Bethany Christian vs. Rochester

Rochester was supposed to return their entire varsity lineup, and with that, this was supposed to be a very close match. But, for reasons unexplained, they did not, and the match did not turn out as close as I thought it might. We won 4-1, and were able to come in 2nd at the Concord Invitational.

#1 doubles had another good match, giving them three close matches in a row. Kyle and Austin did a lot of good things in this match. When they concentrated, focused, and attacked they usually won. I liked the fact that they finished a lot of points at the net. But Rochester's Phil Keim and Cody Hershberger were good players, and when Kyle and Austin relaxed, they pounced. It was interesting to watch a match that was so influenced by the the attitude and focus of the players. Kyle and Austin did a good job of stepping up and winning a close match.

#2 doubles did a similarly good job. Nick and Russell looked like they relaxed a lot from their first match of the day. They were playing with a lot more confidence in what they do. Both have great games from the baseline, and the adjustment that they've been making is finding ways to put pressure on and attack the net. We've been working on volleys and such in practice (when it isn't raining and we're not playing Ultimate Frisbee). It was good to see the work start to pay off. Of course, we keep working and we hope to keep getting better. But this was a nice step in the right direction.

In the #3 singles match, Misha Rebec stepped in to fill Mikey's shoes. Unfortunately, his first foray into varsity singles didn't turn out quite as well as brother Nick's did against Goshen. He played a great match against sophomore Jacob Schoeder, but couldn't quite overcome him. It was a match that was strength against strength, as both Misha and Jacob hit big forehands. Unfortunately, both players also struggled with backhands. Pretty much, neither player could hold their serves, because both players would hit away at their forehands and take control of the point. It was extremely close all the way through, but Misha fell 6-7 (5), 4-6.

#1 singles and #2 singles were similar matches to each other. Ben Mast took on Ryan Bohr, while Seth played against Aaron Stuart. In both matches, the consistency and well crafted attacks of the Bruin players were too much for the Zebras to hit with. The Zebra singles players had great strokes and stayed in many rallies, but if Ben and Seth extended the rallies beyond 15 or so strokes, Bohr and Stuart were susceptible to errant forehands or backhands. And if Ben and Seth took their time and hit good approaches, the Zebras struggled with consistent passing shots under pressure.

In summation, this was a good match in which our players played very loose. It had the feel of last year's Sectional final, where the team had played one tight match in the morning against Fairfield, then loosened up for the final. Today, our tight match was against Jimtown, and when we relaxed against Rochester, we played very well. I was more pleased with the way players played, and that the result came as well was a nice bonus. So we move to 5-2 on the season with two matches to start this coming week!


And a moment of beauty... we played some really good tennis in this match. It was tough to pick a point that stood out above the rest. What I'd have to say is that Nick's net putaways were the highlight of this match. Every time I saw him move in and take a slow ball and finish the point, it brought a smile to my face. It happened more than once, so picking one of these points would be a little ridiculous. It was good to see Nick aggressive and punishing at the net.

Scores

#1S - Ben Mast - 6-2, 6-2 - Ryan Bohr
#2S - Seth Krabill - 6-1, 6-1 - Aaron Stuart
#3S - Misha Rebec - 6-7 (5), 4-6 - Jacob Schroder
#1D - Kyle Miller/Austin Loucks - 6-3, 6-4 - Phil Keim/Cody Hershberger
#2D - Russell Klassen/Nick Rebec - 6-2, 6-1 - Kyle Calhoun/Josh Calhoun