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.
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)
#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)
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