Moment of Beauty: Mishawaka Marian

Moment of Beauty #1: Dustin Miller
Okay, this was one of the best moments of beauty all season long. Dustin and Lane got rolling in the third set against the Knights, but the most awesome point of the match was Dustin's overhead.

From the baseline.

From of his opponent's overhead.

Yep, it was so epic it deserved it's own paragraphs. Dustin and Lane were doing a great job trying to attack the net before the Knights were able to get there, but on this point, the Knights took the net before us. They forced Dustin back with a deep ball, and his response was a great low attacking forehand. Then the Knights volleyed it deep and Dustin put up a lob over the right side of the net. The Knight player on that side shuffled two steps and pounded an overhead down, just over the tape and powerfully into the ground. It bounced up high in the air, threatening to go over Dustin's head but Dustin quickly stepped back two steps and reached up for his own overhead. Which he laced right through the two Marian players at the net. It landed inside the baseline in the middle of the court, a no doubt winner!

Moment of Beauty #2: Jackson King
Playing against an opponent who didn't hit the ball very hard, Jackson had plenty of opportunities to use his strength, his forehand groundstroke. And Jackson used that all over the court today to put pressure on his opponent and force errors. My favorite example was a point in the middle of the match, just a regular old point but it did exactly what it needed to. First, Jackson returned the ball through the middle of the court, forcing his opponent back. Then he sent the next forehand with little speed or spin but down the line to his opponent's backhand. The return came back down that line, floating high and landing inside the service line. Jackson skipped up to it and came over the top, sending a spinning ball crosscourt and just inside the sideline. Though his opponent sprinted for it, he was too late and the ball ended up a cleanly and safely hit winner. It was a beautiful set up and a beautiful way of Jackson using his strength.