Goshen - Match Report

We jumped into competition tonight with a match against the local RedHawks. Due to the coronavirus restrictions, we had to play all singles matches. That made for a very interesting night, as we played 24 different singles matches on the night as a team. It was a great night to compete, and some really good things happened. Maybe even more importantly, tennis wise it became really clear what we need to work on to continue to improve. I was a proud coach, seeing the joy of our guys competing.

Varsity Recap

The varsity match only consisted of 3 singles matches, with the doubles to be completed on Aug. 29 at 3:00 PM. In those singles matches, we were missing our normal #2S player. That gave Cameron and Josh a chance to play up a little bit, against very good competition.

Goshen's singles lineup had two seniors last year, one graduating from #1S. But a new freshman filled that #1 spot for the RedHawks tonight, taking on Braden. Pi Wellington has a very smooth tennis game, wearing a Roger Federer cap and flashing a one handed backhand like him. Watching his match against Braden was beautiful. Braden was using his shots well, but the match kept coming down to errors. Who would become impatient and try to hit the big shot too early? Both sets were tight, but Braden couldn't find the final games to help him capture either.

Cameron Heinisch was coming off a very successful weekend tournament at #3S, but tonight he found himself up a level of competition against an experienced player. Carlos Lichty had played #2 last year for Goshen, defeating Braden twice. His combination of placement and power were too much for Cameron tonight, who competed much more admirably than the final scoreline shows. I was really proud of Cameron's determination.

Josh was back at #3S for us tonight. He ran into a very improved sophomore in Moses Sawatsky. Early in each set, it looked like it was going to be a battle of consistency. But as the sets wore on, Josh started to lose some shots to long and far. In the end, Moses's solid strokes proved to be too much.

But these varsity matches proved to set the theme of the whole night. Our team set up some really great shots, but then would get impatient or be in the wrong positions to finish them. That's something I can't wait to work on!

JV Recap
Holy moly, what a line of singles matches! Tonight, the JV match consisted of 21 (!) singles matches. That meant that our 8 players all got to play at least twice, some three times! And the improvement from first matches to second and third matches was easy to see.

In our first matches, we were very tentative. That meant that we weren't moving our feet very well, our swings were tight, and we ended up reaching for a lot of balls instead of flowing into good positions. That meant in our first matches we hit a lot of balls out and took heavy defeats. 

Not at every position, though. Both Matthew and Ethan got down early in their matches before finding a bit of a rhythm. Once they found that rhythm they made comebacks. Tennis is often about relaxing and trusting the strokes you have practiced, assuming you are practicing with focus. And when these guys did that, the points were amazing. 

Their comebacks were a precursor to the better play of the whole team. In the second round, we began to make improvements and find more confidence. Also, as coaches we began to see some of the things that needed to be improved. This resulted in a few more wins, as Josiah, Kameron, and Tristan, and Matthew all picked up wins in their second matches. And again, in the third round Ethan and Jacob Leininger picked up wins as well.

But more importantly, we began to see the ways that we needed to improve. The team was actually sharing a lot of the same weaknesses, which isn't perhaps too surprising. We were making contact too low, we were struggling with conditioning and moving to the ball, and we were missing too many of our first serves. Really, that will give us great purpose in practice.

But I was very proud to see the effort and the joy that our team played with. It was hot, and they kept going back out to get another match. I loved it!

Moments of Joy

This will be a section where I highlight some of my favorite individual moments from the match. Just points that I noticed that were really well played or exemplify what we are trying to teach.

1) Jacob Shank's spinning lob

In his second match of the day, playing #9SJV, Jacob hit a beautiful approach shot off his forehand and came to the net. His opponent decided to lob, and lifted the ball the perfect height over Jacob's head. But Jacob is a king of hustle, and so he sprinted after the ball. It bounced kinda sideways, and Jacob was spinning to hit a forehand back into the court. His opponent had followed the lob to the net, but Jacob spun a stunning lob over the top of the oncoming RedHawk. It landed in the backhand corner for a winner. Hustle and touch, love that combination!

2) Matthew's perfectly set up point

I love when I see a person play "their shots" perfectly. Matthew has a wonderful, long forehand and a hard slice that is difficult to deal with. In his second match, Matthew hit a serve at a medium pace and wide to his opponent's forehand. The return came cross court and Matthew danced over to smack a forehand back across the court. His opponent lunged and left the ball and little short in the court. Matthew approached and banged a slice down the line. His opponent lunged low, but couldn't scrape the slicing ball up toward the net. It put together all of Matthew's strengths so nicely!

3) Ethan's double volley point

Sometimes it takes some persistence :-) Ethan set up a perfect point, forehand approach shot to the backhand corner, split step at the net, controlled forehand volley to the open side of the court... but his opponent was able to run it down. Too often, singles player will hit the first volley and then relax, assuming the point is won. But Ethan stayed on his toes. His opponent flicked the ball low and fast, but because Ethan was ready, his slid his body out of the way and punched a winning volley. It was a great example of how singles often takes two volleys to put the point away rather than one!

Moments Together

What I love most about tennis is the togetherness we can feel when pursuing a goal together. Nothing embodies that more than a close match at the end of the night, where all those finished playing can gather around and cheer. Last night, we had already lost the JV match, but Jacob Shank was playing hard in his third singles match of the evening. Most of the guys were able to make their way down, and cheer and yell for his good shots. It reminded me that most good things are done together :-)

Prayer
My prayer is simple Lord. Give us peace in this season. Give us the security to rest in You, as Your children, but also the desire to work and grow. Give us the peace to let things go. To hold You tight and other things loosely. To be gentle, with ourselves and others, because You are taking care of us. In Jesus name, amen!

Scores

Varsity: 0-3

#1S - Braden Bohn - 4-6, 4-6 - Pi Wellington (9)

#2S - Cameron Heinisch - 0-6, 0-6 - Carlos Lichty (12)

#3S - Josh Cartwright - 1-6, 1-6 - Moses Sawatsky (10) 

#1D - Joseph Mounsithiraj/Tyson Miller - UNPLAYED - Brenton Pham (12)/Cater Schmucker (11)

#2D - Aaron Shenk/Austin Shenk - UNPLAYED - Cormac Koop Liechty (12)/Will Nisley (12)

Junior Varsity: 7-14

#1SJV - Matthew Dyck - 4-6 - Isaac Stahly (9)

#2SJV - Jacob Leininger - 0-6 - Joel Byler (10)

#3SJV - Ethan Pairitz - 4-6 - Aidan Ebright Zehr (10)

#4SJV - Kameron Branum - 0-6 - Kaden Priebe (10)

#5SJV - Josiah Schlabach - 2-6 - Soroosh Kermani (11)

#6SJV - Jacob Shank - 0-6 - Wyatt Hernley (11)

#7SJV - Ian McHugh - 1-6 - Myles Mclaughlin (9)

#8SJV - Tristan Mast - 2-6 - Evan Hochstedler (9)

#9SJV - Jacob Leininger - 4-6 - Andy Eby (11)

#10SJV - Jacob Shank - 1-6 - Braxton Sheets (9)

#11SJV - Ian McHugh - 1-6 - Moses Kratzer (9)

#12SJV - Ethan Pairitz - 2-6 - Blaine Miller (10)

#13SJV - Kameron Branum - 6-4 - Lincoln Fisher (9)

#14SJV - Josiah Schlabach - 6-4 - Jacob Murphy (9)

#15SJV - Tristan Mast - 6-0 - Erich Schramm (9)

#16SJV - Matthew Dyck - 6-3 - Josiah Penner (10) 

#17SJV - Ian McHugh - 2-6 - Emre Gulec (10)

#18SJV - Jacob Shank - 4-6 - Tyler Scott (9)

#19SJV - Jacob Leininger - 6-3 - Anton Slstrom (9)

#20SJV - Ethan Pairitz - 6-2 - Boden Stutsman (9)
#21SJV - Josiah Schlabach - 6-0 - Elliot Hertzler Gascho (9)