Bethany Christian vs. Churubusco

Tonight we played the Churubusco Eagles, and it was a pretty quick match. Tonight, Mikey and Seth played Alex McDowell and Ryan Mey, and that was a great match.

Churubusco only has six players on their team this year, and three of them are new players. The three positions that Churubusco fielded that included these newcomers were matches that went very quickly in the Bruins favor. Ben Mast quickly won a match at #1 singles where he rarely lost a point when he got his serve in. At #2 singles, Russell Klassen was able to take his second singles victory of the season in quick fashion by making consistent forehands and finding nice angles. #2 doubles tonight was Austin Loucks and Kyle Miller. They didn't play the best match ever, but they showed flashes of their improvement in every game and dominated the net to win the match easily. And with #3 singles forfeited, we had the match won with 4 positions.

But Mikey and Seth combined to play a great #1 doubles match. Busco's doubles stars, Alex McDowell and Ryan Mey, had played some fantastic matches already this season. They pulled off a great win and defeated Fairfield, and their coach mentioned that it was likely that they would have the #1 seed in the upcoming NECC tournament.

Coming into the match, Mikey and Seth had a lot of energy. They started out amazing, winning the first three games in a row. Churubusco was completely frustrated, but then we tightened up a bit in the next game. Seth threw in a couple double faults and Busco clawed a game back. Then they won three more in a row. Suddenly we were down. After tying the set at 4-4, the Eagles won the next two to take the set 6-4. The set was the most beautiful thing ever, with points ending often on errors and nervous mistakes for both teams.

But the second set got a lot better. We picked up our strokes and our net attacking, and took the first 2 games again. We continued to build our lead with lots of attacking net play. Mikey began to feel the doubles vibe again, and found a bunch of volley winners and overheads. At one point it was punctuated with an overhead over the fence. The Eagles picked it up as well. Ryan Mey especially dominated the net, and he and Mikey had quite a few brilliant exchanges there. Mikey's quick reflexes and quick feet were serving him well, while Seth did a great job controlling the baseline. Seth pounded a serve down the middle to seal the second set, 6-4.

Unfortunately, the third set started off in a disappointing way. Mey was able to hold serve and then we were broken to go down 2-0. But Mikey and Seth fought back to 2-2 in a hard fought fashion. Then it felt like our nerves got to us again, and the Eagles were able to be a bit more aggressive. We couldn't quite hang on, and ended up losing a great match in the third set.

It was a fun match to watch, a lot more interesting than some of the other matches. I was really proud of our team and the way we handled everything about the night.

There was no JV match, so the freshman on our team played everybody else. Only one freshman was able to come away with a win in a match that was stacked against them. Ike Lehman beat Evan Grimes 8-6 in a match that Andrew said was both of their best on the season. They've been working on secret ninja training the last several weeks, so it is good to see them getting better quickly.

In the other matches, the upperclassmen dominated. Matt and Blake won easily over Ryan and Wade, Jake and Claude won easily over Josh and Himal, and Evan Eby won 8-2 over Han Gil Lee (who looked like he was from Churubusco's team). I'm really glad when these JV guys dedicate themselves to playing hard, even when it is against each other.


The moment of beauty is many different points from the #1 doubles match. Honestly, that is because of the quality of the Eagle opponents at that position. The other spots didn't give us too much of a chance to play beautifully. But I loved Mikey's point where he ran down two volleys at the baseline behind Seth and put them back high over the head of the net man. Seth contributed a couple volleys, but in the end, Alex McDowell's forehand sailed wide. Mikey's dedication to getting to the ball and putting it back in play... beautiful!

I also liked Seth's super serve to end the second set. Bring it!

Scores

Varsity:
#1S - Ben Mast - 6-0, 6-0 - Brandon Wormcastle (9)
#2S - Russell Klassen - 6-0, 6-0 - Andrew Biddle (9)
#3S - Jake Gerig by default
#1D - Mikey Kelly/Seth Krabill - 4-6, 6-4, 2-6 - Alex McDowell (12)/Ryan Mey (12)
#2D - Austin Loucks/Kyle Miller - 6-1, 6-0 - Jesse Lich (11)/Grant Stephen (9)

Churubusco Preview

Details: September 10, 2009 at 4:30 PM. To be played at Bethany Christian High School.

Last Season Review: In the 2008 season, this was a match that was particularly memorable, mostly because Jonny Shenk got to play on a singles only court, with no doubles' alleys. The match itself was not overly exciting. The Eagles forfeited the #2 doubles position, and the only thing of note was that Luke Hostetter was significantly pressed at #1 singles, with almost every game going to deuce, but still prevailed 6-1, 6-1.

Churubusco Details: I've only seen one score this year, and what it tells me is that the Eagles have taken their best two players and teamed them at #1 doubles. And that team is very good. They defeated Fairfield at the #1 doubles position. However, the other three positions were all lost 6-0, 6-0. So there is little strength outside of #1 doubles, and they are already forfeiting one position (#3 singles).

Bethany Christian Details: We have not played since last Saturday, when we defeated Triton 3-2. The Westview match got rained out last night, and so we move on toward the weekend with only one day of hitting since our Friday match. It's a weird stretch in our schedule, but hopefully we'll come out of it okay.

Projected Matchups:
#1S - Ben Mast (BC) vs. Jesse Lich (C)
#2S - Russell Klassen (BC) vs. Andrew Biddle (C)
#3S - Default to Bethany Christian
#1D - Mikey Kelly/Seth Krabill (BC) vs. Alex McDowell/Ryan Mey (C)
#2D - Kyle Miller/Austin Loucks (BC) vs. Grant Stephen/Brandon Wormcastle (C)

Outlook: This is a match that we should win, but we won't necessarily win every position. Their #1 doubles is strong, and will provide a stiff test for whoever we decide to play there. At the other matches, Jonny Shenk defeated Jesse Lich 6-2, 6-0 last year, and the other players are new, so I don't exactly know what to expect. I hope it is an enjoyable match!

Wednesday Opponent Overview: Churubusco

Last Season Review
Last season, the Eagles began a new year under a new coach and showed marked improvement over past years. They were very competitive at the highest singles positions, and return both of those players for their senior years. However, the bottom of the lineup remained a problem for Busco, and they couldn't find a winning combination that allowed them to compete for very many match wins. They rode their singles players to a 7th place finish in their conference tournament (out of 9 teams), and were eliminated quickly from the Warsaw Sectional.

Returning Varsity Players
Alex McDowell - Alex McDowell enjoyed a very successful individual season last year, including notching a win over Wyatt Stutzman and placing 3rd in the NECC Conference tournament. Luke had to work hard to earn a victory over McDowell, although the scoreline would show otherwise. McDowell had a very good serve and forehand, but Luke was able to attack and hit very good volleys to eventually break him down. McDowell will be a very difficult opponent for many next year, and a good test for us when we play.

Ryan May - May was injured when we played against Churubusco this past season. You may remember him as the guy who was walking around with his shirt off when we arrived to play the Eagles last year. He was also having a good season before his injury, also defeated Fairfield's Brock Bechtel before going down to injury. He also will be an even matchup for us next year.

Jesse Lich - Lich had played mostly at #1 doubles for the Eagles before our match with them last year. He switched to #3 singles because of May's injury, and gave Jonny fits before Jonny was able to figure him out. He sliced the ball low and short most of the time, and was able to run around and get to everything that Jonny threw at him. In the end though, he didn't have enough big shots to get past Jonny when Jonny would hit a well-placed approach shot and attack.

Jon Hilsmier/Brandon Green - Johnny and Jeremy played a fantastic match against these two, but they both seem to be beginning tennis players and had difficulty dealing with the spin and pace that Johnny and Jeremy played with. With Johnny's high kick serve and Jeremy's slicing serve, and then both players attacking the net, Green and Hilsmier had little chance. Improvement seems to be likely under the Eagles new coach, and I wouldn't be surprised to see this pair at #1 doubles again next year.

Other Possible Varsity Contributors
Maybe they will have some new freshmen? They had no #2 doubles last year or any JV.

Outlook
A lot depends on how many people come out to play on the team. Even if they get some freshmen out for the tennis team, it looks to be a difficult season for the Eagles, simply because the bottom of their lineup does not match the top. McDowell and May would be contributors to just about any varsity in the whole of Northern Indiana, but the rest of the Eagle team is not at that same level. So the improvement of the bottom players will determine success this year for Busco as a team.

Blessing
We continue to pray that God will bless this team in many ways throughout this year.

Churubusco Match Report

Well, it was a beautiful setting to play tennis in Churubusco, and we knew we were going to the Magic Wand afterwards, but the matches themselves were not much to write about. The varsity team swept the 4 positions it played (Busco didn't have a #2 doubles team) and the JV didn't play. Another win and we're up to 8-2 on the season!

The best match of the night was number one singles. Although Luke won 6-1, 6-1, his opponent, junior Alex McDowell, gave him a really good fight and is a solid player for the Eagles. He used a big forehand and serve to gain advantage in some points. McDowell actually took the first game of the first set and made it seem that it was going to be close throughout. But Luke did what Luke often does, he took a close match, won all the big points, and made it not close at all. Luke continued to see that when he mixes up his game, he becomes very hard to read and very hard to beat.

Jared Schwartzentruber and Jonny Shenk both played opponents who were taking their first turns at singles. Jonny's opponent, Jesse Lich, seemed to have the tricky shots, often dropping the ball low and short in front of Jonny. Jonny handled it well, being able to attack at different points and make good shots from the net when he got there. Jared's opposition, senior Trevin Geiger, proved less competition as he could not take a game from Jared.

Johnny Kauffman and Jeremy Thomas also breezed through their doubles match. They didn't lose a point until the fourth game of the set, and then closed out the set without losing another one! That's got to be worth a moment of beauty, right?

This match finishes up a stretch of opponents that we have traditionally beaten and moves us forward to a set of opponents that we have traditionally been coach, we have beaten Northwood only once, Fairfield only once, we are 3-2 against Bremen and 2-3 against Tippecanoe Valley. These matches will be better tests of where our program is this year, and I suspect we will still do fairly well.


Varsity: Luke played some beautiful points in this match, hitting many gorgeous half-volleys for winners. But I think I'm going to have to recognize Johnny Kauffman and Jeremy Thomas in this match, for only losing one point in the first set. A 6-0, 6-0 scoreline is beautiful (especially when written in my handwriting:) but it's even more significant if the number of points lost is only a solitary 1.

JV: There was no JV match tonight, Churubusco did not have enough players.

Scores

Varsity
Luke Hostetter - 6-1, 6-1 - Alex McDowell (11)
Jared Schwartzentruber - 6-0, 6-0 - Trevin Geiger (12)
Jonny Shenk - 6-2, 6-0 - Jesse Lich (10)
Johnny Kauffman/Jeremy Thomas - Jon Hilsmier (10)/Brandon Green (10)
Daniel Buschert/Mikey Kelly - FORFEIT - N/A

JV
There was no JV match tonight. Churubusco did not have enough players.

Bethany Christian vs. Churubusco {Match Report}

This match was another one between a young, inexperienced group from Churubusco and an equally young but much experienced varsity from Bethany Christian. Over the past several years, this match has proved to be relatively easy for the Bruins to win, as we've won 5-0 for the past 5 years. This year, despite marked improvement from the young Eagles, Bethany took another 5-0 decision.

The first three matches of the evening took place indoors due to a driving rain that hit just as the match began. Luke Hostetter at #1 singles took on a hard-hitting #1 in Alex McDowell. Though McDowell was able to push the pace of play and force Hostetter to hit off the back foot on many points, Luke had the composure and will to win the big points of the match and make it a relatively comfortable victory.

At #2 singles, Jared Schwartzentruber stepped aside for an evening due to a back injury. In his place Jonny Shenk moved up from #3 singles and played Ryan May. May had a beautiful backhand stroke, and again put good pace on the ball but was not consistent enough to stay in this match with Jonny. Another easy victory for the Bruins.

At #3 singles, Matt Amstutz filled the position left by Shenk. Matt started his match indoors, and dropped the second game with some inconsistent groundstrokes and return of serve. However, when the match moved outdoors, Amstutz shone with big forehand shots and serves to only lose one more game for the entire match.

Both doubles positions were also taken with ease. Our Bethany players have been well drilled in getting to the net and making opponents pay for weak or tentative play. Both doubles teams were aggressive throughout the match, and were overwhelming for the Eagles doubles, who couldn't match the attack.

This win put us at 7-3 for the season, a mark that has us at the 70% winning percentage that is always a goal for the program. It is also the last of our weaker opponents, as the upcoming schedule includes Northwood, Fairfield, and Bremen.

Scores
----------------------------
Bethany --- Score --- Churubusco

#1S - Luke Hostetter (11) --- 6-0, 6-1 --- Alex McDowell (10)
#2S - Jonny Shenk (11) --- 6-0, 6-1 --- Ryan May (10)
#3S - Matt Amstutz (11) --- 6-2, 6-0 --- Zac Sorg (12)
#1D - Johnny Kauffman (11)/Jeremy Thomas (11) --- 6-1, 6-0 --- Trevin Geiger/Jesse Lich
#2D - Daniel Buschert (11)/Mikey Kelly (10) --- 6-1, 6-0 --- Matt Hall/Alex Murphy

JV
#1S - Ben Mast (9) --- 8-0 --- John Hilsmier