Letters from Sectional, Round 1

Dear Team,
Really proud of the way you all responded tonight. We knew that it was an important night, and you came out with fire. Despite resting one extra day, you were ready to play. As the match got started outdoors, we took the lead at every position. I was really pleased to see the belief that you started your matches with.

And then the unpredictability. Even though we thought we had clear skies until 8:00 PM, the rain dumped on us and it was time to move the matches indoors. And when we got there we had to go on just 2 positions at a time. But what a way to handle the pressure. #1D finished their match to give us our first match. Jesse took his first set and fought deep into his second set. Meanwhile, #2D came out and finished off a tight second set with aggression. Jesse fell a bit short in the third set but Byeong came out and picked us up, winning the Bruins third point and sending us into the final. Sol capped things off by finishing his tight match, and giving us a 4-1 victory.

It was a really great night of good tennis. There were lots of good points played. It was a late night of tennis, not finishing up until about 8:30.

But now, we simply focus on the next point.

Dear God,
It was a good night. You've helped these young men mature throughout the season. Really, we want to play the way that You would be proud of. And truly, it's nice to know that no matter what happens, our joy still comes from You. Continue to grow us. Continue to be near to us. May we rejoice in You! Let us rejoice! Let our calm be evident because You are near. May we not be anxious about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition, let us present our requests to You. And may Your peace, God, which transcends understanding guard our hearts and our minds in Christ Jesus.

Moments of Sheer and Savage Beauty
At the beginning of the season, we said that really tennis is best played (and life is best lived) when the sheer and the savage join together. Here at the tournament time of the season, I've decided to no longer separate them, but put them in their proper place: together. These are the moments of sheer and savage beauty.

In Ryan and Ethan's match at #2D, once we'd moved indoors, Ethan served a beautiful hard slider to the forehand of the Jimtown player. He popped the ball up to Ryan and Ryan let loose on an overhead. He slammed it so hard it hit the court and then bounded upwards into the ceiling, which is quite a feat. Sheer and savage!

In the #1D, tonight I thought that Simon's serves were sheer and savage. I also thought the overhead that Simon hit were savage. And Hans had his fair share of sheer and savage volleys through the middle.

In Byeong's match, everything looked good. He moved his feet and got back at a scrambling, talented freshman who had taken him out in the first match. Match point was a great example, Byeong ran his opponent deep into the court, and then hit a simple angled volley with no pace to end the point.

Jesse's serves. Oh my, tonight, Jesse's serves were a thing of beauty. Especially as he served out the first set with those super serves. He was on with those strokes tonight!

And Sol's match point as well. Up 5-4, 40-30, he hit a scissor kick overhead deep into the court with pace and power. It couldn't be handled and it was the last point before we play in the Sectional championship.

Sheer and savage beauty tonight Bruins. Great job!

SCORES

#1S - Jesse Amstutz - 6-2, 4-6, 1-6 - Mikey Pawlak (12)

#2S - Byeong Min Lim - 6-2, 6-2 - Holden Price (9)

#3S - Sol Brenneman - 6-3, 6-4 - Michael Gray (9)

#1D - Hans Miller/Simon Hurst - 6-3, 6-2 - Brock Johnson (12)/Ben Janowski (11)

#2D - Ryan Duckworth/Ethan Lapp - 6-1, 6-4 - Hunter Price (11)/Isaac Pope (11)