-0 hole in the second set. Falcons tried to rally, but Daniel and Mikey were there every time. The Bruins took the match, 2-1 to Fairfield overall.

Left on the court then were Luke and Jonny. They had both dropped the first set and were working to come back, fighting through close second sets. The word of the #2 doubles win got to both of them, and they knew that they needed to step it up to secure the win for the team. Jonny kept the ball back deep, and back deep and back deep and lobbed and passed and totally frustrated his opponent Lance Hall. Lance had difficulty finding the court, and Jonny surged ahead to a second set win, causing a grass throwing celebration from his father and loud ovations from the excellent Bethany fans. In the third set the momentum continued as Jonny jumped out 3-0, then 4-1, then 5-1. Frustration continued to mount on the other sides and to loud cheers Jonny closed out the match at 6-2. Bethany 2, Fairfield 2.

Everything came down to Luke's match. He had rallied in the second set to take the set 6-3. The third set started with Luke taking a 4-1 lead behind aggressive baseline strokes and nervous mistakes from opponent David Stutzman. But Stutzman turned it on right at the best time, clicking into aggressive mode and finding his crosscourt forehand to attack his way right back into the match. He stormed back to tie the match at 4-4. With Jonny still trying to finish his match, Luke bore down and found some attacking energy as well to take a difficult and long game and take a 5-4 lead. Then all the sudden, David made some unfortunate mistakes. Luke came forward and put away an overhead just as Jonny's match ended to give himself 3 match points, and three match points for the team. The whole Bethany crowd watched with a very nervous excitement, but the first of these points ended with Stutzman putting a forehand in the net. A 3-2 win for Bethany!

It was a wonderful, beautiful night for our guys, capped off by the traditional singing of "Sarasponda," the school song, and a dinner at El Camino. It was a night that I'm sure many of these guys will remember for awhile.

Amidst all of the celebration, my heart truly aches for our opponents. It is always disappointing to see a season end for anyone, or a high school career. I know it from personal experience, so I just take a moment here to stop and applaud their efforts. They truly worked hard.

I am so proud of our guys, and now we have another day of practice to get ready for Goshen on Saturday morning. Hopefully we will see more of the same dramatics then!

Praise be to the LORD! Our prayers before this match were that we would be blessed by having good weather, by having the ability to play our best, and to be able to play with confidence. The Lord certainly smiled on these requests, as the weather could not have been better, we played well at every position (win or lose), and there was a certain confidence to our play. I don't understand the mystery of how the Lord works, why some people win and some people lose. But I know we were blessed today, and I hope we as the tennis team live in response to that.

Scores
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Bethany --- Score --- Fairfield

#1S - Luke Hostetter (11) --- 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 --- David Stutzman (12)
#2S - Jared Schwartzentruber (11) --- 0-6, 3-6 --- Weston Bontrager (12)
#3S - Jonny Shenk (11) --- 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 --- Lance Hall (12)
#1D - Johnny Kauffman (11)/Jeremy Thomas (11) --- 4-6, 0-6 --- Spencer Crilow (12)/Lucas Schrock (12)
#2D - Daniel Buschert (11)/Mikey Kelly (10) --- 7-5, 6-0 --- Jason Skibbe (12)/Wyatt Stutzman (9)