Bethany Christian vs. Goshen

Link to Goshen News article on this match.

I figured that we would switch things up some this year, so when better to start that tradition than in the second match of the season. Only #1S and #2S varsity and JV stayed the same from the match Tuesday versus Northridge. The results were good tonight, as we ended up with a 5-0 victory on the varsity and a closely contested 4-3 JV win.

The most interesting match tonight was Nick Rebec's #3S match. Nick has been preparing all preseason to play doubles, but yesterday I decided to mix up the lineups and have Nick play singles. So I told him last night he was playing singles for the first time, and that we were going to practice it. Of course, it thunderstormed and we kick-boxed instead. So this was Nick's first singles match in a long time.

Across the net for the Redskins was sophomore Paul Johnson. Last year, Paul had played #2D in our match and lost 6-2, 6-2 to Daniel and Seth. This year in a large Goshen lineup shift, he ended up at the last singles position. The match started well for Nick as the wind blew hard he rushed out to a 4-1 lead. The lefty was sliding his serves right through the wind, hitting nice, deep groundstrokes and taking advantage of Johnson's weak return of serve. But soon, Johnson started to make his way back into the match as Nick's errors starting matching Johnson's. In the second set, Nick and Paul traded games but the tennis was not pretty for awhile. Rallies were lasting less than 10 strokes routinely, and that is interesting because it's the opposite of normal #3 singles.

Finally, Johnson won the second set and the match moved on to the third. Nick again relaxed and played some great tennis, flowing groundstrokes, pretty topspin, and solid serves. However, as Nick surged closer to closing out the match, his nerves began to get the best of them. In several quick games, it was 5-5. But Nick was able to relax one more time, and then pull out a 6-3, 5-7, 7-5 victory.

At the other end of the spectrum from that tight contest were the #1D and #2S matches. Mikey Kelly and Kyle Miller paired at #1 doubles, and played an outstanding match. Mikey hit big serves, Kyle hit big serves, Mikey pounded overheads, Kyle pounded forehands, and the energy that Kyle generated with Austin in the Northridge match carried over into this match. Despite several close games, Mikey and Kyle continued to win the big points. It was good to see aggressive and confident doubles from our #1 team, and good to see them pull out a dominant result. 6-1, 6-1 in the best doubles match Mikey said he has ever played.

And #2 singles was similar. Seth struggled with the wind and his footwork at the beginning of the match. It looked as if Seth just wanted to push the ball back in the court and wait for Stefan Baumgartner to make a mistake. But Stefan wasn't buying it. He played a great consistent match, hanging close with Seth though trailing 4-3. I gave a bit of advice to Seth, "Concentrate on the approach shot, and hit the ball." Seth then began to take authority in the match. His strokes dictated each and every point and Baumgartner began to break down. The second set went quickly, as Seth gained in confidence, placement of shots and power. He ended the match before anyone else: 6-3, 6-1.

#1 singles started off easily enough for Ben Mast as he took on sophomore Seth Koble. Actually, this match looked like a turn around of his match Tuesday against Northridge's Nick Myers. He won the first set confidently 6-2 as he controlled the rallies and forced Koble deep into the court and then found spots to attack and hit winners. Dealing with the wind was a challenge, as Koble continually threw lobs high into the swirling breeze when Ben attacked the net. But except for a few missed overheads, Ben played close to his best in the first set. Not so much in the second though, as Koble began to swing freely and force Ben back on the baseline. Ben lost much of the aggression in his strokes and couldn't find the court at times. However, he knuckled down at the right time and reasserted himself. He took the close second set at 7-5.

Finally, #2 doubles enjoyed a back and forth match. When aggressive and attacking, they would win 2-3 games in a row. But then they would be tentative, rely to much on groundstrokes, barely move their feet, and find themselves in trouble. In the first set they trailed the whole set, finding themselves down 4-3. After a little pep talk about the very things listed above, they ran off 3 games in a row to win the set. Then they continued their movement and rolled to a 3-0 lead in the second. I literally thought they would roll to a 6-0 second set, but they faltered in their aggression and allowed Goshen back into the match. In a match that ended up closer than it could have been, Austin and Russell finished the match out aggressively and could both feel good about their first varsity victories.

In the JV match, things were much closer. To start, Matt Ebersole played #1 singles and his match went right down to the wire. Trading games back and forth, neither player led by more than a game for the entire match. Matt did a good job attacking the net and keeping the pressure on sophomore Philip Bontrager. However, at times his approach shots left a little to be desired, and Bontrager had nice control on his passing shots. The match ended in a tiebreaker, which Matt pulled out 7-4.

At #2 singles, Claude Stickler got behind early but then found an incredible rhythm, especially with his forehand. He kept his opponent, Adam Bratten, deep in the court and was able to force difficult shots. This stride allowed Claude to ease to victory.

#3 singles was Ike Lehman's second attempt at the position. With a strong forehand, Ike kept himself alive in many points. His opponent, sophomore Drew Hostetler, had aggressive strokes and hard topspin, and Ike fended it off well. But long rallies were difficult for Ike to sustain. Despite being close in many games, Ike couldn't find a victory.

The doubles were very fun matches to watch. Blake Shetler and Evan Grimes teamed at #1 doubles and had a long match that also went back and forth. Consistency is still an issue for these sophomores, and so the longer points went the more errors piled up. However, their attacking the net was good to see. Evan still throws himself around like an energetic Gumbi to stretch for every ball and Blake showed a new found power at the net. The result was a down to the wire victory for #1 doubles.

At #3 and #4 doubles, some of our beginners played against some of Goshen's higher JV players. There were moments in these matches that showed promise, like Wade's forehands down the line for winners and his priceless smile, Josh's high ball toss and serve, Himal's energy and forehands, and Evan's tireless net play. However, neither of these matches were won by the Bruins.

Which left the match tied at 3-3, and #2 doubles still on the court. Trailing 4-3, Ryan Minter and Jake Gerig put on a run to take a 5-4 lead. They continued to get tied up, though they would keep taking a one game lead. The keys to their success were feet movement and net play. When Jake was hitting overheads and volleys, the team was winning. When the point became baseline oriented, the team was not. Ryan, as a freshman, did a sufficient job running balls down and putting them back in play, but consistency is still an issue as well. However, they were able to maintain their one game lead and finally capitalize at 7-6, as they broke serve and won the match 8-6.



Varsity:
The varsity moments of beauty are all about authority. When we controlled points in this match, we won the majority. So I have several moments to think about, but two things that stand out were Seth's controlled rallies, sending Baumgartner back and forth at the baseline, then striking the ball hard to the backhand, sending the first volley wide to the forehand then finishing back at the backhand. I loved the way that he controlled that play. The other comes from Kyle and Mikey's match, and the way that they held serve. They brought the power, but the net man was confident and ready to cut anything off and pound it away. The overheads hit in that match were powerful and unafraid. It was the authority and confidence I like to see us play with.

JV:
Wade's smiles were moments of beauty (okay, the team paid me to say that). Actually, Blake's overhead to win the match was my favorite stroke of the night. On match point Goshen made the mistake of floating it Blake's way, and he knew what to do with it. Probably the most powerful overhead I've seen Blake hit, and then the match was over. Good stuff.

Overview:
I was really pleased with the way we played tonight. Most positions, JV and Varsity, played as if they believed they were going to win. With Goshen returning 6 players who had varsity experience, this win was by no means a given. But we played close to potential and made it look easier than it maybe was. And so I was proud of everyone.

Scores

Varsity
#1S - Ben Mast - 6-2, 7-5 - Seth Koble (10)
#2S - Seth Krabill - 6-3, 6-1 - Stefan Baumgartner (11)
#3S - Nick Rebec - 6-3, 5-7, 7-5 - Paul Johnson (10)
#1D - Mikey Kelly/Kyle Miller - 6-1, 6-1 - Andy Van Klaveren (12)/Jonny Tan (11)
#2D - Austin Loucks/Russell Klassen - 6-4, 6-4 - Eli Metzler-Prieb (10)/Nick Dandino (10)

Junior Varsity
#1SJV - Matt Ebersole - 8-7 (4) - Philip Bontrager (10)
#2SJV - Claude Stickler - 8-4 - Adam Bratten (9)
#3SJV - Ike Lehman - 3-8 - Drew Hostetler (10)
#1DJV - Blake Shetler/Evan Grimes - 8-6 - Brenton Jones (12)/Sam Stegelmann (9)
#2DJV - Jake Gerig/Ryan Minter - 8-6 - Sylas Buller (9)/Ben Morrical (9)
#3DJV - Himal King/Evan Eby - 0-6 - Philip Bontrager/Adam Bratten
#4DJV - Wade Troyer/Josh Helmuth - 0-6 - Drew Hostetler/Brenton Jones