Sectional Draw

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We begin Sectional play on Thursday, October 3 against Fairfield. The match will be played at Goshen Middle School and is scheduled to begin at 4:30.

Chapter 19 - Wabash Invitational

"I like this tournament the best," said Abe Thorne, "because we get to be with the team all day."

At the Merrillville varsity tournament, singles players play at one site while the doubles players play down the road. It makes the tournament go faster, but the team experience is quite different. It's not as unified. I echo what Abe said. A lot of memories are made when we get to hang out together. The majority of the team nodded their agreement at Abe's statement.

What's even more awesome about this statement is that at the time Abe said it, we had won the tournament. I think it's a testament to this group of players that what they enjoy most is spending time together, playing together, and making memories together.

Coming into the tourney, I knew that this, once again, was an excellent collection of teams. Taylor was a conference champion for the second year running, going undefeated in their league. Wabash finished 2nd in their conference, with an 8-5 record on the year. Eastern was the weakest of the teams, sporting a respectable 7-10 record.

Again, we played Taylor first, and boy did we get a close match. Well, at least, the final score said 3-2. But in all honesty, the match didn't feel that close at all. Taylor won the first two matches off the courts, big wins at the #1 positions. Those had been their strengths all year, at #2 singles and #3 singles, we were playing quality opponents, but we were playing incredibly well. Sol especially had his game working in this round, hitting incredible shots like baseline overheads and leaving his opponent shaking his head. Finally, it all came down to #2 doubles, and Parth and Landon had a set advantage plus a 5-2 lead. But as Parth said, there's always got to be drama, so they faltered in finishing the set and soon it was tied 5-5. But they were able to break serve and hold Landon's serve to finish the match, as they showed continually improving nerves under pressure.

With that victory, we began play against Wabash. Sol and Abe started first, at #1 and #3 singles and both lost their first sets. It looked like we'd need all three of the other positions to win as they took the court. But enjoying their opportunity, all 3 of those other positions won with relative ease. In the meantime, Abe and Sol captured their second sets and played the third set tiebreakers. Sol won his in a close one 10-8. Abe, it wasn't so close. Abe won an unprecedented 10 straight points to win his tiebreaker 10-0. That's unheard of.

2 victories down, and we matched up against Taylor only needing this win to secure the championship. Abe won easily, overpowering his younger opponent. Jesse followed suit. Sol and #1 doubles quickly won their first sets. It looked like we'd have a 4-0 advantage and win before #2 doubles even began. But then both Sol and #1 doubles lost a little focus and had to regain their form. Things looked dicey as both matches tightened up and the Comets took the lead, while also winning the first set of #2 doubles. Luckily, Hans and Joel did the work and took the lead late in their match. Sol followed, and 10 seconds before Hans and Joel finished, Sol watched his opponent's shot fall wide to clinch the championship for us.

We hugged, ate some peanut butter sandwiches and watch #2 doubles finished. We took pictures biting the trophy and then carried the trophy to our table at Applebee's. We laughed about all the funny things of the day. Things like...

- Seth telling Abe to get his "swag" going during the second set comeback against Wabash.
- Parth crushing the ball at an Eastern doubles player, and the player catching it between his legs.
- Sol's ridiculous overheads and attacking against a Wabash player who had not lost at #3 singles.
- Hans angled slam after the ball barely got over the net, winning the match against Eastern.
- Sol's "granny shot" winner against Eastern, where he scooped the ball from between his feet for the winner.
- Landon's awesome slams throughout the day, running his opponent's into the fences.
- "Are you kitten me right meow?"
- The seniors getting back-to-back championships at this tournament.
- Great pictures of the event from our next great varsity players: Ryan Duckworth, Simon Hurst, Ethan Lapp and Byeong Min Lim.
- Singing "Sarasponda" with the trophy for a second year in a row as well.
- A rain-free tournament for the first time in years.
- Bringing our record up to 14-4 on the season.
- Jesse and Sol both finishing undefeated on the day.

And other great things. What a nice way to spend a Saturday!

Bethany Christian 3, Taylor 2
#1S - Abe Thorne - 1-6, 0-6 - Jack Lipchik (12)
#2S - Jesse Amstutz - 6-3, 6-1 - Cameron Kimbler (10)
#3S - Sol Brenneman - 6-2, 6-1 - Casey Glick (12)
#1D - Joel Gerig/Hans Miller - 3-6, 1-6 - Austin Douglass (12)/Cole Schroeder (10)
#2D - Parth Patel/Landon Weldy - 6-2, 7-5 - Conner Leicht (10)/Treavor Harris (10)

Bethany Christian 5, Wabash 0
#1S - Abe Thorne - 1-6, 6-1, 10-0 - JD Boone (12)
#2S - Jesse Amstutz - 6-2, 6-0 - Edward Dillard (12)
#3S - Sol Brenneman - 3-6, 6-3, 10-8 - Kory Fuller (11)
#1D - Joel Gerig/Hans Miller - 6-2, 6-1 - Thomas Grier (12)/Aaron Hartley (10)
#2D - Parth Patel/Landon Weldy - 6-1, 6-1 - Jalen Grier (12)/Taylor Vigar (10)

Bethany Christian 4, Eastern 1
#1S - Abe Thorne - 6-1, 6-1 - Ryan Manfred (9)
#2S - Jesse Amstutz - 6-2, 6-1 - Logan Colwell (12)
#3S - Sol Brenneman - 6-3, 6-4 - Robbie Walling (12)
#1D - Joel Gerig/Hans Miller - 6-2, 7-5 - Austin Chase (12)/Zach Walker (12)
#2D - Parth Patel/Landon Weldy - 3-6, 3-6 - Daniel Pugh (12)/Riley Haupert (11)

Joel Gerig

In two years of varsity tennis, Joel has become quite a doubles force. He has the attitude of an elite doubles player. His nature tends to be jovial and laid-back, but his “Let’s go’s!” and “C’mon’s!” are well known by anyone whose been to a couple of matches this year. The energy and passion that he brings to this sport have been a much needed spurt for the team, as you’ll often hear an echo from around the courts, people encouraging him back.

Not just his attitude, but his skills have born out his touch as a doubles machine. This season, he and Hans have won more matches than any #1 doubles team in the past five years. Indeed, if they win just a couple more they’ll have the winningest record at #1 doubles in Bethany history.

But what I’ve appreciated most about Joel isn’t the winning or the intensity. It’s his ability to look inside and be honest. I remember his explosion sophomore year, where he lost a challenge match and got angry. I remember talking with him for a good half an hour while practice went on, and then more later. And I think of tennis camp, and the conversations that have pushed our bedtime back because Joel still has more to share. Joel has keen gifts of insight and wisdom, and I’ve enjoyed most watching him grow into those.

I always pick a verse from the Bible for the seniors, one that I think especially fits them. For Joel, it’s James 1:2-5.

“Consider it pure joy, my brother, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.”

Have joy, my brother Joel, even in difficulty. God is not looking for faults. God is looking to give.

Abe Thorne

When this class started as freshman, Abe was basically a beginner at tennis. I mean, he had athletic skill, and he could hit the ball hard - but he had no strategy. Watching him play doubles with Evan was really entertaining because at times they looked like they were playing a different game: “Who can hit their serve into the net with the most velocity.” But last year was a turning point for Abe in tennis. Moved to singles after a slow start in doubles, he studied the game throughout the season. He learned how to find others weaknesses. Then he had a win streak of 13 matches, including a tournament title. Then he became #1 this season.

Following Nate Brendle, no one was going to live up to last year. But Abe has struggled for different reasons this year... whether it be great opponents, the heat, low energy, injuries. He has had to face different struggles. But he’s faced them without ever stopping his effort. I think I saw this quality early in him, when I had him come and open the shed every day of the summer for anyone who wanted to come play. Or last season, when he stayed after practice every day to play with Ike Lehman. To get better. Given the opportunity, he will put in the study and the effort. Last year, he did that while he was winning. This year, he’s had to continue that despite some losses.

Our season’s theme has been blessing. I consider this verse from James about Abe:

“As you know, we count as blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.”

Abe, be blessed as you continue to persevere, to face adversity with study and effort. To face the world with compassion and mercy.

Parth Patel

Parth arrived on the Bethany tennis team believing that he would be a great singles player for us. 4 straight years of playing doubles later I hope we’ve erased the fantasy from his head. Parth brings great skills as a doubles player, perhaps best of all he strives to remain a positive coach and teammate to his double’s partners (even when they make it really hard on him, Jesse Amstutz).

And this is what I’ve appreciated about Parth the most, his commitment to his teammates and their betterment. He truly takes joy from others wins and losses. He finds it awesome when a younger player gets their first big win. He comes and talks to me about teammates he feels are having a hard time. He leads our get pumped up cheer at the beginning of matches, leads stretching on most days of practice so that we don’t end up with sore rotator cuffs. He supports our hands when we bring it in as a team to prepare for our matches together.

Parth is a man of commitments and priorities, and he holds his teammates highly in his hierarchy. I really feel that Philippians 2 could describe Parth well:

“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.”

I know that is priorities combined with his compassion and humility will make him quite a successful person.

Justin Zehr

It seems that every year for the past several, we’ve had one senior that doesn’t quite jump onto the varsity. Why do they keep playing? Because tennis is fun. All season I’ve been preaching, yes preaching, to the team that tennis shouldn’t be life and death. That we are blessed by the opportunity to play tennis, because tennis and the team that surrounds it is fun.

Maybe I should have pointed them to Justin’s example. This season, he’s having a great year as far as tennis goes. With his win tonight, Justin has become 2nd in all-time JV wins with 24. He’s won 8 times this year. But I’m not sure that’s what drives him to keep playing. For me, I appreciate things like last Saturday. A rule in the Fremont JV Invitational said that no seniors could play, so Justin couldn’t go to that tournament. But instead of just taking the weekend off, he jumped on the varsity bus and came along to the varsity tournament. At 7:00 AM. In Merrillville. Or another great example of JZ’s nature is last night. Paul Krabill had to wait for a ride and Justin let Paul simply sit in his car, talking with him. I truly believe that Justin enjoys tennis for the team, and maybe also for the play too.

I also appreciate all that JZ’s done to help this year, from helping with feeding to teaching new drills to more. He has very willing and helpful spirit. Thinking of Justin, I’m reminded of Luke 6:38...

“Give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.”

Justin, may the team attitude and the helpful spirit you’ve displayed always come back with joy to you.

Chapter 18 - vs. Bremen

As the light goes, go.

- from "What I Know About Epistemology" by John Surowiecki

The seniors wrapped up their home season tonight, defeating the Bremen Lions at all of our senior spots. Parth Patel picked up his 10th win of the season, the first of his 3 varsity seasons where he's reached double digits. Joel Gerig has his highest win total as well, clocking in at 13 now on the season. Justin Zehr, in fact, picked up his 9th win, which is one more than last year. And Abe Thorne, well, he got another win last night too, his 20th singles win of his career.

All in all, these senior Bruins have been part of 35 varsity wins. They've played their roles on the JV as well, preparing themselves. They have been great teammates, had so much fun. And hopefully, they are well prepared for the future.

As tennis goes, tonight went well. Abe has figured out a style of play that has brought him a lot of recent success. After starting the season slowly, Abe is 3-3 in his last 6 matches. His attacking style went a little overboard at times tonight (a volley slammed over the first row of cars in the parking lot :-) but provided the needed energy and confidence for a quick win.

Jesse Amstutz lost his first game, looked troubled and worried. A quick strategy adjustment and 12 straight games were won, as Jesse actually provided that clinching 3rd point we're always desperate for.

The 2nd point had been won at #1 doubles, where Joel and Hans started out looking a little tentative after last night's disappointment against Fairfield. However, relying on their strengths - their teammate and their energy - they fought back against themselves and recovered their beautiful form. Their match ended on a big serve from Joel forcing a Lion error. It was good to see him swing so confidently.

And so too for the #2 doubles team. After double faulting the entire first game, Landon Weldy found his service stroke and dominated. Parth looked like the old doubles pro that he now is, finding angles, crosscourt rally strokes and putting away overheads. They played as a well-polished team tonight, which was fun to watch.

Sol struggled, again against a #3 singles player who has better strokes than most of his teammates. We finally cracked the code of how to trouble the junior Krent Hueni late in the game, but it was too late. He had outstroked Sol's power for most of the match, and won the Lion's only point.

At JV, no other points were given away. Byeong Min Lim sealed up an undefeated JV season, and Ethan Lapp picked up his 15th win of the season, extending his own record. Ryan Duckworth competed with senior Justin Zehr, and they had their times of awesomeness - like when Justin hit a ball around the net post and back crosscourt for the winner, or when Ryan poached and pounded down several overheads. These moments gave us the excitement we were looking for.

But really, tonight was celebrating the seniors in their last home match. So much of life is about finding out what light, what gift God has given to us and being that light to world. Last night on the tennis courts, our seniors played to the strengths they've been given. My prayer, my blessing, is that they always will.

Varsity

#1S - Abe Thorne - 6-1, 6-0 - Tommy Foster (10)

#2S - Jesse Amstutz - 6-1, 6-0 - Bryce DeVine (10)

#3S - Sol Brenneman - 3-6, 3-6 - Krent Hueni (11)

#1D - Joel Gerig/Hans Miller - 6-2, 6-1 - Tyler LaFlash (12)/Austin Ingle (11)

#2D - Parth Patel/Landon Weldy - 6-2, 6-3 - Ryker Hand (10)/Chandler Snyder (9)

Junior Varsity

#1SJV - Byeong Min Lim - 8-1 - Evan Reed (9)

#2SJV - Ethan Lapp - 8-0 - Hudson Thornton (9)

#1DJV - Justin Zehr/Ryan Duckworth - 8-3 - Noah Miller (10)/Josh Ukinski (10)

Chapter 17 - vs. Fairfield

Again I saw that under the sun the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the intelligent, nor favor to those with knowledge, but time and chance happen to them all.

- Ephesians 9:11

This verse is difficult for us to accept. Time and chance happen to us all. There are times when things won't go as we want. That's part of life. There are times when the luck, the chance, the draw, whatever it is won't fall our way. That's part of life.

We deal with it the best we can. But we shouldn't get mad at ourselves for failing to impose our will. We can't get mad at ourselves because this time someone else performed better than us. We can't blame ourselves for the chance falling the other way. Because if we do, life becomes very difficult to live, since we would only be striving for perfection.

Which is the weird thing about sports. Aren't we striving for perfection? Practice that forehand until we can finish the point with it. Don't miss easy balls. Never double fault. Aren't these things that we're trying to do?

Yes and no. In tennis, time and chance happen to all. You will double fault. You will hit an easy forehand in the net, or hit an easy slam long. You will lose a big point. You will.

The key is remembering that these things happen to everybody who plays tennis, so don't internalize the errors. Don't blame yourself. There is no such thing as perfection (I mean, seriously, watch a Djokovic v. Nadal match - it's full of errors). 

We strive to be swift, strong and wise - but these are the exceptions to the rule. The times where we make swift plays, running down a passing shot and flipping up a perfect lob; that is a blessing. The times that we are strong, poaching across the net for the slam past our opponent's feet; that is a blessing. The times that we are wise, using the angle instead of pounding it into the backcourt; that is a blessing. We celebrate and praise God for times of swiftness, strength and wisdom - but don't expect perfection.

Monday night, our varsity found themselves expecting perfection. When it didn't happen, we became discouraged. At the singles positions, we almost needed perfection. That's why we were hoping for it. Fairfield's singles lineup of seniors and a junior just came off impressive victories over Angola, a team that we had lost the singles positions to in the scrimmage. Early in the match, it became evident that we were going to struggle. We tried different strategies. We tried hard. We tried to stay confident. But we couldn't find the crack to exploit. We'll work on it before Sectional, but that's a challenge we'll meet with energy.

At doubles, we entered the match with energy. But in the second sets, Fairfield changed strategy. They played to draw out our errors. Consistency, lobs, and simple serves became their mission. And we grew tentative. After a couple of mistakes, we began to think about our mistakes. To blame ourselves. To get nervous. And the match followed that pattern. We were expecting perfection, and crumbled when it didn't happen.

For the JV, it was a tense little match as well. Fairfield has a good JV, and everyone on their team had the opportunity to play twice. That meant that our lower guys had to beat at least one of their higher players in order for the JV to secure the win. It also meant that we needed all of the higher positions to win their initial matches.

And that plan worked out for the night. All of the top 5 positions won, and then Daniel Robles and Jackson King clinched the win instead of the tie. Our JV continues to play confident tennis, which I love. But throughout the year they are learning and playing smarter tennis. It's been a blessing to watch them continue to rack up the victories this year.

But it wasn't perfect. Our champions from Saturday (Lane & Brandon) lost today. Their close challengers, Matthew and Jack, also found defeat. And our juniors couldn't capture their win either. But maybe next time they will. That's the beauty of the season. Time and change will fall both ways for everyone...

Varsity

#1S - Abe Thorne - 2-6, 0-6 - Austin Christner (12)

#2S - Jesse Amstutz - 0-6, 1-6 - Adam Yoder (11)

#3S - Sol Brenneman - 2-6, 0-6 - Marcus Rodes (12)

#1D - Joel Gerig/Hans Miller - 6-1, 4-6, 3-6 - Nathan Azzarito (11)/Landyn Nunemaker (11)

#2D - Parth Patel/Landon Weldy - 6-2, 3-6, 5-7 - Samuel Clayton (12)/Isaac Miller (9)

Junior Varsity

#1SJV - Byeong Min Lim - 6-0 - Andrew Hoover (11)

#2SJV - Ethan Lapp - 6-4 - Clayton Bender (9)

#3SJV - Bryce Miller - 6-1 - Jesse Grimm (9)

#4SJV - Jacob Gonsalves - 3-6 - Joel Kropf (9)

#1DJV - Ryan Duckworth/Simon Hurst - 6-0 - Aaron Miller (10)/Aaron Skibbe (9)

#2DJV - Justin Zehr/Neel Bhagat - 6-1 - Carver DeWitt-Gall (11)/Joey Gibson (9)

#3DJV - Lane Miller/Brandon Nguyen - 2-6 - Andrew Hoover (11)/Clayton Bender (9)

#4DJV - Jack Erlacher/Matthew Peters - 1-6 - Jesse Grimm (9)/Joel Kropf (9)

#5DJV - Roberto Ramos/Jacob Rudy-Froese - 1-6 - Aaron Miller (10)/Aaron Skibbe (9)

#6DJV - Jackson King/Daniel Robles - 6-1 - Carver DeWitt-Gall (11)/Joey Gibson (9)

Chapter 16 - Fremont JV Invitational

I didn't get to see this chapter of our season unfold, but boy would I have liked to. 2 champions and a 2nd place team finish? What a blessing!

The JV traveled to Fremont once again, the site of one of our previous matches this year. This time, they were taking on 5 other JV teams in a tournament. Drawn into pools, the team would first matchup against DeKalb (enrollment: 1315) and Angola (enrollment: 900). Also, Angola's varsity is currently ranked in the top 8 in our NW Indiana district - which typically means that their JV is good as well.

In these first round matchups, we didn't lose one position. We had some close matches, won tiebreaks, overcame deficits. But in the end, each position advanced to the championship round. There, at every position, we faced Leo. Seth Krabill, coaching on the day, had written in his notes before the match: "Leo is really good." 

And yes, Leo (enrollment: 1125, team ranked #5 in NW Indiana) was very good. And yet, we won two championship round matches against them. Byeong Min Lim continued his impressive JV season, staying undefeated and grabbing a championship for himself. Lane Miller and Brandon Nguyen captured the other championship. They had challenged throughout the week to earn the #2 doubles spot together, and took advantage by winning their spot at the tourney.

I'm very excited for the season this year's JV is having. I'm even more excited as to what it can mean to the future of Bethany tennis. This year's freshman/sophomores (who made up 6/7 of this team) can have very special careers as Bruin tennis players. I'm hoping that all of the success they are having doesn't satiate them, but leaves them ready for more.

Great job Bruin JV! I am proud of your efforts this season!

#1SJV - Byeong Min Lim - 1st
- def. Seavers (DeKalb)
- def. Davison (Angola)
- def. Book (Leo) - 8-4

#2SJV - Ethan Lapp - 2nd
- def. Bauer (Angola)
- def. Ramos (DeKalb)
- lost to Hughhanks (Leo) - 4-8

#3SJV - Bryce Miller - 2nd
- def. DeKalb
- def. Lehman (Angola)
- lost to Brandenburger (Leo) - 3-8

#1DJV - Neel Bhagat/Simon Hurst - 2nd
- def. Sager/Libey (Angola)
- def. Edmonds/Seavers (DeKalb)
- lost to Conroy/Wells (Leo) - 2-8

#2DJV - Lane Miller/Brandon Nguyen - 1st
- def. Nafsiger/Atha (Angola)
- def. Travis/Howlerda (DeKalb)
- def. Marks/Lacrocque (Leo) - 8-5

Chapter 15 - Merrillville Invite

Jump like your life depends on it.

- from "Theories of Falling" by Sandra Beasley

This season teaches me every day. There are new stresses. There are new challenges. There are things I could be scared of. There are decisions to be made. There are words to write. There are people, brothers, to encourage - to love. My theory on the season has been that we play tennis for fun and for friendship - not to win and lose. This helps us manage our expectations and emotions.

This weekend, my theory was put to the test.

The Merrillville Invite is a big invitational with 8 teams. Usually, several of these teams are district ranked. Usually the competition is tight. Usually it takes forever to get the tournament done. And this year was to be no different, except for the fact that we entered the tournament with the best record of any of the teams. And I'd have said that we were the favorite to win.

But then, things happened, as things do. One of our better varsity players could not be at the tournament. We received one of the worst draws that we could have. One of the teams that was close to us in the competition made a lineup switch that caused a disadvantage for us. 

And the day didn't start off that well playing either. Jesse was our only player who breezed through his first match. Abe played well but lost. Sol struggled to a close win. Joel and Hans held a huge advantage in the second set, only to lose in a heartbreaking 10-point tiebreak. And Landon and Ryan couldn't pull off an upset in their match. 

Just like that, our advantage seemed to evaporate. Our expectation of a win, of a team trophy, seemed to be gone. But we weren't playing to win, were we? We were playing to enjoy God's beautiful day, to cheer on our teammates, to play some memorable points. Right?

Except, as the tournament started we weren't. We were playing to win. And when we didn't win, it got harder to play the rest of the day. Things that normally mattered didn't seem to matter. Strokes that we normally went after became tentative. 

Oh, there were spots of awesome in the sky. Jesse continued his dominant play and won his singles bracket. Sol looked to be the best of the #3 singles players at the tournament. Abe pulled off a stunning upset over Triton, losing the first set 0-6 (the third time he'd lost an 0-6 set to Dean Howdeshell) before turning around and winning the second set and then the tiebreak. And Ryan and Landon recovered to play excellent tennis in their final match of the day.

But I was still a bit disappointed that we hadn't won. We'd actually come in 5th.

Then we went out to eat. All good things happen when we eat I think. Sharing burgers and telling stories, this is what tennis is really about. This is the hidden story that so many other teams think is the background. We have said that this is the story. These relationships, these stories, this fun.

And so let that be true. This last week and a half of the season, let's jump into this knowledge. The tennis is the background story, the setting, the props on the stage. It may come into the action, but it's really not the action itself. 

Good job Bruins, I can't wait to see you on Monday afternoon, as we share the afternoon, some snacks, and a few tennis matches with each other. I can't wait to jump into that time together.

Abe Thorne - #1 Singles
- Centerville - Brady Wagenknecht (11) - 3-6, 4-6
- Triton -  Dean Howdeshell (12) - 0-6, 6-4, 10-2
- Highland - Jeff Michner - 1-6, 5-7

Jesse Amstutz - #2 Singles
- Highland - Nick Polster - 6-0, 6-2
- Lowell - David Delgado (11) - 6-1, 6-1
- Portage - Blake Logsden (12) - 6-2, 7-5

Sol Brenneman - #3 Singles
- Wawasee - Cal Heinsich (10) - 7-6, 6-4
- Triton - Jared Fisher (11) - 2-6, 2-6
- Merrillville - Sam Dinka (10) - 6-4, 6-2

Joel Gerig/Hans Miller - #1 Doubles
- Triton - Lucas Shafer (12)/Darrin Harrell (12) - 6-3, 6-7, 6-10
- Highland - Ben Woods/Anthony Juranovich - 6-3, 6-1
- Centerville - David Miller (12)/Miller Ferguson (12) - 2-6, 6-4, 7-10

Landon Weldy/Ryan Duckworth - #2 Doubles
- Lowell - Zeb Johnson (10)/Tyler Damm (12) - 5-7, 2-6
- Portage - Michael Lakomek (9)/Alex Tjoris (10) - 2-6, 0-6
- Wawasee - Luke Smith (12)/Tyler Hutchinson (11) - 6-4, 7-6

Chapter 14 - vs. Blackhawk Christian

Oh for boyhood's painless play,

Sleep that wakes in laughing day,

Health that mocks the doctor's rules,

Knowledge never learned of schools...

- from "The Barefoot Boy" by John Greenleaf Whittier

Resiliency shows up in the most unexpected places when dealing with high school tennis. I stood watching warmups with one of our parents, discussing how difficult it is to deal with emotions, how hard and painful last night's loss felt, how controlling our emotions doesn't get easier just because we grow older. Out on the court, I wondered how the varsity would respond to a difficult loss last night while playing a good team (9-4 on the season) tonight.

This match represented another challenge for us. We'd beaten Blackhawk last year, down in Fort Wayne. The match had been 5-0, but it had been fairly close at several positions. The Braves only lost one player from that team, we had lost 3. We came in with a good record, but they were almost the same. 

In the warmup, however, I could see one thing clearly. We were playing with much more resolve and confidence. Serves were popping, shots were being struck cleanly, guys were having fun. Their were not the obvious nerves, trying to figure out whether or not we could win. There was just the confidence that we could.

Which is all great. Which is what we need to be able to compete at a high level. But it's also something that is so difficult to teach. Which is why I feel like I need to repeat to us over and over, "as a team, we are dominant." When we rely on each other, when we don't depend on one person to get it all done, we can be brilliant this year.

How appropriate then that our hottest player, the one on the longest winning streak, was actually the only one who lost for the varsity today. Sol played a great match, but senior Chase Ramsey was his kryptonite. I won't go into too much detail about how he was able to shut Sol down (don't want to give away scouting secrets :-) but Ramsey had several different shots that played into Sol's weaknesses. Sol gave it a great battle, rallying from a 4-1 deficit in the second set to tie the match at 4-4 and then again at 5-5. Yet, he couldn't quite find the final stroke.

But his brothers were there for him.

Impressive turn-arounds were the order of the day. After being shut out at Marian, Abe looked relaxed and powerful in his matchup against Brave's junior Jeremy Hoover. Abe established his serve early, and though he was in a bit of a hole in the first set, he was able to win 3 straight games to close out the set. In the second set, he got a bit tentative and Hoover upped his level of play. In the third, Abe made a slight strategical shift, coming to the net a bit more to increase the pressure. He was able to string together another confident set of 4 games in a row to capture the match.

At #2 singles, after a long and tiring Marian match, Jesse Amstutz looked calm and breezed through a 2 set victory. After a close start to the match, Jesse really found both resolve and the deep, biting groundstrokes that he's used to playing. Passing shot after passing shot thwarted his opponent's attempt to attack the net, and Jesse had an easy victory.

Perhaps the easiest of all came at #2 doubles, where Parth and Landon played an outstanding match. Despite facing a player with one of the bigger forehands at their position this season, the guys were able to come to the net, prepare and finish. Great serving combined with great belief equaled an outstanding match for the Bruins.

And Joel and Hans, well, they continue to roll through the season. Focus needs a little fine-tuning, but they played about as error free of a first set as could be played. The 2nd set tightened up a bit, but they were able to find their way through.

Of course, the JV. Oh, my brilliant stars of the JV. Blackhawk only brought 4 players, so only 3 positions got to play. But #1 singles is proving to be an excellent spot for us. Whoever plays #1 singles for the Bruins on the season is now 16-0, with a total game score of 104-19. That's an average pro-set score of 8-1. #2 singles isn't too shabby either, especially when manned by Ethan Lapp, who's now tied Sol Brenneman's single season JV record for victories at 13. He'll have a couple more chances to get victories tomorrow and at the JV tournament this weekend. And Ryan Duckworth and Simon Hurst, looking good together and pitching another shut-out. The other day, I wrote a comparison of the varsity teams. Let's just say I'd love to see this year's JV play the undefeated 2008 JV team. 

Above all, however, I enjoyed the painless play, the laughing days, the jokes, the team, the brotherhood. We played better, but I think we also began to focus on the right things again. Each other and all of God's beautiful blessings.

Varsity
#1S - Abe Thorne - 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 - Jeremy Hoover (11)
#2S - Jesse Amstutz - 6-2, 6-0 - Ben Bailey (11)
#3S - Sol Brenneman - 2-6, 5-7 - Chase Ramsey (12)
#1D - Joel Gerig/Hans Miller - 6-0, 6-2 - Jared Fiedler (10)/Ryan Overbeck (11)
#2D - Parth Patel/Landon Weldy - 6-1, 6-1 - Triston Mills (12)/Joel Vastbinder (11)

Junior Varsity
#1SJV - Byeong Min Lim - 8-0 - Luke Martin (11)
#2SJV - Ethan Lapp - 8-2 - Joseph Angelo (10)
#1DJV - Ryan Duckworth/Simon Hurst - 8-0 - Ross Norton (10)/Bailey Brouwer (10)

Area Scores

Sectional Opponents

Fairfield 4, West Noble 1
1. Austin Christner (F) beat Tyler Rothhaar, 6-0, 6-1
2. Adam Yoder (F) beat Jared Swank, 6-0, 6-1
3. Marcus Rodes (F) beat Josh Gaff, 6-4, 6-1
1. Nathan Azzarito-Landyn Nunemaker (F) beat Ryan Kendall-Quinn Groff, 6-3, 0-6, 6-1
2. Jacob Musselman-Grant Moser (WN) beat Samuel Clayton-Isaac Miller, 7-6, 6-3.

NorthWood 3, Northridge 2
1. Josh Garfein (Nr) beat Mitchell Keiser, 6-3, 6-0
2. Austen Schmidt (Nr) beat Luke Stump, 5-7, 6-4, 6-3
3. Ryan Menzie (NW) beat Aadarsh Patel, 6-1, 6-2
1. Quinn Stillson-Caleb Yoder (NW) beat Clay Schnell-Ted Field, 6-2, 3-6, 6-1
2. Devyn Maugel-Nick Myers (NW) beat Landon Arnold-Sam Hoover, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3.

Concord 3, Goshen 2
1. Nick Pollock (C) def. Hudson Kay 6-0, 6-2.
2. Bernardo Cadario (C) def. Austin Stutzman 6-3, 6-1.
3. Jared Searer (C) def. Luke Rush 6-0, 6-1
1. Derick Hostetler/Peter Vukovich (G) def. Aaron Allen/Mitch Boyer 6-2, 6-3.
2. Zach Troyer/Logan Troyer (G) def. Riley Huffer/Mitchell Lozier 6-2, 6-3.

Other Opponents

Elkhart Central 5, Mishawaka 0
1. Eric Burton d. Nathan Vaughn, 6-0, 6-0
2. Andrew Salmon d. Kyle Garrett, 6-0, 6-3
3. Curtis Hill d. Alessandro Martellaro, 6-0, 6-0
1. Scott Hanberg-Will Riblet d. Wes DeMonia-Devin Jodway, 6-0, 6-2
2. Alex Boyer-Christian Lankford won by default.

St. Joseph's 5, Mishawaka Marian 0
1. Patrick O'Connor d. Jack Julien, 6-2, 6-4
2. Ryan Jamieson d. Reilly Hicks, 6-1, 6-3
3. Michael Wroblewski d. Zac Erickson, 6-0, 6-0
1. Michael Minatel-Leo Romanetz d. Pat Yergler-Nick Gertzbaer, 6-0, 6-1
2. Sam DeTrempe-Ram Fernandez d. Conner Dalton-David Hicks, 6-0, 6-1.

Westview 5, Prairie Heights 0
1. Kohle Christner d. Tyler Johnson, 6-2; 6-0
2. Andrew Yoder d. Chandle Sailor, 6-0, 6-0
3. Andrew Gingerich d. Nick Bennett, 6-0, 6-1
1. Hunter Christner-Jamar Weaver d. Coiry Hollifield-Logan Walter, 6-0, 6-0
2. Zach Schrock-Taylor Eash d. Lukas McLanahan-Justin Sutera, 6-0, 6-0.

Triton 4, New Prairie 1
1. Dean Howdeshell (T) beat Levi Hostetler, 6-1, 6-1
2. Jared Fisher (T) beat Chase Keller, 6-0, 6-1
3. Alex Suppinger (NP) beat Alex Eib, 6-0, 6-2
1. Lucas Shafer-Darrin Harrell (T) beat Jon McSherry-Ben Jones, 6-2, 6-3
2. Jake Oldham-Austin Sellers (T) beat Kyle Lowman-Lucas Major, 6-1, 6-4.

Churubusco 3, Fremont 2
1. Lu. Lillmars (C) d. Miller 6-4, 6-0
2. La. Lillmars (C) d. Arnos 7-5, 6-4
3. Sanderson (F) won by ff.
1. Kolberg/Regedanz (F) d. Bower/Pearson 6-1, 7-5
2. Luttman/Norris (C) d. Seiler/Sullivan 6-1, 6-4

Tournament Opponents
MERRILLVILLE TOURNAMENT OPPONENTS
Warsaw 5, Wawasee 0
1. Sam Rice d. Kyler Love, 6-2, 6-3
2. Kyle Wettschurak d. Todd Hauer, 6-3, 6-1
3. Evan Miller d. Cal Heinisch, 6-1, 6-1
1. Will Petro-Nikos Schlitt d. Chase Myers-Dylan Hauser, 6-2, 6-1
2. Nic Jansen-Christopher Herendeen d. Jake Hutchinson-Luke Smith, 6-1, 6-3.

Chesterton 4, Portage 1
1. Johnny Mario (C) d. John Fannin 6-1, 6-0
2. Zac Nabhan (C) d. Blake Logsdon 7-6 (6), 6-4
3. James Jewison (C)) d. Jesse Bustos 6-2, 6-1.
1. Jon Craig-Kody McGuire (P) d. Trey Moffett-Dylan Jayasuria 6-1, 2-6, 6-3
2. Tom McGue-Chris Fouts (C) d. Mike Lakomek-Alex Tsoris 6-1, 6-1.

Merrillville 3, Michigan City 2
1. Nygel Jackson (M) d. Zack Briggs 6-2, 6-0
2. Ayron Williams (M) d. Aaron Schwark 7-5, 7-5
3. Steffan Santiago (M) d. Tyler Richards 6-3, 6-2
1. Will Harber-Nick Sebert (MC) d. Ronnie Mayersky-Montreiel Shell 6-0, 6-2
2. Ryan Lewis-Caleb Raymer (MC) d. Micah Burgstahler-Robert Taylor 7-5, 6-4.

WABASH TOURNAMENT OPPONENTS
Manchester 4, Wabash 1
1. Connor Eichenauer (M) def. JD Boone, 6-4, 6-1
2. Max Karg (M) def. Edward Dillard, 6-2, 6-0
3. Kody Fuller (W) def. Brayton Spann, 6-2, 7-5
1. Morgan Metzger-Noah Cain (M) def. Aaron Hartley-Thomas Grier, 6-0, 6-0
2. Dalton Day-Branden Scott (M) def. Taylor Vigar-Jalen Grier, 6-1, 6-0

from Saturday

Eastern got 2nd place at the Argyll Invitational (Madison-Grant HS)

District Ranked Teams
#2 Homestead 4, #4 FW Carroll 1
#3 Bishop Dwenger 5, FW South Side 0
#6 FW Leo 4, Bluffton 1
#8 FW Snider 4, Bishop Luers 1

from Monday
#4 FW Carroll 5, East Noble 0

Chapter 13 - vs. Mishawaka Marian

Storms chafe, and soon wear out themselves, or us;

In calms, Heaven laughs to see us languish thus.

- from "The Calm" by John Donne

Manifest the blessings. 

We began our tennis season at camp, contemplating the Beatitudes. We discussed them, debated them, and decided. We would be a team that would try to manifest the Kingdom within our team. Let's review what that means.

We would be dependent, on our brothers and upon God.

We would be be different from other teams, focused only on victory.

We would be slow to anger, with ourselves and with others.

We would hunger and thirst for doing things right, not our own way.

We would be merciful, for we all desire mercy.

We would play with peace, not stirring up conflict and controversy where there was none.

We would be a team of brothers, looking out for one another.

Then the storms have hit, and they've hit in so many different ways. The winds of wins, losses, expectations, confidence and its lack; they smash into us as we go like waves on the sea. I'm reminded of the story of Peter stepping out on the water to come to Jesus. He takes a step, and then gets distracted by everything swirling around him.

Our goal this season was to manifest and live in the blessings that have been given to us. We've taken our eyes off of this. I know that I have. As a coach, I've been enamored with our success and what it might mean. But just as last year, we talked about how our memories won't be of matches lost... the truth is that our memories won't be of matches won either. They'll be of what are blessings were: bus rides, team jokes, amazing tournaments, shots and matches... and the brothers that were there for us afterward.

Last night, we played like another line from the John Donne poem above: 

The sea is now; and, as the isles which we

Seek, when we can move, our ships rooted be.

We had plenty of opportunity to play with confidence. We had plenty of blessings. But when we tried to move, to attack, to go and get it; it was if we were rooted in fear and doubt. 

Some matches, some teams, are moving right along in confidence. Joel and Hans picked up another win, Sol continues his solid rhythm, the JV impressed once again with some little wrinkles (Lane Miller's singles win!). But this is on my mind as well. Success can blind us to what is important, and make a lack of success feel more immense. Expecting to always win can build pressure. 

But the expectation is not winning, the expectation is blessing. We are never short of the blessing from our giving and merciful God. We've got our brothers, we've got this season, we've got our next breath. Let us live into that joy!

Several matches ago, I wrote that great teams don't flow, they turn. In Hebrew, the word for "to turn" is teshuvah, or "repent." Perhaps that is what great teams do. They realize they've taken their eye off of where they started, and they repent. That's where I'll start.

Varsity
#1S - Abe Thorne - 0-6, 0-6 - Jack Julien (12)
#2S - Jesse Amstutz - 6-3, 1-6, 3-6 - Reilly Hicks (12)
#3S - Sol Brenneman - 6-4, 6-2 - Zac Erickson (11)
#1D - Joel Gerig/Hans Miller - 6-1, 6-2 - Pat Yergler (12)/Nick Gertzbaer (12)
#2D - Parth Patel/Landon Weldy - 4-6, 0-6 - Conner Dalton (12)/David Hicks (11)

Junior Varsity
#1SJV - Byeong Min Lim - 8-2 - Sam Cressey
#2SJV - Ethan Lapp - 8-0 - Brady Lesh
#3SJV - Bryce Miller - 8-0 - Jonah Davey
#4SJV - Justin Zehr - 8-0 - Ben Becker
#5SJV - Lane Miller - 8-6 - Jonah Davey
#6SJV - Jackson King - 6-8 - Sam Cressey
#1DJV - Ryan Duckworth/Simon Hurst - 8-3 - Michael Deranek/James Deranek
#2DJV - Neel Bhagat/Jack Erlacher - 8-1 - Brady Lesh/Ben Becker
#3DJV - Matthew Peters/Brandon Nguyen - 8-3 - Michael Deranek/James Deranek

Area Scores

Sectional Opponents

Elkhart Central 3, Jimtown 2
1. Eric Burton (C) def. Mikey Pawlak 6-7 (3), 6-3, 6-1.
2. Jacob Gongwer (J) def. Andrew Salmon 2-6, 6-2, 6-2.
3. Curtis Hill (C) def. Nick Beron 6-0, 6-0
1. Scott Hanberg/Will Riblet (C) def. Adam DeShone/Ben Janowski 6-3, 6-0.
2. Isaac Pope/Hunter Price (J) def. Alex Boyer/Christian Lanford 6-7 (3), 6-2, 7-6 (6).

Fairfield 3, Angola 2
1. Austin Christner (F) def. Cameron Hall 6-2, 6-0.
2. Adam Yoder (F) def. Chris Calvelage 6-2, 4-6, 6-1.
3. Marcus Rodes (F) def. Blake Trusty 7-6, 6-2
1. Marcus Arnold/Craig Nofzinger (A) def. Landyn Nunemaker/Nathan Azzarito 6-0, 6-0.
2. Jake Honer/Cody Nickols (A) def. Andrew Hoover/Isaac Miller 6-2, 6-0.

Other Opponents

Blackhawk Christian 5, FW South Side 0
1. Hoover d. Na. Thomas 7-5, 6-3
2. Bailey d. Ni. Thomas 6-2, 6-0
3. Ramsey d. VanSyke 6-1, 6-0
1. Fiedler/Overbeck d. Miller/Wiff 6-1, 6-0
2. Mills/Vastbinder d. Williams/Staton 6-1, 6-1.

Tournament Opponents
MERRILLVILLE TOURNAMENT OPPONENTS
Crown Point 5, Lowell 0
1. Bryce Bonin (CP) d. Delmer Fleming 6-0, 6-0
2. Lance Noerenberg (CP) d. David Delgado 6-0, 6-1
3. Anthony Kendall (CP) d. Steve Hill 6-1 6-1
1. Carson Hoogeworf/Dominic Peretin (CP) d. Ben Roesel/Jayson Savich 6-0, 6-3
2. Travis Kovacic/Patrick Hiddard d. Tyler Denn/Austin Ingram 6-2, 6-4.

WABASH TOURNAMENT OPPONENTS
Wabash 3, Elwood 2
1. JD Boone (W) def. Derek Wiand, 6-1, 6-1
2. Edward Dillard (W) def. Jordan Arehart, 6-0, 6-0
3. Derek Sim (E) def. Cal Stone, 6-1, 6-0
1. Austin Poor-Dakin Updegraff (E) def. Aaron Hartley-Thomas Grier, 6-0, 6-1
2. Taylor Vigar-Jalen Grier (W) def. Gabe Starcher-Aaron Haas, 6-1, 6-1

District Ranked Teams
#3 Bishop Dwenger 5, New Haven 0
#8 FW Snider 4, Adams Central 1

2/3 Review: Interesting Stuff

Interesting History
We have only had two other seasons where we've had as successful a start to the year as we've have this season. Those were in 2008 and in 2010. Let's do some comparison for fun, shall we?

Records after this weekend
2008: 10-4
2010: 11-1
2013: 9-2

As you can see, we've played less matches this season at this point than in others. That's because we used to be in a couple of varsity tournaments early in August. The season that we won the Sectional, we had already lost 4 matches. In 2010, which is the season we ended with the best record, we'd only lost once. This year comes in the middle. But what about the quality of those records?

Records against teams with winning records
2008: 3-4
2010: 3-1
2013: 3-2

Same number of wins in each of these seasons over teams with winning records. However, you can see that our schedule was strongest in 2008. This year we've had a decently strong schedule as well. Just a little under half of our matches have been against teams with winning records. Looking deeper into the win-loss record against teams with winning records...

Records against district ranked teams
2008: 1-4
2010: 0-1
2013: 0-1

So we can see how strong that 2008 schedule was. All 4 losses we had that season were against teams that were district ranked. No wonder that team was battle tested come the Sectional! What about close matches?

Records in 3-2 matches
2008: 1-3
2010: 1-1
2013: 2-2

So this year's team is the only one of the team's to pull out 2 "3-2"wins. We've also played under a decent amount of pressure. Which is good. Because Sectional will be under pressure :-) So what about Sectional?

Record against Sectional Opponents
2008: 3-0
2010: 3-0
2013: 3-0

Now, only in 2008 did we end up winning the Sectional. In 2010, we suffered a loss to Fairfield before the Sectional and also in the Sectional Semi-Final. So, how did these seasons end up?

Final records
2008: 15-5
2010: 18-3
2013: ? ? ?

In 2008, we didn't lose again in the regular season after this weekend of the season. We went on to win the Wayne Invitational (over Wabash, Wayne, and Elmhurst), defeat Penn (ranked 4th in the district) and win the Sectional. Our final loss of the year came to East Noble in the Regional.

In 2010, we lost to Fairfield. At tournaments, we got rained out of a very promising start at the Merrillville Invitational. We had defeated state-ranked Valparaiso's #2 doubles and advanced in 4 of 5 positions. We won the Wabash Invitational the next weekend. Then we got knocked out of the Sectional by Fairfield. Only 2 teams beat us all season, district ranked Columbia City and Sectional Champion Fairfield.

Where does 2013 go from here? Well, we've got 2 tournaments left to compete in. We've also got some challenging opponents. Marian, Blackhawk and Elkhart Central this week. Fairfield and Bremen next week. A couple more teams with winning records (Marian and Fairfield) and a couple more at the Wabash Tourney (Wabash and Taylor). We'll also have to keep getting better during practice. That's certainly what the 2008 team excelled at. As the season went on, they got better. They owed a lot of that to competition from their JV. See more on the JV below, but one more comparison before we go...

Season's after Matt's children are born...
1. Season after Gideon was born (12-14-07) --> 2008 Season --> 15-5, Wayne Champs, Sectional Champs

2. Season after Judah was born (6-12-10) --> 2010 Season --> 18-3, Wabash Champs

3. Season after Hosea was born (10-5-12) --> 2013 Season --> ? ? ?

I'm not saying, but I'm just saying :-)

Outstanding JV Start of the Season
Another awesome feature of 2008 was how good the JV was. While the upperclassmen were winning a Sectional, the JV was going undefeated. The backbone of that JV were the players who made up the 18-3 2010 varsity.

This year's JV team has 1 loss, but that one loss came without their top player (Byeong Min Lim) and they've since avenged that loss, as it was to NorthWood and Friday night we defeated NorthWood as a JV. Can't say we're undefeated, but we're doing pretty well. Looking down the road, it's interesting to start thinking about which one of these players will make up the next great Bruin varsity team. Look at some of the gaudy JV records as well (Ethan Lapp: 11-1, Bryce Miller: 10-1, Simon Hurst: 10-2, Byeong Min Lim: 9-1). The list goes on. The talent of the JV team is unlimited, if they match their talent with their work.

Interesting Stats
- Joel and Hans 9 straight match wins to start the season ties for the 9th longest winning streak in Bethany history.

- Sol Brenneman has won 6 straight matches. He's starting to find a rhythm as well. For the JV, the longest current winning streak is Ethan Lapp, who's won 10 straight.

- Several varsity players will have a chance of setting a record for most wins in first varsity season, or at least move up the list of leaders. Most likely is Sol and Landon.

- Speaking of first varsity seasons, as a freshman Jesse Amstutz won 4 varsity matches. He's already got 7 wins this season!

- Other big improvers? Parth Patel (from 6 --> 8), Landon (from 6 JV wins --> 8 varsity wins), Ryan Duckworth (0 wins because of injury --> 9 this season), Ethan Lapp (8 --> 11), Jack Erlacher (4 --> 7) and Paul Krabill (1 --> 3)!

- Sol Brenneman has a JV record of most wins in a season (13), Ethan Lapp is only 2 matches behind tying that record and Bryce Miller and Simon Hurst just one behind him.

- Abe Thorne has played 4 matches so far against players who will fight for All-District status. They make up 4 of his 6 losses.

- The most matches ever won by a Bethany #1 doubles team is 15. Joel and Hans have 9. They'll certainly have a chance to get to 15 in the next couple of weeks, if they are up for the challenge.

- Next week will be the busiest week of our schedule, as both varsity and JV players will have chances to play 6 matches in 6 days. This is because both teams travel to tournaments (that they've never won) on Saturday, September 21. Go for trophies!

Team Records
Varsity: 9-2
Junior Varsity: 11-1-2

Position by Position
#1S: 4-7
#2S: 9-2
#3S: 8-3
#1D: 10-1
#2D: 9-2

#1SJV: 13-0
#2SJV: 8-5
#3SJV: 7-3
#4SJV: 1-3
#5SJV: 0-2
#6SJV: 1-1
#7SJV: 1-0

#1DJV: 9-3
#2DJV: 10-2
#3DJV: 6-2
#4DJV: 3-4
#5DJV: 2-2
#6DJV: 1-1
#7DJV: 1-0

Person by Person
Seniors
Joel Gerig: 9-1
Parth Patel: 8-2
Abe Thorne: 3-6
Justin Zehr: 7-4

Juniors
Jesse Amstutz: 7-2
Neel Bhagat: 6-4
Sol Brenneman: 3-3
Ryan Duckworth: 9-2
Hans Miller: 9-1
Roberto Ramos: 3-3
Jacob Rudy-Froese: 1-5
Landon Weldy: 8-2

Sophomores
Jack Erlacher: 7-2
Paul Krabill: 3-0
Ethan Lapp: 11-1

Freshman
Jacob Gonsalves: 2-2
Simon Hurst: 10-2
Jackson King: 4-3
Byeong Min Lim: 9-1
Bryce Miller: 10-1
Lane Miller: 8-4
Brandon Nguyen: 5-4
Matthew Peters: 4-4
Daniel Robles: 3-2

Area Scores

Sectional Opponents

Jimtown got 8th in the Concord Invitational

Other Opponents

Elkhart Central 5, Mishawaka 0
1. Eric Burton beat Nathan Vaughn, 6-0, 6-0
2. Andrew Salmon beat Kyle Garnett, 6-0, 6-1
3. Curtis Hill beat Alessandro Martellara, 6-0, 6-0.
1. Scott Hanberg-Will Riblet beat Wesley DeMonica-Devin Jodway, 6-2, 6-0
2. Elkhart Central won by forfeit.

LaPorte 3, Elkhart Central 2
1. Eric Burton lost
2. Andrew Salmon lost
3. Curtis Hill won
1. Scott Hanberg-Will Riblet lost
2. Alex Boyer-Christian Lankford won

Bremen 4, East Chicago Central 1
1. Tommy Foster (B) beat Fabian Garcia, 5-7, 6-2, 10-5
2. Bryce DeVine (B) beat Abraham Garcia, 6-4, 6-4
3. Krent Hueni (B) beat Guillermo Cabrera, 6-1, 6-0
1. Tyler LaFlash-Austin Ingle (B) beat Ahmed Muhammed-Cristian Camacho, 7-5, 6-1
2. Reyes Maldorado-Cesar Guillen (E) beat Ryker Hand-Chandler Snyder, 5-7, 7-5, 13-11.

SB Riley 3, Triton 2
1. Dean Howdeshell (T) d. Jordan Karczewski, 6-0, 6-0
2. Lucas Shafer (T) d. Daniel Campbell, 6-1, 6-0
3. Justin Gruber (R) d. Gavin Eads, 6-2, 6-4
1. Corey Fletcher-Matt Paluszewski (R) d. Austin Sellers-Jake Oldham, 6-2, 4-6, 6-3
2. Aaron Holdren-Ryan Suter (R) d. Spencer Glingle-Chase Eyrich, 6-2, 6-1.

Concord Invitational
Penn 57, Valparaiso 35, Concord 31, FW Snider 30, East Noble 26, Marian 20, Westview 14, Jimtown 2.

Tournament Opponents
MERRILLVILLE TOURNAMENT OPPONENTS
Highland Doubles Tournament
Crown Point 24, Chesterton 17, Highland 14, Lowell 13, Wheeler 8, Portage 7, Morton 7, Michigan City 6.

WABASH TOURNAMENT OPPONENTS
TRC Conference Tournament
1. JD Boone got 2nd, beating Tippy Valley, losing to Manchester (1-1)
2. Edward Dillard got 2nd, beating Whitko, losing to Manchester (1-1)
3. Kody Fuller won 1st, beating Tippy Valley, Manchester and Whitko (3-0)
1. Aaron Hartley-Thomas Grier lost in 1st round (0-1)

2. Jalen Grier-Taylor Vigar got 2nd, beating Tippy Valley, Rochester, losing to Manchester (2-1)

Taylor 4, Eastern 1

Taylor won 1S, 2S, 3S, 1D

Eastern won 2D

District Ranked Teams
#1 FW Canterbury 2nd at Warsaw Invitational
#5 Concord finished 3rd in the Concord Invitational
#8 FW Snider finished 4th in the Concord Invitational

Chapter 12 - vs. NorthWood

For we cannot tarry here,

We must march my darlings, we must bear the brunt of danger,

We the youthful sinewy races, all the rest on us depend,

Pioneers! O pioneers!

- from "Pioneers! O Pioneers!" by Walt Whitman

Tuesday night against Westview, we had a big match. Tuesday night we lost. We decided it was time to turn, because all great teams turn. Friday night against NorthWood, we had a big match. Friday night we won.

The match started off fantastic for we Bruins. All positions won their opening game, even #1 doubles where we were not favored against the 11-1 team of Quinn Stillson and Caleb Yoder. Quickly Joel and Hans doubled their lead, and soon, they were the first team off the courts. Except, they hadn't won. As Stillson and Yoder overcame early nerves our team had begun to get frustrated and actually lost 11 straight games before recovering to make a late run at the second set. But we found ourselves down 1-0.

But our singles had turned it up. All four singles players earned 4-1 leads in their first set. We've been playing out challenges this week, and all of the singles players looked like they were benefitting from that practice, playing some of their best tennis. Actually, they pulled ahead, finished off their sets and moved right into leads in the second sets. #1 singles, then #2 singles, then #3 came off the courts with the wins. The varsity had picked up their 9th win.

Parth and Landon won their first set, and fought on into the third while the JV began their match. Byeong won, Ethan won, Bryce won, all picking up some easy singles wins. The JV had lost their only match of the season to NorthWood during the Jimtown tournament. They were hoping to pick up the win tonight to make up for the previous loss. It looked good with the 3-0 lead. So Justin and Neel had a 4-1 lead at #1 doubles.

So we watched Parth and Landon and they played well, and yet, they couldn't get over the hump. They couldn't finish off the second set. They pulled ahead in the third set 3-2, but couldn't keep the lead. As NorthWood attacked at the end of the match, their wasn't much that Parth and Landon did wrong. They just didn't do quite enough right.

Meanwhile, the JV started losing matches left and right. Neel and Justin lost their lead. Simon and Jack couldn't hold on to a 4-3 lead. Lane and Brandon lost. Matthew and Jacob Gonsalves lost. All of a sudden, we were down 4-3 in the JV match with only 2 matches left. We needed the last to matches to turn the match around.

First, Roberto and Jacob Rudy-Froese had to get a win. Roberto played very solidly from the baseline. Jacob kept his serves in and returned well. Easily they got a 6-1 win. As they walked off the courts, Paul and Daniel began their match. It all came down to them for the JV.

We gathered around. We jumped for joy as they won the first game. Daniel had a hot start to the match, but Paul began to get into the act too. Soon, they had built a small lead. Tied at 4-4, they fought off several game points. And then with Paul serving and Daniel slamming, they won the match for us.

5-4 victory for the JV! 3-2 for the varsity!

But the story cannot tarry here. We have to move forward. We have to march, to learn to deal with the threat of danger (of loss), to bear the brunt of that. Because in this individual-team sport, all the rest might depend on us, as the JV did tonight on Paul and Daniel. As the varsity might in a match soon this season. So brothers, lets's keep moving. 

Varsity

#1S - Abe Thorne - 6-2, 6-1 - Mitchell Keiser (12)

#2S - Jesse Amstutz - 6-1, 6-3 - Luke Stump (11)

#3S - Sol Brenneman - 6-3, 6-4 - Ryan Menzie (11)

#1D - Joel Gerig/Hans Miller - 2-6, 3-6 - Quinn Stillson (11)/Caleb Yoder (11)

#2D - Parth Patel/Landon Weldy - 6-4, 4-6, 4-6 - Devyn Maugel (11)/Nick Myers (11)

Junior Varsity

#1SJV - Byeong Min Lim - 6-2 - Cooper Clark (11)

#2SJV - Ethan Lapp - 6-1 - Court Clark (9)

#3SJV - Bryce Miller - 6-1 - Matt Newman (12)

#1DJV - Justin Zehr/Neel Bhagat - 5-7 - Evan Nix (11)/Austin Sanders (12)

#2DJV - Jack Erlacher/Simon Hurst - 4-6 - Riley Smith (12)/Austin Conrad (12)
#3DJV - Lane Miller/Brandon Nguyen - 1-6 - Nate Nunemaker (10)/Brock Beehler (10)

#4DJV - Matthew Peters/Jacob Gonsalves - 2-6 - Sean Linhart (11)/Jarrett Skaggs (10)

#5DJV - Roberto Ramos/Jacob Rudy-Froese - 6-1 - Chandler Gillam (9)/Zach Snider (10)

#6DJV - Paul Krabill/Daniel Robles - 6-4 - Matthew Checkley (9)/Breydon Stankovich (9)

Chapter 11 - vs. Laville

We were young incidentally, stumbling

into joy, he said.

- from "Once Upon a Time" by Jack Gilbert

When we are young, we don't think about potential. We don't prepare much for the future. We don't get too many real glimpses of what we might be. On Monday night, at practice, I sat the freshman give them the opportunity of imagination. On Thursday night, we tried to back that image up with reality. What can you be?

We've never had a freshman class as deep and talented as this one. I mean, just glance at their records this year and you can tell that they are finding success. But ultimately, success at JV level is not the goal for high school tennis. It's success at that next level, at varsity, that many players thirst for.

So, the freshman got their varsity shot, as a whole class, on Thursday night. They took on the Laville Lancers' varsity team, a team that lacks a single freshman. I was afraid that they might be nervous, but they seemed excited (and confused) about playing in their first varsity match together. 

In every match, we won the first game. We aggressive tennis, the Lancers made some mistakes, and we were able to capitalize. The closest game was for Jacob Gonsalves, actually going back and forth to deuce several times. Of course, he was fighting his own double faults, and once he got that under control he was able to win a few more games. 

In our other matches, we gained great experience. Byeong Min Lim got the varsity victory that escaped him at Fremont. Simon Hurst and Lane Miller paired together in a great way, getting to the net and hitting a few emphatic volleys, things we love to see from a #1 doubles pairing. Jackson and Brandon struggled through a few inconsistent games, but were able to use their strengths in order to win the match. Bryce Miller also played to his strengths, strong back and forth groundstrokes, moving his opponent all over the court. Matthew Peters moved well to the ball, swung through most of the time. Daniel Robles played his best game of the season, not dropping a game.

And the freshman class picked up their first varsity win. But what was remarkable to me was the joy with which this class plays tennis. Sure, they mostly work hard. Sure, they mostly listen to instruction. But they play with smiles on there faces. 

I hope when they look back in four years at all they've done, all they've accomplished, all the matches that they've won, all the matches they've lost, and all else that happens as they play this wonderful sport, that they look back with the same smiles they started with.

Great job, freshman!

Varsity
#1S - Byeong Min Lim - 6-0, 6-1 - Matt Dickson (12)
#2S - Bryce Miller - 6-2, 6-1 - Pierce Frick (12)
#3S - Jacob Gonsalves - 6-3, 6-1 - Adam Baker (11)
#1D - Simon Hurst/Lane Miller - 6-0, 6-1 - Brandon Haisley (10)/Dustin Royer (10)
#2D - Brandon Nguyen/Jackson King - 6-2, 6-3 - Dennis Feitz (?)/Eric Eggerbrecht (?)

Junior Varsity
#1SJV - Matthew Peters - 8-1 - Chris Nicodemus (12)
#2SJV - Daniel Robles - 8-0 - Luke Wilson (10)