Bethany Christian vs. Westview

I wasn't necessarily ecstatic about the result, but I was much more pleased with the effort tonight from the Bruins. For one of the first times this year, I felt like we dug in our heels to fight back when things got rough, and perhaps we are starting to build some character.

Several matches showed the character, the passion beginning to build. The best match of the day, from a neutral standpoint, was certainly #1 doubles. Austin and Kyle took on Nic Philley and Nick Hostetler, and from tracking scores throughout the season, I was pretty sure that it would be close. The Bruins doubles squad came out with a lot of belief, but fell behind to the Warriors. We weren't dominating the net, and at the same time we were floating our returns (or driving them long). An aggressive Westview team took advantage and won the first set.

In the second set, the pattern continued. Kyle and Austin called out the score at 0-4 in the set, and things seemed a little hopeless. Before the match I had told the team that I wanted to see them fight, wanted to see how they would respond to difficult situations. And Kyle and Austin responded. My simple advice was to move. Get around the court, concentrate on getting everything back, and then be aggressive at the net. And boy did they respond. Kyle and Austin got the momentum going, and from that difficult position (down a set and 0-4) they won 12 of the next 14 games to win the match. Austin put an exclamation point on the match in the last game, when he slammed an overhead down and over the fence.

Seth also streaked to a win, repeating a pattern that he has followed much of the year. Playing against Nick Pfenning, Seth lost the first two games. Then he suddenly found his game, and won 12 of the last 13 games. Seth's strength this year has been his "aggressive-consistency," in other words, he can control a rally. Against Pfenning, he found his range and then ran Pfenning around the court and frustrated him. Pfenning was coming off a tight win over Fairfield the night before, so he was already a bit tired. But Seth took full advantage and rolled through the match.

Ben played against Westview's stellar #1 player Steven Blinco. Blinco is exactly the type of player I love. Very consistent but with enough aggressive strokes to stop opponents attacks and finish big points. Ben started out very consistent, but couldn't find the finishing strokes to put points away against Blinco. Blinco won the first set fairly easily. In the second set, Ben began to extend the rallies and made the games much closer. Still, he had trouble finishing the rallies. Finally, Ben went all out attacking, and couldn't find any combination to break Blinco.

The closest match of the day was #3S. Blake Shetler walked into the match for only his second varsity start, and his first at singles. In celebration of this, he won the first game. After that however, he spent the rest of the match behind. Westview's #3, Alejandro Marin, won two games in a row and then a pattern started. Blake would tie the match, then Marin would go up, Blake would tie it, then Marin would go up. Blake played a great counter-punching game, taking the pace off of Marin's shots and being consistent. It was a difficult change for Blake, who had been a free swinger for much of the beginning of the season. But he played well in the strategy, taking advantages of mistakes to stay close. But down 4-5, Blake tightened up a bit and lost the first set. He then lost the first game of the second set to start the pattern all over again, and was always just a game behind. He stayed a game behind until the end of the set, where he then lost the set in a close game.

At #2 doubles, Russell and Nick again played a close match against a decent team, much like their Triton match. But again, they couldn't quite find the finishing touches. This match was another proof of what I've said all season: In close matches, fate smiles on the aggressive. The Warriors #2 doubles team and Russell and Nick were very similar, except that the Warriors took chances at the net more often. Mid-point poaches, solid putaways, good footwork and not being fearful of an overhead. All these things added up to a slight advantage for the Warriors. And that slight advantage turned into a close win.

But I wasn't completely displeased at the 3 losses. In Ben's match, I asked him to switch strategies several times. And he did, and he kept at it despite the score. And in Blake's match, our newbie fought tooth and nail for every point and showed frustration when he lost and joy when he won. And Russell and Nick went down 4-1 in the second set of their match, and fought back to tie the match.

In the JV match, we put out an experienced doubles team and inexperienced singles players. Misha Rebec and Claude Stickler won a doubles match where they flew all around the court, trying to confuse their opponents and doing a good job at it. Their aggression was really fun to watch, and they were having fun together.

In singles, Han Gil Lee and Himal King took to the court. Han Gil was playing his first competitive match, and couldn't win a game in it. Neither could Himal, but both of these freshman have made tremendous strides. They kept the ball in the court but couldn't counter the power and placement of the Westview players.


Varsity: Kyle and Austin's fight back from such a steep deficit was amazing. From a team that didn't look like they believed to a team that was simply dominating every game. The symbol of this change and domination to me was Austin's overhead in the last game. It was so emphatic, something to get pumped about. A moment of beauty.

Junior Varsity: In Han Gil's match, I watched as our freshman in his first match twisted an ankle. He had a short talk and then decided to walk it a bit, then finish out his match. And he was losing 0-4 at the time. I don't know if he just wanted to finish, or was having fun, or didn't want to be a wimp, but I like to see players who want to play. No excuses, just loving to play.

Score

Varsity
#1S - Ben Mast - 1-6, 2-6 - Steve Blinco (11)
#2S - Seth Krabill - 6-2, 6-1 - Nick Pfenning (11)
#3S - Blake Shetler - 4-6, 4-6 - Alejandro Marin (12)
#1D - Austin Loucks/Kyle Miller - 3-6, 7-5, 6-1 - Nic Philley/Nick Hostetler
#2D - Nick Rebec/Russell Klassen - 4-6, 4-6 - Austin Schlabach/Devin Bontrager

Junior Varsity
#1SJV - Han Gil Lee - 0-6 - Jonathon Hochstetler
#2SJV - Himal King - 0-6 - Brett Yoder
#1DJV - Misha Rebec/Claude Stickler - 8-4 - Jonathon Hochstetler/Brett Yoder