Prayers at Season's End

Match Description
I've been awhile coming back to wrap up the season - almost a month. But here's the end of the season review, what happened in the last two weeks.

The team season came to an end in the first round of the Sectional, we drew Goshen, who eventually won the Regional and advanced to the Semi-State. So it was not a bad loss. We knew that at the time. In fact, there were a lot of great highlights to the match.

First of all, Brandon and Simon at #1D played a very close match with a Goshen #1D team that was 25-1 and now getting ready to play in the State finals. Both sets started off back and forth and had one momentum turning game that we couldn't get. In the first set, we couldn't quite hold Simon's serve on his second attempt, and the momentum of that break propelled the Redskin pair to their first set victory. In the second set, Brandon and Simon had 6 or 7 break points when tied at 3-3. They were unable to convert, and the second set also went to Logan Troyer and Luke Rush.

In another great match, Ethan Lapp played some of his best tennis of the season in pushing Evan Beck to 3 sets. After losing the first set 6-1, Ethan gained confidence and began attacking more with his groundstrokes. His placement and depth started to rattle Goshen's #2S player, who began to make more errors. Ethan built a 5-2 lead and finally finished off the set at 6-4. In the final set, it again appeared to be Ethan who had the advantage. In fact, Ethan built a 5-4 lead but was never able to quite pull away. At the end, Evan Beck began to be very aggressive and found a form he hadn't had before his back was against the wall. His power made Ethan more tentative, and Ethan didn't get another game in the match.

However, the team match had been decided before this. Both #3S and #2D had lost matches pretty badly, and the #1D match had decided the match. However, the Bruins did win one position in the match. Byeong Min Lim had come through with a great victory at #1S, playing with poise and precision.

Goshen's #1, Hudson Kay, had played a close match with Byeong in the regular season. In the Sectional, it was not close. Byeong pulled ahead in the first set winning the first 3 games. Hudson couldn't seem to control the ball and Byeong was working him back and forth across the court. Byeong was playing in such a confident way that I wasn't worried the whole time. As the match went on, Byeong seemed to gain confidence. His serve continued to cause problems for Hudson, and Byeong won the second set easily.

At match's end, the team season was over. But Byeong would still get to play another match. It was a good season, we ended with a record of 13-7. All 7 of those losses were good losses, to either team's that were ranked in the district or to a team that won a Sectional at season's end. Probably the only disappointing thing about the season was that we didn't win one of these matches. We had so many chances. But in the end, it was a great year with a great bunch of guys.

Goshen Scores
#1S - Byeong Min Lim - 6-2, 6-1 - Hudson Kay (12)
#2S - Ethan Lapp - 1-6, 6-4, 5-7 - Evan Beck (12)
#3S - Jacob Gonsalves - 0-6, 1-6 - Hugh Birky (11)
#1D - Simon Hurst/Brandon Nguyen - 2-6, 4-6 - Luke Rush (12)/Logan Troyer (11)
#2D - Lane Miller/Jackson King - 1-6, 1-6 - Giovanni Aguayo (12)/Jacob Grewe (11)

Prayers
Lord, I am so thankful for the brothers I have spent this season with. Help us continue to grow. No matter where we head, into another season, into another sport, into our studies... keep helping us love one another and You.