Elkhart Central Match Report - 2019

Scores

V: Bethany Christian 4, Elkhart Central 1
JV: Elkhart Central JV 4, Bethany Christian JV 3

Varsity Recap
This was another one of those matches that I will remember from this season. It was close, we played well, and in the end we won the close matches. It was one of those times that I'm so nervous and hopeful as a coach, and when our opponent's final shot fell in the net, I breathe a big sigh of relief and think about how proud I am of our team.

Several matches were not close against Elkhart Central, and those matches got us off to a great start. Caleb Shenk played brilliant tennis, especially in his opening set, and dominated the Blazer #1. Playing the 2nd exchange student he's had to this season, Caleb took the opening set 6-0. His opponent gave a little better challenge in the second set, keeping more balls in play, especially on his forehand side. Still, Caleb was the first match off with a 6-0, 6-3 win.

At #1D, Nathan and Joseph fought through a very long first game of the first set, it went back and forth at deuce several times. Finally, we finished a volley to get the game, and then quickly we won game after game to build a big first set lead. As the Elkhart Central coach noted, our #1D did a great job of controlling the match, winning important points in simple ways, and never really giving Central the opening to get back in. Nathan and Joseph finished it off at 6-1, 6-2 for our second point.

Also finishing in 2 sets was Josh as #3S. But his match was a very close two sets. In both sets, Josh fell behind early. This was flipped from previous matches, where Josh has taken early leads. Against the Blazers, Josh didn't give up. In the first set, he dug in from 5-2 down to tie the set at 5-5. Unfortunately, he couldn't keep that up, and he lost the first set. In the second set, he again went down 5-2, and again he started to dig his way out. It was such great fight from Josh, something he's been showing more and more of throughout the season. But he lost the second set, and the team score was 2-1 for us.

#2S and #2D were still on court playing. At #2S, Braden was a bit tentative and his game was just a little bit off. His opponent was being very patient, and that caused Braden to overthink a little bit too much. Also, feeling sick, he was a little slow to move to the ball. Shots flew long or landed short, and the Blazer #2 did a great job of getting forward to hit approaches and winners. Braden lost the first set, but immediately in the second set he took the opportunity of a second chance to take a lead. He extended his lead to 3-0 before easing into a second set victory, setting the stage for a third set.

#2D started off awesome. Typically we have not played well against the Blazers, especially in our doubles positions. This year, we started off really well. Will was serving some of his best on the year, and Tyson's groundstrokes were 100% on. We were controlling the match and making few errors. The Blazer team was very good, and were able to take a couple games. But after we won the first set, that slipped. We made more errors while Central made more shots. We found ourselves down 5-2 before we started to get things together a bit more and put the pressure on. Will and Tyson clawed back to 5-4, before losing in a long, multi-deuce game. They were also headed to a third set.

So we needed one of the third setters to get a team victory. I was confident in both, but nervous because you never know. #2D got off to a great start, pulling ahead 1-0 after the first game. They moved well and hit the shots they needed to. Then, that slipped, they looked nervous, they stood still, the worried about line calls and missed their shots. We went down 2-1. From that point on, it was a struggle with the nerves. But Central was struggling with theirs as well. Finally, down 4-3, we found our rhythm. We moved and hit the smart and aggressive shots, we found the court with important serves, we finished with simplicity. We won the match 6-2, 4-6, 6-4. And the team had taken its third point for the team victory!

So, we only needed Braden to finish up. With the team pressure off, Braden looked like he might win easily. Instead, it became more of a fight. In fact, Braden went down 5-4 in the last set and it looked like we'd only win 3-2. But in the end, Braden battled back. He found his forehand and was able to take some net points. He found his serve and forced errors. Holding match point in the last game, he evened tried a tweener for the win! He didn't get it, but he did finish it off at 7-5.

So the team pulled a great win, 4-1, over the Blazers. We enjoyed singing on the bus, celebrating together. 

Junior Varsity Recap

Okay, this is another match where I didn't get to see as much of the matches as I wanted. Cameron, Theo, and Austin all took care of their matches pretty easily, and came over to let me know. I've been impressed with those guys as they continue to rack up near-varsity-quality wins, often with a lot of ease.

Chris and Matthew then took on a slightly better doubles team that included the Central #1SJV player, and they went back and forth, ending up in a tiebreak. In the tiebreak, they served and hit well, but found themselves a little tight. I got to watch the tiebreak, and I think it was a good experience to remember to just play point after point in a way that is enjoyable to us, moving and taking the shots we would in practice.

The singles lineup got all messed up because of Aaron getting sick (get better, Aaron). Jim was going to play #3SJV, but moved up to #2SJV, and then ended up starting his match right away. I didn't get to see much, but it sounds like errors kind of did Jim in. Then Xudong took on the same player, and he had a great match. He stuck right with the #2SJV player and the match also went into a tiebreak. Xudong felt like he was having trouble under pressure in swinging through his shots. In the end, the tiebreak put both players under pressure, as each had more than one chance to win the match. Finally, Xudong fell 15-13 in the tiebreak.

Breece and Jacob picked up a great win over a couple of new freshmen. Breece is coming on strong in the JV victory category now up to 7 which is the second most of the JV. Jacob and Josiah turned around and had a good match against the same players, but couldn't quite get the victory.

It was another match where we had weird things add up to a JV loss, even though it clearly felt like we had the stronger team. I hope our JV team is internalizing their strength, not their record. They are clearly a much stronger team than that record.

You are accepted.

Before this match even began, I was scatterbrained. Try as I might, there's something about the Central tennis complex that frazzles my mind. But I knew you would be focused. You have done a great job this season going into difficult environments and focusing well. So, before this match, I was confident in your focus.

You are sustained.
Today, we are sustained by these moments of joy...

1. Will and Tyson's Concentration
There were some tough moments of Will and Tyson's match. They could have played better in their second set. There were close calls that they thought really went against them. They were playing next to the Elkhart Central students, who were just being high schoolers, but that could have been distracting. Instead, Will and Tyson buckled down in the clutch (for the second time this year) and won the match with smart aggression. With movement. With good serves. I was very proud of them.

2. Creative Cheering in the 3rd Set
One of the memories that will certainly stick with me from this match is the sound of our fans. Whenever Tyson and Will would win a big point, we would have synchronized feet stomping on the metal bleachers. It was so innocently fun. It wasn't yelling in the other team's face. It wasn't taunting. It was just pure celebration and fun. And that is how tennis is supposed to be. Enjoy your great points. Congratulate your opponents on their great shots. Love it all!

3. Xudong's Tiebreak
Okay, admittedly, the varsity was in the middle of their third sets when Xudong began his tiebreak. So I didn't get to see any of the 28 (!) points that it took to decide it. But when you live through something that awesome, a 7 point tiebreak that doesn't end until the winner gets 15 points... well, that's just something to always smile at. I still remember my epic defeat in the conference tournament that went to a tiebreak, even though I lost.

You have achieved.

We stayed focused in a distracting environment. That is an achievement.
We played loose in tight matches. That is an achievement.
We finished our matches. That is an achievement.
We won the varsity match. That is an achievement.
We made adjustments on the fly. That is an achievement.
We celebrated the good. That is an achievement!

Prayer
God, there is a great amount of joy around our team. Please, help us to play with that as we continue this season. Give us the grace to follow You, and live out of the fulfilling joy and gratitude of Your Spirit, rather than feeling like every moment is something where we have to prove ourselves. We are enough because of Your love. In Jesus name I pray!

Scores
Varsity
#1S - Caleb Shenk - 6-0, 6-3 - Giovanni Beiana (11)
#2S - Braden Bohn - 3-6, 6-2, 7-5 - Spencer Dexter (11)
#3S - Josh Cartwright - 5-7, 4-6 - Matt Deshone (10)
#1D - Nathan Oostland/Joseph Mounsithiraj - 6-1, 6-2 - Alexx Dreamer (12)/Josh Reid (11)
#2D - Will Nisley/Tyson Miller - 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 - Frankie Yeakey (11)/Grant Brekke (11)

Junior Varsity
#1SJV - Cameron Heinisch - 6-1 - Chase Bontrager (12)
#2SJV - Jim Lyu - 1-6 - Randall Delafuente (10)
#3SJV - Xudong Sun - 6-7 (13) - Randall Delafuente (10)
#1DJV - Theo Siemens-Rhodes/Austin Shenk - 6-2 - Gianni Lucchese (9)/Kaden Kennedy (9)
#2DJV - Chris Craw/Matthew Dyck - 6-7 (4) - Gianni Lucchese (9)/Chase Bontrager (12)
#3DJV - Jacob Leininger/Breece Erickson - 6-2 - Gavin Sommer (9)/Nick Hardy (9)
#4DJV - Josiah Schlabach/Jacob Shank - 3-6 - Gavin Sommer (9)/Nick Hardy (9)

Elkhart Central Match Report

VARSITY MATCH REPORT
This was a difficult match. It was a match where at every position we should have been able to compete, to have close matches. It was a match that was going to come down to which team could make the correct, aggressive shots in the big moments. Who could execute when it was game point, set point, etc.

In each match, we had moments that we needed to make those big shots. But for most of us those points didn't come in the first set. For Liam, Caleb, and #2D, they all started out there matches without much confidence and didn't have very many chances to play these big points. But, with much credit to those three positions, they completely changed perspective for the second set.

But Philip at #3S and Jonah and Nathan at #1D both had their chances to play big points come in the first set. Philip went back and forth with the Blazer's #3. As has been the case in most of Philip's matches, the points were being decided almost exclusively by whether Philip moved well and kept his aggressive shots in. In the first set, he kept his belief and confidence high and hit some great shots and won the set.

#1D went back and forth too. Down 4-3 they came to the pressure point of the set. This is the crucial time where somebody is going to win the set, and it usually comes by being the smart aggressor, or because the other side makes silly mistakes. #1D has become very good at not being the silly mistake making team, but in this match it was Elkhart Central who picked up their play, they found big shots down the line, simple volleys when we hung our returns too high above the middle of the net, and more. So we went down the set at #1D.

Back at the #1S, #2S, and #2D positions, we started the second sets out with much better confidence and belief. The matches were closer, in fact, in the second sets, both Liam and Tyson and Will (#2D) had chances to win their second sets and send them to a third.

Tyson and Will learned a really important lesson about doubles. They learned that it is important to put pressure on your opponents, even when you don't feel 100% confident in your strategy. Down in the set, I asked them to attack the net with abandon. To get there as fast as they could. So they did, and the match flipped around. Suddenly it was the Blazers who were making mistakes. It was Tyson and Will who were getting overheads and easy volleys. This led them to a 6-5 lead in the set on Will's serve. Again, it was an opportunity, but it required them to make the next level of aggressive shot to close out the set. Unfortunately, it was again the Blazers who had the answers. They forced a tiebreak and came up with the big shots in the big moments to win the match in the tiebreak.

Back at #1D, Jonah and Nathan began to play much better, but couldn't quite crack the code of the Blazers. They lost the second set despite putting in really good effort. That left Liam and Philip on the courts playing. Liam was down 5-2 in the second set while Philip was hanging right in there. Liam suddenly found his groove, mixing up the height and pace of the balls that he was hitting. Quickly he affected the rhythm of the Blazer #1, and got right back in the set. Liam also took a 6-5 lead, just as #2D had, and he too needed to hit the aggressive shot to finish out the set. Having ad-in, he had a sitter at the net. He tried a drop shot, but the ball hit the tape. This unfortunately woke up the aggressive side in his opponent, who tied up the match and then won it in the tiebreak.

No doubt, the lesson of this match was to stay smart and aggressive when in pressure situations. The player who does typically wins the match.

Which applies to Philip Krabill, our star who got the only win of the night for the Bruins. After losing the second set, it was decided that #3S would finish with a 10 point tiebreak. Philip took a big lead early in the tiebreak. He did this with great energy and great footwork. When Philip moves to the ball, he is tough to beat at #3S. His shots are just too good. And he took those shots and won the match with those shots. It was a really fun and upbeat way to end.

JV MATCH REPORT
Braden Bohn continues to sizzle as the season goes on. He pulled in another great performance tonight, which set the pace for the Bruins to win 3 of the 4 singles matches. Josh Cartwright continued his solid freshman season, picking up another win as well. Jim Lyu accounted for the third win in singles, as his strokes continue to get better and more consistent.

At doubles, the ratio was flipped as we lost 3 of 4. The one win came from freshmen #3D, Austin and Matthew providing a very confident 8-3 win. The other matches were close, as Joseph and Aaron held a 5-4 lead in their set and Chris and Theo were right there as well. Our doubles teams at the JV seemed to suffer from a lot of what the varsity did. We need to take and make smart and aggressive shots to close out the games.

IT WAS ENOUGH
It was enough tonight to watch us battle back. It was enough that you prepared well. It was enough that you held your brothers high as they finished out their matches. That is enough.

YOU ARE BROTHERS
You are brothers. You gathered around Philip to watch him finish out the varsity's only win. It was awesome to see the whole team move down to the bleachers right next to Philip's court to watch him finish the tiebreak. The whole team helped to give him that positive energy. You are brothers.

I AM GRATEFUL
I am grateful for...
- not having to go back to Wilderness Experience too soon :-)
- for the ease of coaching you guys and your response to my coaching.
- to the earnest desire to do your best.
- for the comebacks we watched tonight.
- for those who are building momentum toward the end of the season.
- for laughter.
- for each of you, my players!

A PRAYER
Lord God, I am thankful for the fight in this team. Give us joy and confidence to go with that effort. Let us feel secure in Your love as well, never outside of the transforming power that holds for us.

SCORES
Varsity
#1S - Liam Bradford - 1-6, 6-7 (1) - Philip Stutzman (12)
#2S - Caleb Shenk - 0-6, 2-6 - Zack Pelletier (12)
#3S - Philip Krabill - 6-4, 4-6, (10-6) - Will Bryant (12)
#1D - Nathan Oostland/Jonah Farran - 3-6, 2-6 - Dane Frieden (12)/Nathan Brekke (12)
#2D - Will Nisley/Tyson Miller - 0-6, 6-7 (4) - Nathan Lindholm (12)/Abe Hill (12)

Junior Varsity
#1SJV - Braden Bohn - 8-2 - Spencer Dexter (10)
#2SJV - Josh Cartwright - 8-3 - Matt DeShone (9)
#3SJV - Jim Lyu - 9-8 (4) - Randall Delafuente (9)
#4SJV - Angel Torres - 0-8 - Chase Bontrager (10)
#1DJV - Joseph Mounsithiraj/Aaron Shenk - 5-8 - Josh Reid (10)/Ben Honnick (12)
#2DJV - Chris Craw/Theo Siemens-Rhodes - 3-8 - Sam Thomas (12)/Alexx Dreamer (11)
#3DJV - Matthew Dyck/Austin Shenk - 8-3 - Frankie Yeakey (10)/Grant Brekke (10)
#4DJV - Josiah Schlabach/Jacob Leininger - 2-6 - Frankie Yeakey (10)/Grant Brekke (10)

Climbing Report 13: Elkhart Central

Varsity Match Report
Some things in the Bethany tennis world continue to grow stronger.

Liam continues to get more confident in his strokes and play more positive in each match. Today, he played a very skilled player and made the match look relatively easy. Liam's strokes drove Stutzman deep into the court and Liam was able to find the angles and drop shots to force mistakes and hit winners. This was probably his best match, following up what was probably his best match on Tuesday. That's a way to get better.

Another thing growing stronger is our freshman class. Braden Bohn stepped up to the varsity today and played an excellent match. He used his forehand and backhand to control points, but couldn't always finding the finishing touch. Still, he caused problems for his opponent and had the longest match that didn't go three sets. He fought, he didn't give up, he showed lots of grit.

As did Jacob Woolace. After one of his worst sets of tennis, Jacob came back in the second set to play. Instead of focusing on score, he just tried to take the best swing possible on every shot. Soon, this had him playing some confident tennis. He played the way he is capable in a dynamic second set that saw him push the match to a third.

And their are other various pieces that are growing stronger. Nathan continues to find more first serves, Jonathon is finishing at the net more regularly, Philip and Jonah's net game has gotten better. These things keep us looking up. Whether it is for the end of this season, or moving toward a better next year. We keep looking for the places to take hold and climb up.

JV Match Report
Admittedly, I did not get to watch much of the JV matches. Unfortunately, at sites like Central, the matches are too separate for me to get much viewing time. From what I gather, we didn't exactly play the tennis we are most proud of. Some of us weren't moving well, some of us want to keep dinking, some of us are afraid to develop a certain part of our game.

We also continued progress though. Aaron was excited that his serve was better. Kameron had the same thought. Braydon was excited about his volleys. Every day, we get a little more confident. That's the process.

Climbing Up (A Prayer)
God, we are trying to take hold of the difficult balance between competing and playing. God, it is really all about shalom. The peace of having everything in its right place. Help us find the right place for tennis in our life. How much does it really matter? How much should I give my tennis shots, scores, pressures to affect my behavior, strategy and mood? How can I have fun and expend lots of energy? God, these are the tennis things that we want You to teach us.

Help us rightly order our life. May our principle and foundation be the realization that we are created to praise, reverence and serve You. May tennis, a gift that You have seen developed over the years, may the gift of tennis lead us in that direction. Amen.

Scores
Varsity
#1S - Jacob Woolace - 0-6, 7-5, 1-6 - Michael Beveridge (12)
#2S - Liam Bradford - 6-3, 6-3 - Philip Stutzman (11)
#3S - Braden Bohn - 1-6, 3-6 - Zack Pelletier (11)
#1D - Jonathon Yousey/Nathan Oostland - 1-6, 1-6 - Jared Reid (12)/Dane Frieden (11)
#2D - Jonah Farran/Philip Krabill - 2-6, 1-6 - Adam Moon (12)/Adam Delks (12)

Junior Varsity
#1SJV - Joel Yoder - 3-8 - Abe Hill (11)
#2SJV - Will Nisley - 1-8 - Will Bryant (11)
#3SJV - Joseph Mounsithiraj - 1-8 - Ben Honich (11)
#4SJV - Tommy Nguyen - 8-3 - Spencer Dexter (9)
#1DJV - Braydon Harshberger/Aaron Shenk - 3-8 - Nathan Brekke (11)/Nathan Lindholm (11)
#2DJV - Chris Craw/Tyson Miller - 1-8 - Alexx Dreamer (10)/Josh Reid (9)
#3DJV - Kameron Branum/Theo Siemens-Rhodes - 8-5 - Sam Thomas (11)/Frankie Yeakey (9)
#4DJV - Angel Torres/Jim Lyu - 0-8 - Chase Bontrager (10)/Grant Brekke (9)

Big Words from Elkhart Central

"UNSURE"

I am unsure what to write about this match. Unsure how to sum it up. And unsure, seems was a bit of how we played in this match. 

It took a little different form in each of our varsity matches. In #1D, Simon and Brandon seemed tight at the beginning of their match. Movement was slow, serves and volleys looked shaky. And the team seemed nervous. At #2D, the theme of slowness continued. The team seemed a step slow, and hoping that their opponents would make early mistakes instead of getting ready to play awesome points. 

In the singles matches, Lucas had trouble putting more than one game together at a time. He would play a solid game with wonderful pace and groundstrokes, and then play one where it was filled mostly with his own errors. In Jonathon's match, the same thing occurred. At #1S... well, actually Byeong played pretty well the whole way through :-) At times, he maybe got some slow feet.

And the JV too reflected that trend. When we get uncertainty, it is always important to return to our strengths. 

Much of the team did, it was just a matter of when. Byeong corrected his lazy feet the game after it happened. Simon and Brandon got down 3-1, but then went back to work with great consistency and power. By the time their match ended, they were playing the fun and aggressive tennis that they love, with Simon ending the match with a blasted forehand return that the Blazers didn't even have a chance to move to.

In Lucas' match, it looked like he'd recovered well to his strengths. After seesawing back and forth in the first set, he settled in comfortably and took a commanding 7-1 win in the tiebreak. His strokes looked confident and his opponents looked timid. Then Lucas kept the gas pushed down and took a 4-1 lead in the second. It seemed like the match was mere minutes from ending when Philip Stutzman really found his stroke. After a marathon point at 30-30 on Lucas' serve, Stutzman reeled off 4 straight games where he looked confident and Lucas, though leading, looked unsure. 

Down 5-4, Lucas went back to his strength in this match and worked in some variety. This variety threw Stutzman off a bit, and he couldn't find it before the match ended. Lucas persevered and was able to take the win.

At #2D, it was similar. In the second set, down 4-1, they found their stroke. Suddenly, the energy picked up, the nervousness ebbed and the team found a groove. Unfortunately for the team, it was a bit too late. While they were challenging to get back in the match, just a couple too many well hit shots found the tape or sailed a wee bit long. Still, they closed the gap to 4-6, before falling.

For Yousey at #2S, the match went the opposite way. Near the end of the first set, he looked confident and convinced he could win. Then didn't have that same energy in the next set. In the third set, he came out rip-roaringly confident, taking a 3-1 lead. But again, after a few mistakes, uncertainty crept in and his playing level dropped.

That's one thing I reminded Lucas, and one thing I want us all to remember. No matter what is happening in our match, let's be certain of keeping our chest high, to keep our body language positive. It's amazing what using our body to provide our energy can do for us. Our bodies provide us with a physicality, a way to embody our belief, something tangible for us to begin with. They are a place to practice certainty.

Of course, that's true of our faith too. Today, at practice, we used our minds and imaginations to practice a reality - that what happens to us in a match is part of a much bigger picture of being conformed to the character of Christ. Each match day, we join our hands to pray to practice the certainty of our togetherness in Jesus. And so maybe as you read this, you want to bow on your knees, using physicality to practice the certainty of thankfulness. 

Because even when we don't play our best, or we don't win, or we don't do what we'd hoped - I am very thankful to God for each one of you. And God is always taking whatever we lay before and using it for good. Of those things, we can always be certain.

Scores
Varsity
#1S - Byeong Min Lim - 6-1, 6-1 - Andrew Salmon (12)
#2S - Jonathon Yousey - 6-4, 1-6, 3-6 - Michael Beveridge (11)
#3S - Lucas Brownsberger-Keyes - 7-6 (1), 7-5 - Philip Stutzman (10)
#1D - Simon Hurst/Brandon Nguyen - 6-3, 6-1 - Jared Reid (11)/Hunter Sauserman (12)
#2D - Lane Miller/Dustin Miller - 3-6, 4-6 - Dane Frieden (10)/Adam Moon (11)

Junior Varsity
#1SJV - Daniel Robles - 6-8 - Zack Pelletier (10)
#2SJV - Liam Bradford - 8-5 - Ben Henick (10)
#3SJV - Jackson King - 8-9 (5) - Abe Hill (10)
#4SJV - Jacob Woolace - 6-1 - Alexx Dreamer (9)
#5SJV - Joel Yoder - 6-4 - Chase Bontrager (9)
#1DJV - Caleb Shenk/Nathan Oostland - 3-8 - Adam Delks (11)/Nathan Brekke (10)
#2DJV - Tommy Nguyen/Philip Krabill - 6-8 - Nathan Lindholm (10)/Will Bryant (10)
#3DJV - Braydon Harshberger/Jonah Farran -  - Cody Cox (10)/?????
#4DJV - Angel Torres/Chris Craw - 0-6 - Brady Marker (10)/Sam Thomas (10)

Prayers from Elkhart Central

Match Description
A match that I don't want to say much about because it made me sad. This season, our team has had difficulty performing at our highest level when playing opponents who are as good or better than us. To me as a coach, these are the most exciting matches. To me as a high school player, these matches were nerve-wracking. As a college player, I learned that these matches are the most fun!

To be a successful team, we cannot let the score be our focus. Our focus has to be simple: How do I want to play this next point with sheer and savage joy?

How do I want to play this next point with sheer and savage joy?

Tonight, we struggled with this (except at #1 singles :-) As a result, we looked tight and tentative. They way we looked was like we weren't really ready to fight for the win. And yet, I learned last year from Byeong that sometimes when we look like we aren't trying, it's because we are actually trying way too hard. We're way too focused on winning and losing, rather than relaxing and playing.

In all of our close matches, we started out playing and ended up worrying. As we move forward, we'll change the focus. We'll play better tennis by focusing on who we are as a team: Every breath in is gratitude, every breath out we get rid of our fear. Let's pick ourselves up with sheer and savage joy!

Prayers

for the team
We need joy, God, and we need it in more than just our tennis. We are a team of strivers. But need to be a team of receivers. The more we push to do it ourselves, the more worries we are producing for ourselves. You are the God of joy and peace! Let us rest in that and in Your love. Fill our hearts with joy!

Moment of Beauty
All of Byeong's match was beautiful. He's really starting to understand what it takes to win matches. He played most of his match without ever feeling much pressure. And I loved his volleys. My favorite point of the match was in Ethan's match, where Ethan got to the net and volleyed back and forth across the court probably 4-5 times before finally being able to put a ball away with an overhead. His stick-to-it-iveness in the point was inspiring, and an example of the aggression he played with in the first set. So there's two of many moments of beauty.

Let me take this spot to point that out - within a match where we didn't play particularly well, we still had so many points where we did. Simon's net putaways were excellent, Brandon's cross court forehands, Jackson's cross court forehands, Lane's serves, Dustin's overheads... we could go on through the JV too. Enjoy those moments of beauty, let them bring you enjoyment!

Scores
Varsity
#1S - Byeong Min Lim - 6-0, 6-1 - Andrew Salmon (11)
#2S - Ethan Lapp - 5-7, 2-6 - Matt Stutzman (12)
#3S - Dustin Miller - 1-6, 0-6 - Riley Norris (12)
#1D - Simon Hurst/Brandon Nguyen - 6-7 (6), 1-6 - Alex Boyer (12)/Adam DeShone (12)
#2D - Jackson King/Lane Miller - 3-6, 4-6 - Christian Lankford (12)/Curtis Hill (12)

Junior Varsity
#1SJV - Daniel Robles - 0-8 - Lucas Brownsberger-Keyes (10)
#2SJV - Jonathon Yousey - 6-8 - Michael Beveridge (10)
#3SJV - Jonah Farran - 1-8 - Philip Stutzman (9)
#4SJV - Braydon Harshberger - 1-8 - Keith Hartzler
#1DJV - Liam Bradford/Tommy Nguyen - 1-8 - Gave Lindholm (12)/Ben Oakley (12)
#2DJV - Paul Krabill/Philip Krabill - 4-8 - Jared Reid (10)/Hunter Sauserman (11)
#3DJV - Jonathon Yousey/Daniel Robles won 6-0
#4DJV - Liam Bradford/Tommy Nguyen lost 2-6
#5DJV - Paul Krabill/Philip Krabill lost 4-6
#6DJV - Braydon Harshberger/Jonah Farran won 6-2

Letters from Elkhart Central

Background,
I realize that most days I've just been writing letters and not really describing what happened in the match. This was a really good story that I want to tell a little bit.

Elkhart Central came into this evening as the 5th ranked team in District 2. District 2 covers the northeast corner of the state, from south of Fort Wayne to all of the Elkhart county schools. So, that's a fancy way of saying they are a very good team. Going into the match, I knew that we had a good opportunity.

The matches started out very tense. Every position was close except for Sol's #3S match (that would change :-). We held slight leads at #2S and #1D and were down slightly at #2D and #1S. All of sudden, Byeong broke through and took a 3-2 lead into a 5-2 lead at #2S. His strokes and especially his accuracy began to break his opponent, who became more and more frustrated as the match progressed. Byeong took the first set and Elkhart's #2 could never really mount a challenge in the 2nd set.

The same pattern then followed at #1D. Holding a 4-3 lead we turned 2 games in a row to take the set. All of a sudden the floodgates opened and Hans and Simon were putting away volleys and gaining lots of points off errors. In the second set, the Blazers could not really fight back and we actually won the second set 6-0. So the Bruins had two points and needed only one more.

Except that the other positions had gone the other way. Jesse had lost the first set and now found himself down 1-4 in the second. Ryan and Ethan had lost a very tight first set 4-6, but now were down 1-5 in the second. Sol had won the first easily but now was down 2-5 in the second. These final matches made me very proud however.

Jesse turned off the voices in his head and played confident tennis. He turned his 1-4 deficit into a tight second set, getting to 4-5. At 4-5 he had some openings to get the match back to 5-5, but couldn't convert. Central finished it at 6-4 in the second set, but Jesse fought back and didn't give up. And speaking of not giving up, #2D found their game before it was too late. They came back from 1-5 between great net and baseline play, behind confident play, and tied the match at 5-5. Despite their comeback, the Blazers regrouped and won the set. Still, I can't say how proud it made me to watch #2D not throw in the towel, but instead return to how they wanted to play.

Speaking of playing how he wanted to, Sol had gut check time. He entered a third set with the knowledge that it all came down to him. And went down 2-0 to a free swinging competitor in Curtis Hill (who also played a great match under pressure). Despite this, Sol just played every point. Focusing on how he was playing, he got 3 games in a row to take the 3-2 lead. It went back and forth on serve until Sol led 5-4. With great aggression, he built himself an advantage. Twice Curtis Hill denied Sol's match points but Sol stayed aggressive in the deuces and never let Hill get an advantage. In the end, Hill unfortunately double-faulted for Sol to win the match.

It was a fun varsity match. It was intense. It had nerves. I was proud of how we pushed through! Now onto the letters...

Dear Team,
That was the best victory of the season. We played aggressive, we played well, we kept our nerve under pressure, we fought back when we were down, and we even learned and grew in the middle of our matches. I was really proud of the attitude that I saw from the whole team.

I was talking to several of the parents during Sol's final match, who were saying how intense this was, coming down to the last match on the courts. What I told them was that win or lose, 5 years from now Sol will look back at this match and remember how awesome it was. Especially if he plays how he wants to play. These are the types of matches that we play for, because they are so much fun.

And so I was feeling very conflicted at the end of Sol's match. I was very intense, because I'm a competitor and want to win. But underneath that I was very relaxed. I had already gotten out of the night what I wanted to see from it - our good attitude, our fight, and growth. It was fun, it enabled me to smile and stand back and take in the beauty of that last match. All of you guys there watching, all of their team watching, two #3S players pounding the ball back and forth(!).  It was such a high quality match. And I was actually happy.

The funny thing is that for as well as tonight went, for as much as we grew and learned and performed under the pressure - we still didn't play our best. Up and down the line from JV to varsity, there were things to improve. And yet we fought through, didn't get down, relaxed and dealt with the point in front of us.

Good job team. What a fun match that was!

Dear Sol,
It's funny the way that God helps us grow. On Tuesday, at Blackhawk, I'm sure that you didn't want to play a tight second set. I'm sure you didn't want to get tied up at 5-5. But then you relaxed, pulled through, hit aggressive and won 8 points in a row.

How well that served you tonight. In the third set, you played the way you want to play. You looked pumped up, but at the same time you looked relaxed and focused on just the next point. As a result, you played some of the best tennis I've ever seen at #3 singles. Well stroked, well attacked, well executed. Remember this feeling. It was epic!

Dear Curtis Hill,
All that I just said about Sol, I could say about you. You were an awesome competitor, you kept your cool, and you played with aggression under pressure. You are the type of player I admire. I loved that you had so much positive self-talk going on in between points. You kept your composure and you attacked every point. I loved it. Thanks for an awesome match.

Dear Jesse, Ryan, and Ethan,
In matches against good teams, it's easy to get discouraged when things don't go our way. In your matches tonight, you all experienced things not going your way. But then you breathed deeply, cleared your thoughts, and came back. So often, the scores of close matches will read like this: 6-4, 6-0 or 7-6, 6-1. That's because when the first set and first games of the second are lost, the losing player becomes despondent and gives in. I was so proud of you for fighting your frustration, letting go of your fear, and getting back to your best tennis. Great job.

Dear Jacob,
Before your match, I told you that you were going to win. I confess, I knew nothing about your opponent. I had no idea if he'd be awesome or awful. Turned out he was pretty good. But what I do know is you, and you are awesome. Never forget that you are a great player. Let that motivate your play.

Dear Lane and Brandon,
These things happen. You won your first and then lost the second to a weaker team. Learn from Sol, Ryan, Jesse, Ethan and more tonight. When you get tight, remember what it feels like to play your best. Take a deep breath, then go play the next point. And the next point only. Then do it all over again. I love watching you play your best. Go to your next match and find your joy in your next point.

Dear God,
You are a God of wonder. And I realized this night that I need to stare into that even more. The sunset tonight was a gorgeous orange over the cornfields that are in the midst of harvest right now. That was wonderful. The apples are bright and green and red and ready to be snapped into, which was wonderful, driving past the orchards tonight. Your patience, love, and encouragements are seeping into the hearts of this team right now. Continue to let us know who we are, and where our joy comes from. We are Yours, marked and sealed in Your Holy Spirit, unconditional sons of the Father of wonder. Thank you.

Moment of Sheer Beauty
Picking out a moment that made me smile, so I'll have to go with an ace from Hans. We don't have too many aces on our team. Despite being a good team, we don't have too many big serves. We have people who can force errors with their serves, but we haven't racked up very many clean aces.

In the #1D match, the first set was a close affair going back and forth a little bit. Hans and Simon broke serve to take a 5-3 lead and Hans began to serve for the set. The other team was trying to pump themselves up with some "Let's go's!" They won a point on the ad side and got real excited. Hans smiled, walked over to the deuce side, and fired an ace out wide past his opponent. That one good shot sung momentum back to the Bruin #1D. They closed out the set and then the match. One good shot is often all it takes.

Moment of Savage Beauty
Undeniably, this point has to come from Sol's match. And there were a lot of good ones. So I'll pick my favorite. On a game point at 3-3, Sol approached the net with a ball to his opponent's backhand. His passing shot popped up toward Sol close to the net and Sol pounded an overhead down into the court for the winner. It had such savage pace on it that it bounced up over the fence, then over the barrier fence behind the court and over the railroad track that ran behind the court. In every tense moment, Sol just kept playing aggressive and right through. Well done!

SCORES

Varsity
#1S - Jesse Amstutz - 1-6, 4-6 - Eric Burton (12)
#2S - Byeong Min Lim - 6-3, 6-1 - Andrew Salmon (10)
#3S - Sol Brenneman - 6-2, 2-6, 6-4 - Curtis Hill (11)
#1D - Hans Miller/Simon Hurst - 6-3, 6-0 - Scott Hanberg (12)/Will Riblet (12)
#2D - Ryan Duckworth/Ethan Lapp - 4-6, 5-7 - Adam DeShone (11)/Christian Lankford (11)

Junior Varisty
#1SJV - Jacob Gonsalves - 8-4 - Matt Stutzman (11)
#2SJV - Jackson King - 2-8 - Ben Weaver (12)
#3SJV - Joel Yoder - 1-8 - Riley Norris (11)
#4SJV - Jacob Gonsalves - 6-2 - Josh Santos (11)
#5SJV - Jackson King - 6-4 - Keith Hartzler (10)
#6SJV - Joel Yoder - 2-6 - Michael Wyse (9)
#1DJV - Lane Miller/Brandon Nguyen - 8-4 - Alex Boyer (11)/Ben Oakley (11)
#2DJV - Dustin Miller/Lucas Brownsberger-Keyes - 3-8 - Langston Johnson (11)/Gabe Lindholm (11)
#3DJV - Daniel Robles/Jonathan Yousey - 8-3
#4DJV - Lane Miller/Brandon Nguyen - 3-6 - Jacob Stout (10)/Adam Moom (9)
#5DJV - Dustin Miller/Lucas Brownsberger-Keyes - 6-0 - Jared Reid (9)/Bryce Daub (9)
#6DJV - Daniel Robles/Jonathan Yousey - 6-3 - Manny Sanchez (11)/???

#13 - The Beauty of a Team

2-2.

But we had the momentum.

Nathan had completed his important match, beating the a very well rounded competitor in Nick Burton in two sets. #1 doubles had fought brilliantly, getting close in the second set, but hadn't been able to prolong their best play. Ike had played a 2 hour match and only gotten through 2 sets, but was final undone by the consistent depth of sophomore Eric Burton. But Abe had rallied through some mental lulls in his match to pull out the second point for the Bruins.

And Joel and Hans... well, after trailing 4-3 in their second set, they turned the tide with double attacking tennis. While they had often been aggressive with one at the baseline, one at the net, in the second set they began to both come to the net. The smaggressive play in the pressure situation worked, forcing the Blazers to tighten up a bit and giving the Bruins some energy. At one point, Hans at the net was able to drill the volley at the Blazer net player. A smart, aggressive, and correct play. Three game wins gave us the second set, and it was onto the third.

A third set for the match.

A third set to decide the team match as well.

But Hans and Joel didn't know that, they just knew that they needed to stay aggressive. The rest of the team began gathering round to watch the final match play out. In the first game, the Blazers served really well and took a 1-0 lead. But Hans served really well in the next game, and then we aggressively returned to take the 2-1 lead. Frustration was growing for the Blazers, but the match stayed tight, 3-2 at the next changeover. We went up 4-2 after Hans next service game, but couldn't pull away and changed over again at 4-3.

It was Joel's serve. The Central coach had warned Joel about foot faults, and went over to watch the line. I reminded Joel that not foot faulting would actually help his serve. And help the serve it did. Joel had his best service game that I can remember, putting real power and authority into his serves. Hans missed a volley though, and Joel missed a baseline shot and the game went to 15-40. It looked as if a 4-4 tie was coming. And Joel missed his first serve, giving the Blazers a shot at the game on a second serve.

But Joel pounded a second serve unexpectedly into the forehand corner of the service box. Break point saved. Then another big serve caused a Central error. Back to deuce. Then two more great serves followed by return errors and we were within one game of the set, match, and team win. The team excitedly watched each following point, giving out encouragement and watching the awesomeness unfold. Hans pounded a return. Love-15 for the Bruins. Joel returned down the line and the Central volley squirted wide. Love-30 for the Bruins. A double-fault. Triple match point for the Bruins. Joel's next return tipped the tape and bounced wide. But Hans next return dropped deep in the court forcing a forehand error, and the #2 doubles had sealed a tight 3-2 win for our team.

And the beautiful thing was the whole team was there to watch. They flooded out onto the court to give Hans and Joel hugs and congratulations. Nathan ran around pumping his fists with the excitement. Everybody was smiling. It was a good night to be part of the Bruins team.

Nights like this are why I still love to coach. The wonder of a group of oh-so different guys coming together around a common goal and celebrating joyously together. We've suffered together too, whether through workouts, or close losses, or fatigue. Now, tonight we got to experience the other side of it. It reminds me of the way that church is supposed to work. Sharing the suffering, sharing the joy, being one, joined in Christ. The tennis team became a beautiful picture of that oneness tonight, and that's something we hope to remember.

Notes & Stats
- The JV won tonight 5-4. The top 5 positions all won their matches which were decently close. The JV has been improving so much throughout the course of this season. They are now 5-8 on the season but have won 4 of their last 5.

- Tonight saw Josh Weaver's coaching debut for the Bruins as well. Josh just joined the team for practice on Monday, and tonight was his first match. He got to see quite a match.

- Sol leads the JV now with 9 victories. Nathan is leading the varsity with 12.

- I'm so excited for the tournaments this weekend. Is that a note that I should include?

Scores
Varsity
#1S - Nathan Brendle - 7-6 (1), 6-1 - Nick Burton (12)
#2S - Ike Lehman - 4-6, 2-6 - Eric Burton (10)
#3S - Abe Thorne - 7-6 (5), 6-4 - Jake Mullins (12)
#1D - Himal King/Parth Patel - 2-6, 2-6 - Riley Futterknecht (12)/Alex Moon (12)
#2D - Joel Gerig/Hans Miller - 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 - Mikey Namisnak (12)/Will Riblet (10)

JV
#1SJV - Sol Brenneman - 6-4 - Curtis Hill (9)
#2SJV - Tristan Clark - 6-4 - Alex Boyer (9)
#3SJV - Neel Bhagat - 6-4 - Christian Lankford (9)
#4SJV - Jack Erlacher - 0-6 - Curtis Hill (9)
#5SJV - Paul Krabill - 0-6 - Christian Lankford (9)
#1DJV - Wade Troyer/Landon Weldy - 6-2 - Matt Morrison (12)/Scott Hanberg (10)
#2DJV - Justin Zehr/Ethan Lapp - 6-0 - Riley Norris (9)/Josh Santos (9)
#3DJV - Roberto Ramos/Noah Hochstetler - 1-6 - Matt Morrison (12)/Scott Hanberg (10)
#4DJV - Jacob Rudy-Froese/Delan Schrock - 2-6 - Riley Norris (9)/Josh Santos (9)

Elkhart Central Preview

Details: Thursday, September 13, 4:30 at Elkhart Central High School

Last Season Review: Last season the Blazers beat us 4-1, as we got our lone win from Nathan Brendle despite being very close at #2 doubles.

3 Interesting Facts:
#1 - Last year's Central team had 11 juniors. I know that some of them are not playing this year, but it will be interesting to see how many seniors they have.
#2 -We added Elkhart Central to our schedule last year, which means currently the only Elkhart County school that we do not play is Elkhart Memorial.
#3 - Nick Burton, Central's #1, had a very good match with Nathan last year and looks to have a good one again in this match.

Elkhart Central Details: The Blazers are 7-8 on the season, coming off a 4-1 loss to Jimtown and then a 5-0 win against Mishawaka. We certainly have some positions against them where we should have good success. They are strongest at #1 singles, which happens to be our position of strength as well.

Bethany Christian Details: We are now 8-4, with the win against Blackhawk under our belts. We've continued to play good tennis and meet the challenges posed to us. Those are going to pick up in the coming weeks, and I'm confident that we'll start that off with a good performance against the Blazers.

Projected Elkhart Central Lineup:
Individual Records in Parenthesis
#1S - Nick Burton (10-4)
#2S - Eric Burton (9-5)
#3S - Jake Mullins (3-10)
#1D - Riley Futterknecht/Alex Moon (8-6)
#2D - Mikey Namisank/Will Riblet (7-7)

Outlook: These should be close matches throughout the lineup. These are the types of matches that really excite me, teams that look very much like us. One way or another, this is going to be a very memorable match. I can't wait to see the excitement and energy we bring to a match that I hope can become a county rivalry for us. Let's go!!!