Climbing Report 13: Elkhart Central

Varsity Match Report
Some things in the Bethany tennis world continue to grow stronger.

Liam continues to get more confident in his strokes and play more positive in each match. Today, he played a very skilled player and made the match look relatively easy. Liam's strokes drove Stutzman deep into the court and Liam was able to find the angles and drop shots to force mistakes and hit winners. This was probably his best match, following up what was probably his best match on Tuesday. That's a way to get better.

Another thing growing stronger is our freshman class. Braden Bohn stepped up to the varsity today and played an excellent match. He used his forehand and backhand to control points, but couldn't always finding the finishing touch. Still, he caused problems for his opponent and had the longest match that didn't go three sets. He fought, he didn't give up, he showed lots of grit.

As did Jacob Woolace. After one of his worst sets of tennis, Jacob came back in the second set to play. Instead of focusing on score, he just tried to take the best swing possible on every shot. Soon, this had him playing some confident tennis. He played the way he is capable in a dynamic second set that saw him push the match to a third.

And their are other various pieces that are growing stronger. Nathan continues to find more first serves, Jonathon is finishing at the net more regularly, Philip and Jonah's net game has gotten better. These things keep us looking up. Whether it is for the end of this season, or moving toward a better next year. We keep looking for the places to take hold and climb up.

JV Match Report
Admittedly, I did not get to watch much of the JV matches. Unfortunately, at sites like Central, the matches are too separate for me to get much viewing time. From what I gather, we didn't exactly play the tennis we are most proud of. Some of us weren't moving well, some of us want to keep dinking, some of us are afraid to develop a certain part of our game.

We also continued progress though. Aaron was excited that his serve was better. Kameron had the same thought. Braydon was excited about his volleys. Every day, we get a little more confident. That's the process.

Climbing Up (A Prayer)
God, we are trying to take hold of the difficult balance between competing and playing. God, it is really all about shalom. The peace of having everything in its right place. Help us find the right place for tennis in our life. How much does it really matter? How much should I give my tennis shots, scores, pressures to affect my behavior, strategy and mood? How can I have fun and expend lots of energy? God, these are the tennis things that we want You to teach us.

Help us rightly order our life. May our principle and foundation be the realization that we are created to praise, reverence and serve You. May tennis, a gift that You have seen developed over the years, may the gift of tennis lead us in that direction. Amen.

Scores
Varsity
#1S - Jacob Woolace - 0-6, 7-5, 1-6 - Michael Beveridge (12)
#2S - Liam Bradford - 6-3, 6-3 - Philip Stutzman (11)
#3S - Braden Bohn - 1-6, 3-6 - Zack Pelletier (11)
#1D - Jonathon Yousey/Nathan Oostland - 1-6, 1-6 - Jared Reid (12)/Dane Frieden (11)
#2D - Jonah Farran/Philip Krabill - 2-6, 1-6 - Adam Moon (12)/Adam Delks (12)

Junior Varsity
#1SJV - Joel Yoder - 3-8 - Abe Hill (11)
#2SJV - Will Nisley - 1-8 - Will Bryant (11)
#3SJV - Joseph Mounsithiraj - 1-8 - Ben Honich (11)
#4SJV - Tommy Nguyen - 8-3 - Spencer Dexter (9)
#1DJV - Braydon Harshberger/Aaron Shenk - 3-8 - Nathan Brekke (11)/Nathan Lindholm (11)
#2DJV - Chris Craw/Tyson Miller - 1-8 - Alexx Dreamer (10)/Josh Reid (9)
#3DJV - Kameron Branum/Theo Siemens-Rhodes - 8-5 - Sam Thomas (11)/Frankie Yeakey (9)
#4DJV - Angel Torres/Jim Lyu - 0-8 - Chase Bontrager (10)/Grant Brekke (9)