Jimtown JV Invite - Match Report (by Coach Daniel)

Recap
On arrival I went to the Coaches Meeting and was told that we were playing 8 game pro-sets like normal, even though we'd heard earlier it would be best of 3 sets. I also found out Concord and Jimtown were short on players. Because of this, Northwood's coach (who's been their coach since when I was playing) worked with me to keep matches going throughout the day on the free court between their extra players and ours, which was good because everyone got more experience. That was already kind of our goal, since we had decided to mix up the lineup each match to get in our players anyway. So everyone got to play plenty of tennis.

Round 1 - NorthWood

At #1 singles Ethan played one of his best matches so far. His footwork, which is one of his strengths, looked great and he hit to the corners well. 8-5

#2 singles Jacob Leininger faced a player who attacked the net well. He started to play more loose towards the end of the match but was unable to turn it around completely. 3-8

Playing #3 singles, Tristan started well, covering the court and staying consistent, but as the match went on his opponent stepped up his game and he couldn't stay in it. 4-8

#1 doubles Breece and Matthew were on their game in this one. Breece hit hard serves and aggressive volleys and Matthew ran things down and hit aggressive shots from the baseline. 8-2

The whole match ended up coming down to Kameron and Josiah and #2 doubles and they didn't quite pull it out. But they scrambled well around the court and had some incredible points. 6-8

Round 2 - Jimtown
Matthew played #1 singles in this one. His opponent hit good shots on the run so he had trouble gaining control of points even though his groundstrokes were good for the most part. 3-8

At #2 singles Kameron got to an early lead. He was aggressive while keeping the ball in play, and was able to win this one for me (in his words). 8-4.

#3 singles default win for Bethany

Breece and Tristan played #1 doubles, which was an experiment that half worked. Tristan kept the ball in play and Breece attacked. But the big serves and volleys of their opponents made the difference. 5-8

At #2 doubles Obed and Adam, while outmatched, were able to pull out a game with smart lobs and quick hands at the net. They've both been working hard and getting better every match.

Round 3 - Concord
Back at #1 singles Ethan was up against a tough player and wasn't as consistent as earlier, particularly with serves. He made a comeback but fell short. 5-8

Matthew had a back and forth match at #2 singles. He got up 5-2, down 5-6, tied it at 7, and then lost the last two games which unfortunately meant we lost the match also. 7-9

Ian played #3 singles for us in this one against a frustrating opponent that didn't miss often. Ian moved well and forced some mistakes. 2-8

After strong net play in one of the extra matches, I decided to put Jacob Shank in at #1 doubles with Breece, which worked out. Both of them hit aggressive shots that set up putaways at the net. 8-3

#2 doubles default win for Bethany

Thoughts

Overall strong effort from everyone, but room for improvement everywhere, including me. I realized I wasn't prepared enough and had to get everyone's last names last minute as we got to the courts, and didn't do a good enough job of getting to everyone on the changeovers. But we had fun, learned a lot, and we'll be better going forward.

Moments of Joy
1. A Perfect Set-Up

Kameron barely got to a slice to his backhand, stretched to hit a low one-hander around the player at the net, which set up a Josiah overhead to win the point.

2. Pressure Performance 

In a close service game at ad out, Tristan hit a perfectly placed forehand down the line past the net player to take it back to deuce.

Moments Together
(by Coach Matt)

I came to visit in the middle of the second match, and I was really impressed by how well we were all supporting each other. We were cheering, switch partners for doubles, playing the extra players from other schools... all with really great attitudes. We had said the goal of the day was great experience, and it really felt like we were getting that. 

A Prayer

(by Coach Matt)

God, it was good to see the bonds of the team grow. It was good to see people playing better and better tennis. I pray that you keep us growing. Not only in tennis, but also in our ability to see our teammates. To see when they need us. To see when we can help, when we can joke, when we can listen. May Your Spirit guide us. In Jesus name.

Scores

Round 1 - NorthWood JV 3, Bethany Christian JV 2

#1SJV - Ethan Pairitz - 8-5 - Charles Anderson

#2SJV - Jacob Leininger - 3-8 - Wes Steiner

#3SJV - Tristan Mast - 4-8 - Carson Kirby

#1DJV - Matthew Dyck/Breece Erickson - 8-2 - Skip McCoy/Jaxon Miller

#2DJV - Kameron Branum/Josiah Schlabach - 6-8 - Nick Anderson/Logan Perry

Round 2 - Jimtown JV 3, Bethany Christian JV 2

#1SJV - Matthew Dyck - 3-8 - Dylan Cook

#2SJV - Kameron Branum - 8-4 - Braden Ullery

#3SJV - Jacob Leininger - forfeit win

#1DJV - Breece Erickson/Tristan Mast - 5-8 - Kole Ross/Beau Barhams

#2DJV - Obed Lopez/Adam Siemens-Rhodes - 1-8 - Gage Wachs/Caleb Koets

Round 1 - Concord JV 3, Bethany Christian JV 2

#1SJV - Ethan Pairitz - 5-8 - Sam West

#2SJV - Matthew Dyck - 7-9 - Andrew Kavanaugh

#3SJV - Ian McHugh - 2-8 - Garrett Trout

#1DJV - Breece Erickson/Jacob Shank - 8-3 - Zac Watt/Avery Johnson

#2DJV - Josiah Schlabach/Adam Siemens-Rhodes - forfeit win

Jimtown JV Invitational - Match Report - 2019

Note: I don't have all the details yet, so I'll fill them in when I get them :-)

Scores

Bethany Christian JV 4, NorthWood JV 1

Jimtown JV defeats Bethany Christian JV

Concord JV defeats Bethany Christian JV

Photos

Just this gem...

Match Recap

My wife and I are celebrating birthdays with a weekend away, so Coach Andrew was at this match, and I haven't gotten his thoughts yet. So instead of our thoughts on the match, here is the match report straight from the texts of the JV themselves. Obviously, not everyone sent texts, so this only represents some of what happened. I can't wait to hear the rest from you guys on Tuesday.

You are accepted.
Before this match even began, I respected you guys so much. When I came to see the bus off, you were full of energy and ready to play. Even though you all knew that you wouldn't get a ton of matches in the day, nobody wanted to take the day off. I'm really proud of that attitude. It's great to see the joyful guys that you are!

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

1. People blossoming in both singles and doubles.
Often, players get in their mind which type of tennis they like to play more and then pretty much decide that's all they are able to play. We've got 8 out of our 13 players who have now won a singles match and a doubles match in this young season. That's amazing! You guys are developing versatility and enjoying both styles. That's well-rounded, and a joy to see!

2. People developing their shots and strengths.
Chris and Aaron are both beginning to dominate their serves. Matthew and Jim are controlling matches their forehands. Kameron and Theo are patrolling the net so well. And even more, Austin's overhead, Cameron accuracy, Breece's backhand, and Jacob, Jacob, and Josiah's forehands. In the texts that I got, some of you guys even highlighted how well things were going. It is awesome to have a go-to strength that you are confident in.

3. People continuing to learn and grow.
I love this JV's attitude of growth. We are always pushing, and that has made us a deep team. We got a good win today, but we also had spots for everyone to play. We watched each other, we learn from each other, we support each other! Nice job.

You are significant.
How have we used our God-given gifts to serve the needs of others?

Well, I don't know exactly how you served each other. But I know that you served me by sending me the scores. I love to know how you are doing, I'm thinking about it quite often actually. So it was cool that you took time to shoot out some thoughts. Thanks!

You have achieved.

We played 3 matches in one day. That is an achievement.

We won a match. That is an achievement.

We've made it halfway through the season. That is an achievement.

We are growing in our skills and confidence. That is an achievement.

Prayer

God, I pray that this team continues to push each other forward. I like the camaraderie that has developed instead of angsty competition against each other. May that continue as we keep playing this season. May you continue to provide good weather and freedom from injury. Thanks for all the things that I don't notice that You are doing behind the scenes.

Scores

v. NorthWood

#1SJV - Aaron Shenk - 9-7

#2SJV - Cameron Heinisch - 2-8

#3SJV - Breece Erickson - 8-2

#1DJV - Theo Siemens-Rhodes/Matthew Dyck - 8-6

#2DJV - Chris Craw/Kameron Branum - 8-4

v. Jimtown

#1SJV - Aaron Shenk - 2-8

#2SJV - Cameron Heinisch - 2-8

#3SJV - Jim Lyu?

#1DJV - Theo Siemens-Rhodes/Matthew Dyck - 8-9 (6)

#2DJV - Jacob Leininger/Jacob Shenk

v. Concord

#1SJV - Jim Lyu 

#2SJV - Xudong Sun

#3SJV - Josiah Schlabach

#1DJV - Aaron Shenk/Cameron Heinisch - 6-8

#2DJV - Chris Craw/Breece Erickson - 8-2

Climbing Report 6: Aug. 26 Invitationals

Links
Instagram Post
Facebook Photos

Varsity Match Reports
After playing some of the better teams in northern Indiana to start this season, what I really appreciated about the Western Invitational was that we were able to play some "normal" teams. These are teams with strengths and flaws. These are teams that have strong positions and weak positions. These are teams juggling their lineups a bit to find out what works. These are teams in the learning process of tennis.

In other words, these are teams like us.

And that gives me some good perspective on the season. Playing Concord, Jimtown, Northridge, Angola, Goshen - many of those matches give us a glimpse of what is much higher up the ladder. Playing Lebanon, Western and LCC gave us a chance to see how to take the next step.

We started out play with Western. My brother coaches their team, and I knew from the beginning that he was going to be missing his #1S player, a perennial All-District player and last year a 2nd team All-State selection. He was taking his SAT. Western was also missing half of their #1D's team at the test, while we were missing Joel Yoder.

So, with some switched around lineups, we started out very strong. Liam secured our first point of the match, playing a fairly evenly matched opponent but really stroking his forehand strong and well. I loved seeing his attitude and belief. Jonathon Yousey followed Liam off the court with a win, playing his style of controlled aggression. We quickly had two points from the top two positions and needed only one more.

Caleb Shenk, playing his first match back from a back injury, provided that third match. I loved his energy and determination - getting through a tight first set and then sailing through the second set as he got more comfortable. His win gave us the team win, even though the doubles had yet to finish up.

But the doubles both found ways to win as well. Jacob and Dustin played an excellent match. In the first set, they had gotten to a tiebreak even though they were playing very tentative tennis. In fact, they had a set point at 6-5 in the tiebreak. Unfortunately, a close call so Dustin's return float long and they went on to lose the set. In beginning the second, I told them to go for their shots early to begin to loosen up. They did. And the second set was not as close. They played much more aggressive and were able to break serve more often to win 6-3. The third set at tournaments is always a super tiebreak, and so they completed their victory in this match with a 10-5 tiebreak win.

#2D also got a tiebreak, and also made a comeback. But their comeback was more emotional than score related. They won their first set and then played an awful second set. They were angry at themselves and feeling pretty down entering the tiebreak. But they reset their emotions and tried to get excited rather than angry. It worked, their level went up and they won a 10-8 decision in the third.

So we beat Western 5-0, and our second match in the round robin tournament was against Lebanon. It so happened that they won their first match as well, eeking out a 3-2 decision over Lafayette Central Catholic. This Lebanon match started out well for us too. Liam cruised through his #2S match, again relying on consistent forehands and deep shots. #1D also cruised to victory, looking very good in the process I must say. Dustin had found an aggressive groove in the first match, and Jonathon was feeling good from his singles victory. So we won the first two matches and were up 2-0. As our last three matches took the court, we only needed one more - and we would win the tournament.

Unfortunately, that didn't happen. Jacob Woolace ran into another great player at #1S (which pretty much always happens, #1S is a tough position :-) He fought so hard and played so great, but again was on the lopsided end of the score card. Will Nisley got his first varsity match, and he worked hard but couldn't find the finishing stroke in long points at #3S. So that meant the match came down to #2D.

Jonah and Nathan played a good match, they hung in there and competed... but they also couldn't find the finishing stroke. One of the Lebanon players was constantly hunting at the net, and the consistently good volleys from the Tiger team hurt us time and time again. Every time we mounted a rally and got some positive momentum, they would track down a volley and finish the point.

So, with a 3-2 victory the Tiger's were guaranteed first place. And so we finished out the round robin against Lafayette Central Catholic to determine second and third. And we worked and worked and worked, but we just couldn't secure a singles position. All the matches were fairly even, but we were tiring and getting frustrated as the day moved along. The doubles matches were pretty easily in our favor, which was really fun to watch. But we lost this match 3-2 as well.

So, 3rd place in the tournament, but we brought home another win. In the "Climbing Up" section, I'll talk about the things that we need to learn to continue to reach the next rung. But I have to say that I loved how the day ended, as we sat as a team watching Nathan and Jonah wrap up a victory over the #2D's of LCC. We joked, laughed, snacked, took videos and cheered for our brothers. We had made a good day's work, left our best on the court, and were ready to just enjoy each other's company.

That's what I always ask for. Praise God that we were able to get there. And praise God for no more injuries... that's already been too much of the season :-)

JV Match Reports
Coming Soon

Climbing Up (Great Moments of the Matches)
For the rungs in this match, I want to put forth the three things this team needs to do to improve in this season, and some glimpses where I saw this is the matches.

1st Rung - Footwork is the cost of a good shot.
When Liam moves, he is a fantastic player. In his first match against Western, he was really getting forward to balls that fell shorter in the court. In fact, if these ball came to his forehand, he was often able to hit winners. As he got more tired, he began to try to "flick" the ball more, reaching forward and twisting his wrist. These balls went in the net. Footwork is the cost of a good shot. In the Western match, coming forward, Liam blistered passing shots past a bewildered opponent. Movement created that, and it was good. That's our first step.

2nd Rung - Using our whole body to create consistent shots.
Even though footwork puts us in position, we can sometimes still flail at shots with just our arm. This is what was happening to Jacob Woolace in his first doubles match against Western. He would get in good position to hit a return, and then just try to "arm" it over. And the ball kept spinning into the net. Using the special coaching rule at tournaments this year, I encouraged him to use his body. On the next return, he turned his hips with the return. Even though it was a bit of a mishit, it went over and he and Dustin won the point. At deuce, his next service return he turned on a backhand and crushed it down the line. In fact, he rarely struggled with return after this. That's because he learned to use his body to help his arm in returning serve.

3rd Rung - Spend time improving specific weaknesses.
This didn't happen at the match, but I've noticed it this week. Joel Yoder is getting a lot better at his serve. That's because he spends time after practice hitting 100 serves. A big part of climbing up this ladder and getting better is spending focused time on something. If you struggle with your backhand, 100 backhands a day is really going to help. Ditto for volleys, overheads, serves, powerful approach shots... whatever. I challenge you to go above and beyond in whatever area you struggled with on Saturday and start putting in some extra time. Practices are ending at 5:30, so I encourage us to be motivated. Don't you worry I've got practice plans for you.

4th Rung - "Every breath in is gratitude, every breath out gets rid of our fear."
To me, this is near the top of the ladder for Bethany Christian tennis. How to mentally prepare for every point. Three years ago, this was our theme. I keep coming back to it as a way of describing what we need to do between every match, set, game and point. We got too tired and frustrated in our last singles matches on Saturday. We lost hope at some points. Let us instead come to each point with gratitude for being there, and let that gratitude and love drive out our fear.

Scores
Varsity
Round 1 - vs. Western
#1S - Jonathon Yousey - 6-3, 6-1 - Tate Lockwood (12)
#2S - Liam Bradford - 6-4, 6-1 - Palmer Harrell (10)
#3S - Caleb Shenk - 7-5, 6-2 - Braden Freeman (10)
#1D - Dustin Miller/Jacob Woolace - 6-7 (6), 6-3, (10-5) - Mason Anderson (12)/Henry Lerche (12)
#2D - Jonah Farran/Nathan Oostland - 6-4, 1-6, (10-8) - Brady Miller (12)/Clayton Shanks (10)

Round 2 - vs. Lebanon
#1S - Jacob Woolace - 1-6, 0-6 - Michael Wright
#2S - Liam Bradford - 6-2, 6-1 - Drew Davidson
#3S - Will Nisley - 0-6, 2-6 - Daniel Hood
#1D - Dustin Miller/Jonathon Yousey - 6-1, 6-0 - Sam Hood / Thomas Engels
#2D - Jonah Farran/Nathan Oostland - 2-6, 2-6 - Harrison Love / Nick Nies

Round 3 - vs. Lafayette Central Catholic
#1S - Jonathon Yousey - 5-7, 3-6 - Austin Chyall (11)
#2S - Liam Bradford - 4-6, 3-6 - Jonah Switzer (12)
#3S - Caleb Shenk - 2-6, 0-6 - Patrick Gothard (10)
#1D - Dustin Miller/Jacob Woolace - 6-2, 6-1 - Joe Regich (12)/Brenner Oliver (9)
#2D - Jonah Farran/Nathan Oostland - 6-4, 6-1 - Sam Martin (11)/Sebastian Lux (10)

Junior Varsity
Round 1 - vs. Jimtown
#1SJV - Braden Bohn - 8-7 (5) - Andrew Eaton (10)
#2SJV - Philip Krabill - 8-5 - Lucas Flick (10)
#3SJV - Kameron Branum - 4-8 - Christian Vanderworf (9)
#1DJV - Joseph Mounsithiraj/Aaron Shenk - 7-8 (4) - Kayden Wolfe (11)/Chandler Bridgewater (11)
#2DJV - Angel Torres/Chris Craw - 3-8 - Nate Hostetler (12)/Carson ?

Round 2 - vs. NorthWood
#1SJV - Braden Bohn - 2-8 - Ben Vincent (9)
#2SJV - Chris Craw - 8-4 - Tyler Hahn (12)
#3SJV - Jim Lyu - 1-8 - Zach Parisi (11)
#1DJV - Philip Krabill/Joseph Mounsithiraj - 8-6 - Grant Topping (11)/Chase Horner (10)
#2DJV - Kameron Branum/Theo Siemens-Rhodes - 2-8 - Nate Clickovich (10)/Brad Demitruk (9)

Round 3 - vs. Concord
#1SJV - Braden Bohn - 7-8 (7) - Gavin Smith (9)
#2SJV - Philip Krabill - 7-8 (5) - Kayden Cain (9)
#3SJV - Aaron Shenk - 8-2 - Brayden Newburn (9)
#1DJV - Chris Craw/Joseph Mounsithiraj - 5-8 - Jack Steele (11)/Matt Auger (12)
#2DJV - Kameron Branum/Theo Siemens-Rhodes - 5-8 - Kaleb Sotcher (11)/Baily Morrison (9)

Letters from Jimtown Invite

Dear Team,
It seems like you played extremely well. I know that we came in second place, just barely losing out to NorthWood. But score watching isn't what we do at Bethany Christian tennis. Instead, we focus on how we play. And according to Seth, you were able to "find your joy" in these matches.

I like that phraseology, "Finding your joy." I think Seth made it up, but it captures so well what I've been trying to say throughout the season. Play tennis the way that makes you happy. Then play that way with passion, focus and energy. That makes tennis so much fun.

Looking over the scores, I found lots of reasons to smile. With Bryce unable to play for the rest of the season, I was glad to see him go out with two good wins. Lane Miller and Brandon Nguyen dominated the day at doubles, earning three victories while playing some together and some apart. Most of our freshman picked up victories as well.

Hopefully you are beginning to find your joy in the tennis season. As you do, remember to carry that spirit, that joy, that smile back to your teammates. I can't wait to get back to spending time with all of you!

SCORES

vs. Concord
#1S - Bryce Miller - 8-2
#2S - Jackson King - 8-1
#3S - Joel Yoder - won by default
#1D - Brandon Nguyen/Lane Miller - 8-3
#2D - Daniel Robles/Jonathan Yousey - 8-6

vs. NorthWood
#1S - Jacob Gonsalves - 2-8
#2S - Jackson King - 3-8
#3S - Dustin Miller - 2-8
#1D - Lane Miller/Bryce Miller - 8-4
#2D - Brandon Nguyen/Lucas Brownsberger-Keyes - 8-0

vs. Jimtown
#1S - Jacob Gonsalves - 5-8
#2S - Daniel Robles - 8-2
#3S - Dustin Miller - 8-1
#1D - Lane Miller/Brandon Nguyen - 8-6
#2D - Jonathan Yousey/Lucas Brownsberger-Keyes - 8-0

Chapter 7 - Jimtown JV Invite

Before you can learn the trees, you have to learn 

The language of the trees.

from "Learning the Trees" by Howard Nemerov

This year, we have a stellar JV. This weekend, they had a chance to bring home a trophy as a memento of their wonderful talent and start to the season. But more important than a trophy, they had a chance to see what real competition is all about.

When I think about the tennis goal of every season, it is always to bring home the Sectional title. Every team, every year has that simple yet difficult dream. In 21 years of Bethany tennis, we have one Sectional title to our name. That tournament, the first round of the State Tournament, has such a different feel and pressure. You feel like you are playing for something. 

But every tournament has that feel to some extent. So every one of these days is a chance to learn the "language" of the Sectional. How do you feel under pressure? What adjustments do you need to make? How can you stay focused? How do you stay loose? And what extra energy does it take to win?

Our JV had the opportunity to learn this language, plus one extra word: "unexpected." The JV had to take to the courts on Saturday without their undefeated #1 player, Byeong Min Lim. After his outstanding #1 singles varsity match on Thursday night, Byeong had gotten sick and couldn't play on Saturday. 

And they got to find out right away how it would affect them. They played the other undefeated team in the tournament, NorthWood, in the first round. This match got off to a strong start for the doubles, but at #2 and #3 singles we were struggling and frustrated. Ethan Lapp manned the #1 singles position and did a great job with his match, and Ryan Duckworth and Simon Hurst also controlled their match well. As other positions lost, the match soon came down to Neel Bhagat at #2 singles. Playing outside of his normally comfortable doubles position, Neel fought back from 1-6 down to get to 5-6. But unfortunately he couldn't get the lead, and the team tasted defeat for the first time this season.

Again, as I said in the Concord match report, loss hurts but is also an opportunity. How do you respond? And the JV has had individual chances to respond to loss, now they had a collective chance. As individuals, they've always come back stronger after a loss. As a team, they did that today as well. 

Against Jimtown, some positions got flipped around, and some of Jimtown's players who played varsity when we had our dual match against them came down to fill out the Jimmies JV. But our team held their nerve and battled.  They picked up a 3-2 win against Jimtown, again with Ethan Lapp and Ryan Duckworth/Simon Hurst getting the victories at #1S and #1D. #2D joined them in the winning column this time, as Jack Erlacher and Bryce Miller picked up the win.

In their final match, the guys only gave up 8 games total as a team in defeating the Minutemen of Concord for a second time this season. That gave them 2nd place in the tournament, just behind NorthWood. 

But more importantly, 8 guys got a taste of the language of competition. Each year it will grow, until hopefully they will stand with arms around one another holding their Sectional trophy. But long before they get there, they've got to keep learning.

vs. NorthWood JV

#1SJV - Ethan Lapp - 8-3 - Cooper Clark

#2SJV - Neel Bhagat - 5-8 - Court Clark

#3SJV - Justin Zehr - 2-8 - Brock Beehler

#1DJV - Ryan Duckworth/Simon Hurst - 8-2 - Austin Sanders/Evan Nix

#2DJV - Jack Erlacher/Lane Miller - 2-8 - Austin Conrad/Riley Smith

vs. Jimtown JV

#1SJV- Ethan Lapp - 8-3 - Brock Johnson

#2SJV - Neel Bhagat - 6-8 - Nick Beron

#3SJV - Lane Miller - 4-8 - Alfredo Lima

#1DJV - Ryan Duckworth/Simon Hurst - 8-1 - Jesse Oakley/Matt DeClodt

#2DJV - Jack Erlacher/Bryce Miller - 8-1 - Jeff Slocum/Zack Hughes

vs. Concord JV

#1SJV - Ethan Lapp - 8-0 - Braden Fish

#2SJV - Neel Bhagat - 8-4 - Spenser Jaenichen

#3SJV - Bryce Miller - 8-4 - Eric Roebuck

#1DJV - Ryan Duckworth/Simon Hurst - 8-0 - Kell McGee/Sam Daniel

#2DJV - Justin Zehr/Lane Miller - 8-0 - Alex Diaz/Jake Lovette

Monday Morning Match Memories

MMMM #11: Bethany Christian at Jimtown JV Invitational, 2008

With having such a successful varsity season, I am often tempted to write only about the accomplishments of that group. Rightly so, they deserved to be written about because of their hard work and dedication to a single task of winning the Sectional, and for their accomplishing that task. It is difficult to do something like that.

But in the 2008 season, another group of players worked equally as hard at an equally impressive task. The Bethany JV players crushed just about everyone in their path, in fact defeating all comers in the 2008 campaign. Among this undefeated team were three undefeated individuals: Matthew Amstutz, Seth Krabill, and Russell Klassen. There were also five individuals who only lost once: Ben Mast, Misha Rebec, Nick Rebec, Kyle Miller and Claude Stickler.

I talked about this group when I wrote the match memory for the Penn match. But really, I think I was proudest of them was when we won our only tournament. It was the only tournament we played, and we dominated it. So today is dedicated to the undefeated 2008 Bruins!

This Jimtown JV tournament holds special importance for the Bruin tennis program. It is a same style tournament with the same opponents that we play a week before in a varsity invitational at Concord. In fact, contrary to most JV matches and tournaments, the matches are 2 out of 3 sets, just like varsity. Because of these similarities, this tournament often predicts how future Bruin varsity teams will fare against these same opponents.

This tournament is early in the season, and so Andrew and I didn't have our lineups completely decided yet. We had a good hold on the singles positions, but weren't sure yet how doubles would work out. I was hoping to take along many JV members to the tournament and get many of them at least 1 match. Well, on Thursday before the tournament, I got a call from Concord's head coach letting me know that they didn't have enough players for the tournament. Therefore he wondered if we wanted to "loan" two of our players to the Minutemen to play their "#2 doubles" position. Of course, it would be an official forfeit from them at the position but at least more people would get to play. I jumped on that chance, and I assigned Blake Shetler and Jake Gerig to the task of being Concord's #2 doubles team.

I went into the tournament nervous. I wanted our JV to make a good impression against these typically formidable opponents. The reality was, this JV was basically going to be the 2009 varsity. They needed to really dominate other JV teams in order for me to feel comfortable and confident heading into the 2009 varsity season.

I also have to admit, I don't get to see as much of the JV matches as I'd like to throughout the season. So this tournament gave me a full day to get familiar with the match tendencies of each player, their strong and weak points, style of play, and all other information that I gather over the course of a season with the varsity but have less time to with the JV. My wife begs me to not go to the JV tournament and take a weekend off, otherwise every weekend but one gets filled up with stuff. The first year we had this invitational, I obliged my wife's wishes. This year I had to go. I needed to know more about my players, especially in a 2 out of 3 set format.

And so, well, I don't know how to say this... I didn't learn very much about my players. Because we just absolutely annihilated everyone that we played. So, I guess you could say that I learned that we were really, really good. We opened the tournament against Concord, and that match set the tone for the rest of the day. All of our matches against Concord contained at least one 6-0 set won by us. Seth was the only player to double up and get the magical 6-0, 6-0, but the most games allowed total were 3. To put this in perspective, despite our varsity's dominance this year over teams like Churubusco, Prairie Heights, Fremont and Mishawaka, they only accomplished the same feat against Lakeland. And here, our JV had pounded that badly on Concord!

It was after this Concord match that I began to realize how good our JV team was. I mean, Matthew Amstutz could move straight up the team 7 spots and win 15-16 matches at #3 singles, I'm sure. I think that is something that those of you who are moving up this year will have to keep in mind. Not that you don't have to work, but that you do have the talent. Another thing that this match caused me to think about is how many of my previous varsity teams would this JV team have beat. I'm not sure, but I know many of the matches would have been close.

After Concord, we played Jimtown. I was a bit nervous because they brought down two varsity players. I wondered if they could win those two spots and then maybe steal a third somewhere. The answer was an emphatic no. Ben beat #3 varsity singles player Bret Giddings 6-3, 6-3. Giddings would go on to win his conference at the #3 varsity singles position. Seth beat #2 doubles player Josh George 6-2, 6-0. George would go on to win his conference as half of the #2 doubles position. Jimtown then joined their best two regular JV players at #1 doubles and Russell Klassen and Kyle Miller defeated them. It was getting better and better as the day went on.

Not to mention that Blake and Jake were winning their matches for Concord!

At the #2 doubles positions, we were simply wiping out our opponents. 6-0, 6-1 for Misha and Claude against Jimtown, then in the last match against Rochester, 6-1, 6-0 for Nick and Austin. For the day, everybody who played won at least one set 6-0. That's remarkable.

Okay, so what all this domination meant to me is that we have a pretty great group of players moving into varsity positions this year. This coming year we'll graduate 6 seniors who were on the courts for the Sectional title, and we'll have 6 really good players to take their place. We're going to have a good season. We're going to have a winning record. And if we play hard in practice, get out and play in the spring and summer, we're going to have a shot at Sectional.

We can leave behind dominating JV tournaments and look forward to dominating varsity tourneys!

Jimtown JV Invitational Champions!

Congratulations to the Bethany Christian JV team, bringing home our first trophy of the year while cruising to a 7-0 record. Not to mention that they won the tournament this Saturday without anybody even losing a set!

We began the day matched up with Concord, the only school to defeat us in the varsity version of this tournament last weekend. Because of other obligations, Concord had two of their JV players missing, and therefore began the match already down 1-0 as they forfeited the number two doubles position. So it was a good start for us! We filled in the spot for them though, with Claude Stickler and Misha Rebec playing doubles together against Austin Loucks and Nick Rebec. Claude and Misha took the victory, and little did we know that it would also be the only time a Bethany team would lose throughout the entire day.

In Concord singles, all three positions started out slowly. At number two JV singles, Seth Krabill recovered quickly to bring himself from a 15-40 deficit in the first game and then back for the first game. It was never close again as Seth cruised 6-0, 6-0 in this first round matchup. Ben Mast had a similar story, although he actually dropped some games to his Minuteman opponent. After a quick talk at the fence about swinging through despite his opponent's tendency to dink, Ben went on a roll as well and won 6-2, 6-0. At number three singles, Matthew Amstutz looked to be in a good match as his opposite lobbed well and stroked well take 3 games in the first set. Yet Matthew mixed up his game very well, attacking the net and occasionally letting loose on his "big weapons." He mentally wore down the opponent and won his second set 6-0 as well. The doubles against Concord were the first pairing of Russell Klassen and Kyle Miller, and boy was it successful. A quick 6-0, 6-1 win was in order for the sophomore pair, as they both served well, played consistent and began to understand net play as well.

So with a 5-0 victory over Concord under our belt, we moved on to face the next stiffest test, Jimtown. They were last year's champion of the JV Invitational, and we had lost to them 3-2. He hoped to get a little revenge in this match and hopefully seal the championship as well. They are lacking on the JV numbers this year, so they brought two varsity players down to play the match, junior Bret Giddings and junior Josh George.

Ben Mast found himself up against Giddings and made a tentative, "pushy" start to the match. By that I mean Ben was guiding or pushing the ball instead of hitting through it. He also looked nervous with his serves. But at 2-3 he got a little pep talk about confidence and took the next four games, and thus the first set. Like many of his matches, the second set stayed close but the outcome never seemed in doubt. This is a special gift Ben has, the ability to be in control. And Seth Krabill has the ability to dominate. Coming out against varsity two doubles player Josh George, Seth managed George sometimes big often erratic game to a 2-2 first set tie. Then Seth pulled out all the stops in aggressively stroking his way to the next 10 games in a row. What was super impressive was the quality of Seth's passing shots and volleys, each of them giving him a way to win big points.

Matthew Amstutz dismantled his younger opponent in quick fashion, threatening the shortest match time record but going long by about 5 minutes. At number one doubles, Russell Klassen and Kyle Miller faced our toughest test of the tournament, as they took on a talented Jimtown doubles team. Finding themselves down 5-4 and facing the loss of the first set, they turned things around in a big way, breaking serve and beginning to hit attacking and aggressive shots with more regularity. And by aggressive and attacking shots, I'll include Russell's lobs, which were beautifully infuriating to his opponents. Kyle kept pace with more great serves and they took the first set 7-5. With the momentum, they won the second in easier fashion, 6-2.

Two doubles was a dominant match as well. Misha Rebec and Claude Stickler played a great match, controlling from the net. Misha often placed himself right in the middle of the court and found himself set up for slam after slam. The team continued to improve on their serves and groundstrokes as well, and won the match 6-1, 6-0. Another 5-0 team victory for the Bruins with only Rochester left.

And the Rochester match, well, let's just say it was another 5-0 victory. There were no close matches, even though we flipped the lineup around a bit to have Russell and Matthew Amstutz play doubles together and Kyle play number three singles. Kyle's match was the closest, as he posted a 6-1, 6-2 victory. With Kyle's match ending simultaneously as Seth's, and the court's clear, Bethany stood with a beautiful Invitational championship. Officially we had not lost a match on the day, going 15-0!

However, there was more. Concord had not fielded a two doubles team, so we loaned them Jake and Blake for two matches. Jake and Blake continued the theme of Bethany domination, winning both of their matches in two set fashion. This raised the Bethany record on the day to 17-0! And still we didn't lose a set.

This all speaks of the awesome depth of the team right now. Blake Shetler isn't in our top 7 JV players, and at all of the other schools we played today he may have been playing two or three singles. A great freshman not quite breaking our JV lineup just shows how the program is growing and doing well. I'm just hoping that continues throughout the next several years...well, at least as long as I'm around. Thanks to all who came out to support us today!

Scores (will be posted on Tuesday)

vs. Concord
Ben Mast - 6-2, 6-0 - Brandon Frutig
Seth Krabill - 6-0, 6-0 - Zack Ehret
Matthew Amstutz - 6-3, 6-0 - Bronson DuMont
Russell Klassen/Kyle Miller - 6-0, 6-2 - Zach Beaver/Matt Ciesielski
Austin Loucks/Nick Rebec - won by forfeit but...
-----> Austin/Nick - 6-2, 0-6, (5-10) - Claude Stickler/Misha Rebec

vs. Jimtown
Ben Mast - 6-3, 6-3 - Bret Giddings
Seth Krabill - 6-2, 6-0 - Josh George
Matthew Amstutz - 6-0, 6-0 - John Gray
Russell Klassen/Kyle Miller - 7-5, 6-2 - Lance Miller/John Hoffman
Claude Stickler/Misha Rebec - 6-0, 6-1 - Danny Eaton/Kameron Green

vs. Rochester
Ben Mast - 6-1, 6-0 - Phil Keim
Seth Krabill - 6-0, 6-1 - Kyle Calhoun
Kyle Miller - 6-1, 6-2 - Josh Calhoun
Matthew Amstutz/Russell Klassen - 6-0, 6-1 - Taylor Beck/Tyler Opple
Nick Rebec/Austin Loucks - 6-1, 6-0 - Evan Webb/Mike Rosswurm