Westview - Match Report

Varsity Recap

What a team Westview is. Honestly, the simplicity of their play is so impressive. They have beautiful groundstrokes, they move well, and they can deal with just about anything that is thrown at them. They are a team that certainly benefits from playing against each other in practice, because it becomes such a high level practice. I was really impressed in this match.

Which isn't to say I wasn't proud of how we fought. Braden played one of his best matches of the year, really moving well and trusting his shots. It was a match he truly enjoyed to play because all the pressure was off, but it was also a match that helped him figure out his style. He had long points, well constructed points, going to the backhand and then finding moments to swing the ball to the other side of the court. 

I don't know if Josh played one of his best matches, it was over pretty quickly. He could not find a way past his sophomore opponent, and his opponent was giving him no easy mistakes. As the match wore on, I was proud of Josh's attitude - he just began to try some new styles and work on new ways of attacking. It got him only one game, but it has really improved him since.

Theo, at #2S, was our closest match of the night. He really was keeping the ball low and moving his opponent around the court. He picked and chose crucial moments to attack, and in the first set was able to set up a lot of errors. But in the second set, his opponent stopped making the simple errors. His opponent also began to become a bit more aggressive. This ended up with some amazing passing shots from Theo, but also it wore him down. 

Both doubles matches were masterfully played by the Warriors. They played simple strategies, but their movement and hands with the volleys were excellent. We could have competed a bit better, but we were constantly being knocked onto our heels. #1D did a good job after the first set of trying to set a little bit more confident tone in the match. Joseph served well as did Tyson, and that is great to build on for the season. Aaron and Austin's match had a lot of great points, but we didn't always finish them well. I'm sure that we'll change that as it goes on this season.

So, in the end, our first 5-0 loss of the season. I guess that's fair since we got a 5-0 win last week :-) Now back to the close matches with good teams.

JV Recap

The intensity of play in the JV matches was fabulous tonight. From early in the match, I could hear Breece's great enthusiasm ringing out around the courts as he and Ethan had a wonderful match. Ethan was nervous about playing doubles, but Breece's wisdom was just to pretend that he was playing singles cross court. And Ethan did, and Breece prowled the net and served well, and we came out with our only Bruin victory on the night.

Matthew got real close to another win at #2SJV. He fell behind early in the match, but then really started using his forehand well. He was able to his the longest part of the court and slash some forehands into the cross court corner. Matthew made a great comeback, drawing within a game after being down 3-7. But unfortunately, he couldn't quite get over the hump.

The other two JV matches were similar. Great play from our guys, without quite being able to find the shots that would win the games. Cameron is playing great tennis right now. His forehands and backhands are consistent and reliable, and every day they become more of a weapon. Jacob Shank and Kameron Branum at #2DJV also have great weapons, but need to continue getting lots of play to make these weapons consistent. But there were a lot of good moments in each match, a lot of confidence and will. I really enjoyed watching those matches.

Moments of Joy

1. Teamwork!

In Breece and Ethan's match, I sensed a great rapport between the two guys. They worked well together. Breece's excitement and Ethan's calm. Breece's power and Ethan's consistency. It is a good combo. In the match, there was one point that stood out to me because it represented their teamwork so well, but it was also a flipping of the normal script. Normally Ethan keeps the point alive and Breece's pounds the winner. But in this point, Breece slid a low slice cross court on the return. As Westview's server went forward to scoop the ball, Ethan adjusted his positioning toward the center of the net. When the ball was lofted weakly, Ethan smashed away an overhead for the point. It was a great set-up and a great finish. 

2. Theo's Passing Shot

Theo had some extremely long points in his match tonight. One point saw the players exchange 5 groundstrokes from the baseline before Theo sliced and came forward to the net. His opponent lobbed and Theo had to retreat, basically restarting the point again. This time, after an exchange across the baseline, his opponent approached. He swung a ball wide to Theo's forehand. When a rally has had this many strokes in it, a player is often too conservative, worried to make a mistake. Instead, Theo struck a wicked, low, topspin forehand back across his body and cross court. It skidded past his opponents feet for a perfectly placed winner.

3. A Little Luck for Braden

This was just a fun one. Braden hung in so many points today, but his opponent had the answer so often. But there was certainly one point that his opponent couldn't answer. After a long backhand exchange, Braden slid to his left on a mid-court ball and sliced a drop shot. It looked like it was going to work, but then it clipped the tape. But instead of falling backward, it crawled along the tape, moving slowly from left to right at least a foot. Then it fell on his opponent's side, right along the net, leaving no room to scoop it up without hitting the net. It was worth a smile :-)

Moments Together

The general attitude of the guys was fun tonight. After a long weekend off, we felt refreshed and jovial. Lots of banter filled the air, and lots of requests to go to McDonald's for the Travis Scott burger. I enjoy it when the team enjoys being together. I enjoy it even more when we take that joy and funnel it into our tennis together.

A Prayer

Lord, this was another gorgeous night for tennis. The temperature, the shade, the laughing, the movement, the sound of the ball off the strings. I love this sport for so many reasons. And help us remember that You love us for so many reasons too. You love us for who we are, and who we are becoming. Help us love You more as well.

Scores

Varsity: 0-5

#1S - Braden Bohn - 1-6, 2-6 - Isaiah Hostetler (10)

#2S - Theo Siemens-Rhodes - 5-7, 1-6 - Kendall Schwartz (11)

#3S - Josh Cartwright - 0-6, 1-6 - Jethro Hostetler (10)

#1D - Joseph Mounsithiraj/Tyson Miller - 0-6, 2-6 - Will Clark (12)/Brady Hostetler (12)

#2D - Aaron Shenk/Austin Shenk - 1-6, 0-6 - Tim Brandenberger (12)/Isaac Rogers (11)

Junior Varsity: 1-3

#1SJV - Cameron Heinisch - 4-8 - Kylen Bender (10)

#2SJV - Matthew Dyck - 6-8 - Cole Mast (10)

#1DJV - Breece Erickson/Ethan Pairitz - 9-7 - Cole Mast (10)/Dawson Schrock (10)

#2DJV - Kameron Branum/Jacob Shank - 0-8 - Kylen Bender (10)/Dawson Schrock (10)