Match Report
The Bruins headed to Angola on a gorgeous August day, after completing our first day of the school year. The seniors led us through stretching and a quick warmup and it was out to the courts for our first round of play.
In a brief observation of the Hornets as we walked past their warm up, I had noticed what great servers they were. I felt like our guys could use a heads up, so I let them know that if we could be on our toes and make returns, we could compete.
And that became a theme of the match. In the positions where we controlled our returns well, we competed well. In the positions and segments that we struggled to keep the ball in, we struggled to score well or consistently.
In the end, there were many things to celebrate. Noah Schrock really had a good night, winning his 3 segments convincingly. Noah's shots were solid and his serve was a great weapon.
Justin and Tristan had a belter of a match, where 4 really good servers played really good doubles. This match had ebbs and flows, where each side was playing well and then another section where they were really down. I was proud of these two as they were able to pick themselves up out of periods of poor play.
Gideon competed really well against a wide variety of opponents - one match that was all about serving and returning, one that was all about groundstrokes, and one that was a mix of both. That versatility will be important for the Bruins this year.
Ethan and Dominic both competed well against straight forward opponents, but struggled a bit against the same tricky player. The JV as a whole will need to adapt to different types of spins and develop footwork and anticipation to match the pace and spin of their opponents.
The #1DJV position was strong all night long. Adam, Keagan and Elliot all got opportunities to provide leadership to our other young players and also to their opponents. I was really proud of the work this group put in, and the joy they bring to the team.
I could go on... Emerson's serving, the ninth graders getting some first tastes of both victory and defeat, the myriad of beautiful points, quick volleys, and hustle. But what I really want to finish with is...
Pizza King!
I really enjoyed sitting with the team and having a meal. Unpacking the joys and fears of the first day of school, conversations about why I should buy my kids a gaming system, and good food just add to the tradition of stopping here at the beginning of each school year.
It's amazing how great traditions endure. I used to eat at Pizza King with my high school team after our tennis matches in the '90s - now almost 25 years later I still get to eat there with my team. I used to order Hawaiian pizza with BBQ sauce on every date night that Courtney and I took. Now, I still get that... and many other players have learned about it's deliciousness. Anyways, I stepped onto the bus to drive home feeling really grateful for this team.
Can't wait to go through the season with this team. I think I'm going to really enjoy it.
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