BC v. Goshen

A great way to open the season, playing a Sectional rival on a hot and sunny August afternoon. The courts are the same ones that we will step onto in October, and attempt to win a Sectional championship. And the opponent is one that may stand in our way.

So tonight, we started out the match nervously. Ben, Nate and #1 doubles (Kyle and Evan) found themselves down early in matches that they had maybe expected to win. Seth took an early lead over his opponent, junior Seth Koble, but it was hardly dominating at 2-1. The only position that started out really hot was #2 doubles, who opened up a 3-0 lead quickly and kept extending it.

But this had to be somewhat expected. Goshen was extremely experienced, returning 6 of their 7 varsity players. This match is important to them as well, we're a Sectional rival and just across town. They worked hard in the offseason to maximize their talent. So when we got off to nervy starts, and found ourselves staring at deficits, I was worried.

The response came like I've dreamed of throughout the year, starting with Ben Mast. When a match is tight, we've said, the winner will be the one who stays aggressive. Down 3-1 in the first set, Ben turned it on. His game came into focus, and ball after ball were stroked deep into the corners. Ben played his game, consistently putting the pressure on fellow senior Stefan Baumgartner and asking him to be equal to the task, to come up with pressure shots. Sometimes, he did; more than often Ben finished it. Ben reeled off 5 games in a row to take the set.

Following suit, the other singles players began to ratchet up the intensity. Seth Krabill was going back and forth in a close match with Koble. Koble played #1 singles last year for Goshen, so he came to the match battle tested. Seth struggled on and off throughout the match with his power strokes. When he was striking the ball well, he won the big points. Seth took the first set.

As did Nate. Again playing a player who wanted to keep the ball in and let Nate make mistakes, Nate had to control his spin and power. He moved his feet well and didn't let mistakes get to him and won the second set.

While #2 doubles continue to roll, #1 doubles started their own run. Down 5-0 in the first set, they finally got their act together. Moving forward and keeping with the team theme of aggression, they ran off 4 straight games to get right back into the match. But it wasn't enough to close the set, as Goshen won to take the set. But the momentum continued into the second set, and Kyle and Evan attacked the net and controlled the match from there. The match stayed close, but Kyle and Evan worked their way to a 5-4 lead. Unfortunately, they couldn't close the match, and then they lost in the second set.

But before that happened, #2 doubles closed out their match and Ben continued to pour it on in his match, taking the second set as well. That meant it was down to Nate or Seth to pull out the third point for the victory.

Unfortunately, Nate went down 1-4 to begin the second set. Balls were flying long, slice shots landing in the net. And Seth, well, his match continued to be what it was the whole time. Close. Super close. He couldn't pull away but neither could Koble.

With a little word from the coach, Nate started getting his feet set. Then he started playing long points. Then he started winning. And it didn't stop. It didn't stop until he won five straight games and won the third point for the Bruins! For the second match in a row, Nate got the clinching point.

Then Seth turned up the aggression, and from 5-5 he began to really attack. From deuce in the 5-5 game until the end of the match, Seth won 4 of the next 6 points from the net. And that aggression enabled him to close out the match.

For the varsity, tonight could really have been a let down match, after defeated Northridge on Tuesday. And while our focus may have been shaky at the start, this team showed an aggression that was needed at critical points, and were able to pull out an impressive victory over a very talented and experienced Redskin team.

For the JV, Goshen's experienced varsity meant and experienced JV. Matt Ebersole did his part, after playing #1 doubles Tuesday he took care of #1 singles JV tonight. We struggled to find other wins, but it was much closer than the Raider match. We need to see improvement throughout the season, and it will come as we add the power and placement to our games. Matt was able to bring that, others had a difficult time. So, next time we'll do even better.

Varsity
#1S - Ben Mast - 6-3, 6-3 - Stefan Baumgartner (12)
#2S - Seth Krabill - 7-5, 7-5 - Seth Koble (11)
#3S - Nate Brendle - 6-4, 6-4 - Adam Bratten (10)
#1D - Kyle Miller/Evan Grimes - 4-6, 5-7 - Jonny Tan (12)/Drew Hostetler (11)
#2D - Russell Klassen/Blake Shetler - 6-1, 6-2 - Paul Johnson (11)/Eli Metzler-Prieb (11)

Junior Varsity
#1SJV - Matt Ebersole - 8-4 - Ben Morrical (9)
#2SJV - Ryan Minter - 3-8 - Tony Sanders (12)
#3SJV - Bryan Nguyen - 4-8 - Alex Cazares (10)
#1DJV - Parth Patel/Abe Thorne - 2-8 - Sylas Buller (10)/Sam Stegelmann (10)
#2DJV - Wade Troyer/Joel Gerig - 7-9 - Philip Bontrager (12)/Matt Buncich (11)
#3DJV - Josh Helmuth/Justin Zehr - 4-8 - Austin Stutzman (9)/Derick Hostetler (9)
#4DJV - Wade Troyer/Joel Gerig - 6-0 - Jorge Hernandez-Walton (11)/Noah Shreiner (9)