Scrimmage Preview

Who: Our opponent for the scrimmage match is the Angola Hornets. They are the defending NECC tournament champs and were ranked #6 or #7 in our district most of last season. They return several strong players in their new #1S player Jake Honer, #2S player Jaxson Davis, #1D Jordan Sager and also #3S or #1D Eric Nofziger. Those guys all had incredible records last year and are joined by a host of talented JV players this season. Angola's team mirrors ours pretty closely. As all of their returning players are moving up, except Sager who played #1D last year as well.

When: August 12, at approximately 4:30

Where: At Angola, there courts are between their middle and high school.

What: The scrimmage is a special IHSAA governed event, that has to follow certain rules. The intention is to get a little bit of match play against a different opponent before the official match season begins. As it is officially considered a regulated practice, there are 3 different segments that play follows. These segments are based on time, not score. So at the end of the allotted time, players simply end wherever they are.

The different segments are like this:
Segment #1
- Regular positions (3 singles and 2 doubles for varsity, 3 singles and 2 doubles for JV)
- Regular scoring
- Play for 30 min

Segment #2
- Regular positions (but usually at a different position than the first segment)
- Regular scoring
- Play for 30 min

Segment #3
- Regular positions (again, usually different than the last segment)
- Tiebreak scoring
- Play for 20 min

Why: Because the IHSAA wants to give teams the chance to get a taste of competition before the actual match season begins. This event does not count towards our season record, so there is less pressure but it does give us coaches the opportunity to see our players play against new opponents. It is really helpful in figuring out what we still have to work on.

Also, it allows us to play players in different positions and begin to get a true sense of our strongest lineups. I can't wait to see how our doubles players respond to different partners, different positions, different challenges.

How: How are we going to play? With confidence, with belief, with love.

Specifically, we are going to have some perspective.
We are going to take a deep breath.
We are going to remember our focus words.
We are going to see ourselves playing to those strengths in our head.
We are going to take a deep breath.
We are going to remember that we are supporting our brothers.
We are going to remember that we are a brother, nothing can take that away.
We are going to take a deep breath.
We are going to remember that we are children of God, nothing can take that away.
We are going to remember that the beginning and the end are love.
We are going to take a deep breath.
We are going to take a step in the direction of love, turning toward God and toward our brothers.