Concord Match Report #2

The first time we took on Concord this season, we lost 1-4 with two losses in ten point tiebreakers. This time we turned one of those losses into a two set win, and only fell 2-3. It makes us hope, helps us see improvement, and should give us a goal in our improvement as well.

Two matches were simply outstanding for the Bruins. Number two singles and number two doubles, Jared Schwartzentruber and Daniel Buschert/Mikey Kelly, continue to play excellent tennis. In their matches, it was easy to see that they were in control from the very beginning. Daniel and Mikey have been improving rapidly together, and today they were playing the best tennis of their career. Daniel's groundstrokes controlled points, Mikey's overheads were rocking, and both guys were serving strong and well. After having gone to three sets last time we played Concord, they rolled in this match-up, winning 6-2, 6-2.

That was a popular scoreline on the day, as Jared won by the same score. Jared recovered quickly from his morning disappointment against Westview to play just an excellent match against Jared Queener. Queener had significantly improved his game from the first time that these two met, that was evident in watching Queener play Steve Blinco of Westview in the morning. It made it clear as well that Jared Schwartzentruber has improved significantly as well. Jared's speed and groundstrokes controlled the match, Queener could not get his big forehand past Schwartzentruber for any winners. This frustration led to different errors from Queener, on shots that he tried to hit too hard or too good. Jared worked hard and deserved this win.

At number three singles, Jonny Shenk played against undefeated Andre Moore. Moore has not lost at three singles this year, and Jonny's only losses at the number three position have come to Moore. The quality of Moore's game is a huge part of what has allowed the Minutemen to only have one loss this year. Jonny again came out with a lot of energy in the first set, running down balls and making the points long. But after a while, Moore just hit too many good winners, and ran Jonny around the court too much.

At number one doubles, Johnny and Jeremy continued to try to get themselves fired up again and again. They made many of the games very close, but couldn't get over the hump in the end. Again, it was the strong groundstrokes of the Concord team that drove them back into the court and didn't allow them to control the net like they wanted to and needed to.

Luke had a very difficult match at number one singles. After a match of over two hours, he had only 30 minutes to prepare to play Andre Ziebold. Ziebold, on the other hand, had sat out during Concord's second round of matches, so had been rested for over three hours before he went back onto the court. Add on top of that the fact that Ziebold had already defeated Luke in the last match-up, and it was true that Luke had a high hill to climb. He valiantly gave it his all, pulling very close in the second set when he changed the pace of the match. In the end, there was too much energy in Ziebold's forehand and too little energy in Luke's legs to run them down.

So, it was definitely a fun challenge to play Concord again. I had hoped that we would be able to pull out a win, and being even closer was bittersweet once again. This simply gives us motivation to go ahead and try to win the sectional and hope for another rematch at the regional.


Moment of Beauty goes to Mikey Kelly for this match. Again, it's for the point that ended the match. This time it was on Mikey's serve. After a match where Concord was seemingly unprepared for the firepower that Daniel and Mikey brought at them, Mikey cemented that impression with the final point. He tossed the ball up and pounded an ace past the Minutemen to finish off the game, set and match with a flourish. Nice job, Mikey Kelly!

Scores

Luke Hostetter - 1-6, 3-6 - Andre Ziebold (11)
Jared Schwartzentruber - 6-2, 6-2 - Jared Queener (11)
Jonny Shenk - 3-6, 1-6 - Andre Moore (11)
Johnny Kauffman/Jeremy Thomas - 2-6, 2-6 - Matt Schoeffler (11)/Trevor DuMont (12)
Daniel Buschert/Mikey Kelly - 6-2, 6-2 - Jordan Hershberger (12)/Michael Ciesielski (11)