BC v. Fremont

A beautiful night to play tennis saw some beautiful tennis played. Tonight we took on a very solid side, and played like the top notch squad we are supposed to be.

The Eagles returned 4 varsity players who played at or near the same positions that they played last year. This is very similar to our team. They were experienced. They were also 2-0, posting identical 3-2 results over West Noble and Fort Wayne Northrup. They had won those matches at exactly the same spots - #2S, #3S, and #2D.

So the first thing that went well tonight is Seth Krabill and our #2 doubles of Russell Klassen (back from sickness on Tuesday) and Blake Shetler played quick matches dispatching the Eagles points of strength from the last two matches. Seth played unbelievably well, finally using his strength to put pressure on Eagle junior Matt Hoff. Blake and Russell looked glad to be reunited after two matches apart. Blake looked dominant at the net, while Russell continued to be steady if not spectacular in this match. Although, Russell did have the best shot of the match when he pounded an overhead down and accidentally hit the Eagle player at the net. It was quick and aggressive, the way we like it.

At #1 singles, Ben Mast continued his great streak of matches. Ben took on senior Joe Stackhouse, who had no answer for Ben's consistency. Stackhouse hit the ball hard and deep, but also out a lot. Ben had the perfect combination of movement and drop shots to frustrate Stackhouse. It was another quick win for Ben.

#1 doubles took a huge lead, winning the first set 6-1, and quickly charging to a 3-0 lead in the second. But soon movement stopped and aggression stopped and focus stopped and the Eagles began to turn it on. Soon the Bruins faced a 5-4 deficit. But four Kyle Miller first serves and Matt Ebersole putaways later, the Bruins had their momentum back. Two quick games later, #1 doubles sealed the victory.

At #3 singles, Nate Brendle had a difficult match. Fremont junior Matt Wilcox had a big weapon for a serve, and played a fairly consistent game. In the first set, Nate was simply making too many impatient errors. But as soon as Nate started to set his feet and started to control the points, he quickly picked up momentum as well. Nate won 5 straight games to take the second set and after falling behind 1-3 in the third, he won 5 straight games in the third set to take the match.

We really played well tonight. And the JV did as well, winning all the doubles spots. We didn't have as much success at the singles spots. But again and again, we showed improvement. Josh Helmuth hit to spots, Himal showed consistency, Wade and Justin controlled the whole match. It is good to see us improve, now I'd like to see us win!

Good night, good win, good battle.

Varsity
#1S - Ben Mast - 6-0, 6-0 - Joe Stackhouse (12)
#2S - Seth Krabill - 6-0, 6-0 - Matt Hoff (11)
#3S - Nate Brendle - 4-6, 6-1, 6-3 - Matt Wilcox (11)
#1D - Kyle Miller/Matt Ebersole - 6-1, 7-5 - Tyler Jenkins (10)/Glen McClain (10)
#2D - Russell Klassen/Blake Shetler - 6-1, 6-0 - Kaleb Hayes (9)/Brandin Ross (12)

Junior Varsity
#1SJV - Abe Thorne - 5-8 - Jake Bryant (10)
#2SJV - Himal King - 4-8 - Andrew Smith (11)
#3SJV - Josh Helmuth - 6-8 - Tanner Frye (10)
#4SJV - Joel Gerig - 0-8 - Jake Bryant
#5SJV - Bryan Nguyen - 2-8 - Brandon Miller (10)
#1DJV - Evan Grimes/Andrew Snyder - 8-6 - Seth Wirick (9)/Brandon Miller (10)
#2DJV - Ryan Minter/Parth Patel - 8-3 - Cole Trombley (9)/Collin Sherburne (9)
#3DJV - Wade Troyer/Justin Zehr - 8-2 - Keith Bookwalter (9)/Derek Fischer (9)