Bethany Christian Tennis

The Story of Sectional: Round 2

2011-09-30T21:06:00.006-04:00

Finals, finals, here we come!

On a day where the clouds cleared and the winds whipped the courts clear of water, the Bruins came out to play some tennis. And because we played some of our best tennis of the year, we move into the Sectional finals tomorrow night.

The most impressive play today probably came from Ike Lehman. In the swirling wind, Ike committed to the attack. Early in the match, Ike found his aggressive stroke and began to play some of his best tennis of the season. His opponent, Jacob Gongwer, had trouble finding the court with some of his strokes through the wind. But as the match settled in, Ike stayed in control. He ended up with an easy win and the first match off the court.

He was quickly followed by Blake, who after losing the first two games of his match to a pumped up Austin Ward, proceeded to win 12 of the next 13. It was amazing to watch him change from a tentative player into an attacking and confident one. Once that transition took place, the match quickened up and Blake took a 5-2 lead in the set.

Meanwhile, #1 doubles played their best of the season. Evan and Abe got a nice lead in the first set and continued to attack throughout the set. They were focused, they were on their toes, they were finishing balls and forcing errors. Soon they won the first set. It was great to see confident tennis from them. But they lost the second set as the Jimmies began to pick it up, shot by shot. Abe and Evan began to pick it up as well, but they couldn't quite find the game ending shots. They split sets and got ready for a third.

#2 doubles didn't fare as well, but played really well. Again, they got behind in the first and second sets. What was amazing to watch was the way they stayed positive and fought. In the first set, they got a game, they broke some patterns and they got to a 6-3 set. In the second set, they fell down 5-2, but came back to change the sides again to get to 5-4. Unfortunately, they couldn't get all the way back, but I was totally proud of the way they came back.

Which brings us to the clincher, Nathan Brendle. His match was intense, a battle from beginning to end. Both players put their full concentration into the match which made for some great shots, some great points. Nathan won the first set, fairly comfortably, and then took a 5-1 lead into the second set. All the sudden, Jimmies' #1 Dan Gongwer, totally changed strategies, forcing Nate to hit shot after shot. Nathan did well, but couldn't quite find the finish. But at 5-4... he found the swagger again. Two beautiful points and a double fault put him at match point, and a backhand in the net gave the match to the Bruins.

#1 doubles couldn't quite keep up the fight in the third set, but you no what, it wasn't a big deal.

Because we were on to the finals!!! You know, we've battled winds, rain, and cold. We have been hard-pressed, but we have been brought out... and now we will not be afraid. I can't wait until tomorrow!

- Psalm 118:5-7

The Scores
#1S - Nathan Brendle - 6-2, 6-4 - Dan Gongwer
#2S - Blake Shetler - 6-2, 6-1 - Austin Ward
#3S - Ike Lehman - 6-2, 6-1 - Jacob Gongwer
#1D - Evan Grimes/Abe Thorne - 6-2, 2-6, 0-6 - Brett Aller/Cole Peterson
#2D - Parth Patel/Jesse Amstutz - 3-6, 4-6 - Augie Farwig/Michael Hobbs

2011 JV Season Review

2011-09-30T12:15:00.003-04:00

This year marked a step forward for our JV. Last year, our JV was young and took quite a few hits on the learning curve. This year, our JV was ultra young... with 11 members of the freshman class taking turns playing some of the leading roles. In fact, in all but one match this season, a freshman played at either #1 singles or #1 doubles on the JV.

With that, let's start looking at some other interesting stats.

- Last year's JV had 2 winning records amongst the individuals. This year we had 9. All of our individual records are listed at the bottom of this page.

- We played outstanding under pressure this season. In tiebreaks, the JV had an 88.9% winning percentage this season... losing only 1 tiebreak.

- In team match's the JV ended the season accomplishing 2 varsity victories (Churubusco and Howe) as well a 5-6-3 record in solely JV contests. Altogether, that makes an above .500 season for the JV.

- The 2nd place finish at the Fremont Invitational is the highest place for a JV team at a tournament in 3 years. Only once (in 2008) has our JV won a tournament.

- Speaking of tournaments, in a flighted tournament (like Fremont was) Wade Troyer/Hans Miller and Himal King/Joel Gerig became the only Bruins JV players to ever win their positions.

- Looking at cumulative class records and winning percentage:
Juniors = 57.1%
Sophomores = 62.5%
Freshman = 48.0%

- However, freshman, there are only 2 classes in Bethany tennis history with higher winning percentages than that as freshman. Last year's class (which had the most wins in school history as seniors). And this year's seniors are the other (although they were significantly carried by Blake's 10 (!) wins as a freshman).

- Some of the JV got to play in varsity matches this year as well. Leading the way in those were Sol, Hans and Joel with 2 victories each.

- Hans takes home the prize for most JV victories (12), followed by Wade (10), Sol (10), Joel (9), and Landon (9).

- Best winning percentage belongs to Justin Zehr (75.0%), followed by Hans (70.6%).

- Again, Hans winning percentage is the highest for a freshman since Blake (83.3%).

- Exciting matches this year:

---> Watching Luke and Neel win in almost complete darkness against Fremont to seal a team win!
---> Finishing 2nd at the Fremont Invitational and winning some individual championships!
---> Wade and Hans' #1 doubles match against Concord at the Jimtown Invitational!
---> Sol's epic tiebreak against Jimtown at the same tournament!
---> Colin and Delan winning the first game as they played together against Triton!
---> Ryan Duckworth and Joel Gerig's comeback against Triton!
---> Roberto Ramos' win over Howe in the last match of the season!
---> Tristan and Sol grabbing us at least one win over Northridge in the first match!
---> Justin's amazing comeback at #3 singles varsity against Howe, fighting through a third set and a tiebreak!
---> Landon's fast start to the season, dismantling all #2 and #3 singles players!
---> Himal and Joel's final win over Howe, fighting their way back to a win!

Thanks, brothers, for a fantastic season! You are fun to watch play and are going to form the backbone of this program for year's to come. I love each of you, in a tennis team/brother sort of way :-)

Individual Records

--- Juniors ---
Wade Troyer - 10-8
Himal King - 6-4

--- Sophomores ---
Joel Gerig - 9-7
Justin Zehr - 6-2

--- Freshman ---
Hans Miller - 12-5
Sol Brenneman - 10-8
Landon Weldy - 9-7
Tristan Clark - 6-5
Ryan Duckworth - 5-4
Neel Bhagat - 1-4
Luke Schrock - 1-3
Roberto Ramos - 1-5
Colin Samuel - 0-5
Delan Schrock - 0-3

The Story of Sectional: Round 1

2011-09-29T08:05:00.002-04:00

With the constant drizzle all day, the pouring rain in the morning, and the threatening radar, it didn't look like we'd play the first round of Sectional at all. If the Sectional tournament makes people nervous, the threat of rain was doing that for us anyway. But in one of the craziest weather patterns I've seen, the black storms encircled us, but they didn't strike.

And we had enough time to get the win.

We won all the singles positions convincingly, despite some hiccups at the beginning. Blake and Nathan both gave up the first game of the first set before really taking control. Blake took control to the tune of 12 straight games after the first lack of concentration game. Nathan had a little bit more difficulty with his consistent opponent, but still took a 6-3, 6-2 victory. Ike Lehman looked fairly comfortable at #3 singles as well. He had some long games where his opponent was able to keep the ball in the court, but the final score reflected Ike's experience and talent. With the 3 singles wins, we had won the match.

The two doubles matches were left on the court. In both we had lost the first set 6-3. In both, we began to really focus and play our aggressive games in the second set. In both, we were able to open up second set leads. #2 doubles, Parth and Jesse, were able to start breaking some bad patterns from the season. Traditionally, they fight to 2-3 but then lose the next four games to go down 2-6. Last night, however, they broke the pattern and got a game. Then, they broke a pattern of losing in two sets, by coming back to win the second set 6-3.

At #1 doubles, Abe and Evan began to play with aggression, smarts, and a little luck. But they kept winning the big points. They pulled ahead with a 3-0 lead in the match, and continued to look good. However, some mental lapses and poor serving allowed NorthWood to even the match. After the roaring comeback to start the set, Abe and Evan began to look a bit flustered. They stayed alive to tie the set at 5-5, but couldn't sustain the good plays, losing 5-7 in the second.

Both teams had good fight, good desire, and that's a great place to start. For #2 doubles, they didn't get to finish as the rain fell on them at the start of the 3rd set.

But I feel the storm metaphor works well for us. We've fought dark clouds all season. We've fought some injuries, some bad (and rainy) circumstances, some difficult lineup decisions, some mental battles to stay positive and to start fresh each point. But we've battled, as Nathan Brendle loves. And the storms, well, they've never struck. But we love to play under the clouds.

- Numbers 10:34

The Scores
#1S - Nathan Brendle - 6-3, 6-2 - Brennan Angle (11)
#2S - Blake Shetler - 6-1, 6-0 - Mitchell Keiser (10)
#3S - Ike Lehman - 6-2, 6-1 - Quinn Stillson (9)
#1D - Evan Grimes/Abe Thorne - 3-6, 5-7 - Jayson Linhart (12)/Ben Zercher (12)
#2D - Jesse Amstutz/Parth Patel - 3-6, 6-3, 2-2 - Shawn Stahley (12)/Austin Sanders (10)

The Story vs. Howe

2011-09-27T12:07:00.003-04:00

The Lead: "Some are Fast and Some are Not"
In what may turn out to be our last regular season match of the year, we had a match of contrasts against The Howe School. Significant contrasts, especially in time of match.

On one hand, there was Wade Troyer and Hans Miller. Riding high with confidence from quite a good streak playing together, these two steamed through two sets of tennis. And when I say steamed, I mean like, in record time. Tying the record set by Seth Krabill, Wade and Hans clocked a 28 minute match, winning 6-0, 6-0. Not very many double faults or long points in that one!

On the other side of the courts was Justin Zehr. While not quite as dominating, Justin looked like he was going to cruise through his match pretty well. He picked up the first set win 6-3, and looked like he'd be able to control the match. However, in the 2nd set the match slowed down, and the points became long. Justin tried to control points by coming to the net but he couldn't quite find the finishing potion. He dropped down 3-0 in the 2nd, and then 4-1, then 5-2, and then it was a 3rd set. In the 3rd set, Justin was down 4-1, but then he started attacking his shots, hitting through the ball, really playing with aggressive groundstrokes. It turned the match around! He suddenly was up 5-4, playing for the match. But of course, we couldn't go without a tiebreak. In the tiebreak, Justin won all but 1 point. In the end, his match took approximately 2 and a half hours.

And everywhere in between. #2 doubles of Himal King and Joel Gerig got off to a rough start (falling down 1-5) but then rebounded to run off a great streak and win in two sets. Landon Weldy had a short and sweet game of consistency. Sol ground his opponent down in the second set. Colin and Roberto had epic matches, each fighting for their first win in tight contests. Ryan attacked smartly to win a JV #1 singles match. It was a fun day for these guys, and good to come out as winners!

The Hidden Narrative
The underlying story here is feet and positive focus. It was a cold and windy day yesterday, and you could visibly see the focus waning from players as they stood on the court. You could see people getting frustrated and standing instead of keeping their feet moving.

And it almost cost a couple of positions. Justin really didn't have either positive energy or moving feet at the beginning of his third set, and #2 doubles didn't have it for most of their first set. Even though both positions were playing against opponents who were not as good as them, the lack of mental and physical preparation was killer.

Both rebounded well, but it is a lesson to be learned for future varsity matches. Sometimes that is hard to regather, especially against a good opponent.

Other Storylines
- So, Hans has put away the crown of victories for a mostly JV player. With only one possible match left, he leads by two over Sol and Wade. His 12 match victories are the most since Blake Shetler had 12 in 2009 (Blake's sophomore year).

- Percentage wise, the best winning percentage will belong to Justin Zehr. His win puts him at 75% for the season. He has really improved throughout the year, and I was really proud of his comeback yesterday.

- Roberto picked up his first win of the season! Yea, Robert!

- Ryan Duckworth sealed an above .500 record for the season last night.

- Speaking of above .500, we'll have 9 JV players with above .500 records this year. Last year we had 2. Program improvement!

The Scores
Varsity
#1S - Sol Brenneman - 6-4, 6-1 - Spencer Phillips (11)
#2S - Landon Weldy - 6-2, 6-2 - Matt McDonald (12)
#3S - Justin Zehr - 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (1) - Kyle Harrison (11)
#1D - Wade Troyer/Hans Miller - 6-0, 6-0 - Brett Hendricks (12)/Shenguri Ma (12)
#2D - Himal King/Joel Gerig - 7-5, 6-2 - Tom Baker (11)/Leo Samara (11)

Junior Varsity
#1SJV - Ryan Duckworth - 8-2 - Griffin Toombs (9)
#2SJV - Neel Bhagat - 5-8 - Justin Hu (11)
#3SJV - Colin Samuel - 4-6 - Zhungyang Li (12)
#4SJV - Roberto Ramos - 6-4 - Ma (12)

Sectional Draw

2011-09-27T09:18:00.004-04:00

We play the first round against NorthWood. That match is scheduled for 4:30 on Wednesday afternoon. The whole Sectional is played at Goshen Middle School.

If we win, the second round is scheduled for Thursday at 4:30. The final is scheduled for Friday at 4:30. This can all change with the rain!

Looking forward to seeing many of you out supporting us!

Thoughts

2011-09-23T20:23:00.006-04:00

“Forget the former things;
do not dwell on the past.

See, I am doing a new thing!
Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?

I am making a way in the wilderness
and streams in the wasteland.

The wild animals honor me,
the jackals and the owls,

because I provide water in the wilderness
and streams in the wasteland,

to give drink to my people, my chosen,
the people I formed for myself
that they may proclaim my praise."

Isaiah 43:18-21

Tonight I was telling my tennis team about the beauty of tennis being that there are so many places to simply start again. Each point, each game, each set... it’s an opportunity to start fresh. Sure, there’s a little something lost. But if you can win more points than the opponent going forward, you will win the match.

That’s so much like life. There are so many places to start new. To start fresh. Every year, people make resolutions. Every day, people start new habits. Every minute, we make new choices. Every breath, we speak or think something new.

The hope comes with what we do with the next breath. And so, I have to face my failures, the way that tennis season often makes me become selfish and gluttonous. I get stressed, eat way too much food by myself, ignore my household chores and school duties. I get wrapped up in praying for what I want (for tennis, in a home, in my next meal) and figure out how I can manipulate situations to get that.

But...

I will start tonight by not eating ice cream and being gluttonous. Seems small, but I can do that with my next breath. I will pray for others, including each one of my team. I can do that in my next breaths as well.

And tomorrow the sun will rise, and I will too. Not only in hope but also in praise.

All praises to the One who made it all and finds it beautiful...

The Story vs. Bremen: Match #14

2011-09-21T09:33:00.003-04:00

The Lead: "Good Play, Frustrating Day"
When #1 doubles began the match, it looked like it was going to be a quick loss. They held their serve, tied the match at 2-2 in the first set, but then lost four straight games to go down 6-2 in the first set. So many matches have gone like this throughout the season. We're close at the beginning, can't pull crucial games out and then lose in two sets. It appeared to be the same today.

But it wasn't. Suddenly, everything clicked for Abe and Evan. They began to play the way that we've talked about all year. They attacked the ball at the net. They got both up to the net. They got their serves in, they played with passion, they took an early lead in the second set. Buoyed by this great play, they won the second to force a third.

Meanwhile, Blake continued his dominant play as of late. I didn't talk to him one time during his match because he's playing with such incredibly good instincts right now. 6-0, 6-0 and we had the first win of the day. It was great play from him.

And #2 doubles was playing with some vigor as well. Although they dropped the first set, many of the games came down to nervous errors. There was hope as they took the first game of the second set, keeping the pressure on the Bremen Lions.

Nathan was rolling along at #1 singles. Senior Briley Bollenbacher was able to hit some tight angled winners, but for the most part Nathan held control of the match because of his ability to win the long points and consistently hit better angles and better balls. He took the first set and built a comfortable lead in the second.

And Ike lost the first set, but never lost his heart. As he calmed down moving into the second set, he began to play his best tennis of the season. Really stroking approach shots, confidently hitting overheads, getting himself right back into the match.

And so I was ecstatic. At most positions, we played our best tennis of the day today.

And then we lost. 3-2.

The Hidden Narrative
The hidden story here is why we lost. Despite playing our best tennis, when we got to important points, the crucial games we had to win, on those points we played nervous or fell into old habits. Evan struggled with his serve and Abe struggled with consistent aggressive volleys and returns. Ike struggled to stay loose and hit through the ball. #2 doubles struggled to finish points at the net.

These have been the stories all year long, and for most of the day, we were overcoming them confidently. But when we got to the final parts of a game, at deuce, down 3-5, whatever, the positions we lost struggled to stay with it.

There is a name for that in sports: that's what happens to inexperienced teams. Experience doesn't make your skills improve, it helps you understand how to deal with pressure. Last year, I made a big deal to the team about how to deal with pressure, and we'll start talking about it again now.

Under pressure, at the end of games and matches, you want to end things on your terms. You want to take a deep breath, and then attack those points with belief. You have to set your mind to what you want to do, and then imagine yourself doing it. Think of Djokovic at the US Open. On Roger Federer's first match point, you can see Djokovic on TV nodding to his box. He's going over how he's going to react on this return and he's physically affirming that he's going to do it. That's the mental strength. It's what inspired me about Blake against Fairfield... he was down but he knew he was going to do it.

We improve that aspect, the nervous mistakes get replaced with confidence, and we will win these points, games and matches.

Other Storylines
- JV tied 2-2. That is the second JV tie of the season, giving them a perfectly even record of 6-6-2, with 2 matches left.

- In the JV match, Hans Miller won with Wade Troyer to up his team leading wins to 11. The most JV wins in a season is 15 by Seth Krabill. And while Hans doesn't have the ability to match that, he'll get close if he can win the next 2.

- Yep, we had another tiebreak in the varsity match tonight. Perhaps it will begin to be news only if we don't have a tiebreak. We're up to 28 now.

- Oh, and this was our 6th "3-2" match of the season. We're 3-3 in these matches (beat Goshen, Triton, Westview - lost Fremont, Columbia City, Bremen). One more and we'll set the record for most "3-2" matches in a season as well. I guess we like it close!

- Blake's 6-0, 6-0 win was only our 2nd double bagel of the season. On the flip side, we've also only been double bageled twice (#3S against Northridge, #1D against Fairfield).

- For #1 doubles, this is only the 2nd time that we've lost a first set and still forced a third. This is a big reason why I'm so proud of them!

The Scores
Varsity
#1S - Nathan Brendle - 6-3, 6-2 - Briley Bollenbacher (12)
#2S - Blake Shetler - 6-0, 6-0 - Brad Foster (11)
#3S - Ike Lehman - 5-7, 6-7 (2) - Wes Burkholder (11)
#1D - Evan Grimes/Abe Thorne - 2-6, 6-1, 3-6 - Austin Huff (12)/TJ Bayer (12)
#2D - Parth Patel/Jesse Amstutz - 3-6, 2-6 - Joe Zeltwanger (11)/Nate Strehler (11)

JV
#1SJV - Sol Brenneman - 1-8 - Jalen Bayer (11)
#2SJV - Landon Weldy - 3-8 - Krent Hueni (9)
#1DJV - Wade Troyer/Hans Miller - 8-3 - Tyler LaFlash (10)/Austin Ingle (9)
#2DJV - Himal King/Joel Gerig - 6-2 - Matt Hall (11)/Kevin Woodyard (10)

Area Scores from 9/19 & 9/20

2011-09-21T08:21:00.000-04:00

On Our Schedule
Wabash 4, Peru 1
#1S - Justin Middleton won 6-0, 6-0
#2S - David Driscoll won 6-0, 6-0
#3S - Edward Dillard won 6-0, 6-0
#1D - Stephan Eilts & JD Boone lost 2-6, 4-6
#2D - Jack Stein & Breyton Nealis won 5-1, default

Jimtown 5, Laville 0
#1S - Dan Gongwer def. Grant Frick 6-4, 6-4
#2S - Austin Ward def. Andrew Hulliberger 6-0, 6-1
#3S -Jacob Gongwer def. Matt Dixon 6-0, 6-0.
#1D - Brett Aller-Cole Peterson def. Blade Masterson-Keenan Clemons 6-0, 6-0.
#2D - Augie Farwig-Michael Hobbs def. Chris Nicodemus-Adam Baker 6-0, 6-0.

Goshen 3, Elkhart Memorial 2
#1S - Spenser Gilbert (EM) beat Eli Metzler-Prieb, 6-2, 6-2
#2S - Mazim Hakim (EM) beat Drew Hostetler, 6-1, 7-5
#3S - Paul Johnson (G) beat Jacob Gaffney, 6-1, 6-0.
#1D - Sylas Buller-Sam Stegelmann (G) beat Jerahmel Dudley-Kyle Grubb, 3-6, 6-2, 6-1
#2D - Matt Buncich-Adam Bratten (G) beat Elliiot Denton-Chivag Patel, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4.

Northridge 3, Plymouth 2
#1S - Gabe Vervynckt (P) beat Chris Robbins 6-3, 6-3
#2S - Lane Singleton (P) beat A.J. Thielking 7-6 (3), 4-6, 6-3
#3S - Josh Garfein (N) beat Luke Bumpus, 6-0, 6-2.
#1D - Alex Radelich-Andrew Gingerich (N) beat Connor Flynn-Jordan Scheetz 6-3, 7-6 (6)
#2D - Connor Cameron-Byron Slabach (N) beat Joe Knapp-Matt Flynn 6-2, 6-4.

Concord 3, Warsaw 2
#1S - Jason Denton (C) beat Kyle Wettschurack, 6-2, 6-2
#2S - Evan Miller (W) beat Jack Hinkle, 6-3, 5-7, 6-4
#3S - Keaton Joyner (W) beat Nick Pollock, 6-4, 6-2.
#1D - Bronson Dumont-Matt Ciesielski (C) beat Sam Rice-A.J. Herendeen, 5-7, 6-2, 6-2
#2D - T Cunningham-Matt Kotva (C) beat Connor Singrey-A.J. Jansen, 6-1, 6-2.

Rochester 3, North Judson 2
Triton 5, John Glenn 0
Wawasee 3, NorthWood 2
Westview 4, Central Noble 1
Elkhart Central 3, Mishawaka Marian 2

Ranked in the District
#2 Penn 5, Mishawaka 0
#5 Angola 5, Lakeland 0
#6 St. Joseph's 4, Michigan City 0
#6 St. Joseph's 5, South Bend Washington 0
#8 Elkhart Central 3, Mishawaka Marian 2

Other Scores
South Bend Adams 3, South Bend Riley 2
Knox 5, North Judson 0
LaLumiere 4, New Prairie 1

The Story at Fairfield: Match #13

2011-09-20T09:18:00.006-04:00

The Lead: "The Last One"
We won the last match left on the courts. And while it didn't translate to victory tonight, it certainly leaves us walking away with the taste of hope.

It was Blake Shetler, again, fighting through a 3-set, 3 hour match to bring home a victory for the Bruins. And what continues to amaze and inspire me as a coach is the fight that Blake puts into a match. He never believes it is over. Last night, playing sophomore Austin Christner, Blake lost the first set in a tiebreak for the second match in a row. In the Merrillville tournament championship, he had taken a large second set lead. But tonight, in the second set, he fell behind 1-4.

He could easily have stared at that deficit and believed it was the end. He could have very easily quit. But he didn't. He won a point. He played his shots the best that he could. He continued to play the game that he is confident in, not doing more, not doing less. And what was incredible is that I didn't need to talk to him about it at all. I knew, I could see in his eyes, mannerisms, fist pumps and excitement that he didn't believe this was done.

After trailing 1-4, Blake made it back into the match. He was down 5-4, but tied it at 5-5. He went down 6-5, but tied it at 6-6 to send the second set into another tiebreak. In this tiebreak we lost 4 of the first five points. But keeping cool, he fought back for a 4-4 tie in the breaker. Christner then won two points in a row to set up 2 match points. But Blake, always attacking, always staying aggressive, came forward and denied them both. Then he tacked on two more to win the second set.

Going into the third set, I was confident that Blake would pull it out. He had the strategy, he had loosened up the pressure by his big second set comeback. And sure enough, he rode the confidence and energy from the second set through the third. But this time, he took and kept the lead so that he didn't have to make a comeback.

It was inspiring for me to watch. Quietly and with such belief, Blake made his way through his match. I was most impressed that he didn't try to do more than he knew he could. Determination and mental strength, it's been said, make up 90% of tennis. And Blake showed that today. I hope that he inspired more than just me, but that his teammates will feed off this win so that next time, we won't just win the last one.

The Hidden Narrative
Besides Blake's match, there was other exciting tennis on the courts tonight. Not much of it showed up in the scoreline, however. That was the frustrating part about this match. While I enter a possible Sectional meeting with the Falcons hopeful, there's not a lot in the scores that shows how well we played at some spots.

That's really true at the JV level. Sol Brenneman played some confident, attacking tennis, but didn't come away with a victory. Joel and Himal held a lead for most of their match at #2 doubles JV, but couldn't put things away.

And that's probably the next step for this team, putting things away. I mean that in multiple ways. One thing that set last year's amazing team apart from other teams that I've coached was their ability to be aggressive and execute without errors. In big points, they would attack and end the point. And they all had their own strategy to do that. Some would work the angles, some would attack the net, some would hit a big forehand.

We've yet to figure out how to play to our strengths so that we can finish points. But that is what practice is for! And even more exciting, as we learn to finish points, we will start to win more games and then more matches!

Other Storylines
- More tiebreaks tonight (3), so now we're only 2 away from doubling up the previous record. It's amazing to see how many tiebreakers we've played this season. I'm constantly amazed at how well we hold our nerve in them as well.

- With the varsity playing so many tiebreaks this year, the question was raised as to who has played the most. Turns out that honor goes to Blake Shetler as well, with a total of 8 tiebreakers played this season. Of course, 4 of those are in the last two matches.

- Exciting point from Blake's match: In the final game, Blake ran down 3 overheads in a row as Christner tried to put the ball away. On the final one, Christner accidentally hit the net trying to finish the point. He called the infraction against himself in a difficult position, an honest call that I have a lot of respect for.

- Parth and Ike were about to win a game, up 30-40 with the serve going to Ike. The serve was hit and zipped over to Parth's side of the court, striking him in the foot. That point goes to the opponent, so it was back to deuce and we eventually lost the game. Got to get those feet moving quicker!

- Delan Schrock got his first taste of singles today, getting two games off of fellow freshman Carver DeWitt-Gall.

- Justin Zehr go the JV win tonight, really playing a good game of groundstrokes and solid movement. His improvement this season has been impressive.

- Over the weekend, Hans Miller claimed the wins lead for the JV, now holding 10 on the season. He didn't get one tonight, but neither did his closest competitors, Sol (9), Wade (8) and Landon (8).

- Just to give a little comparison for our JV'ers... our Sectional winning team in 2008 had the following win totals as freshman: Luke Hostetter (8), Jared Schartzentruber (4), Jonny Shenk (?), Johnny Kauffman (5), Jeremy Thomas (5), Daniel Buschert (5), Mikey Kelly (9)... and they also all lost to Fairfield on their first tries.

The Scores
Varsity
#1S - Nathan Brendle - 7-6 (4), 0-6, 1-6 - Josh Mullet (12)
#2S - Blake Shetler - 6-7 (5), 7-6 (6), 6-3 - Austin Christner (10)
#3S - Abe Thorne - 1-6, 0-6 - Landon Knepp (11)
#1D - Ike Lehman/Parth Patel - 0-6, 0-6 - Jordan Hochstetler (11)/Dillon Lockwood (11)
#2D - Evan Grimes/Jesse Amstutz - 2-6, 2-6 - David Mohney (12)/Taylor Yoder (11)

Junior Varsity
#1SJV - Sol Brenneman - 3-6 - Adam Yoder (9)
#2SJV - Landon Weldy - 0-6 - Drew Cosby (11)
#3SJV - Justin Zehr - 6-4 - Samuel Clayton (10)
#4SJV - Delan Schrock - 2-6 - Carver DeWitt-Gall (9)
#1DJV - Wade Troyer/Hans Miller - 1-6 - Matt Yoder (11)/Marcus Rodes (10)
#2DJV - Himal King/Joel Gerig - 5-7 - Nathan Azzarito (9)/Jospeh Line (9)
#3DJV - Ryan Duckworth/Neel Bhagat - 1-6 - Connor Hochstetler (11)/Landyn Nunemaker (9)
#4DJV - Colin Samuel/Roberto Ramos - 0-6 - Andrew Hoover (9)/Samuel Clayton (10)

Fairfield Preview

2011-09-19T07:37:00.003-04:00

Details: Monday, September 19, 2011 at 4:30 at Fairfield High School

3 Interesting Facts:
- We have met Fairfield in the Sectional for the past 4 years. Twice we won, twice we lost.
- Against teams with winning records, Fairfield is 3-2. We are 2-4 by comparison.
- It's raining. Last year when we played Fairfield at Sectional, it was raining too!

Fairfield Details: I believe the Falcons are 12-2 this season. Their only losses are to Angola and Concord. They have had many similar opponents to us, and they've defeated Columbia City (3-2) who we lost to, as well as Fremont who we lost to.

Bethany Christian Details: We are 7-5 on the season, having lost to Elkhart Central last week. However, we're coming off a good tournament weekend at Merrillville, the JV a good tournament at Fremont. We're still trying to figure out our best lineup as well, especially at doubles.

Projected Fairfield Lineup (with individual records):
#1S - Josh Mullet (11-3)
#2S - Austin Christner (12-2)
#3S - Landon Knepp (12-2)
#1D - Jordan Hochstetler/Dillon Lockwood (12-2)
#2D - Taylor Yoder/Marcus Rhodes ??? (#2 doubles is 12-2, it's been different combos)

Outlook:
Well, the outlook seems to be rainy :-) But as far as the match itself goes, we'll need to play our best to come out with a victory. But those are the matches we look forward to, the ones where playing our best will give us a great reward. I can't wait to get going tonight, I'm praying that the rain stops.

The Story at the Merrillville Invitational

2011-09-17T19:49:00.004-04:00

The Lead: Blake's Championship
His sophomore year, he was denied in the final of the Wawasee JV Invite by a Warsaw player. Last year, he couldn't get a championship because of the rain at Merrillville and my silly brother's coaching move at the Wabash Tourney. But this year, not even losing the first set in a tiebreak or 3 lost match points could keep Blake from getting his championship!

Starting out against Triton, Blake had to adjust to a new opponent as the Trojans switched their lineup around and their normal #2 player was playing doubles. Blake didn't get off to a great start, and Ike sent me a text while I was watching the doubles that read: "Blake is playing awful." That was the last time that would be said throughout the day.

Blake quickly recovered from his slow start and pushed the lead out in the first match, winning 11 of 12 games at the end after losing 2 of the first 3. The result was a 6-2, 6-1 victory.

In the second round, Blake played Wawasee junior Isaac Rigdon. Now onto his game, Blake took even less time to win the second round, winning 6-1, 6-0. Onto the championship.

There he faced Centerville, the toughest team at the tournament and the eventual team champions. Junior Jacob Thompson had a game similar to Blake's, making it hard to get separation. In fact, the match went from 2-1, to 3-2, to 4-3 and so on all the way to Blake holding a 6-5 lead in the first set. Both players hit their angles, playing consistently, attacked when it was there. The first set went into a tiebreak, and Blake made three crucial errors to after the breaker was tied at 4-4.

We talked after the first set, noting that his errors had been "nervous" errors, not tactical or technical errors. He started the second set confident, and despite losing two early games, Blake was finally able to get some separation as his attacking shots kept drawing Thompson farther and farther off the court. Blake opened the match up to 5-2 and then was able to finish the set 6-3 to force the super tiebreaker.

In the super tiebreaker, again no one could pull away. The players traded 1 point leads until 6-6. Then Blake won 3 in a row to give himself match point. At that point, Thompson loosened up and blasted away on his shots. But Blake ran them down. After returning three blasted passing shots in a row, Blake forced a weak lob out of Thompson. He was an overhead from the match. But he missed it!

In fact, Blake lost the next 2 points as well to tie the breaker back up at 9-9. I began to worry that he would get mentally down, having lost 3 match points. But not Blake. He forced an error to get to 10-9, then in the next point he approached the net again and got a weak lob. This time his overhead was true, but a lunging Thompson sent the ball back to Blake. At championship point, Blake then finished off the final with a little volley into the open court!

After a difficult senior night, I was glad to see Blake get some redemption in these matches. Too bad he didn't get a trophy for his #2 singles tourney win, but hopefully he won a set of matches he will always remember!

The Hidden Narrative
While I highlight Blake's win, he was far from the only one playing well today. There were lots of wonderful highlights - and we'd have to start with Nathan Brendle.

Nathan started the day out really wanting to play Leonard Mathews, Merrillville's #1 singles player. 2 years ago he made the final 4 in the state, and last year at the Merrillville tournament he had the most amazing match with another final 4 player from Valparaiso. He was hoping to get to play him in the final, and the draw provided for that, if Nathan could win his first two.

He quickly took care of sophomore Kyler Love from Wawasee. Then he played a difficult but wonderful match against Eric Josephson, the #1 singles player from Centerville. In this match, Nathan had to fight through one of the most talented players he has played and a leg injury as well. But struggling through gave him the match up he wanted, in the final against Mathews.

And while the final wasn't close, it was fun to watch. Nathan played awesome, but Mathews is amazing. Nathan would pound a ground stroke and Mathews would drop a ball in front of him. Nathan would approach and Mathews would stretch out and put a lob right on the backline. Nathan kept the games close, but could never quite put the points together to win. Still it was an amazing day for him.

Ike also got to the final at #3 singles. He had a bye in the first round, then took on Triton in the second round. In that match, Ike started out well with attacking ground strokes and coming to the net to finish points. Into the second set, he began to lose some of his confidence and miss some of his strokes. After a 6-3 win in the first set, he lost the second 3-6. So into the super tiebreaker he went. It also went back and forth, like Blake, but Ike found himself down match point at 8-9. On that point he attacked the net and got lobbed over. In returning the lob, Ike landed it right in the back corner. His opponent, Austin Kanarr, went to return it and cramped in his right leg. After a time of stretching, Ike went on to win the super close breaker, 14-12.

In the final, Ike ran into a player with superior placement. Ike couldn't find a way to break down his opponents strokes and lost in rather lopsided fashion. It was a difficult end but a well-played day.

In doubles, Abe Thorne and Jesse Amstutz played their best tennis first thing in the day, against the Lowell Red Devils. Abe really controlled the net and Jesse controlled the baseline. In the second set, they couldn't find the knockout punch, and found themselves in a tiebreak. They had two match points to win the tiebreak, but couldn't finish it out. So they went to a super tiebreak 3rd set. There, I was super proud of the way they dominated, coming back from the difficult second set. They took a huge lead in the breaker, going up 8-1 and winning 10-2. They really played well in doing so.

In the end, we finished 3rd in the team tournament. That was a very good result.

Other Storylines
- The doubles were played at a different site that the singles. So I spent a good deal of the day going back and forth. I didn't see everything, but I saw enough to see our progress.

- 5 more tiebreaks today! Seems we're intent on shattering the previous season record of 15. We're now at 24, we'll see if we can double the record in our last 8 matches.

- Evan and Parth didn't fare quite as well today. They faced up against the eventual champions in the first round.

- Centerville won the tournament. They are undefeated and ranked 8th in District 4. They are also young. I think they only had 1 senior on their varsity team. This is going to be a good team.

- In #2 doubles second round match, our team actually had several points to win the first set. After losing it, they unfortunately could not come back to win the second. I'm looking forward to their mental breakthrough, as they had close sets all day, pretty soon they'll be winning them!

The Scores
#1S - Nathan Brendle - 2nd
def. Kyler Love (10), Wawasee - 6-1, 6-0
def. Eric Josephson (11), Centerville - 6-3, 6-4
lost to Leonard Mathews (12), Merrillville - 0-6, 1-6

#2S - Blake Shetler - 1st
def. Lucas Shafer, Triton - 6-2, 6-1
def. Isaac Rigdon (11), Wawasee - 6-1, 6-0
def. Jacob Thompson (11), Centerville - 6-7 (4), 6-3, (11-9)

#3S - Ike Lehman - 2nd
def. Austin Kanarr (12), Triton - 6-3, 3-6, (14-12)
lost to Adam Spencer (10), Centerville - 2-6, 1-6

#1D - Evan Grimes/Parth Patel - 7th
lost to Brady Wagenknecht (9)/Kaler Nicholson (10), Centerville - 1-6, 0-6
lost to Ryan Wieser (12)/Ben Roesel (9), Lowell - 1-6, 1-6

#2D - Abe Thorne/Jesse Amstutz - 4th
def. Johnny Goodrich (12)/Delner Fleming (10), Lowell - 6-2, 6-7 (9), (10-2)
lost to Jackson Downing (12)/Wil Rettinger (12), Triton - 5-7, 1-6
lost to Nick Lindsey (12)/Tyler Porter (11), Highland - 2-6, 5-7

The Story at Fremont JV Invite

2011-09-17T19:43:00.003-04:00

We got 2nd!

I don't know all the details, but we do have 4 champions! Wade Troyer and Hans Miller dominated the competition to take home 1st place for the #1 doubles, while Himal King and Joel Gerig were crowned champions of the #2 doubles.

At the other spots, Landon Weldy finished 4th, Sol Brenneman 5th, and Tristan Clark 4th. More scores and updates on Monday after I talk to our assistant coach, Jordan Kauffman.

#1S - Landon Weldy - 4th
#2S - Sol Brenneman - 5th
#3S - Tristan Clark - 4th
#1D - Wade Troyer/Hans Miller - 1st !!!
#2D - Himal King/Joel Gerig - 1st !!!

Area Scores from 9/17

2011-09-17T17:16:00.000-04:00

On Our Schedule
None seen.

Ranked in the District
FW CANTERBURY INVITE
#1 FW Canterbury 4, Angola 1
#1 FW Canterbury 4, #4 Penn 1
#1 FW Canterbury 5, Culver Military 0
Angola 3, #4 Penn 2
Angola 3, Culver Military 2
#4 Penn 3, Culver Military 2

FW CARROLL INVITE
#3 FW Carroll 5 FW South Side 0 (Finals)
FW Northrop 3 Blackford 2
FW South Side 3 Blackford 2
#3 FW Carroll 5 FW Northrop 0
FW South Side 4 FW Northrop 1
#3 FW Carroll 5 Blackford 0

Other Scores
HOMESTEAD INVITE
Guerin Catholic 35
Bloomington South 26
Floyd Central 25
Bishop Dwenger 22
Northridge 17
Homestead 8
Yorktown 8
Concordia 4

The Seniors: Blake Shetler

2011-09-16T08:20:00.002-04:00

Blake has made a significant transition for his senior year, moving from a dominating #2 doubles player to a strong #2 singles player. Last year, teaming with Russell Klassen and Evan Grimes, Blake compiled a record of 19-3 playing doubles. This year, he is 8-3 playing #2 singles, with 2 of those losses being three set matches! Blake’s presence on the team is often under appreciated by many who are not part of our team. Blake does his damage quietly; practicing hard, challenging himself, even making silent fist pumps when he wins big points. Blake always reminds me of a Wendell Berry poem, “What if we all did our work like the snow? Quietly, quietly, leaving nothing out…” As a leader, Blake has also been someone who leaves no one out, giving rides to practice and being a hitting partner with whoever is around. I have been so grateful to have a strong player and leader on our team.

Colossians 3:16-17
Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Area Scores from 9/15

2011-09-16T07:19:00.006-04:00

On Our Schedule
Fairfield 5, Westview 0
#1S - Josh Mullet def. Austin Schlabach, 6-0, 6-1
#2S - Austin Christner def. Kohle Christner, 6-3, 6-1
#3S - Landon Knepp def. Brett Yoder, 6-1, 6-3
#1D - Josh Hochstetler/Dillon Lockwood def. Nic Hostetler/Devin Bontrager, 6-4, 6-7 (3), 6-3
#2D - Taylor Yoder/Marcus Rhodes def. Jamar Weaver/Jonathan Hochstetler, 7-5, 6-3

Plymouth 5, Goshen 0
#1S - Gabe Vervynckt def. Eli Metzler-Prieb, 6-1, 6-1
#2S - Lane Singleton def. Drew Hostetler, 7-6 (5), 6-4
#3S - Luke Bumpus def. Paul Johnson, 7-5, 6-2
#1D - Connor Flynn/Jordan Schertz def. Sylas Buller/Sam Stegelman, 6-3, 6-0
#2D - Matt Flynn/Joe Knepp def. Matt Buncich/Adam Bratten, 2-6, 6-3, 6-0

Concord 3, Northridge 2
#1S - Jason Denton (C) def. Chris Robbins, 6-2, 6-2
#2S - AJ Thielking (N) def. Jack Hinkle, 6-4, 6-7, 7-6
#3S - Josh Garfein (N) def. Nick Polluck, 6-4, 2-6, 6-3
#1D - Matt Ciesielski/Bronson DuMont (C) def. Alex Radelich/Andrew Gingerich, 6-0, 6-2
#2D - T Cunningham/Matt Kotva (C) def. Byron Slabach/Connor Cameron, 6-3, 7-5

Triton 4, Jimtown
#1S - Jeff Ross (T) def. Dan Gongwer
#2S - Trent Kauffman (T) def. Austin Ward
#3S - Lucas Shafer (T) def. Jake Ward
#1D - Brett Aller/Cole Peterson (J) def. Josh Shafer/Austin Kanarr
#2D - Wil Rettinger/Jackson Downing (T) def. Augie Farwig/Michael Hobbs

Centerville 5, Union County 0

from 9/14
Hamilton Heights 4, Eastern 0

Ranked in the District
#2 Marion 5, Huntington North 0
#3 FW Carroll 5, Columbia City 0
#4 Penn 5, South Bend Riley 0
#6 Elkhart Central 5, South Bend Adams 0
#8 Kokomo 5, Logansport 0

from 9/14
#1 FW Canterbury 4, East Noble 0

Other Scores
Angola 5, Churubusco 0
Warsaw 5, NorthWood 0
Elkhart Memorial 5, Wawasee 0
Mishawaka Marian 4, Mishawaka 1
Norwell 4, East Noble 1
FW Snider3, FW South Side 2
DeKalb 5, New Haven 0
Hamilton Heights 5, Madison-Grant 0

from 9/14
Angola 5, West Noble 0

The Seniors: Evan Grimes

2011-09-15T10:22:00.003-04:00

Evan has made a significant transition this year. After picking up tennis as a freshman, and only playing in 8 matches, Evan has improved year after year. This year, he moved from splitting time between varsity and JV to being a full-time #1 doubles player. He’s handled the difficult matches well, while not always being pleased with the results. He also brings a joyfulness to the team, as in all things, he seems to be able to keep a smile on his face or a joke on his lips. I think about the matches that he played with Nathan Brendle, and the way they were often laughing about things between points. Also, Evan is seen as a natural leader. In school, socially, and in tennis, many people look up to him. These things make him a valuable person for our team.

Matthew 20:25-28
Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your servant— just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

The Story vs. Elkhart Central: Match #12

2011-09-14T10:51:00.004-04:00

The Lead: "Senior's Battle"
Tonight was our senior night. And tonight our senior's played with a lot of heart.

Blake Shetler, who has made the move from #2 doubles last year to #2 singles this year, played incredibly well. After coming out just a little off in the first set (and against an opponent who was just a little on fire), Blake really began to pick up his play in the second set. Holding serve each time, he built a 5-4 lead in the second set. It was amazing to see him really begin to believe he could win against Blazer senior Brett Morton. Morton was 12-0 on the season, took the first set from Blake 6-0, and was blasting serves and forehands. But Blake found a strategy, fought every point, and brought himself to the brink of winning a set.

Unfortunately, he couldn't break Morton's serve, and then got broken himself to go down 6-5. A little pep talk from me ( I told him to get it to a tiebreak, not the most brilliant advice, but practical) and a little help from Morton's nerves (he threw in a double fault for the cause), and Blake broke back for the first time all match to send it to a tiebreak. Again, in the tiebreak Blake fell behind 4-1, before rattling off three straight to tie the breaker at 4. The fight that Blake had to again and again believe he would win the next point was amazing. Morton would sizzle a passing shot past him and Blake would come right back to attack the net on the next point. Morton would blaze a big serve and the next point Blake would challenge him with a drop shot. It was exciting tennis to watch.

But it didn't go our way. Morton ended up winning the tiebreak and taking the second set (and clinching the team match for Central). Which left one of our seniors on the court fighting for a victory, Evan Grimes.

Evan had been playing #1 doubles with Abe Thorne all season, but we decided to split the pair of them up and challenge for the #1 doubles spot with new partners. Abe Thorne and Wade Troyer had won the challenge, and Evan and Parth found themselves playing #2 doubles for this match. Instead of being disappointed and down about losing the #1 challenge, Evan and Parth played their best tennis of the year in the first set against Blazer juniors Riley Futterknecht and Alex Moon. They kept the ball in play, and served extremely well, all of which added up to a 6-3 set win.

In the second set, they became more inconsistent. Sometimes they finished points, sometimes they stroked the ball long. Sometimes they held their nerve, sometimes they got frustrated. You could see the emotion and the frustration teetering back and forth. They wanted to win so badly, but despite a 6-5 lead in the second set, they also lost it in a tiebreak.

The tiebreak loss seemed to deflate the confidence, and inflate their frustration. In the third set, they again seemed to have trouble placing the ball in the court and finding their serves. It was an incredible emotional high in the first set, and it gave them an incredible set. But we just couldn't finish it off.

These seniors have worked really hard through the years, and perhaps tonight wasn't the best representation for them, to have losing matches on senior night. But I loved the battle. The determination and the desire to win. And I love these seniors. More about them in a later post.

The Hidden Narrative
It was a disappointing 4-1 loss to Central tonight, but the one varsity win was a huge highlight. Nathan Brendle has quietly been rounding his game into the best form of his career. Tonight Nathan quickly defeated Blazer #1 Nic Burton. Burton had similar scores to Nathan against the same opponents, and looked like he would be a really good match for Nathan.

And he was, but Nathan won the match comfortably according to the scorecard. Nathan's baseline game has been impressive lately, and his net game is ever improving. It is good to see him growing in confidence and positive energy as the season goes forward. As Nathan is learning to enjoy the game, he's playing it a lot better.

Now, every day can be like Tuesday!

Other Storylines
- Central's normal #2 doubles team has been changed a bit this week because of an injury to Franklin Fisher. He was in a car accident over the weekend. Please keep him in prayer.

- Nathan took over the lead in individual wins tonight, he had been tied with Blake. No one clinched a team win for us tonight, so Ike still leads that category.

- Everyone got to play tonight! In a rarity this season, Elkhart Central had exactly the same number of players as we did. We both even had an injured player, as Ryan Minter remains sidelined for us.

- On that JV level, Landon Weldy got the only win. This ties him with Sol Brenneman for the team lead, but moves him into the winning percentage lead. He's now 7-2 on the season!

- Two more tiebreaks for the varsity tonight. That's 19 played on the season. The most tiebreaks a team has ever played in a season before this one was 15 (in 2006, 2008, 2010).

- Central's team is filled with juniors. They have 11 juniors, just like we have 11 freshman. In two years, maybe we'll be in a similar situation, with just 1 loss and ranked in the district!

The Scores
Varsity
#1S - Nathan Brendle - 6-2, 6-3 - Nic Burton (11)
#2S - Blake Shetler - 0-6, 6-7 (4) - Brett Morton (12)
#3S - Ike Lehman - 0-6, 1-6 - Blake Brouwer (11)
#1D - Wade Troyer/Abe Thorne - 1-6, 0-6 - Mitch Hanberg (12)/Austin Sellers (12)
#2D - Evan Grimes/Parth Patel - 6-3, 6-7 (2), 1-6 - Riley Futterknecht (11)/Alex Moon (11)

Junior Varsity
#1SJV - Sol Brenneman - 0-6 - Sean Quinn (11)
#2SJV - Landon Weldy - 6-2 - Jake Mullins (11)
#3SJV - Hans Miller - 3-6 - Taylor Ely (11)
#1DJV - Himal King/Joel Gerig - 5-7 - Alex Buitendorp (11)/Brian Harter (11)
#2DJV - Ryan Duckworth/Tristan Clark - 2-6 - Matt Morrison (11)/Mikey Namisank (11)
#3DJV - Justin Zehr/Luke Schrock - 1-6 - Scott Hanberg (9)/Will Riblet (9)
#4DJV - Roberto Ramos/Neel Bhagat - 2-6 - Will Bernacchi (12)/Eric Burton (9)
#5DJV - Colin Samuel/Delan Schrock - 2-6 - Patrick Allen (9)/Dominic Massaro (10)

Area Scores from 9/13

2011-09-14T09:03:00.004-04:00

On Our Schedule
Fairfield 5, West Noble 0
#1S - Josh Mullet beat Kevin Marsh, 6-1, 6-0;
#2S - Austin Christner beat Jordan Younce, 6-0, 6-0
#3S - Landon Knepp beat Tyler Rothhaar, 6-1, 7-5.
#1D - Jordan Hochstetler-Dillon Lockwood beat Austin King-Skylar Campbell, 6-1, 6-3
#2D - David Mohney-Marcus Rodes beat Quinn Groff-Kris Handshoe, 6-2, 6-2.

Taylor 4, Western 1
#1S - Nathan Gotshall (T) def. Matt Orr, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4
#2S - Logan Barnes (T) def. Tyler Lucas, 6-2, 6-2
#3S - Jack Lipchik (T) def. Austin Orr, 6-1, 5-7, 6-3
#1D - Cameron Clark/Drew Hansen (T) def. Brandon Penning/Austin LaFollette, 6-4, 3-6, 7-5
#2D - Nick Braden/Judson Quinn (W) def. Austin Douglas/Case Glick, 6-0, 6-0

Lewis Cass 3, Eastern 2
#1S - Connor Young (E) def. Kyle Williams, 6-2, 6-2
#2S - Riley Williams (C) def. Joel Coffman, 5-7, 6-3, 6-3
#3S - Robbie Welling (E) def. Nick Jackson, 2-6, 6-2, 6-2
#1D - Tyler Ploss/Isaac Yentes (C) def. Logan Colwell/Michael Lamb, 6-0, 6-0
#2D - Josh Harshman/Ryan Aldridge (C) def. Austin Chase/Josh Evenson, 6-0, 6-0

Westview 4, Prairie Heights 1
#1S - Austin Schlabach (WV) beat Justin Clark, 6-1, 6-0
#2S - Nate Clark (PH) beat Kohl Christner, 6-0, 6-3
#3S - Brett Yoder (WV) beat John Sloan, 6-1, 6-1.
#1D - Nic Hostetler-Devin Bontreger (WV) beat Tyler Carbone-Jacob Heller, 6-3, 6-2
#2D - Jamar Weaver-Jonathon Hostetler (WV) beat Braxton Elliott-Drew Vile, 6-1, 6-2.

Northridge 5, NorthWood 0
#1S - AJ Thielking beat Brennen Angle 6-0, 6-2
#2S - Chris Robbins beat Ben Zercher 6-2, 6-0
#3S - Josh Garfein beat Mitchell Keiser 6-1, 6-2.
#1D - Alex Radelich/Andrew Gingerich beat Jayson Linhart/Shawn Stahley 6-0, 6-2
#2D - Connor Cameron/Byron Slabach beat Quinn Stillson/Austin Sanders 6-1, 6-0.

Concord 4, Goshen 1
#1S - Jack Hinkle (C) beat Eli Metzler-Prieb, 6-2, 6-2
#2S - Drew Hostetler (G) beat Sean Purcell, 6-3, 3-6, 6-1
#3S - Nick Pollack (C) beat Adam Bratten, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4.
#1D - Matt Cieselski-Bronson Dummont (C) beat Sylas Buller-Sam Stegelmann, 6-2, 6-3
#2D - Matt Kofva-Michael Gismon (C) beat Matt Buncich-Paul Johnson, 6-3, 6-3.

Triton 5, New Prairie 0

John Glenn 5, Laville 0

Ranked in the District
#4 Penn, #5 St. Joseph's 1
#6 Elkhart Central 4, Bethany Christian 1
#7 Kokomo 5, Lafayette Jefferson 0

Other Scores
South Bend Adams 5, Mishawaka 0
South Bend Clay 5, South Bend Washington 0
Warsaw 5, Wawasee 0
Mishawaka Marian 3, South Bend Riley 2
Kankakee Valley 3, North Judson 2
Culver Military 5, Knox 0
Plymouth 5, Elkhart Memorial 0
Northwestern 4, Peru 1

Area Scores from 9/12

2011-09-13T09:19:00.003-04:00

On Our Schedule
Angola 4, Fairfield 1
#1S - Georg Albrecht (A) def. Josh Mullet, 6-2, 6-0
#2S - Jacob Stump (A) def. Austin Christner, 6-0, 6-1
#3S - Cameron Hall (A) def. Landon Knepp, 6-2, 6-2
#1D - Justin Lamont/Craig Nofzinger (A) def. Jordan Hochstetler/Dillon Lockwood, 6-3, 6-1
#2D - Taylor Yoder/Marcus Rhodes (F) def. Noah Jones/Blake Trusty, 6-2, 6-2

Elkhart Central 5, Jimtown
#1S - Nic Burton def. Dan Gongwer, 6-1, 6-0
#2S - Brett Morton def. Austin Ward, 6-0, 6-0
#3S - Blake Brouwer def. Jake Ward, 6-0, 6-2
#1D - Mitch Hanberg/Austin Sellers def. Brett Aller/Cole Peterson, 6-2, 6-4
#2D - Jake Mullins/Riley Futterknecht def. Augie Farwig/Michael Hobbs, 6-2, 6-4

Triton 3, Bremen 2
#1S - Jeff Ross (T) beat Briley Bollenbacher, 6-3, 6-2
#2S - Pete Kauffman (T) beat Brad Foster, 6-4, 6-1
#3S - Wes Burkholder (B) beat Lucas Shafer, 6-2, 6-2.
#1D - T.J. Bayer-Austin Huff (B) beat Josh Shafer-Austin Kanarr, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1
#2D - Jackson Downing-Will Rettinger (T) beat Joe Zeltwanger-Nate Strehler, 6-4, 4-6, 6-2.

Wabash 5, Elwood 0
Justin Middleton won at #1 singles 6-0, 6-0.
David Driscoll won at #2 singles 6-1, 6-0
Edward Dillard won at #3 singles 6-0, 6-0
Stephan Eilts and JD Boone won at #1 doubles 6-4, 6-4
Jack Stein and Breyton Nealis won at #2 doubles 6-0, 6-0

Taylor 4, Delphi 1
#1S - Nathan Gotshall won 6-1, 6-4
#2S - Logan Barnes won 6-0, 6-0
#3S - Jack Lipchik won 6-0, 6-4
#1D - Cameron Clark/Drew Hansen won 6-3, 6-3
#2D - Lost

Westview 5, NorthWood 0
#1S - Austin Schlabach beat Brennan Angle, 6-2, 5-7, 6-1
#2S - Kohle Christner beat Ben Zercher, 7-5, 6-4
#3S - Brett Yoder beat Mitchell Keiser, 6-1, 6-3.
#1D - Nic Hostetler-Devin Bontreger beat Jayson Linhart-Shawn Stahley, 6-2, 6-2
#2D - Jamar Weaver-Jonathon Hostetler beat Quinn Stillson-Austin Sanders, 6-1, 6-1.

Northridge 5, Wawasee 0
#1S - A.J. Thielking beat Kyler Love, 6-1, 6-0
#2S - Chris Robbins beat Isaac Ridjohn, 6-0, 6-1
#3S - Josh Garfein beat Jake Thompson, 6-1, 6-1.
#1D - Alex Radelich-Andrew Gingerich beat Westin Becker-Tyler Kissinger, 6-2, 6-2
#2D - Connor Cameron-Byron Slabach beat Derek Zurcher-Cole Love, 6-4, 6-4.

Ranked in the District
#2 Marion 5, #7 Kokomo 0
#4 Penn 5, South Bend Washington 0

Other Scores
North Judson 4, John Glenn 1
Culver Military 3, South Bend Riley 2
Michigan City 4, New Prairie 1
LaLumiere 5, Laville 0
Mississenewa 5, Alexandria 0
Norwell 5, Bluffton 0
DeKalb 4, FW Concordia 1
FW South Side 4, FW Blackhawk 1
FW Northrup 5, Churubusco 0

Elkhart Central Preview

2011-09-12T11:34:00.004-04:00

Details: SENIOR NIGHT! Tuesday, September 13, 2011 at 4:30 at Bethany Christian High School.

3 Interesting Facts
- We have never played Elkhart Central before (at least since I started coaching)
- This will be the 2nd district ranked opponent that we have played this season (Concord was the other).
- Elkhart Central has 2 positions on their team who remain undefeated this year, much like our team had last year.

Elkhart Central Details: The Blazers are ranked 6th in the district, this year, and begun the year ranked 21st in the state. A 3-2 loss to St. Joseph's knocked them out of the state rankings, much like what happened to us and Columbia City last year. They only have that 1 loss on the season.

Bethany Christian Details: We come into this match having won 4 straight matches, the last 2 have been by 3-2 scores. We are continuing to get better, and continue to shuffle things around a bit.

Probable Elkhart Central Lineup (with individual records)
#1S - Nic Burton (7-4)
#2S - Brett Morton (11-0)
#3S - Blake Brouwer (9-2)
#1D - Mitch Hanberg/Austin Sellers (11-0)
#2D - Franklin Fisher/Riley Futterknecht (6-5)

Outlook: While this will be one of our most supreme tests of the season, I expect to be competitive at several positions. Nathan Brendle should have a great matchup at #1 singles, and Blake Shetler will face his stiffest competition of the year at #2 singles. We are planning to revamp our doubles a bit for the match tomorrow, so we'll see what a new look #2 doubles can do against the Blazers team. Ike will also face a great test, as Blake Brouwer defeated Josh Garfein (one of the best #3's we've seen all year) in three sets. And I believe that Central's #1 doubles must be one of the best around, as their closest match that I've seen reported this year is 6-2, 6-4 (!)

I'm excited to play this match because I believe you truly get better when you throw your best effort at the best opponents. Besides that, we've got the ability to make the match interesting at several different positions. And it's senior night, which I'll be posting more on our two seniors tomorrow! But like I said, I'm looking forward to it!

Area Scores from 9/9 and 9/10

2011-09-12T08:19:00.002-04:00

On Our Schedule
Goshen 5, NorthWood 0
#1S - Eli Metzler-Prieb beat Brennan Angle, 6-2, 6-1
#2S - Drew Hostetler beat Ben Zercher, 6-4, 6-4
#3S - Adam Bratten beat Quinn Stilson, 6-1, 6-0.
#1D - Sylas Buller-Sam Stegelmann beat Jayson Linhart-Mitchell Keiser, 6-4, 6-1
#2D - Matt Buncich-Paul Johnson beat Shawn Stahley-Austin Sanders, 6-3, 6-2

Fremont 3, Westview 2
#1S - Matt Hoff (F) beat Austin Schlabach, 6-4, 6-3
#2S - Matt Wilcox (F) beat Kohle Christner, 6-4, 6-1
#3S - Brett Yoder (W) beat Brandon Miller, 6-3, 5-7, 6-0.
#1D - Devin Bontreger-Nic Hostetler (W) beat Tyler Jenkins-Jake Bryant, 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (3)
#2D - Glen McClain-Andrew Smith (F) beat Jamar Weaver-Jonathnon Hostetler, 7-6 (6), 6-3.

Concord 3, Plymouth 2
#1S - Jason Denton (C) beat Gabe Vervynckt, 6-0, 6-7 (2), 6-3
#2S - Lane Singleton (P) beat Sean Purcell, 6-0, 6-0
#3S - Nick Pollack (C) beat Luke Bumpus 6-4, 6-0.
#1D - Connor Flynn-Jordan Scheetz (P) beat Matt Ciesielski-Matt Kotva, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3
#2D - Bronson Dummont-T. Cunningham (C) beat Joe Knapp-Matt Flynn, 7-6 (3), 6-2.

WILDCAT INVITATIONAL
Triton - 20 (won #2S, #1D, #2D, 2nd at #3S)
South Bend Riley - 18 (won #1S, #3S, 2nd at #1D)
Bremen - 11 (2nd at #1S, #2D)
East Chicago Central - 4
South Bend Washington - 4

WARSAW INVITATIONAL
Canterbury - 28 (won #2S, #3S, #1D, #2D, 2nd at #1S)
Park Tudor - 16 (2nd at #3S, #1D)
Warsaw - 12
Merrillville - 12 (won #1S, 2nd at #2D)
South Bend Adams - 12 (2nd at #2S)
Goshen - 7
Bishop Luers - 4
Huntington North - 4

CONCORD INVITATIONAL
Penn 62
Concord 38
Valparaiso 37
East Noble 26
Mishawaka Marian 24
Ft Wayne Snider 16
Westview 12
SB Clay 0

MADISION GRANT INVITATIONAL
Blackford 41
Madison Grant 29
Eastern 25
FW Blackhawk 20

Ranked in the District
#1 Canterbury - 1st at Warsaw Invite
#4 Penn - 1st at Concord Invite
#8 Concord - 2nd at Concord Invite

Other Scores
No other scores?

Unfortunate Scheduling Realities

2011-09-09T07:25:00.003-04:00

An update on our matches this week.

Churubusco (JV) - Rescheduled for Friday, Sept. 16, 4:45 at Bethany.
NorthWood - Cancelled with no current reschedule date.

NorthWood had to cancel because they need to play their match with Goshen that was scheduled for yesterday. That match is a conference match for them and we are not. So they cancelled us. We are currently looking for a reschedule date, but we haven't heard back from them yet.

Practice will continue tonight, whether rain or shine!

Facebook Photos

2011-09-08T09:24:00.002-04:00

If you go to the Bethany Christian Tennis Facebook page, you'll see that Tim Lehman has been taking lots of pictures of the guys at the different matches. There's some fun ones of almost everybody, if you search. There's even a picture of us singing Sarasponda after a victory!

So go here --> Bethany Christian Tennis Facebook

Area Scores from 9/7

2011-09-08T07:24:00.005-04:00

On Our Schedule
Elkhart Central 3, Elkhart Memorial 2
#1S - Spenser Gilbert (M) def. Nic Burton, 6-4, 3-6, 6-1
#2S - Brett Morton (C) def. Mazin Hakim, 6-2, 6-4
#3S - Blake Brouwer (C) def. Jacob Gaffney, 6-0, 6-3
#1D - Mitch Hanberg/Austin Sellers (C) def. Jerahmal Dudley/Kyle Grubb, 6-0, 6-0
#2D - Elliot Denton/Chirag Patel (M) def. Franklin Fisher/Riley Futterknecht, 7-6 (6), 6-4

Plymouth 3, Bremen 2
#1S - Gabe Vervynckt (P) beat Briley Bollenbacher, 6-3, 6-4
#2S - Lane Singleton (P) beat Brad Foster, 6-3, 6-2
#3S - Wes Burkholder (B) beat Tom Felke, 6-2, 1-6, 6-1.
#1D - Jordan Scheetz-Connor Flynn (P) beat T.J. Bayer-Austin Huff, 6-1, 6-1
#2D - Joe Zeltwanger-Nate Strehler (B) beat Matt Flynn-Joe Knapp, 7-5, 6-1.

Wabash 5, Rochester 0
#1S - Justin Middleton won 6-0, 6-0.
#2S - David Driscoll won 6-1, 6-1.
#3S - Edward Dillard won 4-6, 6-0, 6-1
#1D - Stephan Eilts and JD Boone won 6-2, 6-4
#2D - Jack Stein and Breyton Nealis won 6-7(3), 6-1, 6-3

Western 5, Eastern 0

Triton 3, South Bend Riley 2
#1S - Aaron Zaderej (R) beat Jeff Ross, 6-1, 6-0
#2S - Peter Kauffman (T) beat Gilbert Williams, 6-3, 6-2
#3S - Jacob Melkarek (R) beat Lucas Shafer, 6-1, 6-1.
#1D - Josh Shafer-Austin Kanarr (T) beat Trent Fletcher-Matt Peterson, 6-1, 6-1
#2D - Will Rettinger-Jackson Downing (T) beat Riley Suter-Ryan O’Connor, 6-2, 6-4.

Knox 5, Laville 0
#1S - Davey Johnston beat Grant Frick, 6-0, 6-1
#2S - Austin Risner beat Andrew Hulliberger, 6-0, 6-0
#3S - Curtis Scherer won by default.
#1D - Harrison Metz-Elliott Coad beat Blade Masterson-Keanon Clemons, 6-0, 6-1
#2D - Cody Fletcher-Joe Clabough beat Ryan Heyse-Adam Baker, 6-0, 6-0.

Ranked in the District
No Scores Reported.

Other Scores
Culver Military 5, Peru 0
Michigan City 5, South Bend Clay 0
New Prairie 5, South Bend Washington 0

The Story vs. Westview: Match #11

2011-09-07T08:10:00.000-04:00

The Lead: "Singles Shine"
"That's the best, most consistent, I've seen three singles players play in a long time."

That was the quote from our assistant coach, Jordan Kauffman, after our singles players swept 3 matches from the visiting Westview Warriors. Those 3 straight set wins enabled us to squeak by for our 7th victory of the season, defeating the Warriors 3-2.

The good play started right at the top of the lineup. Junior Nathan Brendle was in excellent form, losing the first game of his match but then winning the next 12 straight for a 6-1, 6-0 victory. Nothing that Austin Schlabach could do seemed to threaten Nathan, who held his patience and was absolutely controlling the match with his placement. Also, Nathan's net play was very strong tonight, which allowed him to finish points well.

At #2 singles, Blake Shetler faced a vastly improved played in Kohle Christner. Christner's game featured a booming serve (something Blake has seen a lot of this year) and aggressive groundstrokes. However, Blake was still able to control a lot of the points, something we've been working on. He used this ability to force errors from Christner, which eventually gave Blake the crucial points. His consistently smart play led to a 6-3, 6-2 win.

The clinching point was again provided by Ike Lehman. In the first set, Ike struggled to figure out the key to Brett Yoder's big serve. Neither player could secure a break easily, and the set went all the way into a tiebreaker. Which is no big deal for Ike, it's only his 4th tiebreak set in his 8 singles matches this year. However, Ike had yet to win one. Ike kept his nerve as the tiebreak got longer and longer. He had several chances to end it, but struggled a bit with his serve under pressure. Finally, at 9-8 he attacked behind an approach to Yoder's backhand, and the passing shot flew wide.

With the first set in hand, Ike loosened up immensely. In the second set, he played some of the best tennis I've seen from him. With his confident strokes, Ike took a commanding 4-1 lead, and finished out the match 6-2.

We had lost the 2 doubles matches by that point, so with it all on the line, Ike played his best tennis. That's what we love to see. People getting better, playing their best under the pressure. Because that's what the Sectional will be like!

The Hidden Narrative
Singles dominance on the JV too. Although both doubles teams on the JV fought back to win tight matches, the JV singles players dominated tonight as well. Sol Brenneman continues to lead the team in wins, with Landon Weldy right behind him. Sol picked up his 7th victory tonight behind attacking tennis, which is really good to see. It is rare at the JV level to see someone really attack in singles, so for Sol to do that was wonderful.

Landon continues to get better throughout the season. His strokes have the ability to be very powerful, but hopefully he will continue to get better at placing them as well. Tonight, he overwhelmed his competitor with time and time again sweeping in the deep groundstrokes.

It was fun for these guys tonight, I'm sure, to get dominant wins and add another win to the JV's tally as well!

Other Storylines
- As mentioned above, Ike clinched his 3rd match tonight. He's now in the lead for clinched matches!

- Westview's strength was in their doubles. Their doubles teams entered tonight a combined 10-4 on the season. Nic Hostetler was part of a team that almost won the Individual Doubles Sectional last fall.

- Against that strength, we didn't fare our best. #2 doubles match was much closer than the score would indicate. We had chance after chance to pull back into each set after they both started close, we couldn't seem to finish the crucial points.

- The JV doubles matches were amazing. They stayed close the entire time. In the #1 doubles match, we trailed most of the match then took a 7-6 lead. In the #2 doubles match, we led most of the time, but then they took a 7-6 lead on us. In the end, both teams played some clutch points to win 9-7.

- Of the 14 regular tiebreak sets we've played this year, Ike's first set today contained the most points (18, as Ike won 10-8). Nathan had the longest before this one, going 16 points against Fremont in the second set (winning it 9-7).

- Speaking of tiebreaks, did you know that our assistant coach Jordan Kauffman hold the Bethany record for most tiebreaks won in a career? He won 12. This year's leaders are Abe Thorne and Evan Grimes, having won 4 tiebreaks this year. For their careers, they've won 5 varsity tiebreaks together, having defeated Churubusco in a tiebreak last year. Abe's only a sophomore, he might be coming for your record Jordan!

The Scores
Varsity
#1S - Nathan Brendle - 6-1, 6-0 - Austin Schlabach
#2S - Blake Shetler - 6-3, 6-2 - Kohle Christner
#3S - Ike Lehman - 7-6 (8), 6-2 - Brett Yoder
#1D - Evan Grimes/Abe Thorne - 2-6, 0-6 - Devin Bontrager/Nic Hostetler
#2D - Parth Patel/Jesse Amstutz - 2-6, 2-6 - Jamar Weaver/Jonathon Hostetler

Junior Varsity
#1SJV - Sol Brenneman - 8-3 - Steven Geirek
#2SJV - Landon Weldy - 8-2 - John Campos
#1DJV - Wade Troyer/Joel Gerig - 9-7 - Hunter Christner/Jacob Churney
#2DJV - Himal King/Hans Miller - 9-7 - Taylor Eash/Lucas Mast

Area Scores from 9/6

2011-09-07T07:12:00.003-04:00

On Our Schedule
Plymouth 5, NorthWood 0
#1S - Gabe Vervynckt beat Brennan Angle, 6-2, 6-1
#2S - Lane Singleton beat Ben Zercher, 6-0, 6-0
#3S - Luke Bumpus beat Quinn Stillson, 6-0, 6-0.
#1D - Connor Flynn-Jordan Scheetz beat Jayson Linhart-Mitchell Keiser, 6-0, 6-3
#2D - Matt Flynn-Joe Knapp beat Shawn Stahley-Austin Sanders, 6-3, 6-1.

Elkhart Central 4, South Bend Riley 1
#1S - Aron Zaderej (R) def. Nick Burton 6-0, 6-1
#2S - Brett Morton (C) def. Jacob Melcarek 6-1, 6-0
#3S - Blake Brouwer (C) def. Gilbert Williams 6-0, 6-0.
#1D - Mitch Hanberg/Austin Sellers (C) def. Matt Peterson/Riley Suter 6-1, 6-0
#2D - Franklin Fisher/Riley Futterknecht def. Trent Flecher/Ryan O'Conner 6-1, 6-0

Fairfield 5, Central Noble 0
#1S - Josh Mullet def. Austin Pulver 6-0, 6-3
#2S - Landon Knepp def. Chris Truelove 6-2, 6-0
#3S - Marcus Rhodes def. Kaleb Luce 6-4, 6-1
#1D - Jordan Hochstetler/Dillon Lockwood def. Kenny Rice/Nick McCoy 6-0, 6-1
#2D - David Mohney/Taylor Yoder def. Nathan Tomcik/Matt Paul 6-0, 6-1.

Knox 3, Bremen 2
#1S - Davy Johnston (K) beat Briley Bollenbacher, 6-2, 6-1
#2S - Austin Risner (K) beat Brad Foster, 6-3, 1-6, 6-2
#3S - Wes Burkholder (B) beat Curtis Scherer, 6-2, 6-3.
#1D - T.J. Bayer-Austin Huff (B) beat Harrison Metz-Elliott Coad, 7-6, 6-4
#2D - Joe Clabough-Cody Fletcher (K) beat Joe Zeltwanger-Nate Strehler, 7-6, 6-2.

Wabash 4, Bluffton 1
#1S - Justin Middleton won 6-0, 6-0
#2S - David Driscoll won 6-4, 6-3
#3S - Edward Dillard won 6-2, 6-4
#1D - Stephan Eilts and JD Boone lost 0-6, 4-6
#2D - Jack Stein and Breyton Nealis won 6-2, 6-2

Jimtown 5, John Glenn 0
#1S - Dan Gongwer def. Joe Jaworski 6-1, 6-1
#2S - Austin Ward def. Austin Hayes 6-4, 6-4
#3S - Jacob Gongwer def. Drew Sheffer 6-0, 6-1
#1D - Brett Aller/Cole Peterson def. Ben Weiss/Evan Rhodes 3-6, 6-0, 6-2
#2D - Augie Farwig/Michael Hobbs def. Calvin Kretchmer/Hunter Jaworski 6-2, 6-1.

Warsaw 3, Northridge 2
#1S - Kyle Wettschurack (W) beat Chris Robbins, 7-5, 6-4
#2S - Evan Miller (W) beat A.J. Thielking, 6-2, 7-6
#3S - Josh Garfein (N) beat A.J. Jansen 7-6, 6-4.
#1D - Andrew Gingerich-Alex Radelich (N) beat Sam Rice-A.J. Herendeen 7-5, 7-5
#2D - Connor Singrey-Simon Stone (W) beat Connor Cameron-Byron Slabach, 6-3, 6-0.

Elkhart Memorial 3, Concord 2
#1S - Jason Denton (C) def. Spenser Gilbert 6-1, 6-0
#2S - Mazin Hakim (M) def. Matt Kotva 7-5, 6-2
#3S - Nick Pollock (C) def. Jacob Gaffney 6-0, 6-0.
#1D - Jerahmal Dudley/Kyle Grubb (M) def. Matt Ciesielski/Bronson Dumont 6-3, 6-4
#2D - Elliott Denton/Chirag Patel (M) def. Michael Eisman/Sean Purcell 5-7, 6-4, 7-5.

Triton 4, Tippecanoe Valley 1
#1S - Nick Kindig (TV) beat Jeff Ross, 6-2, 6-2
#2S - Josh Shafer (T) beat Alex Newman, 6-2, 6-0
#3S - Lucas Shafer (T) beat Tanner Neely, 6-1, 6-1.
#1D - Austin Kanarr-Pete Kauffman (T) beat Clayton Adamson-Derek Cunningham, 6-0, 6-0 #2D - Wil Rettinger-Jackson Downing (T) beat Robby Groom-Diego Gutierrez, 6-0, 6-0.

North Judson 5, Laville 0
#1S - Devin Cruce beat Grant Frick, 6-1, 6-2
#2S - Bubba Shelton beat Andrew Holliberger, 6-0, 6-0
#3S - Lee Lukac beat Adam Baker, 6-0, 6-0.
#1D - Chris Lippelt-John Zeller beat Blade Masterson-Keanon Clemons, 6-0, 6-0
#2D - Levi Bailey-Zach Bailey won by forfeit.

Goshen 4, Wawasee 1
#1S - Eli Metzler-Prieb (G) def. Kyler Love 6-1, 6-3
#2S - Drew Hostetler (G) def. Isaac Rigdon 6-2, 6-0
#3S - Jake Thompson (W) def. Austin Stutzman 6-3, 4-6, 7-5
#1D - Sylas Buller/Sam Stegelmann (G) def. Westin Becker/Tyler Kissinger 6-1, 7-5
#2D - Matt Buncich/Paul Johnson (G) def. Cole Love/Derek Zurcher 6-3, 7-5.

Mississinewa 3, Taylor 2

Ranked in the District
#3 FW Carroll 5, Bellmont 0
#4 Penn 5, South Bend Clay 0
#5 St. Joseph's 4, South Bend Adams 1
#7 Kokomo 5, Maconaquah 0

Other Scores
FW South Side 5, FW North Side 0
Norwell 3, DeKalb 2
FW Northrup 4, FW Concordia 1

Area Scores from 9/2-9/3

2011-09-06T07:14:00.004-04:00

On Our Schedule
Fairfield 3, Columbia City 2
Fairfield 5, Jimtown 0
Fairfield 5, Wawasee 0
Jimtown 3, Columbia City 2
Jimtown 4, Wawasee 1
Columbia City 5, Wawasee 0

Elkhart Central 4, Northridge 1
#1S - Nick Burton (C) def. Chris Robbins, 7-5, 6-2
#2S - Brett Morton (C) def. AJ Thielking, 6-0, 6-3
#3S - Blake Brouwer (C) def. Josh Garfein, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4
#1D - Mitch Hanberg/Austin Sellers (C) def. Alex Radelich/Andrew Gingerich, 6-3, 6-0
#2D - Connor Cameron/Bryon Slabach (N) def. Franklin Fisher/Riley Futterknecht, 6-4, 4-6, 6-1

Fairfield 5, Goshen 0
#1S - Josh Mullet def. Eli Metzler-Prieb, 6-4, 6-2
#2S - Austin Christner def. Drew Hostetler, 3-6, 6-1, 6-3
#3S - Landon Knepp def. Sylas Buller, 6-2, 6-4
#1D - Jordan Hochstetler/Dillon Lockwood def. Matt Buncich/Austin Stutzman, 6-1, 6-1
#2D - David Mohney/Taylor Yoder def. Adam Bratten/Paul Johnson, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3

Westview 5, Churubusco 0
#1S - Austin Schlabach def. Landon Pearson, 6-1, 6-0
#2S - Kohle Christner def. Luke Lillmars, 6-3, 6-2
#3S - Jonathan Hostetler def. Cody Luttman, 6-0, 6-2
#1D - Devin Bontrager/Nic Hostetler def. Joey Heaton/Brandon Wormcastle, 6-1, 6-2
#2D - Jamar Weaver/Brett Yoder def. Landon Lillmars/Brian Murphy, 6-1, 6-0

Bremen 5, North Judson 0
#1S - Bailey Bollenbacher beat Devin Cruce, 6-1, 6-0
#2S - Brad Foster beat Lee Lukac, 6-4, 6-2
#3S - Krent Hueni beat Josh Mullens, 6-1, 6-4.
#1D - T.J. Boyer-Austin Huff beat Chris Lippelt-John Zeller, 6-3, 6-3
#2D - Nate Strehler-Joe Zeittinger beat Levi Baley-Bubba Shelton 1-6, 6-4, 10-1.

Ranked in the District
Munster 4, #2 Penn 1
West Lafayette 3, #2 Penn 2
#8 Angola 5, Central Noble 0

FW Carroll Invitational
#1 FW Canterbury 5, Cathedral 0 (Finals)
#5 FW Carroll 3, Delta (3rd)
#8 Mississinewa 4, Homestead 1 (5th)
Plainfield 5, Huntington North 0 (7th)
#1 FW Canterbury 5, #8 Mississinewa 0
Delta 4, Plainfield 1
#5 FW Carroll 5, Huntington North 0
Cathedral 4, Homestead 1
#1 FW Canterbury 5, Delta 0
Cathedral 3, #5 FW Carroll 2
#8 Mississinewa 3, Plainfield 2
Homestead 5, Huntington North 0

Other Scores
St. Joseph's 5, Mishawaka 0

The Story at Triton: Match #10

2011-09-02T15:20:00.004-04:00

The Lead: "Happy Birthday!"
It's my birthday (I turn 31 today in case you are interested). But I got a nice present. After having excruciating 3-2 matches go against us at Fremont and versus Columbia City, today the guys pulled one out for me.

Or maybe it was for Abe, since it's his b-day too!

Anyways, despite the 3-2 scoreline, this match was not as down-to-the-wire as the other 3-2 matches we lost. Nathan Brendle played really well today, causing Jeff Ross to hit from out of position all match long. He quickly got out to a 5-0 lead in the first set and never really looked back, only having to regroup through a little serving rough patch in the second set.

Blake Shetler had a close match, but it was one that he seemed in control of for the whole time. Against Pete Kauffman, a player who had beaten us last year, Blake controlled most of the points from the baseline. When presented the opportunity, he was able to attack Kauffman. The constant pressure and consistency ended up taking its toll, and Blake sealed a close first set at 6-4, and then got out to a good start to the second as well. From there, he finished the deal.

Ike Lehman wasn't feeling well today at all. After being sick all week, he braved out the match today. But his scheduled opponent, Lucas Shafer, couldn't make the match at all because of an injury. His replacement was Dean Howdeshell, and Ike continued to attack and attack despite his illness and lack of energy. The first set was quick, but as Ike lost energy, the second set got closer. But Ike sealed the deal without a third set this time.

We took losses at both double positions, but played well. More on that later. JV guys played quite well too, which I'll also post more on later. For now, it was really good to win a close one. We're now 6-4, winning record, with 2 great matches coming next week. Let's go, Bruins!

The Hidden Narrative
No doubt that the story most people will miss in just looking at the scores is how well #2 doubles played today. For the first time since they began playing together, Parth and Jesse looked like a team. They found their strengths and worked them into the points.

And it showed in the scores as well. Triton's #2 doubles is 2 seniors who have both had varsity experience in the past several years. They have had good results throughout the season, only losing twice so far. And Parth and Jesse hung right with them the whole time.

I was struck by how confident we played throughout the match. Even when we'd miss a shot, we'd bounce back and be ready for the next point. Tons of these games went many deuces. And so many times, we'd come back after a bad point and put it to deuce again. Or we'd have the advantage, lose, but then get the advantage right back again. The mental part of the match impressed me quite a bit from a freshman and a sophomore!

Other Storylines
- This is the second opponent Nathan Brendle has played that he knew well. Both of those matches have been ones where he played really well.

- Our singles are leading the way as far as individual records go. Blake is 7-3, and Nathan is also 7-3.

- For the JV, Sol Brenneman pulled back ahead in the wins race. He has 6 wins this season.

- Ike joined the race for top clincher of the season, winning our third point tonight for the varsity. He has clinched 2 matches now, as have Blake and Nathan.

- More tiebreaks! Parth and Jesse dropped a breaker in the first set at #2 doubles, but Tristan Clark pulled one out for the JV.

- Speaking of Tristan Clark, his tiebreak win sealed a tie for the JV. If he'd have lost, the JV would have lost the match as well.

- On the JV, we had 2 debut matches this afternoon. Himal King played his first match coming back from a bad ankle injury, and Delan Schrock played his first match after joining the team a couple weeks into the season. Unfortunately, both lost.

- Despite the rumors, Abe Thorne did not turn 13 today. He's a bit older than that.

- Ike Lehman is excelling in playing close matches. In his 7 singles matches, he has had 7 sets end at 6-4 or closer.

- Ryan Duckworth and Joel Gerig had a streaky match today. Took a 4-1 lead, fell down 6-4, then won 4 straight to win 8-6!

- Despite playing players who were higher up in the lineup than they, Colin Samuel and Delan Schrock grabbed the first game they played together. So did Luke Schrock and Roberto Ramos, who were playing the #1 and #2 JV players for Triton!

The Scores
Varsity
#1S - Nathan Brendle - 6-1, 6-3 - Jeff Ross (11)
#2S - Blake Shetler - 6-4, 6-3 - Pete Kauffman (10)
#3S - Ike Lehman - 6-2, 7-5 - Dean Howdeshell (10)
#1D - Evan Grimes/Abe Thorne - 3-6, 1-6 - Austin Kanarr (12)/Josh Shafer (12)
#2D - Jesse Amstutz/Parth Patel - 6-7 (2), 3-6 - Wil Rettinger (12)/Jackson Downing (12)

Junior Varsity
#1SJV - Hans Miller - 4-8 - Jared Fisher (9)
#2SJV - Sol Brenneman - 8-6 - Alex Eib (9)
#3SJV - Landon Weldy - 8-2 - Chase Eyrich (9)
#4SJV - Tristan Clark - 8-7 (4) - Dylan Holbrook (9)
#1DJV - Himal King/Wade Troyer - 6-8 - Darren Harrell (10)/Jake Oldham (10)
#2DJV - Joel Gerig/Ryan Duckworth - 8-6 - Austin Sellers (9)/Spencer Glingle (9)
#3DJV - Luke Schrock/Roberto Ramos - 2-6 - Jared Fisher (9)/Alex Eib (9)
#4DJV - Colin Samuel/Delan Schrock - 1-6 - Austin Sellers (9)/Spencer Glingle (9)

Triton Preview

2011-09-02T12:40:00.003-04:00

Details: Saturday, September 3, at 10:00 AM at Triton High School.

Last Season Review: Last season we defeated Triton 4-1.

3 Interesting Facts
- Triton switched their lineup around in their match against Whitko like we did for Prairie Heights. #1 singles player Jeff Ross dropped to #1 doubles, but I don't know if this will be a 1 time switch or a new lineup.
- Over the years, Triton is the team that I've had the most 3-2 matches with.
- The Trojans are the opposite of us this year, we lost 5 varsity players, they return 5.

Triton Details: The Trojans are at least 4-2 on the season, losing to Plymouth and to Marian (as did Goshen). They are experienced and talented, with a good JV as well.

Bethany Christian Details: We're back above .500, with a 2 match winning streak coming off Monday and Tuesday. Practices have been going well this week, as certain spots have really continued to learn and gain skill.

Projected Triton Lineup (with as up-to-date as possible individual records)
#1S - Jeff Ross (3-3)
#2S - Pete Kauffman (3-3)
#3S - Lucas Shafer (4-2)
#1D - Josh Shafer/Austin Kanaar (5-1)
#2D - Jackson Downing/Wil Rettinger (4-2)

Overview: This match is cut in the mold of the Columbia City and Fremont matches. In other words, it's going to be close, it's going to come down to the end. The key to take away from those other close matches that we lost is that whoever aggressively plays their game in tight circumstances usually gets the win. This is where we get to practice for Sectional. No matter what happens, we'll gain some experience and some confidence, knowing we get to play matches that matter.

Area Scores from 9/1

2011-09-02T07:14:00.005-04:00

On Our Schedule
Elkhart Memorial 5, NorthWood 0
#1S - Spenser Gilbert beat Brennan Angle 6-0, 6-0
#2S - Mazin Hakim beat Ben Zercher 6-3, 6-1.
#3S - Jacob Gaffney beat Quinn Stillson 7-5, 7-5.
#1D - Jeramal Dudley-Kyle Grubb beat Mitchell Keiser-Ben Wilson 6-2, 6-3.
#2D - Elliott Denton-Chirag Patel beat Shawn Stahley-Austin Sanders 6-1, 6-1.

Knox 3, Jimtown 2
#1S - Davy Johnston (K) beat Jacob Gongwer 6-1, 6-0;
#2S - Austin Risner (K) beat Dan Gongwer 6-4, 6-1
#3S - Austin Ward (J) beat Curtis Scherer 5-7, 7-6 (3), 6-4.
#1D - Harrison Metz-Elliot Coad (K) beat Cole Peterson-Jake Ward 6-3, 6-3
#2D - Michael Hobbs-Augie Farwig beat Cody Fletcher-Joe Clabough 4-6, 6-0, 7-6 (6).

Northridge 5, Goshen 0
#1S - Chris Robbins beat Eli Metzler-Prieb 6-4,6-3
#2S - Josh Garfein beat Drew Hostetler 6-1, 6-1.
#3S - Jed Miller beat Adam Bratten 4-6,6-4,6-2.
#1D - Alex Radelich/AJ Thielking beat Silas Buller/Sam Stenglemann 6-3, 7-6(3).
#2D - Andrew Gingerich/Byron Slabach beat Matt Buncich/Austin Stutzman 6-4, 6-7, 7-5.

St. Joseph's 3, Elkhart Central 2
#1S - Patrick O'Connor (SJ) beat Nick Burton, 6-4, 6-3
#2S - Brett Morton (EC) beat Tim Leonard, 6-1, 6-2
#3S - Holden Gangluff (SJ) beat Blake Brouwer, 6-3, 6-1.
#1D - Mitch Hanberg-Austin Sellers (EC) beat Nick Minaudo-Patrick Bruneel, 6-3, 6-0
#2D - Ryan Jamieson-Jason Rink (SJ) beat Franklin Fisher-Jake Mullins, 6-1, 6-3.

Tippecanoe Valley 5, Laville 0
#1S - Nick Kindig beat Grant Frick, 6-1, 6-0
#2S - Alex Newman beat Andrew Hulliberger, 6-1, 6-0
#3S - Tippecanoe Valley won by forfeit.
#1D - Clayton Adamson-Tanner Neeley beat Blade Masterson-Keanon Clemons, 6-1, 6-1
#2D - Robbie Groom-Diego Gutierrez beat Chris Nicodemus-Adam Baker, 6-1, 6-0.

Triton 4, Whitko 1
#1S - Tyler Baugher (W) beat Pete Kauffman 6-4, 6-2.
#2S - Lucas Shafer (T) beat Blake Castle 6-1,6-0.
#3S - Dean Howdeshell (T) beat Urian Bailey 6-0, 6-1.
#1D - Josh Shafer/Jeff Ross (T) beat Tyler Murphy/Seth Patrick 6-1,6-1.
#2D - Josh Kanarr/Darren Harrell (T) beat Tyler Pottenger/Cole Bechold 6-1, 6-0.

Westview 3, Lakeland 2
#1S - Spencer Mortola (L) beat Austin Schlabach, 6-2, 1-6, 6-3
#2S - Kohle Christner (W) beat Bret Balka, 6-1, 6-1
#3S - Dalton Schmidt (L) beat Jonathon Hostetler, 3-6, 6-2, 6-2.
#1D - Devin Bontreger-Nic Hostetler (W) beat Blake Balka-Ethan Fry, 6-1, 6-2
#2D - Jamar Weaver-Brett Yoder (W) beat Sam Miller-Robbie Arend, 6-2, 6-0.

Concord 5, Wawasee 0
#1S - Jason Denton def. Kyler Lane 6-0, 6-0.
#2S - Matt Kotva def. Isaac Ridgon 6-0, 6-1.
#3S - Jack Hinkle def. Todd Hauser 6-0, 6-0.
#1D - Bronson Dumont/Matt Ciesielski def. Westin Becker/Tyler Kissinger 5-7, 7-6 (7-5), 6-1.
#2D - Tony Fenech/Trevor Warren def. Cole Love/Derek Zurcher 6-1, 6-3.

Hamilton Heights 5, Taylor 0

from previous day...
Taylor 4, Madison-Grant 1
#1S - Taylor lost
#2S - Logan Barnes won 6-0, 6-0
#3S - Jack LIpchik won 6-0, 6-0
#1D - Cameron Clark/Drew Hansen won 6-2, 6-0
#2D - Austin Douglas/Damon Knosp won 5-7, 6-4, 6-4

Ranked in the District
St. Joseph's 3, #4 Elkhart Central 2
#8 Angola 3, Fremont 2
North Central 4, #6 Kokomo 1
#8 Mississenewa 5, Madison-Grant 0

Other Scores
Marian 5, South Bend Clay 0
New Prairie 3, Glenn 2
North Judson 4, Rensselear 1
Plymouth 4, Warsaw 1
Riley 3, Mishawaka 2

Area Scores from 8/30

2011-08-31T07:30:00.004-04:00

On Our Schedule
Elkhart Memorial 4, Northridge 1
#1S - Spenser Gilbert (EM) beat Chris Robbins 6-4,6-4.
#2S - Mazin Hakim (EM) beat AJ Thielking 4-6,6-2,6-2.
#3S - Josh Garfein (N) beat Jacob Gaffney 6-0, 6-1.
#1D - Dudley/Grubb (EM) beat Alex Radelich/Andrew Gingerich 1-6, 6-3, 6-1.
#2D - Denton/Patel (EM) beat Connor Cameron/Byron Slabach 7-5, 7-5.

Plymouth 5, Rochester 0
#1S - Gabe Vervynckt beat Aaron Stuart, 6-2, 6-1
#2S - Lane Singleton beat Taylor Beck, 6-1, 6-1
#3S - Luke Bumpus beat Jonathon Phoun, 6-3, 6-1.
#1D - Connor Flynn-Jordan Scheetz beat Alec Gehrich-Brandt Eyfheson, 6-0, 6-0
#2D - Joe Knapp-Matt Flynn beat Dannell Abright-Michael Kistler, 6-0, 6-0.

Triton 5, Laville 0
#1S - Jeff Ross beat Grant Frick 6-2, 6-0
#2S - Peter Kauffman beat Andrew Hulliberger 6-0, 6-0
#3S - Lucas Shafer won by forfeit.
#1D - Josh Shafer-Austin Kanarr beat Blade Masterson-Keanon Clemons 6-0, 6-0
#2D - Wil Rettinger-Jackson Downing beat Chris Nicodemus-Adam Baker 6-0, 6-0.

Warsaw 5, Goshen 0
#1S - Kyle Wettschurack beat Eli Metzler-Prieb, 6-3, 6-2
#2S - Evan Miller beat Drew Hostetler, 6-3, 6-2
#3S - Keaton Joyner beat Adam Bratten, 6-2, 6-1.
#1D - Sam Rice-A.J. Herendeen beat Sam Stegelmann-Silas Buller, 7-6, 6-4
#2D - A.J. Jansen-Connor Singrey beat Matt Buncich-Austin Stutzman, 7-5, 6-4.

Westview 3, Jimtown 2
#1S - Austin Schlabach (W) beat Brett Aller, 4-6, 7-6 (3), 6-2
#2S - Dan Gongwer (J) beat Kohle Christner 6-4, 6-3
#3S - Austin Ward (J) beat Jonathon Hostetler, 6-4, 6-1.
#1D - Nic Hostetler-Devin Bontreger (W) beat Cole Peterson-Jake Ward, 7-5, 6-4
#2D - Brett Yoder-Jamar Weaver (W) beat Augie Farwig-Michael Hobbs, 6-4, 6-1.

Elkhart Central 5, SB Washington 0
#1S - Nick Burton def. David Boling 6-0, 6-0.
#2S - Brett Morton def. Austin Cossel 6-0, 6-0.
#3S - Blake Brouwer by default.
#1D - Mitch Hanberg/Austin Sellers def. Christian Moreno/Tanner Cornelis 6-0, 6-0.
#2D - Franklin Fisher/Alex Moon by default.

Maconaquah 3, Wabash 2
#1S - Justin Middleton won 6-2, 2-6, 6-3
#2S - David Driscoll lost 4-6, 6-4, 3-6
#3S - Edward Dillard lost 3-6, 6-3, 6-7(9)
#1D - Stephan Eilts and Jack Stein lost 4-6, 1-6
#2D - JD Boone and Breyton Nealis won 7-6(8), 6-2

Concord 4, Fairfield 1
#1S - Jason Denton (C) def. Josh Mullet 6-1, 6-1.
#2S - Austin Christner (F) def. Matt Kotva 6-1, 2-6, 6-4.
#3S - Nick Pollock (C) def. Landon Knepp 7-6 (7-2), 6-4.
#1D - Bronson Dumont/Matt Ciesielski (C) def. Jordan Hochstetler/Dillon Lockwood 6-4, 6-3.
#2D - Michael Eisman/T Cunningham (C) def. Taylor Yoder/Marcus Rodes 6-4, 6-2.

from Monday...
Fairfield 5, Fremont 0
#1S - Josh Mullet def. Matt Hoff, 6-3, 7-5.
#2S - Austin Christner def. Matt Wilcox, 6-3, 6-2.
#3S - Landon Knepp def. Brandon Miller, 6-3, 4-6, 6-2.
#1D - Jordan Hochstetler/Dillon Lockwood def. Tyler Jenkins/Jake Bryant, 6-4, 6-7 (3), 7-5.
#2D - Taylor Yoder/Marcus Rodes def. Glen McClain/Andrew Smith, 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (6).

Ranked in Our District
#2 Penn 3, Marian 2

Other Scores
LaPorte 4, Portage 1
St. Joseph's 5, Mishawaka 0
Wawasee 4, Whitko 1

The Story vs. Prairie Heights: Match #9

2011-08-30T13:48:00.004-04:00

The Lead: "Another Day"
There's a song by the band Pomplamoose called Another Day. The lyrics to this fun little song go like this:

Another day, shows its face
I'm half awake, half in space
And if you told me I was beautiful
that would just be in poor taste.

That's how tonight's match was. There were moments where we looked really good, there were moments where we looked very bad. We were half awake, alive, playing with intensity... and then half in space, losing focus, making poor decisions, moving with slow feet. For the most part, we played pretty well, about like we should have.

But if I were to say we were awesome based on tonight, that would just be in poor taste. But we're moving in that direction.

Of course, according to my post from Lamentations last week, I'll choose to focus on the hopeful things. Blake's play of late has been really good. His consistent commitment to practice is really helping him begin to get better. Every day, Blake shows up to practice with game face on. His strokes are improving, his approaches are improving, his serve is becoming clutch. And it has really started to show in his matches. Tonight, again, at #1 singles, Blake played a nice clean match and got an easy win.

Ike had the most frustration tonight. Playing up from his normal spot of #3 singles, he got a very much #3 singles type of match. He played a consistent player who made little effort to attack. Ike found himself having to make all the plays, and that's difficult for a full match. He had a large lead in the first set but couldn't keep the aggression going. He had another tiebreak, but that's a given for the team this year. After falling behind 3-0 in the second, he found the rhythm again and made the match close, but couldn't pull it out.

Nate and Evan got a 2nd win at #1 doubles, dropping one less game this time and getting the overheads they so desperately wanted :-) Nice scissors kick match ender, Evan!

So it was a good night. I won't crown us right now, but I can't wait to see more.

The Hidden Narrative
Ike's close match might have been expected. Nate Clark played a nice match against Blake Shetler last year, one that was much better than the score indicated. He is the type of player that is difficult to play against. Ike played his best tennis tonight in the first couple of games. We will become very difficult to beat as a team if he continues to play like that.

Other Storylines
- If we're counting clinchers, Nate and Evan got the 3rd point tonight. Last night it was Blake. That means that Nate and Blake are tied with 2.

- There was only 1 JV match tonight, and we lost. Joel Gerig played a very consistent player and couldn't keep up with it.

- Abe Thorne got to play tonight! After getting a forfeit singles win yesterday, Abe pulled out a win tonight over an opponent.

- Parth's ending overhead was amazing. He framed it, it barely cleared the net, and barely bounced off the ground at all. His opponents stared in disbelief as it almost bounced backwards into the net.

The Scores
Varsity
#1S - Blake Shetler - 6-1, 6-0 - Tyler Carbone (12)
#2S - Ike Lehman - 6-7 (5), 5-7 - Nate Clark (11)
#3S - Abe Thorne - 6-1, 6-1 - Justin Clark (10)
#1D - Nate Brendle/Evan Grimes - 6-0, 6-1 - Nico Accomando (11)/Drew Vice (11)
#2D - Parth Patel/Jesse Amstutz - 6-2, 6-4 - Braxton Elliot (10)/John Sloan (9)

Junior Varsity
#1SJV - Joel Gerig - 3-8 - Jacob Heller (10)

Prairie Heights Preview

2011-08-30T10:23:00.003-04:00

Details: Tuesday, August 30 at 5:00 at Bethany Christian High School

Last Season Review: Last season we defeated Prairie Heights 5-0.

3 Interesting Facts
- Bethany Christian has only lost once in 15 tries against Prairie Heights. The only team we've beaten more is Churubusco.
- Prairie Heights only returns 2 players to its varsity from last year. Coincidentally, they played the same spots that our 2 returning players played last year. Like Nate and Blake, Nathan Clark played #3S and Tyler Carbone was at #2 doubles.
- It looks like the Panthers lineup has 4 players in it who were not on the team at all last year. They are all playing doubles in their most recent result.

Prairie Heights Details: Prairie Heights took a heavy 5-0 loss last night against Angola. They have also lost to Lakeland and Fairfield. I have not seen details on other matches.

Bethany Christian Details: We evened up our season record last night with a 5-0 win over Laville. So tonight we're looking to get back over .500.

Projected Prairie Heights Lineup
#1S - Tyler Carbone (0-3)
#2S - Nate Clark (1-2)
#3S - Justin Clark (0-1)
#1D - Nico Accomando-Braxton Elliot (0-2)
#2D - Drew Vice-John Sloan (0-2)

Overview: Prairie Heights is a team that often scrambles to fill out it's varsity lineup. In fact, earlier this season, against Fairfield they failed to play a #3 singles player. Nate Clark, the Panthers #2 singles player, is the only player I could find who has won on the season. They may have had matches which I don't have the results to, but Clark played a decent match against Blake Shetler last year. Of their returning players, no one took more than 2 games off of us last year. This is a match that we hope to win to get back above .500 on the year.

Area Scores from 8/29

2011-08-30T07:31:00.004-04:00

On Our Schedule
Goshen 4, Jimtown 1
#1S - Eli Metzler-Prieb (G) beat Brett Aller, 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 (3)
#2S - Dan Gongwar (J) beat Drew Hostetler, 6-4, 4-6, 6-1
#3S - Adam Bratten (G) beat Austin Ward, 7-5, 4-6, 7-5.
#1D - Sylas Buller-Sam Stegelmann (G) beat Jake Ward-Cole Peterson, 6-0, 6-1
#2D - Matt Buncich-Austin Stutzman (G) beat Augie Farwig-Michael Hobbs, 7-6 (4), 6-7 (3), 7-5.

Bremen 5, NorthWood 0
#1S - Briley Bollenbacher beat Brennan Angle, 6-2, 6-1
#2S - Brad Foster beat Ben Zercher, 6-0, 6-1
#3S - Wes Burkholder beat Mitchell Keiser, 6-1, 6-0.
#1D - Austin Huff-T.J. Bayer beat Devyn Maugel-Quinn Stillson, 6-0, 6-3
#2D - Joe Zeltwanger-Nate Strehler beat Shawn Stahley-Austin Sanders, 6-3, 6-4.

Westview 5, West Noble 0
#1S - Austin Schlabach beat Jordan Younce, 6-1, 6-0
#2S - Kohle Christner beat Tyler Rothaar, 6-1, 5-7, 7-5
#3S - Westview won by forfeit.
#1D - Devin Bontrager-Nic Hostetler beat Austin King-Skyler Campbell, 7-6 (6), 6-4
#2D - Brett Yoder-Jamar Weaver beat Quinn Groff-Kris Handshoe, 6-0, 6-2.

Ranked in Our District
New rankings this week (State rankings in parentheses)
1. FW Canterbury (#3)
2. Penn (#11)
3. Marion (#14)
4. Elkhart Central (#21)
5. FW Carroll (#22)
6. Kokomo
7. Concord
8. Mississenewa, Angola, & Bishop Dwenger

#1 FW Canterbury 5, #8 Bishop Dwenger 0
#8 Angola 5, Prairie Heights 0

Other Scores
North Judson 4, New Prairie 1
FW South Side 5, Bluffton 0
Norwell 5, FW Snider 0
FW Northrup 5, Blackhawk Christian 0

The Story vs. Laville: Match #8

2011-08-29T12:49:00.005-04:00

The Lead: "Winning Again"
Tonight was a match that we cruised through fairly easily. We switched positions around to get experience at different positions. Blake and Ike both moved up a spot while Nate dropped to #1 doubles. Jesse Amstutz joined Parth Patel at #2 doubles.

And with all the shake-ups, there wasn't much drama tonight. Which was really nice. For the first time in a long while... no tiebreaks. For the first time in a while, I didn't have to pace the sidelines during the last matches on the court. For the first time in a while, we won.

The Hidden Narrative
The pressure in a match like this is the hidden story. In a match against inexperienced players, it is really easy to lose focus and suddenly find yourself struggling with your own shots. Because the Lancers made many errors, we found ourselves trying to force the ball in at times - just like you do in a match against good opponents when you don't want to make an error.

The pressure is of a similar type. And tonight we all dealt with serves going awry, feet going dead, minds straying. We had to deal with that tonight. So hopefully, we'll learn from these things. Tonight was a good start.

Other Storylines
- First double bagel of the season tonight goes to Jesse Amstutz and Parth Patel. Way to hold concentration throughout and make the right plays.

- Tonight was Nate's first official doubles match. Last year he played a round in the scrimmage in doubles, but tonight was the first to go on his record. 1-0.

- Blake's opponent had a nice big serve, something that Blake has been working against in his last several matches. It was good for him to see it today.

- Abe Thorne played a practice match against Wade Troyer today. They were close, but Abe pulled off the win at the end.

The Scores
Varsity
#1S - Blake Shetler - 6-1, 6-0 - Grant Frick (12)
#2S - Ike Lehman - 6-0, 6-1 - Andrew Hulliberger (11)
#3S - Abe Thorne - win by default
#1D - Evan Grimes/Nate Brendle - 6-0, 6-2 - Blade Masterson (12)/Keanon Clemons (9)
#2D - Parth Patel/Jesse Amstutz - 6-0, 6-0 - Chris Nicodemus (10)/Adam Baker (9)

Laville Preview

2011-08-29T09:14:00.003-04:00

Details: Monday, August 29, at 4:30 PM at Bethany Christian High School.

Last Season Review: We played Laville's varsity against our JV last year. They won 3-2.

3 Interesting Facts:
- We used to play in a Laville Invitational in September, with Laville, SB Washington, and Michigan City Marquette. Laville is the only one of those teams we still play.
- Our last 4 varsity matches have involved at least one tiebreak.
- Tonight we will play our 4th different lineup of the season. Lots of people, getting lots of experience.

Laville Details: According to their online schedule, it looks as if the Lancers have only played one match this year. They should have played South Bend Adams, but I have not been able to find a result.

Bethany Christian Details: Our varsity is 3-4 on the season, but we easily could be 5-2. We lost two 3-2 matches last week in the closest of circumstances, but we're learning and growing and going to keep it going.

Projected Laville Lineup:
#1S: Grant Frick
#2S: Hunter Horvath
#3S: Andrew Hullinger
#1D: ?
#2D: ?

Outlook: We really don't know what to expect. The three returning players lost to Parth and Abe last year, but we don't really know what new players have shown up to play for the Lancers. We do know that they have 7 players this year, so the varsity match should be a full match. I guess we'll find out more tonight!

The Story at the Jimtown JV Invite

2011-08-27T15:30:00.006-04:00

The Lead: "Good Days"
We placed third in the tournament, lost two super close 3-2 matches (matching the varsity's 3-2 losses from the previous week :-), but... it was a good day.

First of all, nobody ended up with a losing record on the day. We had a couple of guys end up at 1-1 on the day, but everybody else went 2-1. Nobody who played failed to get a win.

Secondly, we learned a lot of things. We learned how to use our strengths, we learned that we can win close matches, we learned how to play good opponents. We learned that all we can control is what we can do. We learned new mental strategies ("Laugh win you lose!") We learned tennis strategy as well, where to serve from, where to play the net, where the safe and risky shots are, how important moving our feet is, etc.

Thirdly, we had fun. More and more as the day went on. In fact, the last match of the day was our toughest, but definitely our most fun. There was Wade, leading an upset of Concord at #1 doubles, skipping across the net. There was "Little T" (Tristan Clark) going for every volley at the net, missing some, and Justin Zehr sweeping them up behind. There was Sol, Landon, and Ryan playing their best matches of the year in defeat.

But it wasn't just the end of the day either. Ryan and Landon ran off 9 straight games to win their second round match. Sol and Jesse continued our team tradition of tiebreaks this year, winning one in the first and one in the second round. We won 5 out of 6 doubles matches on the day.

All in all, it was a great day!

The Hidden Narrative
One player finished the day undefeated. That one player was Justin Zehr. He played in two of the matches, and won both of them playing #2 doubles JV. His strokes have continued to improve since last year and he showed a real talent at covering for his partner in doubles.

It was good to see him succeed today, especially in the second round against Concord. In a match we may not have been expected to win, he and Tristan Clark jumped all over the Minutemen in the first set, taking a big lead from the beginning (3-0) and never looking back. In the second set, when things got tight, the Bruins were able to finish the match off on Justin's serve to prevent further tiebreaks.

Other Storylines
- Sol Brenneman picked up 2 more wins today, as did Hans Miller. That leaves both of them tied for top JV wins this season.

- The JV is now 4-0 in tiebreaks this year, picking up two more today. Amazingly, 2 of these tiebreaks have come in matches that helped us win the match. However, neither of those were today.

- In our continual "Freshman Watch," I like to track how well our freshman do against other in their same class. Today, we lost only one match against fellow freshman, with Hans Miller and Jesse Amstutz falling to Jimtown's #1 JV doubles.

- We also played a number of opponents today who have had varsity experience. Justin Schroder and Andy Feldman often play #2D for Rochester. Jacob Gongwer and Nicolas Floyd have played some varsity for Jimtown. Ryan Bishop has played 1 varsity match for Concord. We went 3-2 in these matches.

- We went 5-1 in doubles matches today. Went went 4-5 in singles matches. Perhaps it's the singles we need a little more help in!

The Scores
vs. Rochester
#1SJV - Jesse Amstutz - 6-2, 7-6 (6) - Justin Schroder (9)
#2SJV - Sol Brenneman - 6-3, 6-2 - Andy Feldman (9)
#3SJV - Landon Weldy - 6-3, 6-1 - Alex Denny (10)
#1DJV - Wade Troyer/Hans Miller - 6-0, 7-6 (2) - Dannell Albright (10)/Michael Kistler (9)
#2DJV - Justin Zehr/Tristan Clark - 6-0, 6-1 - Wes Gohn (9)/Connor Ulerick (9)

vs. Jimtown
#1SJV - Wade Troyer - 4-6, 0-6 - Jacob Gongwer (10)
#2SJV - Sol Brenneman - 6-2, 2-6, (12-10) - Darin Martin (9)
#3SJV - Tristan Clark - 3-6, 1-6 - Justin Newland (10)
#1DJV - Jesse Amstuz/Hans Miller - 5-7, 3-6 - Nicolas Floyd (9)/Mikey Pawlak (9)
#2DJV - Landon Weldy/Ryan Duckworth - 6-3, 6-0 - Nick Beron (10)/Brock Johnson (9)

vs. Concord
#1SJV - Sol Brenneman - 0-6, 1-6 - Jake Boyer (10)
#2SJV - Landon Weldy - 2-6, 2-6 - Jared Searer (10)
#3SJV - Ryan Duckworth - 2-6, 0-6 - Mitchell Lozier
#1DJV - Wade Troyer/Hans Miller - 6-3, 6-1 - Ryan Bishop (12)/Aaron Aller (9)
#2DJV - Justin Zehr/Tristan Clark - 6-2, 6-4 - Justin Ramsey (9)/Spenser Jacnichen (10)

Area Scores from 8/27

2011-08-27T15:25:00.002-04:00

On Our Schedule
Fairfield 3, East Noble 2
#1S - Josh Mullet (F) def. Matt Stallman 6-3, 6-0.
#2S - Devin Wolf (EN) def. Austin Christner 6-1, 6-4.
#3S - Landon Knepp (F) def. Evan Hart 6-3, 7-5.
#1D - Jordan Hochstetler/Dillon Lockwood (F) def. Nathan Manns/Jon Toles 6-1, 6-2.
#2D - Aaron Dills/Carl Kramer (EN) def. Taylor Yoder/Marcus Rodes 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (7-2).

Logansport Invite
Wabash 3, Maconaquah 2
Logansport 3, Wabash 2
Wabash 3, Lewis Cass 2

Marian Invitational
1. Elkhart Central
2. Northridge

Elkhart Central Individuals
#1S - Nick Burton 2nd (2-1).
#2S - Brett Morton 1st (3-0).
#3S - Blake Brouwer 3rd (2-1).
#1D - Mitch Hanberg/Austin Sellers 1st (3-0).
#2D - Franklin Fisher/Riley Futterknect (1-1), Fisher/Jake Mullins (1-0) 2nd.

Ranked in Our District
North Central Invitational
#1 - FW Canterbury 60 (1S, 2S, 3S, 1D, 2D)
Munster 28
#8 - FW Carroll 21
Floyd Central 16
#5 - Kokomo 14
Valparaiso 13
Bloomington South 12 (w/o #1S)
Homestead 6

Other Scores
New Prairie Invitational
1. ELKHART MEMORIAL 50
2. MISHAWAKA 33
3. MICHIGAN CITY 32
4. HOBART 30
5. MARQUETTE 23
6. NEW PRAIRIE 17
7. GLENN 12
8. CALUMET 9

The Story at Fremont: Match #7

2011-08-26T10:20:00.001-04:00

The Lead: "Drama"
It came right down to the end. Despite all of our close matches this season, this was the first one that literally came right down to the last match on the court, tied 2-2, playing for the varsity team win.

And it hurt. Losing that last point is not fun, in any sense of the word. It's at these points that I'm at a loss for words. Did we try hard? Yes. Did we practice hard? Yes. Are we getting better? Yes. Did it make a difference tonight? No.

So, I fall on Scripture at these times. My favorite passage in all of the Bible is Lamentations 3. As I'm writing this match report, it seems appropriate to me:

"I remember my affliction and my wandering,
the bitterness and the gall.
I well remember them,
and my soul is downcast within me.
Yet this I call to mind
and therefore I have hope:

Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail.
They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness."

I am not consumed with discouragement, instead, I will call to mind the great blessings of the season. Dairy Queen, Pizza King, bus rides, the Goshen and Jimtown matches (still 2-0 against the Sectional), and the improvements that we made.

But the story of tonight? Well, our doubles teams got outplayed tonight. The Eagles simply had much better, much more experienced players in these crucial positions. It was clear from the beginning that while we could compete, we weren't in a good spot to win these matches last night.

The singles, well, those were another story. Ike Lehman burst out of the gates at #3 singles and took the first set. Blake Shetler and Nate Brendle were back in forth in their matches, each up or down a game at all points of the first set. So very early on in the evening, it became apparent that we'd have to win all the varsity singles spots to win the team match. And we almost did.

Blake was down 4-3 in his first set, on serve. No one had broken serve yet, and I told him that if he could pour all of his energy and focus into breaking Eagle Matt Wilcox's next service game, that I thought the rest of the game would unravel for the Eagle #2. It turned out to be prophetic. Blake won his serve and then broke, and then won the next 7 games in a row to win his match.

For Ike, it was a difficult match. He started out quickly and confidently. His net attacking game was on and he was being consistent, even throwing in an ace or two. He took the first set and took a lead in the second. But then things started to get tight. Like we've talked about, it's hard to loosen up when everything is getting tight. And after holding a 5-4 lead in the second set, Ike lost 3 straight games to split sets. A little break, a little refocusing, and back on he went. In the third set, he and Eagle Brandon Miller traded games back and forth until a 4-4 tie. At this point, behind the cheers of his teammates, Ike sent passing and approach shots sailing past his opponent. With aggressive play he took the match.

Which brought everything down to Nate's match. Nate had lost a first set tiebreak, then won a second set tiebreak where he had faced 2 match points. Pretty impressive pressure play. But tonight it wasn't to be. Eagle Matt Hoff came up with incredible shots at incredible times, saving game points with whipped forehands, saving game points with lunging volleys, serve and volleying on big points. And we fell again, 3-2.

The JV Drama
The JV match came right down to the end as well. There were some impressive individual performances, but none better than Luke Schrock and Neel Bhagat. Playing in near darkness at 9:00 PM, these guys strung together a comeback that found them playing a tiebreak to clinch the JV victory. Indeed, they won the match to give our JV a 3-1 record on the season. Excellent job!

The Hidden Narrative
Lost in the 3-2 varsity losses might be the fact that Ike Lehman has put together two impressive, pressure-packed three set wins. On Tuesday night against Columbia City, he battled to a third set lead while hoping that Blake could keep us in the team match. Although Blake fell in that match, Ike finished his off.

Perhaps that gave him confidence tonight. Down 2-1 and needing to win both positions that were on the courts, Ike played extremely composed under pressure. The most impressive thing was the way that he turned on the attack when tied at 4-4 in the final set. It was as if he loosened up just at the right time. The match winner was a perfectly struck passing shot down the line, and he had also thrown in a lob winner in the game, as well as a point won from a net attack.

Not lost in this was the support of the guys who were not playing at the time. I really think their vocal support and cheers went a long way in giving Ike confidence and energy. It was cool to watch.

Other Storylines
- More tiebreaks! Seriously, it's going to be the season of the tiebreak. The JV match was won in a tiebreak and Nate almost played 3 in his match.

- Hans Miller got 2 JV wins tonight, so he is now tied with Sol Brenneman for most wins on the season. Hans pulled the double wins at #1D JV and then at #4S JV. A real renaissance man to take both and singles and doubles match.

- Our biggest win in the JV match came at that same position, with Landon Weldy and Hans really forming a formidable doubles pairing. Maybe it was because we watched the Bryan brother's video at lunch today that they did so well!

- Parth and Joel lost tonight 2-6, 2-6. They lost on Tuesday 2-6, 2-6. We'll need to put an end to this little trend, but it is an interesting little trend.

- Nate's match took nearly 3 hours tonight, making it one of the longest he's ever played. The longest match ever in Bethany history was a 3 hour 45 minute match between Luke Hostetter and, who else, Fremont!

- Fremont plays Fairfield next week, so it will give us an interesting comparison to the Falcons. We are certainly going to need to continue to build, but that should be the fun of it!

The Scores
Varsity
#1S - Nate Brendle - 6-7 (2), 7-6 (6), 5-7 - Matt Hoff (12)
#2S - Blake Shetler - 6-4, 6-0 - Matt Wilcox (12)
#3S - Ike Lehman - 6-2, 5-7, 6-4 - Brandon Miller (11)
#1D - Evan Grimes/Abe Thorne - 2-6, 0-6 - Tyler Jenkins (11)/Jake Bryant (11)
#2D - Parth Patel/Joel Gerig - 2-6, 2-6 - Glen McClain (11)/Andrew Smith (12)

JV
#1S - Jesse Amstutz - 4-8 - Tanner Frye (11)
#2S - Wade Troyer - 5-8 - Seth Wirick (10)
#3S - Sol Brenneman - 3-8 - Keith Bookwalter (10)
#4S - Hans Miller - 6-1 - Mason Kolberg (9)
#5S - Jesse Amstutz - 6-0 - Zach Easterday (9)
#1D - Landon Weldy/Hans Miller - 8-3 - Cole Trombley (10)/Derek Fischer (10)
#2D - Justin Zehr/Ryan Duckworth - 8-6 - Kraig Foley (9)/Tony LaRose (10)
#3D - Luke Schrock/Neel Bhagat - 8-7 (6) - Alberto Figueroa (9)/Jeff Herndon (9)
#4D - Colin Samuel/Roberto Ramos - 6-8 - Kyle Boekhout (9)/Drew Sullivan (9)

Area Scores from 8/25

2011-08-26T10:00:00.000-04:00

On Our Schedule
Bremen 3, New Prairie 2
#1S - Daryl Ralston (NP) beat Briley Bollenbacher, 6-4, 6-4
#2S - Matt Winter (NP) beat Brad Foster, 6-1, 6-4
#3S - Wes Burkholder (B) beat Mark Cichos, 6-1, 6-2.
#1D - Austin Huff-T.J. Bayer (B) beat Ben Jones-Chase Keller, 6-1, 6-3
#2D - Nate Strehler-Joe Zeltwanger (B) beat Lucas Major-Alex Suppinger, 6-0, 6-0.

Concord 4, NorthWood 1
#1S - Jason Denton (C) beat Brennan Angle 6-0, 6-0.
#2S - Jack Hinkle (C) beat Ben Zercher 6-4, 6-2.
#3S - Mitchell Keiser (NW) beat Ryan Bishop 6-0, 6-0.
#1D - Matt Cielsielski-Branson Dumont (C) beat jayson Linhart-Shawn Stahley 6-0, 6-0
#2D - Michael Eisman-Sean Purcell (C) beat Quinn Stillson-Austin Sanders 6-0, 6-0.

Elkhart Central 5, South Bend Clay 0
#1S - Nick Burton beat Nick Cwidak 6-0, 6-0.
#2S - Brett Morton beat Jonathan Ovalle 6-0, 6-0.
#3S - Elkhart Central won by forfeit.
#1D - Mitch Hanberg-Austin Sellers beat Jon Bladel-Blaze Shepard 6-0, 6-0.
#2D - Franklin Fisher-Jake Mullins beat Trey Rudisicis-Ramsey Omari 6-0, 6-0.

Goshen 5, Westview 0
#1S - Eli Metzler-Prieb beat Austin Schlach 6-3, 6-4.
#2S - Drew Hostetler beat Kohle Christner 6-2, 5-7, 6-1
#3S - Paul Johnson beat Jonathon Hostetler 6-2, 6-4.
#1D - Sylas Buller-Sam Stegelmann beat Devin Bontrager-Nic Hostetler 6-2, 6-4
#2D - Matt Buncich-Austin Stutzman beat Brett Yoder-Jamar Weaver 7-6(5), 6-4.

Lakeland 4, Prairie Heights 1
#1S - Spencer Mortola (L) beat Tyler Carbone 6-2, 6-2.
#2S - Nate Clark (PH) beat Bret Balka 6-3, 6-2.
#3S - Dalton Schmidt (L) beat Justin Clark 6-1, 6-3.
#1D - Blake Balka-Ethan Fry beat Nico Accomando-Braxton Elliot 6-2, 6-1
#2D - Robbie Arend-Sam Miller beat Drew Vice-John Sloan 6-2, 2-6, 6-1.

Marian 3, Triton 2
#1S - Jack Julien (M) beat Jeff Ross 6-2, 6-2.
#2S - Stephen Hicks (M) beat Pete Kauffman 6-2, 6-0.
#3S - Reilly Hicks (M) beat Lucas Shafer 7-6(1), 6-2.
#1D - Josh Shafer-Austin Kanarr (T) beat TommyYergler-Michael Amor 6-2, 1-6, 6-2.
#2D - Wil Rettinger-Jackson Downing (T) beat Clint Lowenhar-Colen Kebbe 4-6, 6-3, 6-0.

West Noble 4, Wawasee 1
#1S - Westin Becker (WW) won by default.
#2S - Jordan Younce beat Isaac Rigdon, 4-6, 6-1, 6-0.
#3S - Tyler Rothlaar beat Kyler Love 7-6, 6-2.
#1D - Skylar Campbell-Austin King beat Derek Zurcher-Cole Love 6-1, 6-0.
#2D - Kris handshoe-Quinn Groff beat Tyler Kissinger-Jake Thompson 4-6, 7-6, 6-4.

Ranked in Our District
#1 FW Canterbury 5, #8 FW Carroll 0
#2 Penn 4, South Bend Adams 1
#4 Elkhart Central 5, South Bend Clay 0
#6 Concord 4, NorthWood 1
#8 Mississenewa 5, Northwestern 0

Other Scores
Mishawaka 5, South Bend Washington 0
South Bend St. Joseph's 4, South Bend Riley 1
Warsaw 3, Elkhart Memorial 2
FW South Side 5, Bishop Luers 0
Angola 5, Leo 0
FW Northrup 5, FW Wayne 0
Madison-Grant 4, Elwood 1

11 Things for 2011

2011-08-25T09:45:00.004-04:00

I've been counting down the things I'm excited for in the 2011 season, thought I should go ahead and finish!

#11 - New Regional Alignment

#10 - New Practice Ideas

#9 - Playing Elite Competition
#8 - Playing a New Opponent
#7 - The Freshman
#6 - New JV Tournament

#5 - Creating an Atmosphere of Focus

#4 - Adding a New Chapter to Rivalries

Over the years of my coaching, one of the things I find most exciting is the rivalry matches. These are the matches with stories that extend beyond the current season. These are the teams that we constantly have close battles with, teams that eliminate us from Sectionals, teams that year after year we get excited to play and hopefully beat.

Our closest rivals shift over time, but certainly they always start with schools in our Sectional. When I started coaching, I even these repeated matchups weren't really "rivalries" because we got thumped all the time by everybody. Slowly that started to change. In 2007 (5 years into my coaching) we got our first Sectional victory, defeating Fairfield 3-2. That team was full of senior's who were expected to win that Sectional. A close match, a close victory, a story. A rivalry was set.

In our next match, we defeated Goshen 3-2. It happened in the closest of all fashions, a third set tiebreak in the deciding match. Johnny Kauffman and Jeremy Thomas were down 6-3 in the tiebreak, and came back to win it 8-6. 5 straight points under the most difficult of pressures. A close match, a close victory, a story. Another rivalry was set.

In the Sectional final, we lost to NorthWood 3-2. It was a match that we had opportunities to win. They returned 5 players to that team for the 2008 season, so we knew we'd see them again. A close match, a disappointment, another story. Another rivalry was in place.

Since that 2007 season, we've had tons of storylines about these Sectional rivals. For 2 straight years, we knocked Fairfield out of the Sectional. They've turned around and knocked us out of 2 straight. Since that first victory over Goshen we've added 5 more. They're hungry to beat us now. The rivalries aren't as fierce with Jimtown and NorthWood right now, because we've managed to win several matches in a row over both of those teams in convincing fashions. Jimtown is certainly an up-and-coming rivalry, with our close match this year and their entire returning varsity for next season. The same may be said for NorthWood soon.

I can't wait to keep adding chapters to these rivalry stories. Win or lose, these are the matches we remember. These are the matches that form us. Hopefully, these are the matches that bring us together.

Area Scores from 8/24

2011-08-25T07:26:00.004-04:00

On Our Schedule
Triton 3, Knox 2
#1S - Davey Johnson (K) beat Jeff Ross 6-2, 6-1
#2S - Pete Kauffman (T) beat Austin Risner 6-4, 7-6 (7-3)
#3S - Lucas Shafer (T) beat Curtis Scherer 6-0, 6-3
#1D - Austin Kanarr-Josh Shafer (T) beat Harrison Metz-Elliott Coad 6-4, 1-6, 7-5
#2D - Joe Clabough-Cody Fletcher (K) beat Wil Rettinger-Jack Downing 6-2, 6-2

Bremen 4, Jimtown 1
#1S - Briley Bollenbacher (B) beat Brett Aller 6-1, 6-0
#2S - Brad Foster (B) beat Dan Gongwer 7-5, 6-2
#3S - Wes Burkholder (B) beat Austin Ward 1-6, 6-2, 6-3.
#1D - Cole Peterson-Jake Ward (J) beat T.J. Bayer-Austin Huff 6-3, 6-0
#2D - Joe Zeltwanger-Nate Strehler (B) beat Michael Hobbs-Nick Floyd 6-2, 3-6, 7-5.

Penn 3, Concord 2
#1S - Jason Denton (C) beat Evan Rink, 6-1, 6-0
#2S - Connor McCarthy (P) beat Matt Kotva, 6-4, 7-5
#3S - Michael Wang (P) beat Nick Polluck, 6-0, 4-6, 6-2
#1D - Brad Walter-Sean Anderson (P) beat Matt Ciesielski-Bronson Dumont, 6-2, 6-0
#2D - Sean Purcell-Michael Eisman (C) beat Matt Hollowell-Victor Lu, 7-5, 7-5

St. Joseph's 4, Northridge 1
#1S - Chris Robbins (N) def. Patrick O’Connor 6-0, 6-2
#2S - Tim Leonard (SJ) def. AJ Thielking 6-2, 7-6 (8)
#3S - Holden Gangluff (SJ) def. Josh Garfein 5-7, 6-4, 6-2
#1D - Nick Minando/Patrick Bruneel (SJ) def. Alex Radelich/Andrew Gingerich 6-4,6-4
#2D - Ryan Jameson/Jason Rink (SJ) def. Connor Cameron/Byron Slabach 6-3,6-3.

Ranked in Our District
District rankings were released yesterday for week 1. Our district:
1. Canterbury
2. Penn
3. Marion
4. Elkhart Central
5. Kokomo
6. Concord
7. Bishop Dwenger
8. Mississenewa
8. FW Carroll

And there were matches involving them last night...
FW Carroll 3, Bishop Dwenger 2
Penn 3, Concord 2

Others
Angola 5, East Noble 0
Norwell 5, South Adams 0
Riley 5, Michigan City 0
Plymouth 5, Peru 0

Fremont Preview

2011-08-24T12:00:00.000-04:00

Details: Thursday, 4:45 at Fremont High School

Last Season Review: Last season we defeated the Eagles 5-0, with close matches at #3 singles and #1 doubles.

3 Interesting Facts:
- The Eagles are an experienced team, returning 5 players from last year's varsity.
- The Eagles did a team camp experience much like our own this summer, visiting Ludington, MI together for a week.
- Crazy weather fact: Four years ago when we visited Fremont, a tornado warning stopped our match before it ended.

Fremont Details: The Eagles come in at 1-1 on the season, having defeated West Noble and lost to FW Northrup. However, in between those matches the Eagles won their own invitational this weekend (against FW Snider, Leo, and FW South Side). They won 3 positions (#1S, #2S, #1D) and finished 2nd at #2D. They are riding momentum as they won over West Noble Monday.

Bethany Christian Details: We come into this match off of another crazy close match against Columbia City, which we lost 3-2. Our season record is now at 3-3.

Projected Fremont Lineup:
#1S: Matt Hoff (4-1)
#2S: Matt Wilcox (3-1)
#3S: Brandon Miller (2-3)
#1D: Tyler Jenkins/Jake Bryant (5-0)
#2D: Glen McLain/Andrew Smith (4-1)

Outlook: This is going to be a difficult matchup for us. A challenging one. There is no getting around that. The Eagles are a vastly improved team, bringing back talent, experience and a good work ethic. I'm sure that they expect this to be a big year for them, especially within their conference with Westview and Fairfield suffering personnel losses, and Fremont finished 4th behind them last year. We will certainly need to be on our best games to win the match, but again, this will be a chance for a memorable finish. Unlike Columbia City, we hope this time it will be memorable for the better!

Area Scores from 8/23

2011-08-24T08:12:00.004-04:00

On Our Schedule
Northridge 5, Westview 0
#1S - Chris Robbins beat Austin Schlabach 6-0, 6-0
#2S - A.J. Thielking beat Kohle Christner 6-1, 6-1
#3S - Josh Garfein beat Hunter Christner 6-0, 6-0.
#1D - Alex Radelich-Andrew Gingerich beat Nic Hostetler-Devin Bontreger 6-3, 5-7, 6-2
#2D - Connor Cameron-Byron Slabach beat Jamar Weaver-Brett Yoder 6-4, 7-5.

Fairfield 5, Prairie Heights 0
#1S - Josh Mullet def. Tyler Carbone 6-1, 6-1.
#2S - Austin Christner def. Nate Clark 6-0, 6-3.
#3S - Taylor Yoder by default.
#1D - Jordan Hochstetler/Landon Knepp def. Nico Accomando/Justin Clark 6-0, 6-0.
#2D - Marcus Rodes/Adam Yoder def. Braxton Elliot/John Sloan 6-0, 6-1.

Wabash 5, Tippecanoe Valley 0
#1S - Justin Middleton won 6-7 (2), 6-0, 6-2
#2S - David Driscoll won 6-2, 6-0
#3S - Edward Dillard won 7-5, 6-3
#1D - Stephan Elicts/Jack Stein won 3-6, 6-4, 7-5
#2D - JD Boone/Breyton Nealis won 6-4, 6-1

Lakeland 5, Churubusco 0
#1S - Spencer Mortola beat Brandon Wormcastle 6-0, 6-1
#2S - Bret Balka beat Landon Pearson 6-0, 6-0
#3S - Dalton Schmidt beat Joey Heaton 6-4, 6-3
#1D - Ethan Fry-Blake Balka beat Luke Lillmars-Grant Stephan 6-2, 6-3
#2D - Sam Miller-Robbie Arend beat Brian Murphy-Landen Lillmars 6-4, 6-2.

Wawasee 3, Central Noble 2

District Ranked
No results but... the state rankings came out.

From our district:
#4 - FW Canterbury
#13 - Penn
#15 - Marion
#20 - Elkhart Central

Other Scores
Mishawaka 5, John Glenn 0
Angola 3, DeKalb 2
Norwell 4, FW South Side 1

The Story vs. Columbia City: Match #6

2011-08-23T19:39:00.004-04:00

The Lead: "Heartbreak Again"
The dreariness afternoon hung above us ominously as we waited in the dripping rain for the Eagles to arrive. I couldn't help but remember last season, as we drove through the gray to Columbia City for the first time, not knowing what to expect. Three hours later we had driven back, owners of our first loss, 3-2. This year, I hoped we knew what to expect, I hoped we'd come with some fire, I hoped we'd pull out a memorable match.

And it will be memorable, but probably only in disappointment. As a varsity team, this is probably one of the closest team matches ever. 3 matches went into 3 sets. There were 4 tiebreak sets (we won 3 of the 4 tiebreaks, got to like that!)

But when we needed to string points together, it wasn't there. We couldn't get the momentum when we needed it, to pull ahead, to pull back, to win the crucial games. And that mental and physical consistency under pressure will be key heading forward.

The match came down to the 3 singles spots today, as both doubles were decided in two sets. We won the #1 doubles match, the Eagles took #2 doubles. So 2 of 3 singles spots were needed for the win. But all the singles players decided they wanted to play for a really long time, and each match went into three sets. Nate matched up against a player who was quick, got to many balls, but simply took the pace off of everything. Blake seemed to be playing a carbon copy of that same player. And Ike was playing an aggressive player who liked to try to take the net and finish points from there.

Blake took a first set tiebreak, but lost the second. Nate got frustrated and made too many errors in the first set, but came back to storm through the second set, swinging the ball wide and attacking behind these balls. Ike dropped a first set tiebreak, and told me that the second set would not go to a tiebreak. It got close, but he won the set 7-5 behind much more confident strokes.

All of the third sets went back and forth. Nate was the first to finish, as he traded games with junior Derek Hinen until 4-4, where Nate's finishing touch at the net seemed to desert him. Behind a few missed volleys, Hinen took the 5-4 lead and then served out the match to win 6-4.

Which meant we needed Blake and Ike. And Ike was looking good for it. He pushed himself ahead first 2-1, then 3-2, then 4-3. Always close but always keeping his nose in front. Blake and senior Gabe Boles traded service games, but Blake did not seem confident in his strokes despite the close score. Holding a 3-2 lead, Boles finally broke and then held again to go up 5-2 in the set. Blake played an aggressive last game, but couldn't find the winning touch to take it. Boles won 6-2 in the final set, sealing the Eagles final point for victory.

Ike finished up his match, getting his first singles victory of the season. That was a positive end on the night. We'll have to get better at closing these long matches, at finishing and staying aggressive. Ike was able to keep his nerve and do just that, and he ended up a winner. It's a difficult thing to keep mind and body in that aggressive and loose state. Hopefully these heartbreaks are building blocks to some future successes!

The Hidden Narrative
Abe Thorne and Evan Grimes are coming on as a doubles team. After losing their first two matches at Northridge and against Goshen, they are on a 3 match winning streak. It all started in the second set against Goshen, where they finally realized what it really means to be aggressive and active in doubles. From there, they've taken these tendencies and won matches.

Tonight, despite a close scoreline, it always felt like Evan and Abe were in control. They were getting enough of their serves in, they were the team controlling the points (even when they were making the errors). That's what I love to see. The ability to take control of a point and put yourself in the best position possible.

And the winning has come from finishing those points. Putting down overheads, punching volleys in between their opponents, finding the seams for passing shots, and using the tool of the lob. I was quite impressed with the array of weapons from the team tonight, and can't wait to see those continue to develop. Perhaps we'll get a second shot at the Goshen team that taught us so much if Abe and Evan continue to improve!

Other Storylines
- Abe and Evan won in two tiebreak sets. That means they have now played 5 straight tiebreak sets. Also, after losing the first, they've won 4 straight.

- There were 4 tiebreak sets in this match tonight. We also had 4 against Jimtown. This team has a desire for the dramatic, I guess :-)

- For the first time in my 9 years of coaching, I was involved in a match where a line judge was called. It was weird, standing there on the court. But I did get an up close and personal view of Abe and Evan finishing off their second set.

- Wade Troyer won his second straight match at #1 singles JV. He had a chance to close it out 8-0, but felt some compassion and gave up 2 games. This is the second straight year he has defeated Blake Fearnow from Columbia City (who has a simply awesome last name!)

- Speaking of tiebreaks, the JV team match was decided in one. Sol Brenneman and Ryan Duckworth struggled with their own errors throughout the night, but they sealed the JV's second win of the season by defeating Blake Fearnow and David Peterson 7-6. The tiebreak was impressive, as the freshmen gained their composure and won it 7-1!

- Colin Samuel got his first match in tonight, and won a game too! He played a couple of very long, very good points, eventually losing 8-1.

- #2 doubles lost tonight, 6-2, 6-2. But at times, Joel's lefty serve was unreturnable. It was funny to watch the Eagles struggle with the spin of the shot as it curled into their backhands. Also, fun to watch Parth slam down ones that weakly cleared the net. Now, about doing that consistently... :-)

- Tonight was Ike's first varsity singles win! Celebrations are in order!

The Scores
Varsity
#1S - Nate Brendle - 2-6, 6-1, 4-6 - Derek Hinen (11)
#2S - Blake Shetler - 7-6 (4), 2-6, 2-6 - Gabe Boles (12)
#3S - Ike Lehman - 6-7 (5), 7-5, 6-3 - Devin Moore (12)
#1D - Evan Grimes/Abe Thorne - 7-6 (5), 7-6 (2) - Ryan Flauding (12)/Dalton VanHouten (10)
#2D - Joel Gerig/Parth Patel -2-6, 2-6 - Matt Rethlake (12)/Brandon Gay (12)

Junior Varsity
#1SJV - Wade Troyer - 8-2 - Blake Fearnow (10)
#2SJV - Colin Samuel - 1-8 - Mason Coverstone (9)
#1DJV - Sol Brenneman/Ryan Duckworth - 7-6 (1) - Blake Fearnow (10)/David Peterson (9)

Area Scores from 8/22

2011-08-23T10:05:00.003-04:00

On our schedule
Elkhart Central 4, Goshen 1
#1S - Nick Burton (EC) beat Eli Metzler-Prieb 6-4, 6-2.
#2S - Brett Morton (EC) beat Drew Hostetler 6-2, 6-2.
#3S - Blake Brouwer beat Adam Bratten 6-2, 5-7, 7-5.
#1D - Mitch Hanberg-Austin Sellers (EC) beat Sylas Buller-Sam Stegelmann 6-2, 6-4.
#2D - Matt Buncich-Austin Stulzman (G) beat Franklin Fisher-Alex Moon 7-5, 6-4.

Saint Joseph's 4, Bremen 1
#1S - Patrick O’Conner (SJ) beat Briley Bollenbacher 6-4,6-0
#2S - Tim Leonard (SJ) beat Brad Foster 6-3, 6-2; 3.
#3S - olden Gangloff (SJ) beat West Burkholder, 6-1, 6-4
#1D - Nick Minaudo-Patrick Bruneel (SJ) beat TJ Bayer-Austin Huff 7-6, 2-6, 6-2;
#2D - Joe Zeltwanger-Nate Strehler (B) beat Ryan Jamieson-Jason Rink 6-2, 6-3.

Elkhart Memorial 4, Jimtown 1
#1S - Spenser Gilbert (M) def. Brett Aller 6-0, 6-0.
#2S - Mazin Hakim (M) def. Jake Ward 6-1, 6-0.
#3S - Jacob Gongwer (J) def. Jacob Gaffney 6-0, 6-1
#1D - Jerahmal Dudley-Kyle Grubb (M) def. Cole Peterson/Austin Ward 1-6, 6-1, 6-4.
#2D - Elliott Denton/Chirag Patel (M) def. Dan Gongwer/Augie Farwig 6-4, 6-3.

Fairfield 5, NorthWood 0
#1S - Josh Mullet def. Brennan Angle 6-1, 6-0.
#2S - Austin Christner def. Mitchell Kisier 6-0, 6-3.
#3S - Landon Knepp def. Quinn Stillson 6-0, 6-0.
#1D - Jordan Hochstetler/Taylor Yoder def. Ben Zercher/Jayson Linhart 6-1, 6-4.
#2D - Marcus Rodes/Adam Yoder def. Shawn Stahley/Austin Sanders 6-0, 7-5.

Others
Warsaw 4, Marian 1
East Noble 3, FW Concordia 2
FW Carroll 5, Blackhawk Christian 0
Marion 5, Elwood 0
Hamilton Southeastern 3, FW Canterbury 2

Columbia City Preview

2011-08-22T08:26:00.004-04:00

Details: Tuesday, August 23, 4:45 at Bethany Christian High School

Last Season Review: We lost to Columbia City last year, 3-2 in a super close match, both doubles matches especially. The Eagles were 1 of only 2 teams that we lost to last season.

3 Interesting Facts:
- Both teams lost 5 of their 7 varsity players from last year.
- This is only the second time our teams have met, so we're looking to even our record against the Eagles.
- There should be a rematch from last year, when Derek Hinen and Nate Brendle met at #3 singles. This year the matchup will take place at #1 singles. Last year, Hinen won in 2 sets.

Columbia City Details: The Eagles are off to a 2-1 start to the season. They blanked Churubusco and took a 3-2 victory over Warsaw, while falling 4-1 to the Concord Minutemen.

Bethany Christian Details: The Bruins are 3-2 on the young season, coming off a successful but tough day at the Concord Invite where we finished 2nd.

Projected Columbia City Lineup:
#1S: Derek Hinen (2-1)
#2S: Gabe Boles (3-0)
#3S: Devin Moore (1-2)
#1D: Ryan Flauding/Dalton VanHouten (1-2)
#2D: Matt Rethlake/Brandon Bay (1-2)

Outlook: I expect this match to be very close. Columbia City lost to Concord 4-1, winning #2 singles. We lost 5-0 to Concord, but our singles scores were much closer at #1 and #3 singles. They were closer at the doubles positions, but Concord played very different lineups in each match. All in all, you've got two teams that are young and inexperienced coming off of fantastic years last year. I'm hoping that we are up for this match as a chance to prove ourselves and how hard we've worked, both in the offseason, in practice, and in learning from our match experience so far this year. Predicting a result is difficult, but I'm sure this could be a 3-2 one way or another. Every position will be close, so I'm excited because these are the matches that are fun and the ones that are memorable!

The Story at the Concord Invite: Matches #3-#5

2011-08-21T15:17:00.001-04:00

This was a very long, emotional, and intense day. We finished 2nd behind Concord, and I'm really proud of everyone. We all had shining moments today. For now, 2 wins and 1 loss, and a lot of pride over the way we played.

The Lead: "So Close"
The day started with a 4-1 win and ended with a 5-0 loss. But everything in between was so stinking close.

The last match to end the day was the most emotional, as Nate Brendle battled, sweated, grinded, and gave absolutely everything against his good friend from Concord, senior Jason Denton. Jason will arguably be in the top 5 of our district this year, and Nate hung right with him. After dropping the first set, Nate found a winning formula in the 2nd. But it was so difficult to execute, as Denton punished any ball left short in the court with aggressive balls to the corners. With Nate unable to ever let his game drop, he roared through the second set with "C'mon's!" and "Let's go's!" He took a 5-2 lead in the set, only to see Denton play 3 spotless games to tie. The set went to a tiebreak, and the tension riding on each point was easily felt in the lobby of the Eastlake Racket Club where we were playing indoors. Finally, trailing 7-6, Nate saw a forehand fly long to end the close match.

I love words, but words aren't going to display how well Nate played and how proud I am of him. But I totally understand the disappointment he had after the match. He spent himself to try to beat the best, and got that close. With matches like this, he'll get another chance.

And of course, insanely close was the order of the day. After losing 5 players in the offseason from our varsity, if you'd have told me we would be 3 tiebreakers from taking a match to win the Concord Invitational, I'd have thought you were crazy. But the improvement of this young, inexperienced team has been rapid, and we found ourselves in that exact position at the end of the Concord match. Blake Shetler and Ike Lehman both had dominated the first set of their matches, only to get caught in the second. So as Nate entered his epic tiebreak with Jason Denton, Ike and Blake were entering 10-point tiebreaks to decide their split set matches.

After playing so well throughout the day, the pressure seemed to get to us a little bit. It's in these pressure situations that "inexperience" really becomes an issue. If we've never felt them before, they are hard to perform in. That was evident in Ike's match, and somewhat in Blake's as well. After taking early leads in the super-tiebreaks, both Blake and Ike fell in the match deciders. That made our Concord match score, 5-0, but with as close as we were in the singles matches, it felt nothing like that!

But we didn't only have close losses, we cashed in on some tight wins during the day. In fact, Evan and Abe put in their claim to closest match ever. Playing #1 doubles against Jimtown, Evan and Abe played fantastic, pushing Cole Peterson and Austin Ward to a tiebreak to end the first set. Peterson and Ward looked like the 2nd year varsity players that they are in pulling out 5 brilliant first serves in the breaker, and we threw in 2 double faults to lose the first set tiebreak. In the second set, they pulled ahead a bit and it was still on. They led 5-4 with a chance to push it to a third, but they couldn't finish. Then the Jimmies took a 6-5 lead. With Abe serving to stay in the match, I simply told the guys, "Hey, now you get to play 3 tiebreakers."

Sure enough, they took the game and entered a tiebreak to end the second set. This time, it was the Jimmies who felt the nerves, giving away several double faults. Abe and Evan finished points at the net, and on set point an overhead hung up for Abe to slam away. With Evan crying "Put it away!" Abe slammed the ball down, but it came back. The next shot though, Abe put down with authority, winning the set.

Onto the third set, 10-point tiebreak, where we promptly lost the first 4 points. But, with me crying for them to build momentum, Abe and Evan ran off an incredible streak of 7 straight points to take the lead. Finally, they led 9-6 with a chance to win the match. But, oh no, we were going much longer than that. Losing their first three match points, the Bruins actually ending up giving the Jimmies a match point. But that was erased with a double fault, and the match was tied at 10-10. Then Abe and Evan started a pattern of going ahead, getting the match point, but then getting tied up again. The tiebreak seesawed to 15-14 for the Bruins. It looked like the match was getting tied up again as the Jimmies got an overhead at the net and slammed it at Abe's feet, but while jumping out of the way Abe scooped up the bulleting shot and we won the match! 6-7, 7-6, (16-14)! Just, wow.

Close matches, and close to a wonderful team. So, so close...

The Hidden Narrative
Our continued search for our best lineup boiled underneath this whole match. Certainly, Nate and Blake have made #1 and #2 singles their positions, but the rest of the team is still in flux. While we won 4 out of the 6 doubles matches today, we are still far from settled on a lineup.

Throughout the day, we failed to win a match at #3 singles. Ike Lehman and Jesse Amstutz played well throughout the day, but we are still searching for the combination of consistency and smart aggression that wins at #3 singles. I was proud of the way these guys have taken to their new positions this season, I know that improvement will continue as well play.

At doubles, Joel Gerig and Parth Patel really played a great match against Jimtown. We weren't sure how they'd play, as it was their first match together and Joel's first real varsity match. Despite the nerves, they had an excellent win. In the Concord match, we switched them apart, and neither played quite as well. Abe and Evan won both of their matches together (against Rochester and Jimtown), and then lost when split apart against Concord. So, we continue to look, but the biggest thing is that everybody keeps getting better at the spots they do play.

Other Storylines
- Nate had a heartbreaking tiebreak loss, but he also dominated a first set tiebreak against Jimtown #1 Brett Aller. Nate had an outstanding day, getting his season record to 4-1.

- Our first varsity battle of the freshman happened today, in the first match as Jonathon Phoun took down Jesse Amstutz. Jesse played great, but couldn't find a way to break down Phoun's consistency.

- This is the 4th straight year that we've defeated both Jimtown and Rochester in this tournament. Only last year did we defeat Concord.

- Ike Lehman and Parth Patel really reeled off a great run against Rochester in the first round. After struggling to get going, they ran off 8 straight games to finish the match. The big difference? Movement and expectation!

- As we look at class matchups, Abe, Parth and Joel did well against the other sophomores they played today... with the exception of Concord's #2 doubles.

- Blake really hit his stride in the 2nd match of the day, playing an incredibly consistent, attacking style and securing us our first point against Jimtown.

- I always keep track of who clinches our wins (meaning who secures our 3rd point). Today Ike and Parth clinched the first match, while Nate clinched the 2nd. Blake's also got 1 clincher this year (against Goshen). Last year, Nate led us with 6 matches clinched.

- Everybody who played today got a win, except for Jesse Amstutz, which is a little unfair because he only got to play one match.

- I'm always grateful for the Bruin Tennis alumni who show up to cheer us on. Thanks for being there today Ben Mast, Luke Hostetter, and Kyle Miller.

- Of all the teams at the tournament today, we had the least returning varsity players from last year. Is it any wonder why I'm so proud of my team today! 2nd place is a wonderful result, and shows that the summer work paid off. I'm proud of all of you!

The Scores
Rochester
#1S - Nate Brendle - 6-3, 6-0 - Aaron Stuart (12)
#2S - Blake Shetler - 6-2, 6-3 - Taylor Beck (12)
#3S - Jesse Amstutz - 4-6, 3-6 - Jonathon Phoun (9)
#1D - Evan Grimes/Abe Thorne - 6-1, 6-3 - Brant Eytcheson (10)/Alec Gehrich (10)
#2D - Ike Lehman/Parth Patel - 6-4, 6-0 - Justin Schroder (9)/Andy Feldmen (9)

Jimtown
#1S - Nate Brendle - 7-6 (2), 6-1 - Brett Aller (11)
#2S - Blake Shetler - 6-2, 6-0 - Jake Ward (11)
#3S - Ike Lehman - 3-6, 4-6 - Dan Gongwer (11)
#1D - Evan Grimes/Abe Thorne - 6-7 (2), 7-6 (4), (16-14) - Cole Peterson (11)/Austin Ward (11)
#2D - Parth Patel/Joel Gerig - 6-4, 6-3 - Augie Farwig (11)/Michael Hobbs (10)

Concord
#1S - Nate Brendle - 2-6, 6-7 (6) - Jason Denton (12)
#2S - Blake Shetler - 6-3, 2-6, (5-10) - Matt Kotva (11)
#3S - Ike Lehman - 6-3, 2-6, (6-10) - Trevor Warren (11)
#1D - Evan Grimes/Joel Gerig - 1-6, 0-6 - Sean Purcell (12)/Michael Eisman (12)
#2D - Abe Thorne/Parth Patel - 0-6, 1-6 - T Cunningham (11)/Tony Fenech (10)

Area Scores from 8/20

2011-08-21T15:15:00.003-04:00

On our schedule
Penn 4, Northridge 1
#1S - Evan Rink (P) beat Chris Robbins 6-2, 4-6, 7-6 (3)
#2S - Connor McCarthy (P) beat A.J. Thilking 6-1, 3-6, 6-1
#3S - Josh Garfein (N) beat Michael Wang 6-1, 6-3.
#1D - Brad Walter-Sean Anderson (P) beat Alex Radelich-Andrew Gingerich 6-4, 6-1
#2D - Victor Lu-Matt Hollowell (P) beat Connor Cameron-Byron Slabaugh 7-5, 6-1.

Lewis Cass Invitational
Eastern 3, Tippecanoe Valley 2
Cass 3, Eastern 2
Hamilton Heights 5, Eastern 0

DeKalb Invitational
Angola - 31
DeKalb - 29
Norwell - 28
Bellmont - 18
East Noble - 8
West Noble - 6
Jay County - 4
NorthWood - 1

Other scores
FW Canterbury 5, West Lafayette 0
Marion 5, New Castle 0
Marion 5, Anderson 0
Kokomo 5, New Castle 0
Richmond 4, Huntington North 1
Logansport 5, Muncie Central 0
Kokomo 4, Anderson 1

Concord Invite Preview

2011-08-19T07:37:00.004-04:00

Details: Saturday, August 20, 9:00 AM at Concord High School.

Last Season Review: Last year the Bruins were the champions of the Concord Invite, defeating Jimtown and Rochester 5-0, and Concord 4-1.

3 Interesting Facts:
- In the years since this tourney started, last year was the only year Concord had not won.
- This is the only tournament that remains unchanged on our schedule since Matt started coaching. Other tournaments that have come and gone: the Lakeland Invite, the LaVille Invite, the Warsaw Invite, and the Wayne Invite. Of course, we've added the Merrillville Invite and the Wabash Invite over the past 3 years, giving us a strong and fun schedule.
- Of the three teams competing this first weekend of the schedule, we have already played a combined 8 matches. That's alot of first week experience!

Concord Details: The Minutemen should have a strong team this year, especially since they return Jason Denton at #1 singles, one of three opponents Ben lost to last year. They have opened the year at 3-1, defeating Columbia City, John Glenn, Bremen but losing to Elkhart Central.

Jimtown Details: The Jimmies return much of their team from last year. Unfortunately, it wasn't a very successful year for them. However, they have opened the 2011 season with 2 wins, defeating NorthWood and Mishawaka.

Rochester Details:The Rhinos started their season with a 5-0 win, over South Bend Clay. Then they lost 5-0 to Triton yesterday, so I they are also 1-1 on the season.

Bethany Christian Details: We pulled out a close win against Goshen last night, to even our record at 1-1. In both matches, we've some good play and some not quite up to the necessary level. We will continue to work on that throughout the season, and get a chance to test ourselves 3 times. We'll probably mix things up a bit this weekend to see what we can do.

Projected Lineups:
Concord
#1S - Jason Denton (4-0)
#2S - Matt Kotva (2-1)
#3S - Nick Polluck (2-2)
#1D - Matt Ciesielski/Sean Purcell (2-1)
#2D - Bronson DuMont/Jack Hinkle (2-1)

Jimtown
#1S - Brett Aller (2-0)
#2S - Jake Ward (2-0)
#3S - Dan Gongwer (1-1)
#1D - Cole Peterson/Austin Ward (2-0)
#2D - Augie Farwig/Michael Hobbs (2-0)

Rochester
#1S - Aaron Stuart (1-1)
#2S - Taylor Beck (1-1)
#3S - ? (0-1)
#1D - Brant Eytcheson/Alec Gehrich (1-1)
#2D - Justin Schroder/Andy Feldmen (1-1)

Outlook: This should be an interesting tournament. Concord will be a tough matchup, as they are very experienced. However, they are coming off a loss. Jimtown and Rochester are opponents that will again tell us where we are in comparison to other teams on our schedule. Triton won 5-0 over Rochester, and Jimtown has easily beaten NorthWood and Mishawaka, two opponents we are familiar with, who both fielded weaker squads last season. Hopefully we will be able to pull wins out over the Jimmies and the Rhinos, and give the Minutemen everything that we have. We certainly will try to defend our title with confidence!

Area Scores from 8/18

2011-08-19T07:22:00.005-04:00

Thursday, August 18, 2011

On our schedule
Jimtown 5, Mishawaka 0
#1S - Brett Aller def. Andrew Laubner, 6-2, 2-6, 6-3
#2S - Jed Ward def. Bobby LeRoy, 6-3, 6-2
#3S - Dan Gongwer def. Jon Dickinson, 6-1, 6-1
#1D - Cole Peterson/Austin Ward def. Michael Furlow/Mitch Montgomery, 6-1, 6-3
#2D - Augie Farwig/Michael Hobbs def. Andrew Furlow/Brice Thomas, 6-0, 3-6, 6-3

Fairfield 5, Bremen 0
#1S - Josh Mullet def. Briley Bollenbacher, 6-2, 6-2
#2S - Austin Christner def. Brad Foster, 6-1, 6-1
#3S - Landon Knepp def. Wes Burkholder, 6-1, 6-3
#1D - Jordan Hochstetler/Taylor Yoder def. Austin Huff/T.J. Bayer, 7-5, 6-2
#2D - Marcus Rodes/Adam Yoder def. Joe Zeltwanger/Nate Stehler, 6-7 (4), 6-4, 6-4

Westview 5, Whitko 0
#1S - Austin Schlabach def. Blake Castle, 6-3, 6-1
#2S - Kohle Christner def. Urian Bailey, 6-0, 6-2
#3S - Westview by default
#1D - Nic Hostetler/Devin Bontrager def. Tyler Murphy/Seth Patrick, 6-0, 6-0
#2D - Jamar Weaver/Jonathon Hostetler def. Tyler Pottenger/Cole Bechtold, 6-2, 6-0

Tippecanoe Valley 3, North Judson 2
#1S - Nick Kindig (TV) d. Chris Lippelt, 6-0, 6-0
#2S - Tanner Neeley (TV) d. Bubba Shelton, 4-6, 6-2, 6-2
#3S - Lee Lukac (NJ) d. Derek Cunningham, 6-2, 6-2.
#1D - Robby Groom-Clayton Adamson (TV) d. Devin Cruce-John Zeller, 6-2, 6-0
#2D - Levi Bailey-Zach Bailey (NJ) d. Trey Peterson-Isaac Sherman, 6-3, 6-3.

Triton 5, Rochester 0
#1S - Jeff Ross beat Aaron Stuart, 6-2, 7-6 (3)
#2S - Pete Kauffman beat Taylor Beck, 1-6, 6-4, 7-5
#3S - Lucas Shafer beat Jonathon Phorn, 6-4, 6-3.
#1D - Josh Shafer-Austin Kanarr beat Brandt Eyteheson-Alec Gehrich, 6-0, 6-0
#2D - Wil Rettinger-Jackson Downing beat Andy Feldman-Justin Schroder, 6-1,6-0.

Plymouth 5, Wawasee 0
#1S - Gabe Vervynckt d. Isaac Rigdon, 6-1, 6-1
#2S - Lane Singleton d. Kyler Love, 6-0, 6-0
#3S - Luke Bumpus d. Todd Hauser, 6-0, 6-0.
#1D - Connor Flynn-Jordan Scheetz d. Westin Becker-Tyler Kissinger, 6-2, 6-2
#2D - Joe Knapp-Matt Flynn d. Cole Love-Derek Zurcher, 6-0, 6-3.

Wabash 4, Madison Grant 1
#1S - Justin Middleton lost 4-6, 3-6
#2S - David Driscoll won 6-2, 6-2
#3S - Edward Dillard won 6-0, 6-1
#1D - Stephen Eilts/Jack Stein won 6-2, 6-2
#2D - Breyton Nealis/JD Boone won 6-0, 6-2

FW Northrup 3, Fremont 2

Others
Lakeland 3, East Noble 2
FW South Side 5, Churubusco 0
Kokomo 4, Mississenewa 1
FW Carroll 5, FW Snider 0
Norwell 5, Jay County 0
Marion 5, Blackford 0

The Story vs. Goshen: Match #2

2011-08-18T15:23:00.006-04:00

The Lead : "Blake in the Clutch"
The train blared in our ears as I looked at Blake and tried to determine our fate. The team match was 2-2. He was in the third set, up 2-1. I couldn't tell where he was at mentally, how things were going to go. "Stay aggressive," I said. "I will," he said walking back to the court.

With Redskin senior Drew Hostetler serving, there was a good bet he would even up the score of the final set. His serve had proven hard to break throughout the match, especially as he got the big booming first serve in. And as the game started, Blake lost three straight to fall behind 0-40.

But we've been playing "Thrice." Blake knew how to bring it back. First an error, then a big forehand forcing a off balance shot. A fist pump, then an excellent return forcing an errant backhand. Suddenly we were at deuce. Then two more. Five straight points Blake pounced on to take the 3-1 lead.

I knew we were golden right there. But just to seal it off, I reminded Blake to place his serves to the weakness, to continue to drive the ball. On his serve, Blake sealed a close game with a bomb to Hostetler's backhand and never lost his concentration on his driven groundstrokes. With a 6-3 third, Blake clinched our first win of the season!

The Hidden Narrative
Unfortunately, the untold story here is Goshen's injuries. They came within one set of getting the victory tonight, and were missing two varsity contributors (Adam Bratten and Paul Johnson) due to injury.

Either of those players makes a significant difference in the match. The way things worked out tonight, Jesse Amstutz breezed through the #3 singles match. If one of those guys are back, the match becomes very different. Last year, Bratten played incredibly well in our early season matchup, falling only 4-6, 4-6 to Nate. If he would have played #3 singles things would have been even closer.

It will be interesting to see the Goshen lineup come Sectional time. They should have a solid group of similar players. We'll be excited to see them again then.

Other Storylines
- Freshman firsts! Jesse Amstutz got the first freshman varsity win of the season, while Landon Weldy and Hans Miller picked up their first wins as well. Sol Brenneman is the early JV leader in wins, getting his 2nd tonight.

- Speaking of Jesse Amstutz, weird first 2 matches. He loses 0-6, 0-6; then he wins 6-1, 6-1. That's a down and up start to the year.

- Nate's played the role of a #1 singles player well this year, picking up 2 solid wins. Tonight it was his serve that did the damage. In the 1st set, his serve forced 13 return errors from senior Eli Metzler-Prieb.

- The #1 doubles match was all about the combination of aggression and execution. Early in the match, Abe and Evan struggled to get to the net. In the second set, they controlled many more points with a concerted effort to get forward. Unfortunately, inconsistency of serve and return still held them back.

- JV win! No JV losses tonight as we swept 5 spots that we played tonight. Wade and Justin also picked up there first wins, both with beautifully consistent tennis.

- Sophomores vs. Sophomores. Goshen's varsity contained 3 sophomores, while our had 2 with Joel Gerig just below. Is there a battle brewing for city dominance within that class. Yes and yes!

The Scores
Varsity:
#1S - Nate Brendle - 6-3, 6-3 - Eli Metzler-Prieb (12)
#2S - Blake Shetler - 6-3, 1-6, 6-3 - Drew Hostetler (12)
#3S - Jesse Amstutz - 6-1, 6-1 - Jorge Hernandez-Walton (12)
#1D - Evan Grimes/Abe Thorne - 0-6, 3-6 - Sylas Buller (10)/Sam Stegelman (10)
#2D - Ike Lehman/Parth Patel - 3-6, 2-6 - Matt Buncich (12)/Austin Stutzman (10)

Junior Varsity:
#1S - Wade Troyer - 8-4 - Zach Ganger (9)
#2S - Sol Brenneman - 8-4 - Andrew Vetter (9)
#3S - Landon Weldy - 8-2 - David Smucker (9)
#4S - Justin Zehr - 6-4 - Andrew Vetter (9)
#1D - Joel Gerig/Hans Miller - 6-2 - Zach Ganger (9)/David Smucker (9)

Goshen Preview

2011-08-18T10:35:00.002-04:00

Details: Thursday, August 18, 4:30 at Bethany Christian High School

Last Season Review: We defeated Goshen twice last season, both by 4-1 scores.

3 Interesting Facts:
- Both teams started our seasons early this week, both losing in our first matches.
- Bethany is currently on a 5 match winning streak against Goshen.
- Both teams lost their top 2 players in the off-season, who faced off at #1 and #2 singles last year.

Goshen Details: Goshen is 0-1, having lost their opening match to Mishawaka Marian, 3-2.

Bethany Christian Details: We are also 0-1, having lost to a talented Northridge team on Tuesday.

Projected Goshen Lineup:
#1S: Eli Metzler-Prieb (0-1)
#2S: Drew Hochstetler (0-1)
#3S: Jorge Hernandez-Walton (0-1)
#1D: Sam Stegelman/Sylas Buller (1-0)
#2D: Matt Buncich/Austin Stutzman (1-0)

Outlook:
This is a great early season test for both teams. It should be fairly evenly matched, I especially look for exciting matches at #2 singles and #2 doubles. This should set an early tone for Sectional expectations as well, as Goshen and Fairfield could probably be considered the front runners for our Sectional title this year. We'll also get a look at what I expect to be one of the better doubles teams in the Sectional (Sam Stegelman and Sylas Buller), as well as getting some of our young freshman a chance to get their first wins. We're all excited about this first home match!

Area Scores from 8/17

2011-08-18T09:48:00.004-04:00

Wednesday, August 17

On our schedule
Elkhart Central 5, NorthWood 0
#1S - Nick Burton def. Brennan Angle 6-0, 6-0.
#2S - Brett Morton def. Mitchell Keiser 6-3, 6-0.
#3S - Blake Brouwer def. Quinn Stillson 6-0, 6-0.
#1D - Mitch Hanberg/Austin Sellers def Jayson Linhart/Ben Zercher 6-1, 6-2.
#2D - Franklin Fisher/Jake Mullins def. Shawn Stahley/Austin Sanders 6-3, 6-2.

Concord 5, Bremen 0
#1S - Jason Denton def. Briley Bollenbacher 6-1, 6-2.
#2S - T Cunningham def. Brad Foster 6-3, 5-7, 6-4.
#3S - Nick Pollock def. Wes Burkholder 6-4, 6-1.
#1D - Matt Ciesielski/Sean Purcell def. Austin Huff/Nate Strehler 6-1, 6-1.
#2D - Jack Hinkle/Bronson Dumont won

Rochester 5, South Bend Clay 0
#1S - Aaron Stuart beat Nick Cwidak, 6-1, 6-0
#2S - Taylor Beck beat Jon Ovalle, 6-2, 6-1
#3S - Rochester won by forfeit.
#1D - Brant Eytcheson-Alec Gehrich beat Jon Bladel-Blaze Shepard, 6-1, 6-1
#2D - Justin Schroder-Andy Feldmen beat Ramsey Omari-Trey Rudasics, 6-0, 6-0

Lakeland 3, Wawasee 2
#1S - Spencer Mortola (L) beat Isaac Rigolon, 6-1, 6-1
#2S - Bret Balka (L) beat Kyle Love, 6-2, 6-4
#3S - Dalton Schmidt (L) beat Todd Hauser, 6-0, 6-0.
#1D - Westom Becler-Tyler Kissinger (W) beat Blake Balka-Ethan Fry, 6-1, 6-2
#2D - Derek Zurcher-Cole Love (W) beat Sam Miller-Robbie Arend, 4-6, 6-1, 6-2

Columbia City 3, Warsaw 2

Others
Elkhart Memorial 3, South Bend Adams 2
DeKalb 5, FW Snider 0
Norwell 5, FW Concordia 0
Niles 4, Mishawaka 1

Area Scores from 8/16

2011-08-17T11:09:00.004-04:00

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

On our schedule
Bremen 4, Tippecanoe Valley 1
1. Nick Kindig (TV) beat Briley Bollenbacher, 6-3, 6-1
2. Brad Foster (B) beat Tanner Neeley, 6-0, 6-2
3. Wes Burkholder (B) beat Derek Cunningham, 6-2, 6-0.
1D. Austin Huff-Nate Strehler (B) beat Clayton Adamson-Robby Groom, 6-1, 6-3
2D. Joe Zeltwanger-Krent Hueni (B) beat Diego Gutierrez-Isaac Shewman, 6-3, 6-2

Concord 5, John Glenn 0
1. Jason Denton beat Austen Hayes, 6-0, 6-0
2. T Cunningham beat Joe Jaworski, 6-4, 6-4
3. Nick Polluck beat Drew Sheffer, 6-0, 6-0
1D. Michael Eisman/Jack Hinkle beat Ben Weiss/Evan Rhodes, 6-2, 6-1
2D. Tony Fenech/Trevor Warren beat Calvin Kretchmer/Hunter Jaworski, 6-1, 6-0

Jimtown 4, NorthWood 1
#1S - Brett Aller (J) def. Brennan Angle 6-2, 6-1.
#2S - Jake Ward (J) def. Mitchell Keiser 6-0, 2-6, 6-2.
#3S - Quinn Stillson (N) def. Jacob Gongwer 6-3, 6-2.
#1D - Cole Peterson/Austin Ward (J) def. Jayson Linhart/Ben Zercher 1-6, 7-5, 6-1.
#2D - Dan Gongwer/Nikolas Floyd (J) def. Shawn Stahley/Austin Sanders 6-1, 6-0.

Chesterton 3, Highland 2

Others
Plymouth 7, Knox 0
New Prairie 5, South Bend Clay 0
Marion 5, Jay County 0
Maconaquah 4, Madison Grant 1
Bellmont 5, FW South Side 0
FW Northrop 5, Whitko 0
Mississinewa 5, Adams Central 0

The Story at Northridge: Match #1

2011-08-16T19:53:00.004-04:00

The Lead: A Close 1-2
Nate Brendle and Blake Shetler both spent a good deal of time in the Northridge school district, and each knew their opponent well tonight. Nate played against fellow junior Chris Robbins, whom he called teammate until after freshman year. Blake found himself pitted against AJ Thielking, a fellow senior who was a friend to Blake we he went through Northridge Junior High.

But as they faced off against each other tonight, both matches were extremely intense, and close. In fact, the first sets of both matches had to be settled in extra games, #2 singles going to a tiebreak and #1 singles to 7.

And both matches had there rhythms too. It was pretty early in the #2 singles match where it became obvious that it was AJ Thielking's forehand against Blake's attacking game. At #1 singles, it was a Raider serve and forehand that blasted away against Nate's spin, consistency and depth. And these were powerful battles!

Nate found himself down 5-4 in the first set, facing the daunting task of dropping a set after more than 45 minutes of play. But with a streak worthy of our practice game "Thrice," Nate wheeled off 3 straight games by driving the ball a bit more and forcing Robbins out of his comfort zone. For Blake, it was destined to go to a tiebreak, where under the pressure, Thielking pulled out some wonderful passing shots for the set.

Again, Nate found himself a tight position in the second, after a seesaw of momentum led him to 4-4. Again, it was the aggressive placement in the next game that saw him draw the errors out of Robbins, and pull away for the two set victory.

Patterns repeated themselves at #2 singles as well, as late in the second set, Thielking's powerful passing shots began to find more of the court while Blake's shots were just off.

For two players who knew their opponents well, these proved to be difficult matches mentally, as they were long and filled with pressure points. They were also very physical matches, and under the late afternoon sun nobody came off the courts breathing easy or with much water left in the water bottles. As a coach, I am most proud of my players when they are put in awkward, pressure filled situations and they perform with class and effort. I can't sing the praises of Blake and Nate enough tonight, as the ground it out with their local, friendly rivals!

The Hidden Narrative
Lost in the scoreline tonight was an important development at #2 doubles. Parth Patel and Ike Lehman lost the first set 6-0 without much of a fight, but then had a total turnaround in aggressiveness and execution in the second set. Changing to a much more motion oriented attack, the two kept the Raider pair off balance with poaches, serve & volley, and a net game that helped force some errors. They fought their way to a 4-3 lead in the set, and had points to extend the lead to 5-3. After falling in that game, they again had chances to take a 5-4 lead. Pulling ahead like that may have swung extreme pressure their opponents way and completely changed the complexion of both their match and the team match as well. Unfortunately, they couldn't grab the points, and lost the set 4-6. But they were so close to so much more!

Other Storylines
- The "Freshman 10" debuted tonight, but only 2 earned victories. Playing against a mostly more experienced Raider JV, only Sol Brenneman and Tristan Clark pulled out a win at #4D. However, the future of this matchup still looks bright, as only 2 of the 8 JV losses came against freshman combatants.

- JV doubles put up a fight tonight. Joel Gerig and Hans Miller fought back to a 6-6 tie before falling, and freshmen Landon Weldy and Ryan Duckworth led 4-1 in there match before seeing it teeter back and forth until a 7-9 loss.

- #1 doubles only took 1 game tonight, but it was on Evan's serve. The serve has been a place of emphasis over the last several days, now perhaps the emphasis shifts to return :-)

- Jesse Amstutz debuted against Josh Garfein tonight, who will be the area's prime #3 singles player. Last year, Garfein fell 5-7, 3-6 the Nate Brendle, who today defeated the Raiders #1. A tough, tough way to start for Jesse, but might as well get the best out of the way first!

- 2 players were missing with injuries tonight. Himal King and Ryan Minter, both juniors playing at the top of JV, are nursing themselves back to health right now.

The Scores
Varsity
#1S - Nate Brendle - 7-5, 6-4 - Chris Robbins (11)
#2S - Blake Shetler - 6-7 (2), 5-7 - AJ Thielking (12)
#3S - Jesse Amstutz - 0-6, 0-6 - Josh Garfein (10)
#1D - Evan Grimes/Abe Thorne - 1-6, 0-6 - Alex Radelich (12)/Andrew Gingerich (11)
#2D - Ike Lehman/Parth Patel - 0-6, 4-6 - Connor Cameron (12)/Byron Slabach (11)

Junior Varsity
#1S - Wade Troyer - 2-8 - Jed Miller (11)
#2S - Sol Brenneman - 3-8 - Clay Schnell (10)
#3S - Tristan Clark- 3-8 - James Kristofzski (10)
#4S - Justin Zehr - 4-8 - Ben Sheely (12)
#5S - Roberto Ramos - 3-8 - Taylor Brandenberger (9)
#1D - Joel Gerig/Hans Miller - 6-8 - Erik Beck (11)/Michael Eash (11)
#2D - Landon Weldy/Ryan Duckworth - 7-9 - Ryan Taylor (10)/Landon Arnold (9)
#3D - Luke Schrock/Neel Bhagat - 1-8 - Sam Hoover (9)/Nolan Rhodes (9)
#4D - Sol Brenneman/Tristan Clark - 8-4 - Chase Miller (9)/Austin Miller (9)

Area Scores from 8/15

2011-08-16T12:39:00.004-04:00

Monday, August 15, 2011

On our schedule
Mishawaka Marian 3, Goshen 2
#1S - Jack Julien (M) def. Eli Metzler-Prieb 6-1, 6-2
#2S - Stephen Hicks (M) def. Drew Hostetler 6-4, 6-2
#3S - Luke Street (M) def. Jorge Hernandez-Walton 6-0, 6-1
#1D - Sylas Buller/Sam Stegelman (G) def. Reilly Hicks/Tom Deranek 6-3, 6-7 (4-7), 6-2
#2D - Matt Buncich/Austin Stutzman (G) def. Mike Amor/Tom Yergler 6-4, 7-5

Concord 4, Columbia City 1
#1S - Jason Denton (C) def. Derek Hinen 6-1, 6-3.
#2S - Gabe Boles (CC) def. T Cunningham 7-5, 6-3.
#3S - Nick Pollock (C) def. Devin Moore 6-0, 6-4.
#1D - Matt Ciesielski/Sean Parcell (C) def. Ryan Flauding/Dalton VanHouten 6-4, 6-3.
#2D - Bronson Dumont/Matt Kotva (C) def. Matt Rethlake/Brandon Bay 6-1, 6-4.

Manchester 3, Wawasee 2
#1S - Connor Eichenaur (M) def. Isaac Rigdon 6-1, 6-3.
#2S - Connor McLaughlin (M) def. Kyler Love 6-0, 6-3.
#3S - Aaron Johnson (M) def. Todd Hauser 6-2, 6-2.
#1D - Westin Becker/Tyler Kissinger (W) def. Jared Christiansen/Brayton Spann 6-0, 6-0. #2D - Derek Zurcher/Cole Love (W) def. Riley Woods/Dalton Day 6-2, 6-0.

Valparaiso 4, Kankakee Valley 1

Others in Area/District
Penn 5, Warsaw 0
Plymouth 3, Kokomo 2
Mississinewa 5, Bluffton 0
Homestead 4, FW Concordia 1

11 Things for 2011

2011-08-14T08:04:00.002-04:00

Over the next eleven weekdays, I'll be counting down the things that I'm excited for (as a coach) entering the 2011 season. Check out previous posts below.

#11 - New Regional Alignment

#10 - New Practice Ideas

#9 - Playing Elite Competition
#8 - Playing a New Opponent
#7 - The Freshman
#6 - New JV Tournament

#5 - Creating an Atmosphere of Focus

As with all seasons, the goal of practice is to improve. The goal of the whole season is to be playing our best tennis when the season ends, when we compete for Sectional. Last season, we had a whole contingent of experienced players who helped lead us through their actions. This season, 2/3's of our team is underclassmen.

So, the atmosphere of practice is actually something that we cannot assume, instead it is something we are going to have to create. And the number one thing that I want to create in my players practice experience is the ability to focus on a specific task.

It's not going to be easy. With only 1 coach for 21 players, there are going to be many times when the players are completely on their own for a segment of practice. But this again is where the beauty of tennis and life connections comes in. If we can create an atmosphere of focus in tennis, if players will be self-motivated to get better, to stay engaged, to fight laziness... then the this will begin to happen in other areas (schoolwork, chores, jobs, etc.)

In addition to the character development, we will continue to improve right until the last day of the season (which we hope won't come until the second week of October, at least!)

11 Things for 2011

2011-08-09T13:34:00.003-04:00

Over the next eleven weekdays, I'll be counting down the things that I'm excited for (as a coach) entering the 2011 season. Check out previous posts below.

#11 - New Regional Alignment

#10 - New Practice Ideas

#9 - Playing Elite Competition
#8 - Playing a New Opponent
#7 - The Freshman

#6 - New JV Tournament

With 10 freshmen this year, we need opportunities for them to play in cool events. And honestly, the coolest events are the tournaments. In years past, we've won the Jimtown JV Invite, went in and finished 3rd at the Northern Lakes JV Conference Tournament, and competed well in the same tournament last year.

But this year, we're adding a new tournament, and it's over in my old stomping grounds. Not at Angola, just a little north in Fremont. This should be a really fun time, as Fremont was trying to recruit 8 teams to play in the event.

Most importantly, it gives the JV a chance to win something. The varsity prepares all season for Sectional. We have 3 tournaments to try and win. We compete for a place on the plaque by winning more than 70% of our matches. But the JV, well, they compete for the future most of the time. They compete to get better.

Yet at this tournament, they compete to win a tournament. And no matter the competition, they can always go for their best. So we can't wait to play another tourney!

11 Things for 2011

2011-08-04T14:49:00.003-04:00

Over the next eleven weekdays, I'll be counting down the things that I'm excited for (as a coach) entering the 2011 season. Check out previous posts below.

#11 - New Regional Alignment

#10 - New Practice Ideas

#9 - Playing Elite Competition
#8 - Playing a New Opponent

#7 - The Freshmen

Every year, new ninth graders show up to practice, not sure of what role they'll be playing on the JV over the next couple of seasons. Most are unsure of the proper way to hit a ball, the positioning needed in a doubles match, how to properly score a tiebreak, all sorts of things.

Not this year.

This year, there is a lot to celebrate about our freshman class! First of all, let's remember that they performed really well during their middle school tennis careers. They are the first class of tennis players to have had the benefit of three full seasons of middle school tennis competition. Not only did they get to play, this past year they went undefeated in our modest season, beating Goshen, Northridge, and Westview. Also, they tied for second in the Angola tournament, where 5 out of 7 of them advanced to the finals.

Secondly, there are a lot of them playing. For the second time in my coaching career at Bethany we've got 10 freshman out for the team. That's incredible. That big number keeps it really fun for them, because they've got friends all around. Also, it means a bunch of people to practice and play with after the season is over, which means we'll all be getting better. Finally, it means competition for the varsity spots (eventually), which can only mean that the most determined, most talented, most committed players will be the ones who make it! I can't wait to see who that is as we have fun over the next four seasons.

But don't think it's all about the future. Oh no, there's at least one or two freshman who have a real shot at making the varsity this year. That's almost unheard of in my time as coach here at Bethany. Only once has a freshman made the varsity, and that was in my very first year of coaching when we only had 10 full-time players. I'm continually looking forward to what this class will do.

You know, because my last class of 10 freshman, well... they won a Sectional.

11 Things for 2011

2011-08-03T15:33:00.004-04:00

Over the next eleven weekdays, I'll be counting down the things that I'm excited for (as a coach) entering the 2011 season. Check out previous posts below.

#11 - New Regional Alignment

#10 - New Practice Ideas

#9 - Playing Elite Competition

#8 - Playing a New Opponent
If you've been following this series at all, you'll have noticed that I like new challenges. I like making up new practice schedules, I'm excited that we have a new Sectional champion being funneled into our Regional, and now, I'm excited to say that we have a new team on our schedule this year!

For the first time since I've been coaching, we'll be taking on the Blue Blazers of Elkhart Central. It makes sense, really that we'd play them. We're close and it should be a competitive match. For some on our team, this will be the first time we'll be playing against their home district, which is always exciting.

Unfortunately, this meant that we had to say good-bye to an opponent as well. We lost the Mishawaka Cavemen from our schedule, which was too bad because I know that their coach had the program pointing in the right direction.

So what happened the last time we picked up a new opponent? Well, that would be last year when we went down to face the Columbia City Eagles. That was a great competitive match, but unfortunately for us, a match in which Russell got sick. We went down 3-2, and sure could have used Russell that day. However, it was one of the better matches of the season, and would have been extremely memorable had we been able to squeeze out the 3-2 win instead of feel the 2-3 loss.

I can't wait to play a new team again this year, hopefully this will be the start of a wonderful, friendly, local rivalry!

11 Things for 2011

2011-08-02T16:39:00.004-04:00

#10 - New Practice Ideas

#9 - Playing Elite Competition

I've always been one who loved playing against the best. In high school, my basketball team got to play against the 1997 Mr. Basketball in Indiana (Luke Recker) in our regular season and in Sectional. I relish opportunities like that. It's fun, you get outstanding memories, and usually you get better.

This year, we will continue to have opportunities to try ourselves against the best in our area. We will continue to play against Columbia City, and while they aren't Carmel, they did finish 8th in our District Rankings last fall. We will also travel to the Merrillville Invitational, and there we will take on Merrillville (a team that won their Sectional last year) as well as Valparaiso (a team that made the State Finals last year!)

We will also get to see stellar individuals play this year, like Merrillville's Leonard Matthews, Valparaiso's Ben Kalisch, or Concord's Jason Denton. Leonard Matthews and Ben Kalisch were both in their District's top 16 while Denton made ours. Leonard Matthews even made the 2nd team All-State!

I love these opportunities. They will be fun to watch, coach, and play. Look forward in anticipation!

11 Things for 2011

2011-08-01T19:49:00.002-04:00

Over the next eleven weekdays, I'll be counting down the things that I'm excited for (as a coach) entering the 2011 season. We started today! Check out previous posts below.

#11 - New Regional Alignment

New Practice Ideas

One of my greatest joys in life is being creative. Whether it be a lesson for school, a sermon for church, or a practice for tennis, I love the process of arranging things, themes, topics, drills, rituals, games and designing them for reaching the maximum potential. I also love when I have new ways of presenting old (but good) ideas.

This year for tennis, I wanted to be creative. I know we all know the good old drills like "5 Errors" (dominated by Nate today, with a score of 95!) or "Two Ball." And those drills serve a really good purpose, but how can we approach the same old topics, like groundstrokes, volleys, and serves, from new angles?

Well, I've got an idea and we're starting tomorrow. From now until school starts, each practice will be Pro themed. Each practice will pit two stars from the modern or recent professional ranks, and allow us to practice their strengths and work them into our own.

Here's the schedule for the rest of the week, see if you can guess what we'll be working on...
- Tuesday - Sampras v. Agassi
- Wednesday - Nadal v. Djokovic
- Thursday - Federer v. Roddick
- Friday - Chang v. Murray

I'm really excited about this, so that means you'll probably all find it, well, uninspiring. But that's okay, it's still fun for me!

The other new thing I really love about practice this year is "Huddle Time." The idea of course is to deal with our down time effectively, letting it be positive and prepare us for the next point. I'm really enjoying our Huddle Prayers, where we walk out and visualize before practice.

This whole idea of visualization is not new, in fact, I'd invite you to look at some of the things being said on the web about the power of visualizing. I've been really influenced by a sermon I heard online called "Integrated Faith," by Greg Boyd. Look it up if you've got the time!

Anyways, can't wait to get to practice tomorrow and see some Sampras and Agassi, now if only I could get them to come out and hit with us!

11 Things for 2011

2011-07-29T15:44:00.003-04:00

Over the next eleven weekdays, I'll be counting down the things that I'm excited for (as a coach) entering the 2011 season. We start on Monday, August 1!

#11 - New Regional Alignment

This summer, the IHSAA went through all levels of the tennis state tournament and constructed new alignments for each round. New Sectionals were made, old ones were scrapped, some teams moved from one Sectional to another.

Our Sectional (Goshen, Fairfield, NorthWood, and Jimtown) remains the same. That's satisfying because over the last 4 years, 4 different teams have won the Sectional, and perhaps the 5th team (Goshen) could be the favorite this year. I love having a competitive Sectional, where no one team dominates, because it gives something to shoot for every single year.

And while the Sectional doesn't bring any change for us, both the Regional and the Semi-State do. This year, should we advance to the Regional, our Regional will include the winners from Concord Sectional, East Noble Sectional, and the DeKalb Sectional. While East Noble and Concord are nothing new, we used to have Warsaw included with us as well. Now Warsaw heads over to Culver Academies, and we welcome the DeKalb Sectional!

We will be familiar with the DeKalb Sectional. It consists of DeKalb, Prairie Heights, Fremont and my alma mater, Angola. We'll have played Angola in a scrimmage (and eaten at the always delicious Pizza King), and played Prairie Heights and Fremont during the regular season. DeKalb will be the only real question mark out of these schools. Last year's winner of this Sectional was Angola.

This could be really fun. I always enjoy playing against Angola, partially because I still know my coaches well and partially because they are always a good match for us. As we scrimmaged them, the results are always close and the matches are always memorable.

We also have changes at the Semi-State level, where we would head to Homestead with a Regional victory. Joining the Concord Regional there are the North Central, Marion and the Homestead Regionals. To see all of the realignments, check the IHSTECA home page.

So, I'm excited the Regional changed and the Sectional didn't. The mix of old and new is good in so many ways headed into the season! We'll be back on Monday with #10!

Match Memories

2011-06-30T14:06:00.003-04:00

This season we are without 5 varsity players from last year. All of our seniors are gone and only 3 of our players will have significant varsity experience. As a tennis family, we've gone through this transition twice since I've been coach.

After the very successful 2005 season, where we won a then career high 14 matches, we lost 5 seniors. Included in those losses were some of our all-time great players and some of our most dedicated workers. The players that we returned had played #3 singles (Wes Klassen), #1 doubles (Jordan Kauffman), and #2 doubles (Jordan Miller). The 2006 team then incorporated 4 sophomores (Luke Hostetter, Jared Schwartzentruber, Johnny Kauffman, and Jeremy Thomas).

That makes makes the season very comparable to this year. We will return players from #3 singles (Nate), #2 doubles (Blake and Evan). We have many sophomores, but also a couple juniors, vying for those spots.

So, what happened to the 2006 team. Well, it was a very interesting season. We had an easier schedule than we will play this coming season, but still, we managed to reach 12 wins in 2006. We truly grew during that season, which I would say built the foundation for our 2008 Sectional title.

We played a lot of close matches in 2006. And we learned a lot from each match. Here's some of what we learned...

#1 - vs. Northridge - "Don't be afraid."
We opened the season, as always, against the Raiders and because our courts were being resurfaced, we took them on at Goshen College. We were shaking and we got blitzed. I mean the closest match was probably 3-6, 2-6. But what really bugged me is that we played the match as if we couldn't win. Always give the best, always expect your best.

#2 - vs. New Prairie - "Stay aggressive."
New Prairie was a significant drive away from Bethany. We headed over there under threat of thunderstorm. And yet, we didn't come out slow. In 4 of the 5 matches, we came out focused and took the first set. Quickly, Luke Hostetter and #2 doubles (Jeremy Thomas/Jordan Miller) took their 2nd sets. We were up 2-0, just waiting for one more point. It never happened. In our other matches, we became very tentative and tight. Our feet stopped moving, which is where aggression comes from. We lost all of the other matches in third sets, and learned that you have to stay moving, positive, and confident to close things out.

#3 - vs. NorthWood - "Play to your strengths."
Against NorthWood, we were up against a team that would eventually win a Sectional title. We were also up against one of the best players in our Sectional over the past 8 years, Preston Swain. But Wes Klassen got behind his best stroke, his two-handed forehand, and pounded away at Swain. All day, Wes got in position to use his weapon and then was all over it, slamming it crosscourt into Swain's backhand. If you have a weapon, you go and get it. That's what Wes did.

So, those three things formed a young team. I think they could form this young team too.
#1 - Don't be afraid.
#2 - Stay aggressive.
#3 - Play to your strengths.

What Does is Take?

2011-06-24T16:53:00.005-04:00

What does it take to be a varsity tennis player? More importantly, I guess, is the question what does it take to be a successful varsity player?

I ask these questions because we're going to have a lot of new varsity players this year. We return Blake, Evan and Nate with significant varsity experience. Right now, I see 8-9 others who have a real chance at playing significant amounts of matches on the varsity this upcoming year. What will the new players need to be successful?

A plan. A plan of improvement. And the dedication to come with a seriousness about that plan every time you come to the courts.

Years ago, I developed a system of taking stock of your game. It goes as follows.

Level 1 - FORM - To be at level 1 means you hit the shot with the correct form and spin.
Level 2 - CONSISTENCY - To be a level 2 means you hit the shot consistently in the court, with the correct spin and form.
Level 3 - PLACEMENT - To be at level 3 means you can hit the spots you are aiming for, consistently, with the correct spin and form.
Level 4 - POWER - To be at level 4 means you hit the ball powerfully, often past your opponents for winners. It also means that you can place the ball where you want it, consistently, with the correct spin and form.

Okay, first thing to notice is that each level builds on the previous one. Without the previous skill, the further skill is useless. If you can place the ball where you want it, but only 1 out of 10 times, then you are still a level 1 player because you have no consistency. If you hit the serve 110 MPH, but it hits the back fence on the fly because you've got no spin on it to bring into into the service box, then you are a level 0 server. You have to have the previous skill to move forward.

Here's some examples from last year's team of people who had strokes at these different levels.
- 4 - POWER - Russell's forehand, Matt's overhead (they hit them hard, but consistently in)
- 3 - PLACEMENT - Ben and Seth's groundstrokes (they controlled points with their placement, even if they didn't kill the ball)
- 2 - CONSISTENCY - Andrew's groundstrokes (remember his long rallies, he never missed!)
- 1 - FORM - Joel's forehand, Abe's serve (good form, good potential, can't keep them in over and over and over)

So, step 1 for this year. Each of you should take stock of where your game is at. Then you need to prepare yourself, each time you go to play tennis, of what your focus should be. You should always be working on the next step, and nothing higher. If your forehand is a 1, then you need to work on consistency and NOTHING ELSE. Don't waste your time with a power shot when you can't hit the ball in! So, let's do an example. Let me use Abe, because I've seen his game a lot lately (hope you don't mind Abe!)

Abe's Game
Forehand: Needs to establish 2, work to 3
Backhand: Needs to establish 2
Volley: Needs to establish 3, work to 4
Overhead: Needs to establish 3
First Serve: Need to establish 2, work to 3
Second Serve: Need to establish 2

So, using that analysis, Abe really needs to work on consistency. It is so tempting for him to just go out and pound the ball all the time, when he's hitting with buddies or whatever, but he needs to think consistency. "Get the ball in. Get the ball in. Get the ball in." Over and over. Once he establishes that, he can begin to work on placement. Only on his volley should he even begin to think about power.

The good news is that most of us need to work on 2-3. Most of us need consistency then placement. I say good news because to win varsity matches, you really need to just have consistency then placement.

We may not have the experience yet, but if we can have the proper focus throughout the summer and early season, we will be in good position.

Oh, and if you want a free coach's analysis of your game, leave a comment. I'll be free to send one your way!

Thoughts

2011-06-06T15:12:00.002-04:00

I really don't have much to say today, except that I wish everyone could come and play lots of tennis all at the same time. I haven't seen Ike play since he got back from Paraguay; Andrew, Himal, and Ryan just went to Paraguay; and I'm tired of seeing Abe play every day. Actually, no that's not true. I love playing with Abe. Let's just say we've been working on hitting the ball hard.

I do want to let everyone know that our courts got the cracks filled today, so we have to stay off of them for one week. That means if we want to hit at our normal times, we'll go to the college to do that.

I continually get more excited for next year. Tuesday Tennis last week was probably the funnest thing of my summer so far...

Looking forward to seeing people again soon, enjoy summer, enjoy tennis!

The Numbers: Multiples of 3

2011-06-02T13:53:00.003-04:00

Taking stock of next season is always difficult. We lose our best players, but so does most everybody else. We have to integrate JV players into the varsity, but so does everyone else. We have to welcome a group of new freshman, beginning to build the next generation of tennis lovers, but then again, that's the same challenge facing every team in the state.

So what do we know, what do the facts say about the state of our program? We'll do it in multiples of 3 for all those who want to continue their math education throughout the summer months...

3 - We have three players returning with significant varsity experience. Nate won 16 matches at #3 singles (tying Jonny Shenk for most matches won at that position since I began coaching). Blake Shetler and Evan Grimes racked up good records playing #2 doubles last year, but Blake took 2 significant wins in singles as well.

6 - We have six players who committed to offseason work in lessons. Of course, I always wish that this number was higher. But those who did commit are looking better for it already. Of course, at the clubs they seem to teach hitting the ball hard and not keeping it in, so we'll have some consistency work to do. But playing through the winter gives us a head start on many of our opponents.

9 - Is the number of guys who came to the first Tuesday tennis, and I have to tell you it was a fun time. Not only did I dominate the ping-pong tournament, but my sons also made new friends. Gid's favorite was Andrew but Judah is partial to Parth, I think. It really was a great time!

12 - This is the number of new freshman coming in this year, and I'm excited about every one of them!

So there's some stock of the season, we'll be young, fun, energetic, and learning! I cannot wait to see some more of you soon!

Middle School Season Review

2011-05-19T08:53:00.005-04:00

I always want to acknowledge the next generation coming up at Bethany. They are as much a part of our family as each of us. Especially if we are underclassmen, these middle school students will have a great deal to do with our future success.

So what does that future look like?

We played 3 middle school matches this spring. The first was against Westview. For many of our players, this match was the first time they had played outdoors this spring, because we had been holding most of our practices in the gym. And we'd only had about 10 practices, not very many where we were able to practice serves. So there were a lot of nervous players.

But we were able to pull out the victory, 9-2. Our only losses came at #1 singles, where our 7th grade phenom Thomas Schlabach ran up against a wall, a player who got everything back, and #3 singles, where Landon Weldy couldn't quite find his serve. In the rest of the matches, we played really well, including Jesse Amstutz running off 10 straight games to win in 2 sets. Our biggest winners on the day were Sol Brenneman and Cristian Romero, with a 6-0, 6-1 win. Perhaps the most dramatic win was Tristan Clark and Ryan Duckworth, who had to finish off their match in a tiebreak, which they won 7-5.

In our second match we took on Northridge, and instead of 2 out of 3 sets, we played on one set. These matches were much closer, but at the top positions, we still held a 6-2 advantage. The doubles matches were extremely close. Sol Brenneman and Jesse Amstutz took a 7-5 victory, while at #2 doubles Cristian Romero and Young Kwan Sun lost in a tiebreak. Even the #3 doubles match of Landon Weldy and Hans Miller was close, a 5-7 loss for the Bruins. In the singles, Thomas got back on winning ways with a 6-2 victory. Neel Bhagat and Luke Schrock also played a quite impressive match, winning 6-2. This was our closest match and we played very well in it.

At our third match, against Goshen, things were not so close. Though we played pro sets, the best the Redskins would manage was 2-8. Jesse Amstutz played outstanding in this match, matching Goshen's most outstanding player stroke for stroke and more. In the weirdest match, Brandon and Aman were up 2-1 when their opponents left. Simply walked off the court, never to return! Byoung-Min had a long match, but was continually consistent.

Finally, we arrived at Saturday, a rainy day for our tournament at Angola. We drove over through intermittent rain, wondering if we'd just turn around and go home. But instead, we goofed around on the courts while it sprinkled. Then we helped get the water off and 2 hours late we were ready to play.

The day opened with an amazing match. Jesse Amstutz drew Fremont's #1 player, and the match went back and forth, with neither player ever able to take a huge lead. Each player had strong, consistent forehands and struggled with backhands. It was like mirror images playing each other. Unfortunately, Jesse fell in the first round.

Other matches went fast, Byoung-Min and Isaac flying through easier matches against weaker opponents. Sol Brenneman ran up against a difficult opponent, a smaller player who hit all of Sol's shots back. Sol fell down 7-4 in the match, but suddenly adjusted his game to become less aggressive and more consistent. He won game after game and until the match went to a tiebreak. And then the rains came.

We figured we were done... but no, we were headed inside. Trine University provided 4 courts for us. 4 courts, for 8 teams. Yea, we were in for a long day.

Sol came back into his match indoors, and lost the tiebreak 6 points later. Then he'd have to sit as the rest of the tournament unfolded. Each team that lost in the first round was out, no consolation round. But luckily for us, we got 5 of our positions into the finals.

Isaac Brenneman, Byoung-Min Lim, Tanner Fervida, Landon Weldy, and Ryan Duckworth/Tristan Clark all made their respective finals. Landon was particularly impressive, considering he defeated the strongest two team (Coldwater Legg and Angola) to make it into his final. In the finals, we gave it all we had. Isaac, Byoung-Min and Landon all played their best tennis in their final. Isaac took one of the best players in the tournament right til the end. But only Landon was able to win his final, over Northridge. It was an outstanding accomplishment.

Especially at the end of a 14-day. We made a quick stop at Taco Bell, but we still didn't get back until 9:15. What did we have to show for it. Well, third place in the tournament, by tiebreaker. We actually had tied for 2nd, but Coldwater Legg won 1 more final than we did.

All in all, it was an encouraging season. This is the next generation of stars coming up for us, and it looks very bright.

Westview Match
#1S - Thomas Schlabach - 4-6, 3-6
#2S - Jesse Amstutuz - 6-3, 6-0
#3S - Landon Weldy - 4-6, 3-6
#4S - Isaac Brenneman - 6-1, 6-1
#5S - Ethan Miller - 6-4, 6-1
#6S - Byoung-Min Lim - 6-0, 6-2
#7S - Tanner Fervida - 6-0, 6-1

#1D - Sol Brenneman/Cristian Romero - 6-0, 6-1
#2D - Hans Miller/Simon Hurst - 6-2, 6-3
#3D - Ryan Duckworth/Tristan Clark - 6-0, 7-6 (5)
#4D - Young Kwan Sun/Luke Schrock - 8-6

Northridge
#1S - Thomas Schlabach - 6-2
#2S - Isaac Brenneman - 6-4
#3S - Byoung-Min Lim - 6-4
#4S - Tanner Fervida - 6-3

#1D - Sol Brenneman/Jesse Amstutz - 7-5
#2D - Cristian Romero/Young Kwan Sun - 6-7 (4)
#3D - Hans Miller/Landon Weldy - 5-7
#4D - Ryan Duckworth/Ethan Miller - 6-1
#5D - Simon Hurst/Tristan Clark - 6-0
#6D - Neel Bhagat/Luke Schrock - 6-2
#7D - Aadarsh Patel/Alex Reinhardt - 0-6
#8D - Aman Patel/Brandon Nguyen - 2-6
#9D - Sol Brenneman/Ryan Duckworth - 6-0
#10D - Landon Weldy/Simon Hurst - 6-1
#11D - Jesse Amstutz/Tristan Clark - 6-0
#12D - Hans Miller/Thomas Schlabach - 6-1
#13D - Ethan Miller/Cristian Romero - 6-0
#14D - Brandon Nguyen/Aadarsh Patel - 6-0
#15D - Bryce Miller/Ryan Duckworth - 6-5

Goshen
#1S - Jesse Amstutz - 8-2
#2S - Isaac Brenneman - 8-0
#3S - Byoung-Min Lim - 8-2
#4S - Cristian Romero - 8-0
#5S - Tanner Fervida - 8-0

#1D - Sol Brenneman/Thomas Schlabach - 8-0
#2D - Landon Weldy/Ethan Miller - 8-1
#3D - Hans Miller/Tristan Clark - 8-0
#4D - Ryan Duckworth/Simon Hurst - 8-1
#5D - Neel Bhagat/Luke Schrock - 8-1
#6D - Bryce Miller/Aadarsh Patel - 8-0
#7D - Brandon Nguyen/Aman Patel - 2-1

Angola Tournament
#1S - Jesse Amstutz - 5-8
#2S - Isaac Brenneman - 8-2 : 6-4 : 5-8
#3S - Byoung-Min Lim - 8-1 : 6-1 : 4-8
#4S - Sol Brenneman - 8-9 (5)
#5S - Tanner Fervida - 8-0 : 6-0 : 2-8
#6S - Landon Weldy - 8-6 : 6-2 : 8-4 = CHAMPION!

#1D - Ethan Miller/Hans Miller - 5-8
#2D - Ryan Duckworth/Tristan Clark - 8-3 : 6-4 : 0-8
#3D - Luke Schrock/Simon Hurst - 0-6

Wednesday Opponent Overviews

2011-05-18T14:04:00.003-04:00

Let's take an overview of the season next year, and then we'll go a little bit more in depth on each opponent in the next couple of posts. So just for fun, let me try and rank the opponents in order of difficulty for next year. Just for fun, because I don't really know what each match will have in store!

1. Concord
- Last year: Bruins won 4-1
- Varsity Returners: #1S - Jason Denton, #2S - Sean Purcell, #3S - Matt Kotva, #1D - T Cunningham, #1D - Tony Fenech, #2D - Bronson DuMont, #2D - Matt Ciesielski

2. Goshen
- Last year: Bruins won 4-1 (twice)
- Varsity Returners: #2S - Seth Koble, #3S - Adam Bratten, #3S - Nick Dandino?, #1D - Drew Hochstetler, #2D - Paul Johnson, #2D - Eli Metzler-Prieb, #2D - Sam Stegelmann, #2D - Sylas Buller
- JV Result: Redskins won 5-2

3. Taylor
- Last year: Bruins won 4-1
- Varsity Returners: #1S - Drew Hansen, #2S - Nate Gotshall, #3S - Logan Barnes, #1D - Cameron Clark, #2D - Jack Lipchik, #2D - Casey Glick
- JV Result: N/A

4. Northridge
- Last year: Bruins won 3-2
- Varsity Returners: #2S - Josh Garfein, #3S - AJ Thielking, #1D - Chris Robbins, #2D - Alex Radelich, #2D - Doug Jakubowicz
- JV Result: Raiders won 6-1

5. Fairfield
- Last year: Falcons won 3-2 and 4-1
- Varsity Returners: #2S - Josh Mullet
- JV Result: Falcons won 7-1

6. Triton
- Last year: Bruins won 4-1
- Varsity Returners: #1S - Jeff Ross, #2S - Pete Kauffman, #3S - Jackson Downing, #2D - Josh Shafer, #2D - Clay Yeo
- JV Result: Trojans won 4-2

7. Jimtown
- Last year: Bruins won 5-0
- Varsity Returners: #1S - Brett Aller, #3S - Chris Rasterdorf, #1D - Cole Peterson, #1D - Jake Ward, #2D - Augie Farwig, #2D - Austin Ward
- JV Result: N/A

8. Wabash
- Last year: Bruins won 3-2
- Varsity Returners: #1S - Justin Middleton, #2S - David Driscoll, #1D - Nate Price, #2D - Jack Stein
- JV Result: N/A

9. Westview
- Last year: Bruins won 4-1
- Varsity Returners: #3S - Khloe Christner, #1D - Nik Hostetler, #2D - Austin Schlabach, #2D - Devin Bontrager
- JV Result: Warriors won 6-1

10. Fremont
- Last year: Bruins won 5-0
- Varsity Returners: #2S - Matt Hoff, #3S - Matt Wilcox, #1D - Tyler Jenkins, #1D - Glen McClain, #2D - Kaleb Hayes
- JV Result: Eagles won 5-3

11. Columbia City
- Last year: Eagles won 3-2
- Varsity Returners: #3S - Derek Hinen, #2D - Gabe Boles
- JV Result: Eagles won 5-2

12. Bremen
- Last year: Bruins won 5-0
- Varsity Returners: #2S - Briley Bollenbacher, #2D - Austin Huff, #2D - Brad Foster
- JV Result: Lions won 4-2

13. Eastern
- Last year: Bruins won 3-2
- Varsity Returners: #1S - Connor Young, #3S - Austin Chase, #1D - Joel Coffman, #2D - Adam McKinney
- JV Result: N/A

14. NorthWood
- Last year: Bruins won 5-0
- Varsity Returners: #1S - Brennan Angle, #2S - Ben Zercher, #3S - Shawn Stahley, #1D - Tyler Rhoades, #1D - Jason Lynhart, #2D - Austin Sanders, #2D - Mitchell Keiser
- JV Result: Bruins won 5-1

15. Rochester
- Last year: Bruins won 5-0
- Varsity Returners: #1S - Aaron Stuart, #3S - Brandt Eutcheson, #2D - Taylor Beck
- JV Result: N/A

16. Tippecanoe Valley
- Last year: Bruins won 5-0
- Varsity Returners: #1S - Nick Kindig, #3S - Alex Newman, #1D - Kameron Larimer, #1D - Tanner Neely, #2D - Clayton Adamson, #2D - Robbie Groom
- JV Result: Bruins won

17. Prairie Heights
- Last year: Bruins won 5-0
- Varsity Returners: #3S - Nathan Clark, #1D - Tyler Carbone, #2D - Donald Cook
- JV Result: Bruins won 3-0

It looks like the competition will be good next year, with many of the better teams on our schedule residing within our very own Sectional. What do you think? Looking forward to getting back to matches?

Chapter Three: Flesh and Blood

2011-05-17T13:42:00.007-04:00

Previous Chapters
Sweat and Hope
Widening Our Nets

A successful season rides on a lot of things that don't involve tennis. As mentioned in the previous chapters about 2010, there is a need for hard work, hope, and for relationships. A successful team is defined by a whole range of characteristics, and needs leaders to hold them to their high standards. Forehands, backhands and serves are simply not enough.

So in 2010, we embarked on a devotional and motivational campaign to promote maturity. Maturity as defined by 2 Peter 1:5-8. It began here on the blog, and then continued through readings and meditations at tennis camp, then I kept coming back to these key words as we made our way through the season. Words like goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, and love.

Those qualities are needed in tennis. More than any sport I know, tennis requires these very Biblical values. And these qualities must be modeled, or we don't understand them. Jesus came to put flesh and blood to God, so that we might see and live. These qualities need flesh and blood as well, and going into 2010, we were blessed with leaders who brought them to life.

At the end of 2009, Seth Krabill was on a roll. He was demolishing every #2 singles opponent that he played, crushing people with an ease that was scary. At the same time, Ben Mast was struggling at #1 singles. And so late in the season, we switched. Seth took his confidence into the #1 singles position, and Ben fell to #2. It was clear in the offseason that the position would be up for grabs, and throughout the spring Ben and Seth battled back and forth. Ben would win in a tiebreak, Seth would win 7-5, then one then the other.

Then come 2010, Seth was squarely at #2. And it matters, because #2 singles can't advance in the state tournament (and most don't make All-District). But Seth never blinked an eyebrow. Seth accepted his new role, and embraced it. He was our sure point, and he never complained. Seth exhibited GOODNESS to everyone, because he was more concerned with the good of the whole team than himself.

And it's easy to say, but he actually sacrificed for the team. At the end of the year, Seth finished 20th on the All-District voting. Top 16 make the team. He was undefeated, he couldn't have done more. I guarantee had he played #1 singles, he would have made the team. He was good enough.

What is needed for success? A leader who is good.

Kyle Miller could be commended for the same thing. Despite being our best doubles player, Kyle could never find a partner who helped him become a dominant force at #1 doubles. Russell Klassen would have offered that possibility, but splitting our top doubles players allowed us to dominate #2 doubles. It was a tactical move to get us another point in each match, and Kyle understood. He sacrificed personal wins for team wins. And that is the sign of goodness.

But also of self-control. Having different partners, who didn't all try as hard as Kyle did, made Kyle increasingly frustrated. But Kyle controlled his emotions and left it on the court.

What is needed for success? A leader with self-control.

Which could also be said of Ben Mast. He was someone who seemed in control at all times while he played. He couldn't be shaken by a bad call, a strong serve, or his own bad play. Never with his head down, always working for the next point. I remember early in the season when he got down 0-2 against Goshen in our second match of the season. He didn't get down, he didn't hang his head, and instead stormed ahead to a convincing victory. Control. Ben was in control.

But he had to persevere to get to that position. He had to learn from difficulty. Like having the #1 position ripped away from him at the end of 2009. Playing #1 singles for 14 matches, he ended the season with 6 at #2 singles. And he struggled with that reality, actually losing 2 of those matches. But he had to overcome it entering 2010.

And so he put it out of mind and worked. He didn't sulk, he didn't complain, he persevered. At the end of the season, he had a reward. Not only the #1 singles position, but an 18-4 record and an All-District selection.

What is needed for success? A leader who perseveres.

And what was true of all of our leaders? They were devoted to BC tennis. Workouts, Saturdays, early mornings, tennis camp, prayer partners, overnights at the courts, new players, new friends, new doubles partners, freshman who were loud, freshman who were quiet, balls hit out of the court, countless miles after practice. They came back, and they came back each time with renewed passion and energy.

What is needed for success? Leaders who love.

The flesh and blood of 2010's success was it's leaders. They embodied the soul of the team. Goodness, self-control, perseverance, and love.

Tuesday Tennis Tip: Forehand Progressions

2011-05-17T11:51:00.007-04:00

I've found a new site (Fuzzy Yellow Balls) that I really like for tennis information. I know it's really technical, but these are some really simple drills that you can do warming up each day and I believe they will help many of our forehands.

Summer Schedule 2011

2011-05-16T12:33:00.002-04:00

Let's play. What a way to start this blog off again for the new season. We need to play, we need to get better, we need to be a team again. Too much offseason this year, I ready for more tennis.

Here's the basic summer schedule:

Summer Team Camp
July 18-22, in Angola

Open Courts
Mondays, 4:00-6:00
Thursdays, 4:00-6:00

Daily Workout w/ Abe
10:00 AM

Tuesday Tennis
Tuesdays at 10:00 AM

My Favorite Thing...

2011-01-31T09:12:00.003-05:00

My favorite thing about Russell Klassen is his two-handed forehand.

That may seem weird, but let me explain.

Nobody in the world (except for his brother Wes) uses a two-handed forehand. It's not taught in any schools of tennis, it would be the first thing tossed out if Russell ever took lessons, and it drives tennis coaches crazy.

But not me. Because I realized something early on with Russell. He was good at that two-handed forehand and he knew it. He could pound it down-the-line at somebody's chest in doubles. He could stretch with it to keep balls in play. He could pound it crosscourt and dominate a crosscourt battle. He could even change the grip a bit and chip and slice it when needed.

He had a "weapon" and he knew how to use it to his advantage.

But really, I'm just using the two-handed forehand as a metaphor for what I really love about Russell. I love that he is comfortable with who he is, and isn't afraid to be that in front of everyone. Just like his two-handed forehand, he didn't hide his personality from the team. He is fun-loving and funny. He is extroverted like crazy. He was the most memorable person on all of our trips to Pizza King, Ruby Tuesday's, etc.

He is Russell, and I'm finding that that is hard to describe. Energetic, care-free, winning, goofy, and many other things. He's just Russell, and he's okay with that.

Doubles Dominance

2011-01-27T13:15:00.002-05:00

When Daniel Buschert and Mikey Kelly compiled a 20-2 record at #2 doubles on our Sectional winning team of 2008, I thought I'd never see a Bethany doubles team dominate their position like Mikey and Daniel did. Sure, there would probably be an uber-talented singles player to dominate their position (like Mike Mallet of the late 90's or Seth Krabill this year), but for two players to combine for such brilliance, especially at a school as small as we are? Would we ever be that deep of a team again?

And two years later, I'm sitting here reflecting on what the combination of Russell Klassen and Blake Shetler did this year.

19 wins at #2 doubles...
only 1 loss together...

And it wasn't that they skated through an easy schedule. Daniel and Mikey faced the likes of Penn, Northridge, Concord. Russell and Blake took down teams from Northridge and Concord too, but threw in a win over a state-qualifying Valparaiso team. They also got a win over the Fairfield #2 doubles team that didn't lose until the Semi-State round against Munster.

Something Russell and Blake clicked. Russell could be emotional, Blake was often reserved. Russell pounded his forehand, Blake had a great backhand. Russell controlled the net with pokes and drop-shots, Blake commanded the net with overhead putaways. They spurred each other to play better, and in times of nervousness they covered for each other, like Russell denying a match point for Valparaiso with a killer crosscourt forehand and then Blake finishing it off with a big serve.

And perhaps we'll never see the likes of this partnership again in Bruin's doubles. Of course, last time I thought that about a 20-2 team, we had these guys step up for 19-1. What's next, 18-0?

Russell Klassen Amazement!

2011-01-24T14:15:00.002-05:00

Russell played two varsity seasons for the Bruins. In those two seasons, he racked up a total of 32 wins! That's incredible, but what's even more incredible is his winning percentage. Russell won a whopping 78% of the varsity matches that he participated in.

Russell follows in his brother Wes's footsteps, as Wes Klassen played two seasons for the Bruin varsity in 2005-2006. While Russell played doubles, Wes was a singles player, playing all his matches at 2-3 singles. But when it comes to the record books, Russell trumps his older brother (much like my little brother did to all my records).

I have to say though, it's awesome to have a family like the Klassen come through and be part of the Bethany tennis family. It's hard to imagine the past four years without Russell, as he's given a lot of confidence the team as well as his talent. In his sophomore season, Russell completed an undefeated season, which he almost duplicated this year.

What's even more difficult to believe is that next year will be a season without a Klassen. Not one at the school, not one on the tennis team. It will be the first time for us since 2004. But thanks Russell, for sending the family out in style on the court. An excellent season that we'll need to celebrate now that it is actually Russell Klassen week!

Chapter Two: Widening Our Nets

2011-01-21T10:13:00.005-05:00

I tried to play football in middle school. Disastrous describes it most accurately, painful would be a close second. Once, when attempting a tackle on our man-child running back in practice, I caught my middle finger in the netting of his practice jersey and he dragged me 15 yards, by my finger, right into the end zone. I was terrible.

Well, I could memorize plays well, so all wasn't lost. But fourth-string quarterback of a 7th grade team isn't that illustrious of a position. So my dreams of football died quickly. By 8th grade I had decided to play tennis in high school.

My high school tennis coach, Tony Wright, was a self-taught lover of the game. He never played growing up, but learned the game as an adult and started the tennis program at Angola High School in the early 70's or late 60's when he started teaching Chemistry there. He had passion for the game.

Late in my career at Angola High School, Tony started letting me take control of the varsity singles players during our practice. This experience was a blast for me (although I do wonder how effective I was as a 18-year old coach). But I loved the game, and I passed that on to my younger brother. He eventually became a better player than me, majored in Sports Management at Taylor University, and began to help manage a tennis club in Greentown.

I went to college, and my coach, Stan King, introduced me to a whole host of new tennis players. Amadeo Marino, an Argentine with a fiery temper. Andrew Lanctot, a laid-back and cerebral player who won consistently against those more "physically" talented. I learned to know some of my opponents well: Matt Taylor, the coach's son from Taylor University, was my favorite because he was a serve and volleyer like my dear Pete Sampras!

Upon graduation, I met Dan Bodiker. He had called the college looking for a tennis coach and gotten my name from Stan King. He then called my uncle, who had attended Bethany and played soccer for Bod, to learn more about me before interviewing me for the job. When I showed up to interview, Bod had all the players sitting on the curb outside the gym to meet me. Before asking one question, he introduced me to "my" team.

Throughout the years, I've grown into a tennis scene, meeting more and more people. As my brother went to Taylor, I met his teammates and friends. As I coached, I began to know more of the opposing coaches, gained respect for many of them. Soon, players I played against in college were coaching against me at schools like Bremen, Goshen, Penn, and then Northridge. The network of people I knew kept widening and widening.

And this season, those nets came back to support us in a big way. When we needed a sign-off for Nate Brendle's transfer, I was able to talk to Evan Atkinson, Nate's coach at Northridge and an usher at my brother's wedding, and let him know that Nate wasn't transferring for tennis reasons but academic instead.

When we needed help at tennis camp, instruction and another pair of eyes to run drills, who was able but my brother himself. And where did we hold tennis camp? With who's permission? Well, my old tennis coach Tony Wright made the Angola courts available for us, while we were able to stay at my old church for lodging!

And when we needed an assistant coach for the season, I dropped back into the nets of relationships that I've formed over the years and asked Michael Steury, one of our former players, to come back and help out.

We're not even getting into the new relationships that got formed this year. Nate's transfer introduced us to his whole family, and their generosity and hospitality as his mom became the "team mom" for the year, organizing meals and all sorts of other things. And as new freshman joined as well, all new tennis families were able to jump into our widening nets.

This is one vision that I've always had for Bethany tennis, and I felt it more than ever this year. I desire us to be a family, one with wide arms embracing all the different relationships we have. From players to parents to opponents and opposing coaches, I want everyone to feel welcome and respected when they think of us. In turn, the love flows both ways, and we reaped the benefit this year in major ways.

And I like to think that we paid it forward as well, traveling over to the Regional to support the Falcons of Fairfield in their ultimately successful quest for a Regional title. Matt Ebersole was a loud cheerleader for the team that vanquished him, making friends with his opponents parents and sitting right in the front row as they clinched a Regional championship. I know that's jumping to the end of the story, but relationships were the things that set the story up in the first place.

From Tony Wright to my brother to my players to our parents, we received so much support from our "nets" this season. That was awesome, because we needed it.

Chapter One: Sweat and Hope

2011-01-21T08:00:00.000-05:00

UPDATE: I will now be finishing the Season Narrative that I tried to write back in November. I think it's time. Chapter 2 will be out on Monday morning! Here's Chapter 1 again as a reminder.

“Really, really good.”
“Really?” she said with a surprised look on her face.
“Like, we-might-not-lose-a-regular-season-match good.”

Pouring a cup of coffee, I was asked last spring how the team would be in the fall. The answer sprung from my mouth before I could even think about it. I scrambled back to my computer to think about what I had said, pulling the 2010 schedule up before me.

The bold prediction hadn’t come out of nowhere, I mean, I had been tirelessly working on “Wednesday Opponent Overviews” for much of the winter and spring. So I knew that we would have a good shot at traditional nemeses such as Concord and Northridge. I also was aware that our top 4 players would be back for their senior seasons, and that we had varsity experience to help them in Blake Shetler.

It was more than that though. Hope was jumping out of me because of P90X. Well, at least, the fact that every night after school I had 3-4 guys staying with me to strengthen themselves for the rigors of the season. Himal, Ryan and Ike - we would crank open the creaky old windows in my classroom in the dead of February and push ourselves through Yoga X. Muscles strained, sweat dripped all over the carpet, and it stank. I could only hope the frigid wind would carry the stink away before my classes the next morning. I could only hope that the work was making us better.

It was developing our strength, that much was certain. Once, Marcelo decided that he needed to come work out with us. It was during a day of Plyometrics, jumping, squatting, turning. Sweating. Marcelo made it through half the workout before he was done, while we happily completed the rest. It felt good to know that we were working.

Hope bounds forth from hard work. Ben Mast was committing himself to lessons at the racket club, Seth Krabill had enrolled in the Elite lesson program, and even Evan Grimes taking lessons. This work, these improvements, the sweat allowed us to dream all the higher. Without the work, we could expect another good but not great 12-8 season, just like the 2009 season. With the sweat, with the conditioning, with the lessons, who was to say what the ceiling would be? 5 losses? 3 losses? 0 losses? Why not?

Dr. O. Carl Simonton once said, “In the face of uncertainty, there is nothing wrong with hope.” Every season is an uncertainty, but looking at the 2010 season, there was every reason to hope. There was the work we were putting in, and then there was the results. Ben and Seth went down to the college one night after school to hit around and happened across Jordan Kauffman and Matthew Amstutz, two recent varsity players for Bethany who played for Goshen College. In a pick-up game, Seth and Ben destroyed the two college players, 6-1. These trends of results continued, as Ben took down the all-time wins leader of Bethany, Luke Hostetter, in a summer match.

Even the new freshman were getting into the act. Joel Gerig, Parth Patel, Abe Thorne, and Justin Zehr, every night they would pile into a car and drive down to the college to find court space to play. It didn’t matter if there really wasn’t space for them all, they just wanted to play. So that sat on each other’s lap if necessary to make it happen.

With all this going on, I looked at our schedule. My thoughts were simple. We can beat Northridge, they lose five varsity players. We can beat Concord, they lose six varsity players. We can beat Goshen, Westview, and the toughest match will be Fairfield, but they will have lost four players, we can beat them too!

An undefeated team? Unlikely. But in the offseason, it is the sweat that drives the dreams. The more sweat, the more hope. And this 2010 team was letting both flow.

2010 Season Review

2010-12-16T12:41:00.003-05:00

The Buschert-Kelly Award

2010-11-10T17:00:00.002-05:00

In 2008, Daniel Buschert and Mikey Kelly went on one of the most impressive runs of dominance that I've ever witnessed as a coach. After losing to Concord in the third match of the season, they ran off a stretch of 17 matches without a loss, including avenging a loss to Concord. They dominated their position, even if it was #2 doubles. So this award is for someone who dominated their position.

This award is rather obvious, as Seth Krabill played #2 singles all season and didn't lose a match. Well, technically didn't win a match. He did have luck on his side. Trailing 1-6, 0-3 at the Merrillville tournament to Valparaiso's #2 singles player, the skies opened up and poured. The tournament was canceled and thus this match never made it into Seth's official record. In the the rest of the season however, he cruised. He defeated other players with great records, including Nathan Brady of Wawasee, Seth Koble of Goshen, and Nate Gotshall of Taylor. Rarely was he challenged, going to three sets only once during the season (and that after having a 5-2 lead in the second set!)

So while I have to give it to Seth for being luckily undefeated, I also have to give this award to Russell Klassen and Blake Shetler. They only lost once all season at #2 doubles, and that was unlucky. My silly brother took his four best players and played them at doubles in our match with Eastern, meaning that Russell and Blake weren't really playing a #2 doubles team when they faced the Comets. Despite that, they took the match to a third set tiebreak before falling in that matchup.

Other than that, they ran roughshod over the competition, in much the same way as Seth. The only match they played together that went to a third set was against State qualifier Valparaiso, and Russell and Blake won it. They also split up some throughout the season and picked up some wins at higher positions, both winning 1 match at #1 doubles.

So, we had some position dominance this year. In basically every match, we won #2 singles and #2 doubles. That was a great advantage that these guys gave us! Congrats on the Buschert-Kelly Award!

Russell Klassen Week

2010-11-09T14:05:00.002-05:00

Everybody! Everybody! It's time to celebrate the most successful #2 doubles season ever! That's right, your very own Russell Klassen only dropped one match, while playing against tough competition, including defeating a team that went to the State finals (Valparaiso).

You got it, it's Russell Klassen Week!

My favorite thing...

2010-11-08T08:07:00.002-05:00

My favorite thing about Kyle Miller? His dedication and commitment.

Two years ago, in the winter following his sophomore season, Kyle started showing up after school for footwork drills. Footwork drills! He knew his speed was something he needed to work on. He and Austin Loucks were about the only two constant attenders at this after school program, and a season later they teamed at #1 doubles to go 13-7, a record very close to the 15-7 our Sectional champions #1 doubles team had posted the year before.

In the summer before his junior year, Kyle and Seth would come to the courts every single morning to hit before joining me for some awesome P90X in the middle school gym. That's right, every single morning they would show up and work out.

This year, Kyle took his commitment to another level. He not only came to everything, open courts to individual workouts, he began to get others involved. He made sure that Evan was getting his serving in, made sure that Seth was staying dedicated, tried to give rides to those who needed it. He was committed to the program.

These type of leaders cannot be overlooked or overappreciated. Hopefully, some of the leadership and commitment that Kyle showed this year will trickle down to the others that are younger on this team. Kyle's commitment and dedication are the very things that help build a program.

Thanks Kyle!

The Shenk Award

2010-11-04T09:57:00.001-04:00

Okay, so we come to the end of Kyle Miller week today. With that, I'll present him one more award. The Shenk Award. This goes to the player who has come the farthest since their freshman year. The story goes that on his first day of practice, Jonny Shenk showed up with a wooden racket and didn't even know that was going to hold him back. He proceeded to become the most successful #3 singles player we've had in my time, over the course of his junior and senior year.

Kyle started his freshman year as probably the least talented and least committed of all of the seniors. That's not the terrible thing that it sounds, because this senior class was one of the most talented and most committed from the very start. I mean, Ben, Seth, Russell and Kyle all stepped right to the top of the JV their freshman year, and had good records at that.

But still, what I remember was after Kyle's freshman season, I was trying to convince him to work throughout the offseason at tennis, because I had a feeling that this class could do something special. His response to me was blunt and honest, he didn't think he'd be working on tennis because his real sport was baseball.

And I don't really know how hard he worked that offseason. All I know is that after his sophomore year, Kyle had changed his mind, and joined the workouts in the weight room, footwork in the hallways, morning tennis in the gym. He still remained committed to baseball, but he had found that he could be committed to both.

And his game grew. As a sophomore, he had played doubles with Russell, and I had felt that Russell was the stronger partner. As a junior, Kyle played varsity doubles with Austin Loucks (#1 doubles no less!) and Kyle was the stronger partner. They racked up some impressive wins including match clinchers and had a 13-7 record.

But Austin graduated and Kyle was left to find a new partner. He committed again to working on his game, and improved his serve and forehand from his junior season significantly, as well as his ability to put away volleys. He improved dramatically and was in place to be a dominant senior.

For whatever reason, the record didn't work out the way that Kyle had hoped. But this showed his growth all the more. Freshman or sophomore year Kyle would have gone crazy with the losses he suffered during his senior year, he would have blamed it on anybody but himself. He would have complained, wanted his partner switched immediately, sulked until he got his way.

But not senior Kyle. He had grown up into a leader, doing what the team needed most. His game got better, his commitment got better, and he became a leader. A far cry from where he was as a tiny freshman, four long years ago.

The Kauffman Award

2010-11-02T13:04:00.004-04:00

The Kauffman Award goes out to our most vocal leader. I've developed a belief over the past several years that every team needs two different types of leaders. They need one leader who takes charge by example. They push hard in all the drills, do what the coach asks, and they inspire others to be like them.

And then every team needs a prophet.

What I mean by that is that they need someone who speaks. Someone who speaks to the team on behalf of the coach. They shout at players who aren't dedicated enough, text people to get their butts to open courts, encourage newcomers that they are getting better. And then on the other end, they speak to the coach on behalf of the team. When practice is going too long, when the drill doesn't seem to have a point, when the team is just dead-dog tired. They speak.

We had a leader like this. It was Kyle Miller. Now, because he spoke up, I'm sure he said his share of stupid things. But he said a lot of leader-like honest things as well. Probably the best example of this was at a Saturday practice in early August, when Seth was leaving early. In the early part of the season, there were some of us on the team questioning Seth's dedication. But Kyle spoke that, loud and clear. Sprinting across the courts he caught up to Seth and let him know that we needed him to be more dedicated.

But there are softer examples of this leadership too. Kyle tried to gently encourage the younger members of the varsity when they struggled. It was Kyle who thought up jokes to tell Nate when Nate would get down on himself. It was Kyle who lead the boisterous conversations on the bus on the way back from matches. It was Kyle who made sure that every body knew when they were supposed to bring the food to the matches. In all of these things, Kyle spoke to the team.

And he spoke to me too. Several times I got late phone calls or texts from Kyle, wondering what we were going to do about people's attitudes at practice, or about our lineup, etc. Kyle cared about the team, and that's why he spoke.

Thanks, Kyle.

Andrew Snyder

2010-11-01T14:58:00.000-04:00

2010

#1SJV – Columbia City - Devin Moore (11) – 5-8
#1DJV – Fremont – Seth Wirick (9)/Brandon Miller (10) – 8-6
#1SJV – Concord – Unknown - 4-8
#1SJV – Concord – Unknown - 8-1
#2SJV – Prairie Heights - Justin Clark (9) – 6-0
#1SJV – Triton – Dean Howdeshell (9) – 6-8
#1DJV – Westview – Jonathon Hostetler (11)/Jamar Weaver (9) – 8-9
#1S – Churubusco – Jesse Lich – 7-6 (2), 6-0
#1SJV – Northridge – 9-7
#1SJV – Warsaw (Orange) – Loss
#1SJV – Plymouth - Win
#1DJV – Fairfield – Logan Munn (12)/Austin Beer (12) – 2-8
#1SJV – Bremen – Wes Burkholder (10) – 6-8

JV RECORD: 5-6
VARSITY RECORD: 1-0

Justin Zehr

2010-11-01T14:57:00.000-04:00

2010

#3DJV – Northridge – Ryan Taylor (9)/James Kristofzski (9) – 3-8
#3DJV – Goshen - Austin Stutzman (9)/Derick Hostetler (9) – 4-8
#3DJV – Columbia City – Austin Funk (11)/Ryan Flauding (11) – 0-6
#3DJV – Fremont – Keith Bookwalter (9)/Derek Fischer (9) – 8-2
#3DJV – Concord – Unknown - 7-8 (5)
#3SJV – Triton – Lucas Shafer (9) – 1-6
#4SJV – Westview - Jake Churney (10) – 4-6
#1DJV – Churubusco – Andrew Biddle/?? – 8-0
#1DJV – NorthWood - Matthew Newman (9)/Greg Perrin (12) – 8-2
#3DJV – LaLumiere – Tommy Yemc (9)/Trevor Wennekes (11) – 3-6
#3DJV – Fairfield - Josh Davis (11)/Drew Cosby (10) – 2-8

JV RECORD: 3-8

Joel Gerig

2010-11-01T14:56:00.000-04:00

2010

#2DJV – Northridge – Michael Eash (10)/Erik Beck (10) – 8-4
#2DJV – Goshen - Philip Bontrager (12)/Matt Buncich (11) – 7-9
#4DJV – Goshen - Jorge Hernandez-Walton (11)/Noah Shreiner (9) – 6-0
#2DJV – Columbia City – Blake Fearnow (9)/Dalton Van Houten (9) – 8-7 (13)
#4SJV – Fremont – Jake Bryant (10) – 0-8
#2DJV – Concord – Unknown - 2-8
#3DJV – Concord – Unknown - 6-2
#3DJV – Triton - Chase Eyrich (9)/Aaron Stevens (10) – 6-1
#3DJV – Westview – Hunter Christner (9)/Josh Richardson (10) – 2-6
#1DJV – Churubusco – Andrew Biddle/?? – 8-0
#1DJV – NorthWood - Matthew Newman (9)/Greg Perrin (12) – 8-2
#3DJV – LaLumiere – Tommy Yemc (9)/Trevor Wennekes (11) – 3-6
#2DJV – Fairfield - Matt Yoder (10)/Marcus Rodes (9) – 1-8
#4SJV – Goshen – 6-1
#4DJV – Fairfield - Connor Hochstetler (10)/Samuel Clayton (9) – 8-5
#2DJV – Bremen - Nate Strehler (10)/Joe Zeltwanger (10) – 2-8

JV RECORD: 9-7

Parth Patel

2010-11-01T14:54:00.001-04:00

2010

#1SJV – Northridge – Byron Slabach (10) – 0-8
#4SJV – Northridge – Clay Schell (9) – 1-8
#1DJV – Goshen - Sylas Buller (10)/Sam Stegelmann (10) – 2-8
#2SJV – Columbia City – Ryan Flauding (11) – 2-8
#2DJV – Fremont – Cole Trombley (9)/Collin Sherburne (9) – 8-3
#2SJV – Concord – Unknown - 8-5
#2SJV – Concord – Unknown - 2-8
#3S – Laville – Grant Frick (11) – 6-3, 6-2
#2SJV – Triton – Lucas Shafer (9) – 4-8
#1SJV – Westview - Brett Yoder (9) – 2-8
#2S – Churubusco – Brandon Wormcastle – 6-3, 6-3
#2SJV – NorthWood – Riley Smith (9) – 8-5
#2SJV – LaLumiere – Dereck Luo (12) – 6-1
#2SJV – Plymouth – Loss
#2SJV – Northridge – Loss
#2SJV – Goshen - Win
#1SJV – Fairfield -Dillon Lockwood (10) – 0-8
#4DJV – Fairfield - Connor Hochstetler (10)/Samuel Clayton (9) – 8-5
#2SJV – Bremen – Tyler LaFlash (9) – 8-5
#1DJV – Tippecanoe Valley – Austin Murphy (12)/Seth Fincher (12) – 8-3

JV RECORD: 8-10
VARSITY RECORD: 2-0

Abe Thorne

2010-11-01T14:50:00.000-04:00

2010

#1DJV – Northridge – Connor Cameron (11)/Andrew Gingerich (10) – 4-8
#1DJV – Goshen - Sylas Buller (10)/Sam Stegelmann (10) – 2-8
#3SJV – Columbia City – Clayton Verberkmoes (12) – 8-1
#1SJV – Fremont – Jake Bryant (10) – 5-8
#1DJV – Jimtown – 8-4
#1DJV – Concord – Unknown – 1-8
#1SJV – Laville – Hunter Horvath (11) – 8-0
#2SJV – Laville – Andrew Hullinger (9) – 8-0
#1DJV – Triton - Darrin Harrell (9)/Jack Oldham (9) – 6-8
#2SJV – Westview - Jake Churney (10) – 8-4
#1D – Churubusco - Grant Stephan/Caleb Bonar – 6-1, 7-6
#3SJV – NorthWood – Abe Robinson (10) – 8-9 (4)
#1DJV – LaLumiere – Gavin O’Brien (10)/Alex Friedman (10) – 2-6
#1DJV – Warsaw (Black) – 6-8
#1DJV – Warsaw (Orange) – Loss
#1DJV – 7th Place Match - Win
#2SJV – Fairfield - Landon Knepp (10) – 2-8
#3SJV – Bremen – Wes Burkholder (10) – 0-3 (WIN)
#1DJV – Tippecanoe Valley – Kyle Alexander (11)/Trey Peterson (9) – 8-5

JV RECORD: 8-10
VARSITY RECORD: 1-0

Nate Brendle

2010-11-01T14:49:00.001-04:00

2010

#3S – Northridge – Josh Garfein (9) – 6-3, 7-5
#3S – Goshen – Adam Bratten (10) – 6-4, 6-4
#3S – Mishawaka – Jon Dickerson (10) – 6-2, 6-1
#3S – Columbia City – Derek Hinen (10) – 3-6, 3-6
#3S – Fremont – Matt Wilcox (11) – 4-6, 6-1, 6-3
#3S – Rochester – Brandt Eytcheson (9) – 6-0, 6-1
#3S – Jimtown – Chris Raderstorf (10) – 6-1, 6-1
#3S – Concord – Matt Kotva (10) – 4-6, 6-3, (14-12)
#2S – Prairie Heights – Brad Hughes (12) – 6-3, 6-2
#2S – Triton – Pete Kauffman (10) – 2-6, 1-6
#3S – Westview - Kohle Christner (9) – 6-2, 6-1
#3S – NorthWood – Shawn Stahley – 6-0, 6-2
#3S – LaLumiere – Benz Culbertson (10) – 3-6, 6-3, 6-4
#3S – Lowell – Johnny Goodrich (11) – 6-3, 6-1
#3S – Fairfield – Malachi Randolph (12) – 3-6, 2-6
#3S – Bremen – Ty Holmes (12) – 6-3, 6-2
#3S – Taylor – Logan Barnes (10) – 6-2, 6-7 (2), (4-10)
#3S – Wabash – Logan Hettmansperger (12) – 6-7 (5), 3-6
#3S – Eastern – Austin Chase (9) – 6-7 (5), 6-4, (10-7)
#3S – Tippecanoe Valley – Alex Newman (11) – 6-1, 6-3
#3S – Goshen – Eli Metzler-Prieb (11) – 6-4, 6-4
#3S – Fairfield – Malachi Randolph (12) – 2-6, 4-6

RECORD: 16-6

2009
JV for Northridge, went 16-2.

The Clincher Award

2010-11-01T08:08:00.003-04:00

A rule of blogging: Don't be late with posts, keep the material flowing.
A second rule of blogging: If you are late, don't apologize, just get back to it.
So, sorry (:-) for the delay, we'll even extend Kyle Miller Week because he hasn't gotten his fair shake yet...

Today's award is "The Clincher Award" which goes to the person who clinches the most matches for us. To clinch a match means to win the third point for the team, meaning that no matter what happens in matches that are not finished, we've won the match.

Whenever someone gets the all important third win, I finally start to relax at a match. I don't stop coaching, but the coaching can then feel like it is really focused on helping people get better rather than just trying to find a way to win their match. In a team sport, which tennis is in a really weird way, the team win is important. So this award recognizes the person who put me at ease the most during the season.

Sometimes, the third win can come in dramatic fashion. For example, the team score is tied 2-2 and the clincher is the last one left on the court. Winner takes all for themself and for their team. But sometimes, the clinches come much easy, like the team is up 2-0 and winning all three remaining matches and it is just a matter of time before one of the remaining spots seals the deal.

Regardless of how it happened, no one clinched more matches this year than Nate Brendle. Playing #3 singles for most of the season, Nate clinched 6 matches for us. Probably the most important was the first match of the season, where Nate won his match against the Northridge Raiders, this year's Regional runner's up, to give us a 3-1 lead over them and a guaranteed win no matter how #1 doubles finished up. It was a good thing too, as #1 doubles lost in a third set.

But Nate had other dramatic clinches as well. At the Wabash tournament, playing my brother's team (Eastern), Nate was the last match on the court with the team score tied at 2-2. And he was down 1-4 in the second set after losing the first. In convincing fashion, Nate dominated the next 5 games to win the second set before cruising through a 10-point tiebreak to seal the match, and the tournament for the Bruins.

The other clinches were less dramatic, but those were 2 of our closest 3 matches of the season, and Nate was the finisher in all of them. That seems like a good nickname for Nate actually: "The Finisher." I wonder if it will stick?
In honor of Kyle Miller week, I would be remiss if I didn't mention his finishing skills. In 2009, when I didn't award this award, Kyle Miller and Austin Loucks would have certainly won it. They had their fair share of dramatics, beating Jimtown in 3 sets and Triton in a 3rd set tiebreak (!) both to seal team wins. In tight situations, Kyle has been known to get himself energized and pull through. It's a characteristic that I hope gets passed on to his teammates.

The Ninja Award

2010-10-29T12:43:00.004-04:00

The Ninja Award is a simple one. I don't have to do much figuring. The Ninja Award simply goes to the JV player who racked up the most wins during the season. Regardless of position, this just comes down to who was our biggest winner.

The JV have been "ninjas" for the past couple of seasons. Part of this is just giving us something cool to call the drills that we have to work on to become better players, lending a little excitement to practice. But part of this is because of the way that I hope all players in the Bethany program identify their tennis games - "aggressive and attacking." Many of the drills teach players how to consistently make aggressive plays that lead to winning matches.

So amongst our ninjas this year, Wade Troyer had the most wins - 11 to be exact. Interestingly, he got the first half of those wins playing doubles positions, before moving to #3 singles JV for the second half of the season. But he succeeded there as well.

So congrats to the "Tower of Power" on a double award week. Speaking of week, in honor of Kyle Miller week, it should be noted that Kyle is a great personification of the Ninja qualities. He is attacking as he plays doubles, willing to put it out there and force the action. That's why Kyle consistently rules games like Doubles Passing, Action Paction and Overhead Jail.

Yep, Kyle Miller is ninja-tastic.

Oh, and if you want a Michael's ninjas shirt, click here.

The Amann Award

2010-10-29T12:29:00.004-04:00

The Amann Award honors the player who has come the farthest after being a beginning player their freshman year. This award is given in honor of Kyle Amann, a player from years ago who played his freshman year without any success. During the summer he worked very hard and made significant improvements and I was projecting him to eventually be a varsity player. Unfortunately, he moved. He would have been part of the 2007 graduating class with Weston Troyer.

But like him, we have two players who deserve this award this year. So I'm giving it to them both. Evan Grimes, who's mother literally called me the day before practice was going to begin, put together a 7-4 record on the varsity this season. That's a far call from the 8-15 record that he put up in his first two JV seasons, as he slowly learned the game. This year, he made a huge leap forward by actually taking lessons and committing himself to the game. What I'm excited about is that if he commits himself again this offseason, he may make the complete change from awkward beginner to dominant senior. We've never really seen that before, the closest being Jonny Shenk.

On the JV, Joel Gerig began this season as a beginner, more or less. A couple of middle school matches, a couple of open courts, but no real training. At the beginning of the season, it looked like he might be a train wreck, as he was winning very few of his challenge matches and hitting the ball all over the place.

Slowly but slowly he got better, then he started winning matches. As the JV season went on, Joel piled up matches to the tune of a 9-7 record. Watching him hit at the end of the season, Ben Mast remarked that Joel had probably improved more than anyone else on the team throughout the course of the season. Agreed. So Joel Gerig gets the Amann Award.
As for Kyle Miller, he was deeply involved in encouraging Evan's transformation throughout the last year. He was pushing for Evan to become his doubles partner much of the offseason, which happened twice but they couldn't pull out the wins. Kyle was instrumental in getting Evan to believe, and the "mentality always precedes the reality."

The Triple Wildebeast Award

2010-10-26T15:34:00.003-04:00

No award has more prestige than this award I'm sure. The nicknames that have been bestowed on our team throughout the years have slowly gotten better, year by year. In the early years, you had Joel King becoming "Kinger," or Jordan Kauffman becoming "JK," or me being deemed "Mills." I mean, they are nicknames, but they aren't great.

Then there came an explosion of creative. Daniel Buschert was called "Angel" based on his Jesus-like hair. Jonny Shenk was "Kashmar," which was Russian for nightmare. Luke Hostetter became "Luke Hostennis" based on his love of the game.

But we didn't end there. Last year, the ultimate for nicknames saw us endear Misha Rebec with "I Will Kill You Later." Then, Austin and Nick Rebec received a nickname from an opponent, when the Mishawaka player they faced called them "Testosterone Filled Monsters." And of course, this award's namesake, good old Jake Gerig who will forever be the "Triple Wildebeast."

And the nicknames came back this year, and all of the old traditions. Justin Zehr got the easy way out and was called "JZ." That was made even more comical considering the rapper who goes by the same name, although spelled differently, and our JZ's complete lack of "rapper-ness." Joel Gerig, little brother of the Wildebeast was deemed "Double Wildebeast," one step down from big bro. Abe Thorne got the ninja nickname "Aby Baby." Ryan Minter, for no apparent reason, was known as "The Blitz." And perhaps the coolest Star Wars take-off of all was "Parth Sidious."

But in the end, only one nickname really fit. We all know who it is going to be, unless we forgot that it was a nickname because we called him by this so much.

Indeed, Wade Troyer was the "Tower of Power."
Funny enough, despite Kyle Miller's prominent role on the team for four years, I don't remember one single nickname he ever got. It seems like he deserves one, considering the ridiculous things that he has done and said. Hmm...

Anyways, I know I'm behind on the awards. For some reason I have teaching work to do now that tennis is over... I'll try to post up two awards tomorrow. They will be the Amann Award and the Ninja Award.

Keep rockin' Kyle Miller Week.

Kyle Miller Week

2010-10-25T08:01:00.001-04:00

It's Kyle Miller Week here on the BC tennis blog. This week, we'll try to relate every post to something awesome about Kyle Miller. How about this? He and Matt Ebersole own a record that I'm going to predict will never be beaten.

This year, against Bremen, they won the match 6-7 (5), 7-6 (6), 7-6 (5). That's right, 3 tiebreaks. And in those tiebreaks, no blowouts. All were decided by the minimum two point spread.

And matches like that have been a theme for Kyle throughout his career. Last year, he and Austin Loucks won the inaugural "Our Hero" Award because of all the close matches they were able to pull out. Kyle is a player who likes to play in the tense moments, and his matches provide for many memories that way.

So, happy Monday of Kyle Miller Week!

Ben Mast - All State

2010-10-21T09:49:00.004-04:00

The award just keep on coming in for Ben Mast. This Monday, he was named to the 1st team of the All-State Academic team. This award is picked out of all the seniors in the state, and is a combination of both academic achievement as well as varsity playing achievements.

On Monday, I announced that Ben had become the first Bethany player to be awarded All-District based on his play. Now he has become the first player to be honored in the Academic All-State. Admittedly, I am now more involved with the Coaches Association, and am more aware of what awards they give and how to nominate for them. We've had several players in the past (Luke Hostetter, Daniel Buschert, Johnny Kauffman, Jared Schwartzentruber, Jonny Shenk - well, basically the whole class of 2009) that may have received this award if I had known about it.

Still, it's an impressive feat. The requirements are quite high, as the recipients must have at least an A average and a high SAT or ACT score. Those are the requirements to be considered for Honorable Mention, with the requirement for 1st team being much higher.

And this is a very prestigious award as well. Consider: 168 players around the state make the All-District teams. That is considered quite an honor. For Academic All-State 1st team, only 71 players received the award.

So, it's been a good "Award Season" for Ben Mast. Congratulations on your achievements Ben!

My favorite thing...

2010-10-20T13:46:00.002-04:00

As a coach, there are things that I like about each of my players. During the senior appreciation weeks, I want to highlight my favorite thing about each senior. It seems a good way to sing their praises, and for those who are still on the team to learn something from them.

Ben Mast has many good qualities that served him well in playing tennis. He focused well, controlled his emotions, practiced hard. But the thing that endeared him to me the most as a coach was his ability to listen.

I cannot count the number of times that Ben did exactly what I said, whether coaching him through the chain link during a match or talking to him in my room during the offseason. Between his junior and senior year, I talked to him about dominating matches by attacking. He needed to work on his approach and his finishing volleys to really be able to put pressure on his opponents. Ask any of the 18 opponents he demolished this year if he attacked well. Or just watch the tape of his Sectional match against Stefan Baumgartner.

During the offseason, I told him he needed to pick up the pace of both first and second serve. He rarely aced players or had an easy time holding serve during his junior year at number one. Guess who had our biggest serve this season, as far as speed, placement and consistency were concerned?

And during matches, I rarely talked to Ben, but when I did, he listened and it made a difference. I remember during his most intense match of the season, he was down in the first set to Westview's Steven Blinco. It was windy and Ben was simply missing the aggressive shots he was trying to attack behind. I told him to keep the ball in the court and only attack when he knew that he couldn't miss. Ben rallied during the last two games of the first set, and then won the last two sets 6-3, 6-0. Throughout the whole of the rest of the match, you could see him meticulously performing the very strategy we talked about at the fence. Ball in the court, over and over, until it was certain that he would put the point away.

Even to this blog, Ben is a listener. Much of last season, I posted here about the type of player that I wanted to see us Bruins become. Attacking under pressure, confident, dominant, with a killer instinct. I posted advice about shots, match memories, stats that were sure to come true. Ben followed it all. And I would said that he embodies so much of what I hope for in the Bruin tradition because of that.

Yep, my favorite thing about Ben Mast is that he listens.

The Klassen Award

2010-10-20T13:30:00.003-04:00

We interrupt all this Ben Mast appreciation to bring another awesome award to this Award Season. Though we could save this for his own week, I've already made a schedule and I'm sticking to it. So, we're naming a new award after one of our current seniors. That's right, Russell Klassen is getting his very own award.

And it's an award that he is obviously going to receive this year. The award is for the team's most aggressive player. Over and over again, Russell proved that he is the most vicious player on the team. Throughout our season, we talked to doubles teams about hitting players from the other team when they are at net. One way to be smaggressive (smart and aggressive at the same time) is to aim at players instead of trying to pass them. There is less chance of error and it requires the opponent to make a shot.

Russell was the master of hitting people at the net. So much so that opponents often moved off the net when they were serving to Russell. It's rare that one person in a doubles match can affect the overall strategy so much. But Russell's aggressiveness fed into Blake's strength. With the opposition's net presence eliminated, Blake was free to roam the net for putaways. Russell's killer forehand made it possible.

At one point this season, we played a tournament against my brother's team. My brother made a bet that one of his players would hit more people in the day than Russell. I told him there was no way, Russell bases his game on that aggression. Throughout the day then, Russell proceeded to hit players with shots a total of 12 times in three matches! That doesn't include the errors he forced because they were able to move. I'm sure that my brother's player was nowhere close.

This attitude of knowing what his game is and sticking to it with confidence is something all Bruin players should learn from. Russell earned a place for himself in Bethany lore, all because he was hungry for some "flesh."

Now, back to the regularly scheduled Ben Mast week schedule!

The Steury Award

2010-10-19T12:05:00.003-04:00

The Steury Award goes to players who didn't play tennis as a freshman but joined at some other point in their high school career. Michael Steury is the original, but we've had other players who made significant contributions after starting late. Wes Klassen didn't play his freshman year but ended up with a winning record at a combination of #3 singles and #2 singles his junior and senior year. Nick Rebec and Misha Rebec also started their sophomore seasons, and ended up contributing to the varsity last year.

Sometimes they don't play because they aren't sure it will be fun. Other times they don't play because they wanted to play another sport, and then didn't like it quite as much as they thought. But most of the time, it's the team nature in tennis, the encouragement of their friends, the laid back atmosphere of practice, the beauty of the game or some combination of those things that draws these players to the game after their freshman year.

This year, the Steury Award winner was drawn to tennis by a car crash.

Andrew Snyder, who played a significant role on the soccer team his freshman year, got into a serious car accident early in August. Soon he was told that he could not play a contact sport for 3 months. That opened the door for him to join us on the tennis team, which he did for the second half of the year. Andrew played mostly JV matches, though he did win one match at varsity #1 singles against Churubusco. Playing #1 singles JV, he advanced through the winner's bracket of the JV NLC tournament and took 3rd place - falling only to Warsaw. He also pushed the varsity, giving us a solid and consistent hitting partner and making sure that everyone was sharp.

We can only hope that Andrew will be back to play some more tennis.
In connection with Ben Mast week, two years ago when Andrew was an 8th grader, I told Ben Mast that he would be an excellent tennis player if we could convince him to join the team. So Ben, who shared common interests with Andrew in drama and musicals, tried to convince him to join the team. It didn't work freshman year, but you can see the draw in the second year :-)

Happy Ben Mast Week! Tomorrow's award - The Klassen Award for the team's most aggressive player. Hmmmm....

Ben Mast's Stats

2010-10-19T11:51:00.004-04:00

Career Records
Career Varsity Record: 37-12
Career JV Record: 23-4
Total Bethany Christian Record: 60-16

This Season
Record: 18-4
Most Memorable Win: at Westview, 3-6, 6-3, 6-0 over Steve Blinco
Longest Winning Streak: 6 matches (3 times!)
Win Percentage: 81.8%
Games Won Percentage: 72.3%
"6-0" Sets: 15! (out of 43)
"6-1" Sets: 13! (out of 43)
--> This means that 65% of Ben's sets were won by him either 6-1 or 6-0!

These stats are impressive, no?