BC v. Columbia City

Every season seems to have its heartbreaker. In 2007, it was NorthWood. In 2008, it was the Concord tourney - to Westview and to Concord. Last year, for me, it was Westview. This year, we're going to look at this match and say the same thing.

Going into this match, I knew it was going to be difficult. I tried to communicate this to my players, but it is difficult to tell guys to be ready, that the opponent is really good and have them not become scared. What ever the reason, we didn't seem to come out with the intensity needed, and it punished us in the end.

Ben Mast was brilliant tonight. I have to give him credit. Ever since his match against Nick Myers, he has really picked up his game. Tonight, he showed why he could be one of the better #1 singles players in the area. He thoroughly dismantled his opponent with excellent and powerful serves, well placed groundstrokes, well timed approaches and devastating volleys and overheads. For the 2nd night in a row, the result was never in doubt as Ben cruised.

Seth Krabill picked up the other win for the Bruins, though he made it harder than it needed to be. Seth won the first set comfortably, controlling the points and "going for more," the strategy that we have been working on for him. But in a nervy second set, he battled back and forth as Eagle senior Travis Johnson became more aggressive. Holding a 5-4 lead, Seth served for the match - but a lack of aggressive play on his part allowed Johnson to rally past him and take the set. To Seth's credit, he relaxed, came out and took a 5-0 lead in the third, before finishing 6-2.

And Seth was the last varsity player off the courts, but unfortunately by that point in the team match the win meant nothing for the team score.

At doubles, Kyle Miller and Matt Ebersole came out in the first set and were immediately overwhelmed by the power of attacking seniors Alan Murphy and JT Biggs. They went down quickly 5-0 and it looked to be a short night for them. At #2 doubles, Evan Grimes and Blake Shetler suffered the exact same fate.

Both doubles squads battled for one game in the first set, before they both fell 6-1. But the second sets were different stories. Changed attitudes were the order of the day, and instead of being intimidated, doubles became intimidating. We closed the net much more. Matt Ebersole pounded overheads - again and again. Kyle boomed in first serves. Evan hit powerful volleys at angles off the court. Blake kept his hands active and made quick volleys and putaways. #1 doubles came back with aggression to win the second set and move on to a third. Meanwhile, #2 doubles fought off elimination and pushed the second set to a tiebreak.

While all that was going on, Nathan Brendle played against a backboard. Talented sophomore Derek Hinen has some of the softest hands and quickest feet that I've seen in quite some time. No matter how well Nate hit, no matter where he placed the ball, Hinen seemed to get there and make him hit one more ball. One more ball, one more ball, one more ball. On and on through the evening. While Nate played a very solid match, he couldn't quite get over the hump and take a lead.

Back at #1 doubles, nerves of a third set got to our guys a bit, and we went down 4-1. But on Kyle's serve we had a chance to get back to 3-4 and really get back into the set and put the pressure on Columbia City. At #2 doubles, we took a 3-0 lead in the tiebreak, and then it closed to a 5-4 lead. Still, we were two points from a decisive third set. In Nate's match, he began to find the range and won a game in the second set to make 3-5, and he seemed to be pulling it back.

And then just like that, it all ended. #1 doubles lost Kyle's serve after many deuces and City served out the match for a 6-2 third set. #2 doubles got tied up at 6-6 and then saw two points slide away for an 8-6 tiebreak loss. And before I could say anything to Nate, he was shaking hands, match over. Within a matter of two minutes, hope for all three matches turned into one big L on our record.

And that's why it hurts. And it should hurt. We are a good team and we will learn from this match. All three positions that came out with losses were positions that were not used to playing under this pressure. It's the first varsity season for Nate, Matt, Blake and Evan.

But you know what. In 2007, after our heartbreaking loss, we came back to upset Fairfield in the first round of Sectional. In 2008, after our loss, we came back and defeated Penn and then won the Sectional. In 2009, we responded to our loss to play our best tennis of the season at the super competitive Wabash Invite.

We will respond again this year. We will get better.

In the JV match, Andrew Snyder saw his first action and fought long into the match with Devin Moore. Moore had filled in at #1 singles against Warsaw, and almost won a set (lost 6-7 in the 2nd). That was a great start to Andrew's tennis career. JV wins came from Abe Thorne in singles and Wade Troyer & Joel Gerig in doubles. Abe played steadily, but Wade and Joel's match was spectacular. They led 7-4, but then let the Eagles come back to force a tiebreak. The tiebreak was epic, lasting longer than Josh and Justin's entire match. But at 14-13, Joel watched an Eagle forehand sail long to seal the tiebreak victory for us.

There are many reasons to be upset after a loss like this, many excuses that could be made, many "what ifs" to ask ourselves. It is worth feeling those. But then... how will our character grow? We will persevere. We will remain focused.

Because we always focus, always battle.

Varsity
#1S - Ben Mast - 6-1, 6-1 - Dylan Hinen (12)
#2S - Seth Krabill - 6-3, 5-7, 6-2 - Travis Johnson (12)
#3S - Nate Brendle - 4-6, 3-6 - Derek Hinen (10)
#1D - Kyle Miller/Matt Ebersole - 1-6, 6-3, 2-6 - Alan Murphy (12)/JT Biggs (12)
#2D - Blake Shetler/Evan Grimes - 1-6, 6-7 (6) - Cole Craven (12)/Gabe Boles (11)

Junior Varsity
#1SJV - Andrew Snyder - 5-8 - Devin Moore (11)
#2SJV - Parth Patel - 2-8 - Ryan Flauding (11)
#3SJV - Abe Thorne - 8-1 - Clayton Verberkmoes (12)
#4SJV - Bryan Nguyen - 0-6 - Devin Moore (11)
#1DJV - Ryan Minter/Himal King - 3-8 - Austin Funk (11)/Matt Rethlake (11)
#2DJV - Wade Troyer/Joel Gerig - 8-7 (13) - Blake Fearnow (9)/Dalton VanHouten (9)
#3DJV - Josh Helmuth/Justin Zehr - 0-6 - Austin Funk (11)/Ryan Flauding (11)