Climbing Report 14: September 16 Invitationals

We have reached a plateau.

In our climbing this year, we have done the initial work. We have attended the practices, we've navigating injuries, we have found hand and foot holds that have served us. We've fallen down and we've gotten back up. And we've climbed well enough that we've reached a plateau.

We're not to the top of the mountain yet. And the climb gets more difficult ahead of us. Just think of the challenge! The excitement! The opportunity.

But we are also feeling the fear.

It would be easy enough for us to just sit down at this level of improvement and relax. Enjoy the view.

But I want us to fight through the fear and climb, and that is going to mean RISKING FAILURE.

In the varsity tournament, I was SO PROUD of every position. Everybody got 1 win and 2 losses, but each position had a loss that felt like we could have won. Nathan and Jonah had two losses that felt like they could have won :-) But to win those matches is going to mean stepping outside our comfort zone and climbing again.

Above is a diagram about learning, that applies really well to where we are. To get better, we're going to have to move beyond where we are comfortable and into the learning zone.

To not be vague, here's some things we will have to do to continue improvement.
- Accelerate on our second serves.
- Split step within our points.
- Rotate our bodies and swing through the ball.
- Take aggressive swings.
- Move toward the net in doubles.
- Believe that we can hit specific spots with our shots.
- Work hard, like so that we are dripping sweat, in practice.
- Stay focused (without joking) when given a specific task to focus on.
- Try new tactics.

One or more of these elements were missing in the close varsity matches that we lost. And I bring this up not because I'm disappointed, but because THIS IS OUR BIGGEST MOMENT OF OPPORTUNITY.

Each varsity player that I watched today played at a high level in parts of their matches.
- Liam played unbelievable in his first set against Highland, he had the player who placed 3rd in the tournament down and frustrated as he really pounded forehands and moved well to the ball.
- Joel struck gold in his second match when he took some pace off of the middle of the court balls and made his opponent chase balls to the corners.
- Philip played an aggressive and strategic first set in his last match, mixing in deep and short balls to keep his opponent off guard.
- Jonathan and Jacob played the best doubles I've seen from them when they got vocal and encouraging and on their toes as they took the second set from Centerville.
- Jonah and Nathan's first set comeback against St. Joseph's was an aggressive and movement filled thing of beauty. Especially the aggression of their net player and the point winning nature of their lobs.

We have to find consistency in those things. The JV as well. And I can't wait for this week of practice to do it!

 

 

 


Scores
Varsity
#1S - Liam Bradford
Round 1: Highland - Mathew Cotner (12) - 3-6, 2-6
Round 2: Triton - Carter Kuntz (11) - 7-5, 6-2
Round 3: Centerville - Nolan Witte (12) - 0-6, 0-6

#2S - Joel Yoder
Round 1: Chesterton - Nik Hansen (10) - 0-6, 0-6
Round 2: Triton - Jared Bules (10) - 7-6 (6), 6-1
Round 3: Highland - Meet Patel (11) - 1-6, 2-6

#3S - Philip Krabill
Round 1: Merrillville - Cameron Louthran (11) - 3-6, 3-6
Round 2: Portage - Mickey Winicky (10) - 6-2, 6-1
Round 3: Chesterton - Corydon Goff (10) - 5-7, 2-6

#1D - Jonathon Yousey/Jacob Woolace
Round 1: Portage - Alex Bourge (12)/Evan Gerkie (11) - 6-2, 6-2
Round 2: Chesterton - Blake Ellenwood (12)/Chad Whelan (11) - 1-6, 0-6
Round 3: Centerville - Zach Monteur (12)/Nate Reed (10) - 4-6, 6-3, 8-10

#2D - Jonah Farran/Nathan Oostland
Round 1: Centerville - Cody Brown (10)/Brian Crawley (10) - 4-6, 3-6
Round 2: South Bend St. Joseph's - Brendan Anderson (12)/Kevin Zmyslo (12) - 7-6 (6), 0-6, 8-10
Round 3: Triton - Tyler Heckaman (10)/Gavin Greer (10) - 6-0, 6-0


Junior Varsity
#1SJV - Braden Bohn
Round 1:
Round 2:
Round 3:

#2SJV - Chris Craw
Round 1:
Round 2:
Round 3:

#3SJV - Tyson Miller
Round 1:
Round 2:
Round 3:

#1DJV - Will Nisley/Joseph Mounsithiraj
Round 1:
Round 2:
Round 3:

#2DJV - Aaron Shenk/Kameron Branum
Round 1:
Round 2:
Round 3: