Middle School Minute

Yes, we've been practicing and playing matches for the past couple weeks in the middle school tennis club. I've been so busy that I've simply not had time to post anything. (Maybe you've noticed).

Anyways, here are the results of our match against Goshen.

Bethany Christian vs. Goshen
Isaac Schertz/Tyrel Baldridge won 8-0
Tyler Brenneman/Sol Brenneman won 8-2
Isaac Brenneman/Cristian Romero won 8-3
Q Min Kim/Eder Paez won 8-0
Christina Juroff/Samantha Horsch won 8-0
Ethan Miller/Justin Zehr won 8-0
Julian Philips-Kanagy/Santi Migliaro won 8-0
Joseph Mumaw/Bryan Nguyen lost 4-6
Christina Juroff/Neel Bhagat won 6-3
Isaac Schertz/Tyrel Baldridge won again 8-0

The Goshen match was the first middle school club match ever for the Bruins, and we played well. We were missing 5 of our top 7 players, but it didn't matter too much in the final scoring. Goshen only had 5 boys players and 7-8 girls players. Most of these players were in 6th grade and experiencing their first go-around with tennis. While many of our players are in similar positions, we have many more 7th and 8th graders competing. So it was a bit uneven, but an inspiring performance nonetheless.

What made me particularly proud was our sportsmanship. Because the other team consisted of many beginners, our players did a great job accomodating them and helping them learn the rules. Special attention should go to Christian Juroff, who played two matches and received special recognition from Goshen's coach for her helpful attitude and comments. She was like a coach on the court, helping her opposition!

Bethany Christian vs. Northridge
Singles
Tyrel Baldridge lost 3-8
Andrew Snyder lost 5-8
Lucas Morgan lost 2-8
Ike Lehman lost 0-8

Doubles
Isaac Schertz/Tyler Brenneman lost 4-8
Caleb Morris/Q Min Kim lost 3-8
Cristian Romero/Sol Brenneman lost 5-8
Eder Paez/Ryan Minter lost 5-8
Ethan Miller/Isaac Brenneman won 8-5
Justin Zehr/Parth Patel won 8-3
Landon Weldy/Tanner Fervida won 9-8
Abe Thorne/Joel Gerig won 8-3
Christina Juroff/Brooke Hershberger won 8-1
Julian Philips-Kanagy/Joseph Mumaw lost 3-8
Maddie Gerig/Sadie Gustafson-Zook lost 4-8
Wade Troyer/Josh Helmuth lost 2-8
Lorae Weaver/Amber Heydon won 8-6
Neel Bhagat/Bryan Nguyen lost 2-8
Leah Gundy/Samantha Horsch lost 3-8
Santi Migliaro/Parth Patel won 8-2
Joseph Mumaw/Justin Zehr lost 2-8

So the final score was 14-7, in favor of Northridge. It was a very different match, as we had all of our players available to play. But Northridge was much better prepared and more practiced. Their top four players were excellent, and you could see that they had dedicated a lot of time to their development. In other words, unlike our top players who are playing for 45 minutes twice a week, they had more practice than that. It was very evident in the consisteny of the players. At the lower levels, our players held our own very well. I was especially pleased to see strong performances from our seventh and sixth graders: Parth Patel with two wins, Ethan, Isaac, Landon and Tanner all pulling off wins at relatively high positions.

So that wraps up the middle school season, but for one match against our own teammates. It's been an enjoyable experience, one that I hope convinces more students to stick with the tennis.