The Story vs. Laville: Match #8

The Lead: "Winning Again"
Tonight was a match that we cruised through fairly easily. We switched positions around to get experience at different positions. Blake and Ike both moved up a spot while Nate dropped to #1 doubles. Jesse Amstutz joined Parth Patel at #2 doubles.

And with all the shake-ups, there wasn't much drama tonight. Which was really nice. For the first time in a long while... no tiebreaks. For the first time in a while, I didn't have to pace the sidelines during the last matches on the court. For the first time in a while, we won.

The Hidden Narrative
The pressure in a match like this is the hidden story. In a match against inexperienced players, it is really easy to lose focus and suddenly find yourself struggling with your own shots. Because the Lancers made many errors, we found ourselves trying to force the ball in at times - just like you do in a match against good opponents when you don't want to make an error.

The pressure is of a similar type. And tonight we all dealt with serves going awry, feet going dead, minds straying. We had to deal with that tonight. So hopefully, we'll learn from these things. Tonight was a good start.

Other Storylines
- First double bagel of the season tonight goes to Jesse Amstutz and Parth Patel. Way to hold concentration throughout and make the right plays.

- Tonight was Nate's first official doubles match. Last year he played a round in the scrimmage in doubles, but tonight was the first to go on his record. 1-0.

- Blake's opponent had a nice big serve, something that Blake has been working against in his last several matches. It was good for him to see it today.

- Abe Thorne played a practice match against Wade Troyer today. They were close, but Abe pulled off the win at the end.

The Scores
Varsity
#1S - Blake Shetler - 6-1, 6-0 - Grant Frick (12)
#2S - Ike Lehman - 6-0, 6-1 - Andrew Hulliberger (11)
#3S - Abe Thorne - win by default
#1D - Evan Grimes/Nate Brendle - 6-0, 6-2 - Blade Masterson (12)/Keanon Clemons (9)
#2D - Parth Patel/Jesse Amstutz - 6-0, 6-0 - Chris Nicodemus (10)/Adam Baker (9)