Bethany Christian vs. Laville

It was a short night at Bethany as the varsity moved to 6-2 on the season with a 5-0 win over Laville.

Most matches were short and too the point as Laville continues to build their program. When I started coaching at Bethany, Laville was one of our close matches and every year we would travel to Laville for a tournament with South Bend Washington, Michigan City Marquette and Laville that was the highlight of the season. They had some really tough players, and they've always been a good team to play. So I was sad several years ago when they had to drop off our schedule because they didn't have enough players. I was pumped to see that had a full varsity this year. I hope that the program is on the way back up.

Mikey was the first to start his match and the first to end. His opponent was simply overmatched by the power and experience that Mikey brings to the #3 singles position. Mikey did a good job keeping things quick, focusing and playing to his strengths, while opponent Troy Siple would not wilt under the pressure of Mikey's serve and did a good job getting it back and making Mikey finish points. But Mikey again played a stellar match, and was able to take it without dropping a game.

Seth had a similar match at #2 singles. He has maybe been playing the most consistently for us lately, always playing his steady game and never backing down in the face of pressure. Seth just seems to know how to have fun and enjoy the points and therefore deflect pressure away from him. He too won, only dropping a few points and closing out at 6-0, 6-0.

#1 singles was a much closer match. Ben Mast took on Trenton Stout, and Stout showed the good strokes he has gained over the season. He was an attacking player who took chances with his forehand and had an outstanding volley. Ben had to make sure of his passing shots if he expected to win points against Stout. After Ben won the first couple games, Stout put the pressure back on to close to within 3-2. At one of the following changeovers, I confronted Ben about how timid he looked on the court, and that he needed to relax and just enjoy the points. This made a huge difference, as Ben began to truly strike the ball and react. Ben won the next 9 games then to win the match.

In the doubles matches, nothing was very different. Austin and Kyle continued to work on their tempo in their match, meaning how hard they swing even when trying to hit winners. They improved some on their mental fight to stay consistent and energetic throughout the matches. Nick continued to attack the net for #2 doubles. Hopefully he is gaining some confidence in that because he is beginning to do it very well. Russell pounded some absolutely awesome serves, and continues to get more consistent every day. Things look good right now...

But we must continue to improve. This is a match in which complacency will be the most dangerous enemy. Even though we played well and even though we won easily, we have not arrived. We do not have all the skills down to compete for the Sectional title. We're getting there, but we will not be able to relax. Not yet.


A couple of double 6-0's tonight, MIkey with his third in a row! That's a record for winning 6-0 sets in a row, breaking his own record with Daniel from last year. Also, Seth Krabill got his first shutout of the year, as did #2 doubles Russell and Nick. There were actually a lot of beautiful points to go along with the simple scorelines, including Seth having a drop shot that my wife even talked to me about after the match. If you can impress my wife, then you have impressed me, even if I didn't see the shot! Something memorable to me was Russell's ace, slicing out wide to be unreachable on the forehand side. Mikey's match didn't have the beautiful points, but Mikey's strokes look about 50 times better right now than they did to start the season. And that improvement is beautiful!

Scores
#1S - Ben Mast - 6-2, 6-0 - Trenton Stout (11)
#2S - Seth Krabill - 6-0, 6-0 - Zach Young (11)
#3S - Mikey Kelly - 6-0, 6-0 - Troy Siple (11)
#1D - Austin Loucks/Kyle Miller - 6-0, 6-2 - Nick Amor (9)/Dominic Lewinski (11)
#2D - Nick Rebec/Russell Klassen - 6-0, 6-0 - Grant Frick (10)/Hunter Horvath (10)