Bethany Christian vs. Fairfield

We played with more energy, we played with more belief, we played much better tennis, but we just didn't quite play the pressure points well enough to win. We have an inexperienced team this year, all 7 players that played varsity yesterday played JV last year, 2 often played below the JV top 7! And yet we've performed and competed admirably well. The part of the game that eludes us now is how to win the big points. We've had three matches to practice this now, and hopefully we are learning that the team that looses up, plays smaggressive, and enjoys the point usually wins it.

Yesterday, there were great matches at every position. It doesn't show up in the scores because we couldn't convert game winning points. #1 doubles was a great example. Kyle and Austin were in every single game, sending most of them to deuce, even holding break points and game closing chances. But they had trouble converting. That is the mark of great players, they win the close games every time. And Fairfield did that. Yet Kyle and Austin played a great match. They putaway a ton of balls against a team that excelled in making putaways difficult. Fairfield's #1 doubles lobbed at every turn, off the serve, off the return, when we were at the net, and when we were both back. And they weren't easy to put down, but Austin and Kyle took every chance they could. The Falcons strategy was to force errors and get easy putaways of their own, and they did.

Russell and Nick at #2 doubles faired a bit better, putting pressure on Falcons Trent Kauffman and Derek Thwaits. However, when the match was close at 3-4 in the second set, we really looked like we tightened up. Serves bounced long and passing shots hit the tape instead of pressuring the opponents as before. This is a learning process that Russ and Nick have been going through this whole first year on varsity. I have confidence that it will be figured out soon. The nerves were the difference in the match.

#3 singles was an interesting match, Blake Shetler taking to the court for only the 2nd time in his varsity position. Blake worked his consistent game back and forth, attacking the net when available. But opponent Brad Shipley kept him on his toes with timely lobs and surprisingly powerful groundstrokes. After a first set without too much specific strategy, Blake became very attacking and went for the net all the time. But Shipley saw his strategy and attacked himself, making it difficult for Blake to finish points. Shipley's strategy left Blake with few options, and Shipley was able, again, to win the big points with his aggression.

Ben continued the Bruins proud tradition of dominating #2 singles. After starting with a 2-0 lead, Ben allowed junior Malachi Randolph 2 games in a row to tie. But then Ben reeled off the the next 10 games in a row for a 6-2, 6-0 victory. It is very obvious that we have two extremely talented singles players, and whoever is at #2 is going to have a great shot at winning. Ben played consistent scrambling tennis, forcing Randolph to go for more than he could accomplish. Watching Ben last night reminded me distinctly of watching Joel King years ago, as the opponent fought both Ben and himself, as every time it looked like Randolph had an advantage, Ben took it away from him.

#1 singles was the match of the night, as Seth Krabill played his first match at a new position. The theme of this match was the theme of the night. When Seth attacked he won the big points. When opponent Wyatt Stutzman attacked, he won the big points. This was apparent as Seth got down 5-2 in the first set and went to the net a grand total of zero times. In the next two games Seth attacked the net and short balls and pulled back to 5-4. Down 4-5, he put the ball in the middle of the court and stayed back, and watched Wyatt win the set. Then he committed to the aggressive strategy and won the second set 6-2. In the third set, Seth was aggressive on his serve and passive on Stutzman's for the first 6 games. That left the score tied at 3-3. Then, in the final three games, Seth again went to the net a total of zero times, and lost the final set 6-3.

I use this final match as case and point for my cry this whole year. When you are aggressive and putting the pressure on your opponent, you are more likely to win the big points. If you don't, it just means that your opponent was good enough to hit a better shot, which means they might legitimately be better than you. But you never know if you don't put the pressure on, if you don't play aggressive.

So loosen up and have fun! Play smaggressive!

In the JV match, well, we got wiped out pretty good. At several positions we made it a match, including both of the #1 positions. Matt Ebersole was able to come up with one win for the JV, but not in his first match. Instead he partnered with Ryan Minter to win a tiebreak at #5 doubles JV. It was good to see everybody play and compete, and it will be interesting to see how much better we get by next year, and how much better we will compete. I am planning on the improvement being drastic.


Varsity: I liked a lot of things about tonight's match. Austin hitting people (twice) with overheads, Ben's running down of a volley and lofting it onto the backline for the perfect lob. Blake's perfect drop shot. Several of Russ and Nick's putaway volleys. And Seth's aggressive play and volleys as well. I'm looking for a beautiful moment in a big point now. I want to see these aggressive plays, these volleys off of other's backs, the long hustling ball thrown up high, the patience of finding the approach and finishing at the net. I want those points at Ad-In to take a 5-4 lead. I want those points at 3-5 to save the set. I want those points at 6-6 in a third set tiebreaker. Bring it under pressure and have enjoy it!

Junior Varsity: Ryan Minter's game winning volley. In a tiebreak, playing with Matt Ebersole, Ryan semi-poached after Matt's serve on a match point. The ball didn't come cleanly off his racket, but he was rewarded for his aggressive play, as it bounced over and clear of the Falcon opponents. From that volley the JV got it's only victory of the day.

Scores

Varsity
#1S - Seth Krabill - 4-6, 6-2, 3-6 - Wyatt Stutzman (11)
#2S - Ben Mast - 6-2, 6-0 - Malachi Randolph (11)
#3S - Blake Shetler - 1-6, 2-6 - Brad Shipley (10)
#1D - Austin Loucks/Kyle Miller - 3-6, 2-6 - Derek Troeger (12)/Josh Beck (12)
#2D - Nick Rebec/Russell Klassen - 3-6, 3-6 - Derek Thwaits (12)/Trent Kauffman (12)

Junior Varsity
#1SJV - Matt Ebersole - 4-8 - Josh Mullett (10)
#2SJV - Ike Lehman - 2-8 - Nate Kropf (11)
#3SJV - Ryan Minter - 2-8 - Jordan Hochstetler (9)
#4SJV - Evan Eby - 1-8 - Dillon Lockwood (9)
#1DJV - Claude Stickler/Misha Rebec - 5-8 - Josh Ketcham (11)/Logan Munn (11)
#2DJV - Jake Gerig/Evan Grimes - loss - Austin Beer (11)/Jake Walter (11)
#3DJV - Wade Troyer/Josh Helmuth - loss - David Mohney (10)/Zach Hochstetler (9)
#4DJV - Himal King/Ike Lehman - loss - Landon Knepp (9)/Taylor Yoder (9)
#5DJV - Matt Ebersole/Ryan Minter - 8-7 - Josh Davis (10)/Drew Cosby (9)
#6DJV - Wade Troyer/Josh Helmuth - loss - Matt Yoder (9)/Preston Yoder (9)