Brothers

Facebook Post: Luke Hostetter, Sept. 3, 2018

It is hard to believe that 10 years have gone by since playing tennis alongside these awesome guys at Bethany Christian Schools. And getting to celebrate by going to the US Open for the first time was absolutely electric. Seeing that this team still has the same passion and energy as I remember from the good ol' days will never be forgotten. Thanks for the memories!

P.S. Happy birthday from all of us to our coach, Matt Miller, the man who always taught us to take "serious tennisly."

What this means to me...

These guys were the first Bethany Christian tennis team to win the Sectional title. Luke was the anchor at #1S, but this entire team worked hard together to accomplish something great. And in doing so, they were really the first team to buy in to what I had hoped Bethany Christian tennis could be: Brothers, taking care of each other, chasing down their very best. 

This group provided some of my very favorite tennis memories...

- Coming back and beating Fairfield 3-2 in the first round of Sectional after losing 5-0 just 10 days before that, with Jonny and Luke winning in 3 set comebacks.

- Johnny and Jeremy winning a third set tiebreak in the Sectional Semi-Final over Goshen to give us a 3-2 team victory.

- Jeremy's dad defending Luke's honor from a disrespectful fan at the Warsaw Invitational

- Daniel and Mikey's comeback from down 1-5 in the third set to advance past Fairfield in the Sectional.

- Jared's incredible improvement between his junior and senior year.

- Beating Penn 4-1 as they opened up their new courts and we beat them badly.

- Watching Johnny and Jeremy play with such passion against NorthWood in the Sectional final, providing us with the clinching point.

But even more, it is awesome that this group still remains tight. Friendships and relationships that you can count on are the purpose of life. Tennis is just a rallying point around which to build. I love that these guys built around their passion for the game, but still love each other like family. I wish I could have made it to the US Open to hang with them. 

I hope you guys dive into that. I hope that you will forge relationships within this tennis realm that last. I hope that ten years from now you using whatever technology replaces Snapchat to communicate about the results of the US Open 2028. I hope that you go to each other's weddings, visit each other in big cities, and more.

Thanks, team of 2008. I hope your US Open time was great!

If you want to read more about this team, check out the 2007 and 2008 reviews, or even better click on this link to Match Memories.

Unexpected: Story 1: Prepare

Over the next couple of weeks, we'll be focusing the blog on some fun different things leading up to the season. Yesterday, I posted a preview of our tournament opponents as part of a series looking at the players our opponents have coming back for the season. Today, I will begin posting in a series I'm calling "Unexpected." In this series, I'll post about matches from Bethany Christian tennis history that had unexpected results. I'll recap the match and then make some observations about what led to the unexpected result. Hopefully we'll learn some things that can take us forward into the upcoming season! And yes, I'll make the learning easy - the things you should remember are in capital letters :-)

Unexpected, Story One: The 2007 Sectional

Over the course of my Bible study and personal experience, I've found that unexpected events have a lot of factors in common. Today's story is going to address one of those factors. Unexpected events often spring from situations and people who are PREPARED.

And I'm not just using any old definition of prepared. From a follower of Jesus's perspective, preparation isn't necessarily about all the things you do to get ready. Instead, preparation is about forming habits of TURNING. In other words, in difficult or impossible circumstances, WHO OR WHAT DO YOU TURN TO?

I'll flesh that out more in our devotional series this season, as we look to the life of John the Baptist as one who prepared the way for an unexpected event. But that question of preparation - "Who or what do you have a habit of turning to?" - is central to today's unexpected story.

Coming into the 2007 season, we had a team that is actually very similar to our 2015 team. The entire varsity lineup was made up of underclassmen in 2007. Four of the eight players who played varsity had already played varsity as sophomores and were now juniors. They were led by #1S player Luke Hostetter, who was very solid #1, eventually earning 45 wins in his career at the position.

This was my first team to prepare their skills during the offseason. Many of them took lessons, and they started to play together in a serious way during the summer. Everyone was pretty confident, coming off winning seasons at their individual positions, whether varsity or JV. But no one had really been in a leadership role. And we hadn't been forced to face that question of true preparation.

In trying to get us ready for that, we had a team cheer. The cheer was: "We are focused. We are smaggressive. We are Bethany. We are One."

There was the answer, right in front of us. Who should we turn to when things got difficult? To the One and to each other. To God and to our brothers. But we hadn't internalized that message yet. It hadn't become a habit. It was something that came out of our mouths but didn't capture our hearts and minds yet. Instead we had other habits that we turned to.

In our first match of the season, doubt was where we turned. And we lost to Northridge, 3-2. In the second match of the season, we turned to frustration. And we lost to Jimtown, 3-2. In our fourth match, we turned to apathy. And we lost to Concord, 4-1. Close matches, good matches... but we were always turning inward to deal with difficulty. Always turning to ourselves.

This tendency to turn inward was brushed over for a while as we entered a stage of the season where we cruised to 6 straight easy victories. But it came roaring back when we played Fairfield, ten days before the Sectional began. Here again, we were faced with difficulty. Fairfield was an experienced team, 6 seniors. They were skilled, athletic, and motivated. Our Bruin team came out trying to play our best tennis, but when we fell short in close first sets, we folded inward. We became angry, frustrated, apathetic, and got quickly defeated.

As I pulled the van back into the Bethany parking lot after a 5-0 defeat, I looked into the back. Guys were joking and laughing. I had the sense that we were turning away from the difficulty, turning away from opportunities of growth. I turned off the van and told everyone to stay in their seats and listen. And I yelled at the team, like actually raised my voice, for one of the very first times ever.

"You are a better team!"

My meaning in yelling this was a myriad of things. I wanted the players to be convinced that they had the skills to beat Fairfield, or any other similarly skilled team we would play, so I used a bit of hyperbole and told them they were better. I also meant that they were better than what they had just showed out on the courts that evening. But the crux of what I really wanted to communicate was in the word "team." Together, we are better.

God has made humans in such a way so that when we pursue a goal in relationship a couple of things happen. First, we tend to reach the goal in a more fulfilling way. Secondly, we deepen our relationships. Third, we experience growth in our own character. Together, we are better. TOGETHER.

That 2007 team needed to get into the habit of turning to each other, honestly, in times of difficulty. Turning to each other to be challenged. Turning to each other to be encouraged. Turning to each other for motivation, energy - a quick word, a fence high-five, or a fist pump. During our failure to be a team at Fairfield, it had been quiet. Everyone was turning to themselves. There was little encouragement being spoken and even less being heard.

In the next week, we began to prepare, trying to make it a habit of turning to each other. Being a real team. Practices were more intense. Vocal encouragements at matches became louder. We sat down and had some real talks about how to deal with frustration and fear - the best way being to turn to a smiling teammate. At matches, we rallied around the difficult positions. We sat through 3rd sets even when the team match was done, just to show that we were there for our teammates. We began to actually practice being "one."

And so we entered the first round against Fairfield in the Sectional, the team that had beat us as we moped around the courts alone just ten days earlier. And you know what happened? It started off badly for us. We lost 4 of 5 first sets. The pattern was the exact same as earlier in the season. We came close, but couldn't pull it off.

And so, back to the preparation question, what or who did we turn to? Well, I turned to God, and just started praying. Praying, honestly, that the guys would finish the match out with their newly practiced attitude of togetherness. Not necessarily praying for a win. And the guys on the court and the team in stands, they did just that. They turned to each other. Suddenly, after a well-played point on Luke Hostetter's court, Johnny Kauffman looked over from #1 doubles and said, "Let's go, Luke!"

And Luke played better. And Johnny played better.

At #2 doubles, a team that had lost all their close matches that year, Mikey Kelly and Daniel Buschert began smiling at each other. Instead of turning to frustration after misses, they uttered encouragements to one another. On great points, they turned to each other to call out "C'mon!"

And Mikey played better. And Daniel played better.

Parents got in on the action. Jonny Shenk, who played #3, saw his dad pace up and down the singles courts, cheering for Jared Swartzendruber at #2 and Luke at #1. As Jared's match ended in a loss, his parents scooted over to watch the remaining matches. When #1 doubles lost, they moved outside the fence to lend their vocal support to the remaining singles matches.

It was awesome to watch us moving as a group together, full of positive energy and full of hope. #2 doubles won and came out immediately to our group of excited fans. If you were at the Sectional last year, you know how this group feels. We sat on hillsides, bleachers and lawn chairs and watched the final matches play out - together.

Then, when it was all over, we went to El Camino. The whole team.

And since the point of this story is who we turn to, I won't even tell you what the result of the match was. It wasn't the most important thing. The most important thing was that we answered the question and learned how to prepare.

Sheer and Savage: Wrap Up

“There is a point in tennis, when I thrust aside as irrelevant all thoughts of point and games and sets, and am absorbed instead in the sheer and savage delight of swinging at a moving target.”

- Mark Rowlands, Tennis with Plato

Sheer and Savage Series

Joel King and Michael Steury

Daniel Buschert and Mikey Kelly

Seth Krabill and Kyle Miller

Hans Miller and Joel Gerig

Obviously, there's a lot of people I left out of this series. So many of our great players through the years at Bethany Christian have displayed their joy in sheer and savage ways. I simply tried to give good examples that work toward the point I am trying to make. And that point is two-fold (hint... look for the capital letters).

First of all, if you want to be a successful player and have a successful team, a team that is truly full of joy then . . .

YOU MUST HAVE A BALANCE OF SHEER AND SAVAGE JOY.

It's not an option to have a team that falls dramatically on one side of the scale or the other. If you have a collection of players that are all unbridled and untamed and ferocious, the team will most likely be mean and angry. If you collect a bunch of pure and goofy guys, you'll laugh a lot and win a little. When unbalanced, players find themselves having explosions or completely lost their ability to focus.

So, it becomes obvious then that the full joy is when we are "absorbed. . . in the sheer AND savage delight of swinging at a moving target." They can't be separated. And yet . . . we each naturally gravitate to one extreme or the other. That's how it is in most of life right? We tend to slide toward the extremes all the while we need balance. Sol recognized this in my eating habits this summer during camp, noting that I tend to be obsessed with being healthy or I am completely unhealthy. All salads or all ice cream, depending on the summer. And so it is with these tendencies of joy and emotion. How can we get them balanced?

Well, we'll just make ourselves do it, right? If we tend to be savage and untamed, well, then when we hit the ball out during matches we'll just stop and think and smile! We'll simply convince ourselves right now that we just have to feel differently. We'll make ourselves do it, because we have to. Or not. Because you can't "find" balance, or "make" it, or "convince yourself to just do it."

Instead, YOU HAVE TO GIVE IT.

The key thing here is that we are a team. The group of guys around us is what will help us create sheer and savage joy. They are God's gift to us for the season. Read back through the sheer and savage series. Each of those stories were stories of balance that happened when teammates GAVE their natural tendencies to each other.

Joel King's competitiveness drew the work ethic out of Michael. Michael's goofiness made tennis fun. Daniel's carefree attitude gave confidence to Mikey's intensity. Kyle's untamed challenge of Seth brought accountability to the team. Joel and Hans both played as themselves and brought balance to their doubles matches.

God has given you the gift of your personality, your unique type of joy. Give that gift to our team. In that communal giving, everyone will be changed.

So, I can't wait to hear it all across our newly painted courts next week. Savage joy of ripping through forehands and overheads, the competitiveness of the new season, the challenge of staying focused... all in the direction of helping our teammates. "C'mon guys, let's go, let's pick it up, let's do this!"

And the encouraging words of sheer joy, the shots well-placed, the strategies well chosen, the inevitable mistakes... all in the direction of helping our teammates. "That's all right, we've got this! Oh, yes! That's it!"

I still have the memory of my brother's undefeated team, how they used to respond to one another on the courts. Even during matches, if one person would call out "C'mon!" there would come a cascade of calls from the other courts, each person sending back their own message of encouragement and joy. In the community of echoes, in everybody giving to each other, their was the beautiful balance.

I can't wait to hear our community get started.

Sheer and Savage Players: Edition 4

“There is a point in tennis, when I thrust aside as irrelevant all thoughts of point and games and sets, and am absorbed instead in the sheer and savage delight of swinging at a moving target.”

- Mark Rowlands, Tennis with Plato

Sheer
adjective
1. unmixed with anything else
2. unqualified, utter
Synonyms: mere, simple, pure, unadulterated

Savage
adjective
1. fierce, ferocious, untamed
2. unpolished
3. wild and rugged
Synonyms: wild

Joy
noun
1. a state of happiness
2. a foretaste of all things made right
Synonyms: rapture, bliss, delight

SHEER JOY: Hans Miller

SAVAGE JOY: Joel Gerig

RESULT: Led team in victories last season, setting a record for most #1D victories.

In my career coaching at Bethany, Joel Gerig leads the list in one category. Being able to let his emotions show. Or as we're defining it in this series, being unpolished, untamed and savage when it comes to showing his emotion.

Oh, he's top of the list in a lot of other things as well. Working hard at his tennis game, staying after practice to work on serves, and doubles winning percentage would all be categories he'd lead the team in too. But his heart on sleeve emotion was definitely something that has set him apart. And it is not a bad thing. In fact, I love it as a coach. Because it's honest.

A story. Joel's sophomore year he was in and out of competing for a varsity spot. Suddenly in the middle of a drill, Joel has thrown his racket onto the court and is screaming that he quits, he can't do it, and is kicking his racket from one side of the court to the other. I was livid. I walked right up to him and told him to get off the courts because we don't act like that. Savage emotion is one thing, but there's also a need to mature. But when I got up to Joel, Joel had tears in his eyes. I took a gentler tone, but still told him to go sit on the bleachers. After getting the team going into the next part of practice, Joel and I sat and talked about what was making this eruption happen. And unsurprisingly, it wasn't really about tennis. A little talking, a little prayer, and a lot of healing went on. Joel's honesty had allowed it to happen.

There were so many more times of Joel's raw and unpolished honesty. At team camp when discussing faith with his fellow seniors. When he and Parth came to me during junior year and basically said no offense to each other but they didn't like playing doubles together. But I'd like to recall one other specific time where Joel couldn't stop his emotion.

Last year, in the Individual Sectional, Joel and Hans drew NorthWood in the first round of the event. They had lost to NorthWood in the season, their worst and most lopsided loss. Now, playing in the Sectional I had asked them to play with confidence. After dropping their first set, Joel and Hans had turned it around in the second and were playing brilliant tennis. And at the break between the second and third set, Joel again stood before me with tears in his eyes. I was so pumped, because they were playing their best tennis of the season at exactly the right time. I looked at Joel and said, "Are those tears? What's up, why are you crying?"

He said, "Because I know we're going to win."

Emotion is powerful. And Joel was always able to be honest and raw about it. It's powerful for healing and it's powerful as a motivator. For it to be useful on the tennis court however, it has to be transformed into positive emotion. It was to pump us up and convince us we're going to win. How had Joel's raw emotional responses been crystallized into a force like this that would allow him to know with clarity and confidence that they were going to win?

Well, that positively delightful influence was Hans Miller.

Hans has been the epitome of sheer joy throughout his years in tennis. Freshman year he tried for one day to do soccer and tennis in the same season. It was hard (ask Jesse Amstutz about it), and Hans decided that he enjoyed tennis more, so he was just going to go for that. Because it brought him more joy.

And since, he's brought that joy to our team. His freshman year he quietly collected the most wins on the JV, all with a smile on his face. His sophomore year, we tried him all over the place. Wherever he played, he didn't complain. In his first four matches that year, he played #1DJV, #3S, #1D, and finally settled into #2D. It was that #2D position where his sheer joy got matched up with Joel's savage joy.

You see, when Joel would double fault or drop a volley in the net, he would get tense and tight. But Hans, when he would clip the tape with a volley, would turn around, smile and laugh. And watching these two play tennis soon got to be very fun. Joel's competitiveness seeped into Hans, and Hans carefree joy began to take hold in Joel.

Going into this year, it remains the picture to me of the balance the team needs. Joel's honest emotion and Hans' enjoyment. Joel's tears and Hans' laugh. Joel shouting "C'mon!" and Hans happy "Yes!"

Joel spinning around with a fist pump and Hans meeting it with a smile.

Everyone needs to find that balance. Everyone needs to have that unpolished honesty and unbridled joy. Maybe Hans will continue to lead us that way. But we can't count on just him. We need every one of you to bring your God-given talents and encouragements to this season. Bring them with all your joy. I can't wait to remember your stories of sheer and savage joy as well.

Sheer and Savage Series
1. Joel King and Michael Steury
2. Daniel Buschert and Mikey Kelly
3. Seth Krabill and Kyle Miller
4. Hans Miller and Joel Gerig

Sheer and Savage Players: Edition 3

“There is a point in tennis, when I thrust aside as irrelevant all thoughts of point and games and sets, and am absorbed instead in the sheer and savage delight of swinging at a moving target.”

- Mark Rowlands, Tennis with Plato

Sheer
adjective
1. unmixed with anything else
2. unqualified, utter
Synonyms: mere, simple, pure, unadulterated

Savage
adjective
1. fierce, ferocious, untamed
2. unpolished
3. wild and rugged
Synonyms: wild

Joy
noun
1. a state of happiness
2. a foretaste of all things made right
Synonyms: rapture, bliss, delight

SHEER JOY: Seth Krabill

SAVAGE JOY: Kyle Miller

RESULT: Helped lead their team to a school record 18 wins in their senior season.

Let me start this post by saying that two people alone can't help a team set a school record for wins and winning percentage. But everyone's attitude helps. A good balance is particularly important. When it comes to the 2010, there was a great balance of sheer and savage joy on the team. Ben Mast and Russell Klassen, the two seniors I'm not featuring were probably the best at balancing it and showing sheer and savage joy at the right times. But Seth and Kyle were the ones who exemplified each characteristic. So the stories about them are great ones to show what sheer and savage joy means. Except of course, for the one story about Russell seeing how many times he could nail an opponent in the chest because my brother said he couldn't get more than 10. And Russell hit the opponents 11 times in the match. That's some savage tennis, but I don't know how joyful (at least for the opponents).

But as for sheer joy, that was Seth. It was what made him so difficult to rattle. If you can play with sheer joy, you will have the strongest mental game on the planet. The reason being is that fear of losing can only happen when your goal is to win. If your goal is to become "absorbed instead in the sheer and savage delight of swinging at a moving target," well then very little can rattle you except for a bad opponent who can't get the ball back to you. This was Seth. I remember in 2009 we played Churubusco and they had a team of complete beginners, except for their two seniors who they had placed together to form an All-District #1D team. They were great, and only lost twice all season. I asked Seth whether he'd like to just take a probable win at #2 singles or team up with our #3 player and try to take down the good doubles team. In less than a blink of an eye he said he'd rather play the better people because that would be more fun. 

Or if you ask Seth what his favorite high school match was, he'll site his senior year at the Merrillville tournament when he took on one of the top players in the state, Benjamin Kalisch of Valparaiso. Seth was undefeated going into the match and so was Kalisch. The match was 0-6, 0-3 when it got rained out (Seth losing) and Seth was upset. He was having so much fun hitting back and forth with a great opponent. It carried Seth to a 20-0 record that season.

The only thing that can be wrong with the sheer joy approach is how you get better. If you are enjoying just hitting the ball, there's not much incentive sometimes to go hard in practice or drills. Seth suffered from some of that, but that's also where the balance that I talked about with Daniel and Mikey is important. A team must have sheer delight, pure joy. But it also needs the unpolished passion, wild joy of someone who will be vocal. That was Kyle Miller.

Kyle would do anything he could to win as a team. Three years in a row he played with different doubles partners. Each year, he and his partner got better and better throughout the season. Why? Because he had the unpolished, rugged, and savage ability to talk to people. He challenged his doubles partners, he encouraged his doubles partner, he got pumped up over their good shots. And he challenged his teammates as well. I'll never forget the time Seth showed up late to practice and Kyle got all over him. Chasing him out into the parking lot to talk to him. It may have been a little misplaced passion, but it was passion. A passion to and a delight in the idea of all things made right.

There's the thing that made this team so successful, people who did the things with joy (like Seth) and people who passionately held everyone accountable to doing the right things (like Kyle). Each team needs players who will fill those roles:

1. A leader who silently leads with actions of joy.
2. A leader who vocally challenges and encourages with passion.

So who is that this year? We have a ton of players who may be able to play with sheer joy, who may be able to lead with their focus, action and energy. But who will lead us, encourage us, challenge us, be passionate with their words?

Sheer and Savage Series
1. Joel King and Michael Steury
2. Daniel Buschert and Mikey Kelly
3. Seth Krabill and Kyle Miller

Sheer and Savage Players: Edition 2

“There is a point in tennis, when I thrust aside as irrelevant all thoughts of point and games and sets, and am absorbed instead in the sheer and savage delight of swinging at a moving target.”

- Mark Rowlands, Tennis with Plato

Sheer
adjective
1. unmixed with anything else
2. unqualified, utter
Synonyms: mere, simple, pure, unadulterated

Savage
adjective
1. fierce, ferocious, untamed
2. unpolished
3. wild and rugged
Synonyms: wild

Joy
noun
1. a state of happiness
2. a foretaste of all things made right
Synonyms: rapture, bliss, delight

SHEER JOY: Daniel Buschert

SAVAGE JOY: Mikey Kelly

RESULT: 20-2 at #2D on Sectional Champion team.

Daniel looked like a long haired hippie when when bounced onto the tennis court. I used to nickname him "Angel" here on the blog because of the light-hearted nature he had on the court and his "gorgeous" hair. He was always smiling when he come up to me and ask a question, usually about how he could get better. He played no other sport but he had kind of a natural way on the tennis court. By his senior year he may have been the best pure doubles player on our team.

Mikey was intense. His freshman season he had hurt his hand and instead of not playing, his switched and used his left hand to play the match. He was still upset that he lost when the match was over. He was a competitor in every sense of the word, obsessed with playing his best in every match. Obsessed with playing his best in every sport he played, as he had all three seasons covered: tennis, basketball, and baseball.

Apart, these guys had problems. Daniel couldn't quite get the competitive edge he needed with other partners or when he played singles. He would play with sheer delight, sure, but maybe a little unfocused or undirected. Mikey, on the other hand, would boil over on his own. Controlling his anger was something he worked on throughout the seasons.

But when they came together to play as partners, they found the balance. The balance that we're looking for as a team this season. It didn't come without a fight. In 2007, when Daniel was a junior and Mikey a sophomore, we paired them at #2D to see how they could compete. They put up a pretty good record but struggled in close and important matches. In fact, at the end of September they lost 3 matches in a row heading toward Sectional, and after a disappointing loss to Bremen I wrote this in the match report: "Again frustration and fear drove this doubles team instead of enjoyment and opportunity."

The thing about Daniel and Mikey was that they had problems to conquer before they could really live and play with sheer and savage joy. Daniel had to overcome fear. Mikey needed to overcome anger. They were wounds that were on them, that came out in times of pressure. In fact, if I'm guessing, these wounds will plague them throughout their life. We all have these types of wounds. 

But the beauty of Daniel and Mikey was that they decided to deal with them, together. The turning point was probably the first round of Sectional, where I decided to go ahead and let them see if they could turn it around. With nothing to lose, the played loose and aggressive tennis. They had lost to the Fairfield team they were playing in two quick sets during their losing streak. But with their confidence and control, they defeated them in two sets. It set the stage for a dramatic win for the team as well.

Then it carried over into the next season. In a similar situation the next season, with our backs pressed against the wall in Sectional, down 1-5 in the third set of the decisive match, they again found confidence and control to make a huge comeback and save the Sectional for the team.

What we learn with Mikey and Daniel is that to have sheer and savage joy may mean that we have to confront some weaknesses in ourselves. We may be given toward anger, fear, sadness, deceit or any number of other things that steal our joy. Mikey, Daniel and I had so many prayerful conversations about these things and their causes. I'm a firm believer that in Christ these wounds can be turned into moments of pure, sheer, and savage joy. Pure and ferocious. Pure and powerful. Mikey and Daniel show how this has worked out.

Sheer and Savage Players: Edition 1

New series again for the month of July, highlighting players who played with sheer and savage joy. For these posts, I'll be choosing players who were teammates that gave the team the balance of sheer and savage joy. Each post begins with a definition, then proceeds to tell the stories of joy!

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“There is a point in tennis, when I thrust aside as irrelevant all thoughts of point and games and sets, 

and am absorbed instead in the sheer and savage delight of swinging at a moving target.”

- Mark Rowlands, Tennis with Plato

Sheer
adjective
1. unmixed with anything else
2. unqualified, utter
Synonyms: mere, simple, pure, unadulterated

Savage
adjective
1. fierce, ferocious, untamed
2. unpolished
3. wild and rugged
Synonyms: wild

Joy
noun
1. a state of happiness
2. a foretaste of all things made right
Synonyms: rapture, bliss, delight

SHEER JOY: Michael Steury

SAVAGE JOY: Joel King

RESULT: Turned the program around.

Michael and Joel were the perfect, if unlikely, pair to turn a struggling program into a thriving one. First of all, they enjoyed one another's company. They were the beginning of bringing brotherhood to the Bethany program. But their backgrounds were very different in tennis, and were important in bringing balance to the program as well.

Joel was a competitor. A basketball player, a baseball pitcher, he played a sport every season and captained all of the teams. He often said that practice was his favorite part of any season, because it was the only part where he didn't get any break at all. Which he enjoyed.

On the tennis court, he was a screamer. He had played varsity his freshman year, competing at #1 doubles. I don't know how well he did, I don't have records from that season. But when I took over as coach beginning his sophomore season, it was obvious that he was going to compete for the #1 singles spot. He had athleticism and talent.

I have several favorite match memories of Joel. The first was at Triton during his sophomore season. He was playing #2 singles and the team match was tied 2-2 as he went into a third set. With that pressure, Joel fell behind 2-5 in the third set. His opponent needed only 4 more points to seal a team win for the Trojans. I told him to build some positive emotion, and in the next game the trademark "C'mon!" was born. After every point he won, he clenched his fist and yelled toward his teammates gathered by the fence. With this untamed emotion, Joel's game picked up and he overwhelmed his opponent, winning the next 5 games straight to seal a remarkable team victory.

Just as intense was his anger at me that first year when we played Fort Wayne Canterbury. Our #1 player, Colin Yoder, also played soccer and had a game that night. I told him to go to the soccer game because we'd probably lose to Canterbury anyways. Canterbury, by the way, is usually state ranked. Joel was so upset that I was accepting loss, that as he moved up a position to #1 singles, he still pushed his Canterbury opponent in a 5-7, 4-6 loss.

Or when in his senior season, he played his home school district of Concord and had an opportunity to win his match at #1 singles. Cramping in the third set, I told him that one more cramp and I had to call the match. So he made it through the rest of the match and won! Afterwards, I told him that I was glad he hadn't cramped again. He told me, "Matt, I was cramping every two points but I told myself to turn away from you and not scream, not fall down, so that you would let me finish." That is a savage, competitive player!

In contrast to Michael Steury, who didn't start his journey on the team as a supreme competitor. Instead, he had become friends during his freshman year with guys on the team and decided to try it sophomore year. On our team of 13, he was #12 his freshman year. But he loved the game. That Spring Break I remember that we both went to Sarasota to visit our grandparents, and he invited me over to play tennis just because it was fun.

As he played, he got better. A lot better. By junior year, he was playing varsity. From beginner to varsity in one season isn't bad. In a down season, he was one of only two lineup spots to end the year with a winning record. And then senior season, he nailed down the #1 doubles spot. And he became a joyful leader of the team as well.

He led team cheers, screamed encouragements during team games like Defenders and Two Ball, and lived for the glorious times when he could use his strengths. His face would light up when it was his turn to serve, or if someone popped up a lob and he was under it for the smash.

In his last match of his career, we had drawn Jimtown at Sectional. Jimtown had a doubles team, twin brothers, who would qualify for the doubles state finals. And we played them first round. Michael smiled and said, let's do it. With fist pumps and pumped up serves, Michael and partner Jordan Kauffman shocked the twins in the first set, taking a 7-5 set win. And although they couldn't hold it, it was that sheer joy that led them through the attempt.

These guys were the first of many models of sheer and savage tennis for Bethany Christian. Their teammates could look at them for competitive models and I've been pointing to their attitudes for years since. I often say that their leadership helped lay the foundation for our Sectional title three years after they graduated. They played loose, they played hard, they played sheer and savage tennis.

Match Memories

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Monday Morning Match Memories

In the summer of 2003, I got a call from Dan Bodiker. I didn't know who he was. That seems weird, because everybody knows Bod. He wanted to know if I'd be interested in coaching the Bethany Christian tennis team. He told me he already had talked to my college coach and my uncle, and knew I was a good guy. So if I wanted to come in and talk, that would be great.

I love tennis. So, I told him I was interested, that I would come talk, but that I was getting married in a week and a half, so I'd need to talk to my lovely bride-to-be. Also, I told him, we were not planning on staying in the area for more than one year, as we wanted to go live the big city life while we were young. I probably wouldn't be able to coach more than one year, but if he was okay with that...

I met the team the next week, four days before my wedding. Bod introduced me to them as their new coach, before we'd even talked about the details. But I love tennis, so I'd convinced my wife (it wasn't that hard, just had to talk through how it would work, and assure her that we could still move to Chicago in December), and I was ready to take the job. I'll never forget Jordan Kauffman's excitement at meeting me. He shook my hand and started talking and telling me that he would be the #3 singles player for the next season. I was a little overwhelmed at meeting all the new faces, but glad to see my team.

I may not have been planning on coaching for seasons and seasons, but that doesn't mean I didn't want to leave a lasting impact on these young players. From what I heard from the players, they had suffered through a rough season in 2002. So, they didn't have high expectations for 2003. What I had in mind was a change in attitude. I wanted to leave the program, even if just in a year, with all players having the belief that they could compete and achieve.

And so that was the message I took to the players as we began to practice. It was easy to see that it would be a change in philosophy for many of them, to take practice seriously. To compete with belief. To play with confidence. But leaders emerged. Joel King knew exactly what I was talking about, and so did senior Colin Yoder. They began to compete fiercely against one another for the #1 singles spot. And the team began to follow that leadership.

But then our schedule. We started out the season with Northridge, Concord, Jimtown, three teams that we had never beaten. So after the work of building confidence in practice, it was difficult to coax the guys through the first rough matches. In fact, we roughed out 10 0-6 sets over the coarse of these matches, with almost everybody suffering at least one.

And then, in our last match of the Concord Invitational, we played the Rochester Zebras. I knew nothing about Rochester at the time, except that they had also lost to Concord and Jimtown, and by similar scores. Tired of losing, I decided to shake up the lineup for the first time. I moved Seth Troyer, who had been playing extremely close matches at #3 singles, to #1 doubles with Jordan Mumaw, hoping to fortify that position. They ended up winning the Individual Sectional, so I guess that worked. Jordan Kauffman, my sure-fire #3, had been playing #1 doubles but now I slid him into a spot at #2 doubles. This really helped these positions.

The match with Rochester started well, for the most part. The strengthened doubles squads took their first sets easily and quickly, and it seemed as if my strategy was working. However, Ben Shenk, the new #3, lost his first set quickly. But that was the trade off, right? The match then looked as if it would come down to one of my two leaders, Joel King at #2 singles and Colin Yoder at #1 singles. We needed one win from the two of them to seal my first coaching victory.

And they were tight, both first sets went right to the end. Joel fought back and forth with fellow sophomore Carson Vanderbosshe. He won the first set 7-5 and we looked in good shape. Just one more set. Then, Colin went into a first set tiebreak with senior Ryan Gady, and he won it! Just like that we were in a powerful position in the match, having wrapped up both doubles and having set leads in 2 of the 3 singles!

And then Joel had the first occurrence of what would become a pattern in his matches. After grinding out the first set, and fighting for every point, Vanderbosshe couldn't do it anymore. Whether he was too tired, mentally or physically, or whether he just quit, I don't know. But the match was over, Joel rolled to the second set victory 6-0.

As a coach, I now had my first win. Something to refocus the team around. Colin Yoder then provided the icing, pulling out a hard fought three set win. The team was 1-3 on the young season, but growing, changing, learning.

I went home and told my wife, "I love this. I love this a lot. I think it's going to be hard for me to leave this team after the year." And it was, I'm still here.

Monday Morning Match Memories

It was all because the NorthWood Panthers were without a JV last year. And with that unfortunate reality, an opportunity opened up for our team. Would we be willing to fill their spot in what amounted to a Northern Lakes Conference JV Tournament? Certainly.

On what was about the nicest Saturday of the tennis season, pleasant temperatures and lots of sun, Ben Mast and I drove over to Wawasee High School after a morning varsity practice to take in the JV tournament. Andrew Lanctot was the head coach at the tournament for us, and with the matches being spread over 10 courts, I knew it was going to be difficult to do any in-depth coaching.

The night before the tournament, I had announced to the team our lineup telling them that we had decided to go with a strong doubles lineup. That was true. We took our 3 seniors who were unable to crack the varsity and put them in 3 of the 4 doubles spots. So it was to my surprise as I arrived that all three singles positions had advanced to the second round, and that both doubles teams had lost!

Of course, as I gathered information, I found that #1 doubles (Misha Rebec and Claude Stickler) had lost to the eventual champions at #1 doubles. In fact, they played them closer than any of the subsequent opponents would. And Jake Gerig and Evan Grimes had lost in a tiebreak, so even these matches had been competitive.

But their was Ike Lehman, little freshman that could, entering the second round matchup against the favorite Warsaw Tigers. Before he went onto the court for his second match, Ike was worried because Gavin McGrath, his Tiger opponent, was obviously better than him. I told him he had two options against a better opponent. One, get everything back and hope he gets frustrated. Two, go for power and winners and hope you are on your game. Ike looked confused, but then chose option one. And after an hour of play in his match, he was tied at 4-4. It was one of the matches I was most proud about throughout the season. He tired a bit in the end and couldn't keep up the consistency, eventually losing 8-5. But, what I love was his ability to listen to his coach, make a decision, and give his full effort behind that.

Then there was Matt Ebersole, who played a very up-and-down tournament. First round, Matt scalded a very good player from Plymouth High School. Second round, Matt played Goshen. Now, Matt was playing #2 singles, but when we played Goshen in the season, he had played #1 singles and had won. Today, he lost the match at #2 singles. In the 3rd place game, Matt smoked Concord's #2. So, two good matches, one bad equals 3rd place. Still, another lesson learned. Consistency in level of play is as important as anything else in tennis.

And then Blake Shetler. Playing the #1 singles spot, Blake came up against Goshen in the first round and won 8-2. Then he took on Plymouth's Lane Singleton. Singleton had just taken out Northridge's AJ Thielking 8-1, and so was playing well. And Blake was too. In a great back and forth match, they traded deuces, advantages, games, and eventually Blake was able to pull out a 8-6 win. But the how was what encouraged me the most. When Blake was under pressure, he attacked! He came to the net, he upped his level of aggressiveness and actually was able to win the match with an overhead.

What is even more remarkable? He had missed an overhead for match point earlier in the game. While attacking, while being aggressive, he had an overhead to kill off the match and missed. Still, he didn't let that get him down. He asserted himself to continue doing the right thing, and it paid off with a victory.

He lost in the final to an extremely consistent player from Warsaw. But I was still glad with everyone's effort. #1 doubles ended up in 5th, and #2 doubles in 7th. All in all, we took 3rd place, behind Warsaw and Northridge. But we finished in front of Concord, Elkhart Memorial, Goshen, Plymouth and Wawasee! Nice...

And we learned lessons:
1. Listen to your coach, make a decision, and give your full effort behind that.
2. Consistency in level of play is as important as anything else in tennis.
3. Under pressure, attack!
4. When you make mistakes, keep at it

Monday Morning Match Memories

Last Thursday, in my "Rant", I brought up a new statistic for use on this site, the WRS. This stat has predicted the winner of a match at an amazing clip of 96.7%! In fact, it has only failed to predict the winner of a match once, and this Monday Morning Match Memory is about that one exception. More than that however, I want to emphasize the reason that this match was the exception.

In 2007, NorthWood defeated our team twice. Both times we fell by a score of 3-2. The main problem with NorthWood was that they had a position that they were going to win every time we played. At #1 singles, Preston Swain was one of the best players in all of the area. In fact, he was voted #3 in District 2 for the All-District team. His senior year, he only lost to the District's #1 player, Deon Shafer of Warsaw. And so, entering 2008, he returned and gave NorthWood one almost unbeatable point.

So, instead of winning 3 out of 5 matches, we really had to win 3 out of 4. At all of the other positions on the team, we had won once in 2007 and lost once. We returned all of our players and NorthWood returned all but one, #3 singles. So it was a dead even match (basically) besides Preston's #1 singles point.

But while that point gave the Panthers an advantage, it also gave us motivation. I've never seen a team more dedicated in the offseason than the 2008 team. Jonny Shenk, Matthew Amstutz, Jared Schwartzentruber, Luke Hostetter, Daniel Buschert, Johnny Kauffman, Jeremy Thomas... these seniors played all the time. And not just played, they worked on their games.

I remember talking to Jared about his footwork. In 2007, he had a losing record of 10-11 on the year. In 2008, he turned in a brilliant year of 19-3, with only two losses coming in singles play. He often looked effortless in his play, gliding across the court with beautiful footwork. I asked him what changed and he said, "Well, my footwork was bad and slow and I basically never thought about it. So in the offseason, each time I'd play, I would pay attention using correct footwork, split steps, ready position, and all. By the time the season came, it was becoming second nature."

Let me translate that a bit to make it more general. Jared recognized a weakness, and he spent conscious effort on correcting the weakness. He (and all the others) worked on a lot of other things too, and I think they had a good time doing it. They knew how close they were, and that if they worked harder than NorthWood in the offseason, they could overturn the 3-2 losses into 3-2 wins.

I can't say if we "outworked" NorthWood in the offseason, but we did work! And it paid dividends throughout the season. Jared went from 10-11 to 19-3. Jonny Shenk went from 16-6 to 17-5. Daniel Buschert and Mikey Kelly went from 14-7 to 20-2!

It paid dividends against the Panthers as well. In the regular season matchup, both Jonny Shenk and the "Dominant Duo" (Daniel and Mikey) breezed through their opponents. This left us with only one position to win to take the match. Preston Swain did his part for the Panthers, winning in two sets over Luke.

So it came down to #2S and #1D. At #1D, Johnny and Jeremy charged out of the gates and took the first set but didn't sustain their energy or level of play into the second set. The third set was probably the most intense doubles I've ever seen, with both teams being aggressive, attacking, and passionate about the game. It went down to a final set tiebreaker, but we couldn't pull it out.

So it all rested on Jared and his improvement. And it was Jared's footwork that saved him. His oppenent, Panther senior Austin Hostetter, hit bullets low over the net, giving little time for reaction. The only way for Jared to win the match was to attack these shots and not run them down all day. To do that, he had to get to the shots quickly. He was on his toes, pounding the ball deep into Hostetter's back court. If he got a short ball, he moved up quickly and attacked it. Playing with such swift feet, he won the third set and sealed the match for us.

It was quite a turnaround, and it continued to the Sectional Final, which we won 4-1. The hard work, the concentration, the focus on getting better... this is how you overcome.

Monday Morning Match Memories

Where are clutch doubles teams formed? What makes them who they are? Well, they are forged in the sweltering summer heat of a Michigan Border War league, of course.

Throughout the 2009 season, Kyle Miller and Austin Loucks provided some of best performances under pressure. They pulled out a tiebreaker against Jimtown to give our team a 3-2 win. They pulled out a tiebreaker against Triton to give us a 3-2 win. They fought back from a set down against Bremen to win in three sets. They came out firing against an undefeated Eastern #1 doubles team and took them to the brink, playing their best tennis...

But there were days when I thought I'd never see that. Sure, Austin had an amazing kick serve that he could also hit hard. Sure, Kyle is solid on every area of his tennis game, if not spectacular at any one area. And yeah, they had the comradery to make a doubles team work. But sometimes the energy was missing. The footwork got poor. The intensity just wasn't around.

And it wasn't on June 23 in the 100-degree heat of a southeast Michigan afternoon. Playing the #1 doubles spot together for the first time, Kyle and Austin slumped to a disappointing finish where it looked like they could barely get their legs to move. They lost to Buchanan, 2-6, 0-6, and I was sure they would never work as a doubles pair. In fact, the loss cost our team the victory as well, as it sealed a 2-3 loss.

At Subway after the Buchanan loss, I pulled the team aside and said, "In your next match, you have to bring energy. You have to move your feet. Even if you don't feel like it."

Well, apparently Kyle and Austin didn't feel like it, because they opened up that evening's match against Berrien Springs by repeating their drab performance from the afternoon and going down 1-5. Basically, they were just letting their opponents take it to them.

So we had a little heart to heart at the fence. They would lose every varsity match they played against a halfway decent team if they didn't move and play aggressive doubles. Attack the net, poach, do something!

It sank in quickly. With booming forehands, Austin pegged the Berrien Springs net player several times. After a brief apology, he skip over to Kyle for a high five. Kyle was attacking the net and finding putaway volleys over and over again. He'd slice them between the opponents, at the net man's feet, down the alley, into the net man. Each well placed shot, winner, and opponent error built the energy for Austin and Kyle. They plowed through the next 6 games to win the first set 7-5.

Now they had the idea. And they used it to good measure in the second set as well. Soon, they were the well deserved winners of a 7-5, 6-4 match against the #1 doubles team of the #15 ranked team in the state. And our team was 4-1 winners, although it had been Austin and Kyle's match that had given us the third and decisive point.

This match reminds me of a conference tournament match I had in high school, where I was so tired that I could barely change sides. But when the match was on, the point was being played, I pretended with all my might that I was full of energy and ready to go. And it worked, the energy from my mind transferred to my game and demoralized my opponent. I was able to play aggressive while he just hoped.

Energy, belief, movement of feet, readiness, mental concentration. All of these things are so overlooked in tennis, and people are much more willing to get down on themselves and their partner than they are willing to get up, get aggressive and go get it. Kyle and Austin learned this lesson, and for the rest of the season, I always saw them be aggressive and active under pressure. And it paid off. This season, we need players, like Austin and Kyle, who are ready to go get it!

Monday Morning Match Memories

In 2006, we had a couple of rain outs, and so we needed to pick up some matches in order to reach our full allotted complement of matches. We picked up South Bend Riley, and won a 4-1 home match over the Wildcats. And we also picked up New Prairie.

The Cougars are a school located in New Carlisle. We traveled over to play them, and the bus ride was gray and under threat of rain the whole way. In fact, we were told that we shouldn't even bother going over, because rain was a certainty. But I was tired of rain, and I wanted to see us play tennis, and I thought this was going to be a great close match. So we drove.

And we played. Boy, did we come off the bus playing. At four of the five positions, we churned through quick first sets. We were really playing good tennis, and all positions but #3 singles found themselves with one set leads.

This was the first match that I can remember thinking Luke Hostetter was going to be a dominating #1 singles player, as he breezed through a first set against a solid #1 in the Cougars Rich Kaminski. I can also remember worrying whether Jared Schwartzentruber was ever going to live up to his potential, because he seemed so mentally frail and was being picked apart by a weaker opponent (for the answer to the question though, see Jared's 19-3 senior season!)

After rolling through the first sets, I ran around and tried to rally guys energy for the second sets. Mostly, I got a bunch of bored, lazy eyes without much life. The easy first sets had made us drop our energy and interest, and it felt as if we assumed we'd march through the seconds as we did the firsts.

Wrong. Well, sort of. Luke is one of the best in Bethany tradition of finishing someone when they are down, and he just kept on picking up the level of his play. His second set ended faster than his first. But not so much at other spots.

Wes Klassen had won his first set 6-1. All the sudden, senior Mike Hans put together a run based off of Wes' errors and won the second 6-2. At #1 doubles, Jordan Kauffman and Johnny Kauffman had powered their way to a 6-1 first set. Letting off the gas and the aggression, they allowed Mason Laureys and Jared Emmons to take a second set lead. When they Johnny and Jordan tried to turn it back on it was gone. And at #3 singles, Jared Schwartzentruber dug in, determined to fight back from losing 1-6 in the first set. He drove hard, but fell in a tiebreaker to give us our first team loss.

#2 doubles picked up a second win after Luke's, so it all came down to the matches going into three sets... #1 doubles and #2 singles. At #1 doubles, Johnny and Jordan began to get frustrated as they couldn't bump their level of play up to match where it had been in the first set. In addition, their opponents, Laureys and Emmons, picked it up big time. Buoyed by their second set comeback, the Cougars' doubles team attacked the net and were gifted nervous errors by Johnny and Jordan. So that match came to a disappointing end.

Wes Klassen, however, had found his game again in the 3rd set. But so had his opponent, Mike Hans. With the rain threatening us, the #2 singles match went on and on. Neither player was a power hitter, but neither were they making many mistakes. So back and forth went well stroked shots... until they began to get tired and tight. With the match heading to the 5-4 area, nervous errors and looped shots started to creep in. So Hans went on the aggressive. He began to attack the net more, which forced a couple more errors from Wes. Despite a well-played 3rd set, Wes fell 5-7.

The moral of the story is that you cannot let up in the game of tennis. We won first sets by scores of 6-2, 6-1, 6-1, and 6-2. It looked like a simple match, and we lost our aggression and energy, and therefore we lost our edge. And that edge is hard to get back. So let's learn to be smart and aggressive at all times, and not take our matches for granted.

Monday Morning Match Memories

One of the things that I've come to realize as a coach is that 3 strong positions can win you plenty of matches. If you have 3 strong positions you will have a winning record, a season that you can be really proud of, and a good amount of close wins.

In 2005, we had 3 very strong positions. Joel King was a senior, and had a 15-4 season at #1 singles. Wes Klassen, a junior, was filling the #3 singles spot in only his second season on the tennis team. However, he had a strong season going 13-6. Also, our #1 doubles was strong, with Jordan Kauffman and Mike Steury picking up 12 wins.

However, the other two positions ended up with losing records on the season. They were very close to .500, but couldn't quite make it over the hump in the big matches. A great example of this problem comes from the Bremen match in 2005.

In 2005, Joel was a dominant player. Honestly, his only close matches were the ones that he lost to quality opponents. When we played Bremen on senior night, he made quite quick work of a very young Joe Rallo. Rallo was only a sophomore and went on to be one of the best players in the area. But Joel won this match 6-2, 6-0.

Wes moved through his match with ease as well. At this late point in the season he had become fairly comfortable with the #3 singles spot, and won 6-3, 6-1 in this match over another inexperienced Lion sophomore.

#1 doubles, Michael Steury and Jordan Kauffman, had a history throughout the season of making matches close and interesting, and then pulling them out in the end. They faced up against two seniors, Marcus Manges (Thomas Manges!) and A.J. Sime. In a typical Jordan Kauffman match, the first set went all the way to a tiebreaker, which we won (Jordan is our all-time leader in tiebreakers won). We went on to pull out a close second set as well, which gave us the three positions for the win.

Relying on those positions, we won several close matches throughout the year. NorthWood was a 3-2 match where we won those same positions. The Laville tournament was a place where we won those positions. The Lakeland tournament, the Prairie Heights match... all matches where we rode these strong positions to victories.

But at the other two positions, we struggled throughout the year. #2 doubles especially lost some heartbreaking matches, and it was the same in this match against the Bremen Lions. They lost 4-6, 5-7. There are numerous reasons they lost these close matches: lack of experience, lack of chemistry, sometimes lack of skill or smart play. But for whatever reason, they couldn't seem to pull the close ones out. And the same was true at #2 singles. In this match, Mark Bauman fell 4-6, 4-6. We just never seemed to win these positions in a close match.

But with three strong positions you can win a match... and so we beat Bremen, a close and inspiring win. It felt a lot like the Triton match this year, or the Jimtown match. It was awesome.

Three positions can win a match. But you cannot win a Sectional.

That's also a lesson from 2005. Even with the great talent we had, you have to be solid at 4-5 positions to truly win a Sectional. When this 2005 team made it to Sectional, we were drawn against the team that really had what it took to beat us, an awesome #1 singles and #1 doubles. Jaren Vest of Jimtown was one of only three people to beat Joel all year, but he beat him twice. Once in the Sectional. And Chris and Mike Landis advanced to Semi-State in the doubles competition, starting with beating Michael and Jordan. So our Sectional rested on #2 singles, #3 singles and #2 doubles.

And Wes came through, but the other two positions couldn't. And so despite winning a lot of awesome 3-2 matches during the season, posting a 14-7 record, and having a lot of thrilling experiences, we fell short at the end. A Sectional is won with a complete team, and a complete team only.

That's what we've got to keep in mind this season. We've got the strength of Ben Mast, Seth Krabill, Kyle Miller, Russell Klassen returning to our lineup, but to win a Sectional, they probably won't be enough. We need Evan Grimes to work hard, we need Blake Shetler to step it up, we need a Matt Ebersole, Abe Thorne, Ryan Minter, Han Gil Lee, Ike Lehman, Parth Patel, Wade Troyer, Josh Helmuth... someone to step up and put in the work. Because we can't expect to dominate a Sectional with a weak position. We need everyone working hard.

And so what are you doing? How are you encouraging the others that might have a hand in our Sectional fate? What do you have to say to them?

Monday Morning Match Memories

My favorite players in the game of high school tennis come from Bethany. I have deep respect for all of you who play or have played for me, or carried the tradition before I started coaching. But every now and then, a player comes along from another school who earns my respect and admiration as well. Often, I don't get to see them play more than one or two matches, but in those matches they show me something. Of course, it's about their tennis games, and not their character in life, but still, it can teach me a lot about what it takes to be successful in tennis. Today I'm going to write about something I learned from an opponent.

In the 2008 season, we were supposed to play in an awesome tournament at Warsaw. Included in that tournament were the 3rd ranked school in the state (Park Tudor), the 17th ranked team (Canterbury), and other challenging opponents such as Warsaw, South Bend Adams, and more. I remember being angry at God as it rained and rained the morning we were supposed to play this event.

But it provided for us to play in a new tournament. Concord quickly put together a little tourney that involved us, them, Westview, and Lakeland. Westview was another team projected to compete for their Sectional title, as was Concord. Lakeland wasn't as good that season.

We smoked Lakeland, 5-0. Then we got to play Westview. They had a all-district #1 doubles team who were about the best we saw that season. They also had a very solid #1 singles and #2 singles. I felt that we held the advantage at the other two positions.

Things played out pretty much as I thought. #1 doubles put up a really good fight, but eventually fell. Jonny Shenk breezed through his match at #3 singles, and the same could be said for Daniel Buschert and Mikey Kelly at #2 doubles. Surprisingly, Jared Schwartzentruber lost the first set to plucky sophomore Steve Blinco. He won the second set dominantly, but fell in a tense 10-point tiebreak.

The match came down to two seniors, Luke Hostetter and Westview's Steffen Good. Good had been part of Westview's dominance for a while. Playing #3 singles the year before, he had helped the team dominate northern Indiana and pull off a bid in the Semi-State. The team had fallen one match short of the State Finals. But Good had won just about every match he played (actually, I'm pretty sure that he was undefeated, but I don't have their statistics).

Now, Good stood against Luke at #1 singles with the match on the line. The first set went into a tiebreak, Luke unfortunately couldn't get anything going. In the second set, Luke played great tennis. He really ramped up his groundstroke game and took the set 6-3. This forced one of the dreaded 10-point tiebreaks.

In the tiebreak, the lead of the match went back and forth. No one ever led by more than a point. Luke was still playing his stellar ground game, and it forced Good to do what you should in a high pressure situation. Attack. Good attacked the net point after point. He would win with a volley. He would get lobbed over and lose. He would force Luke into a passing shot error. He would watch Luke pass him down the line. But he was going for it.

Luke was too. He wasn't holding back on any of his baseline shots. He rattled a couple of passing shots so hard I thought for sure they would be errant. But they weren't. The score just kept going back and forth, ramping up the pressure.

With the score 7-8 in favor of Good, he was serving. He missed on his first serve, just wide or long or something. For his second serve, he does a massive topspin kick serve. It requires the server to swing hard to get the proper amount of kick. He swung hard, and missed the sweet spot of the racquet. In fact, he hit the frame and the second serve flew over the fence and down onto the band field below the Concord courts.

I was shocked, but excited. Now Luke would win. My figuring was that the only way Good was staying in the match was by being aggressive. Making such an aggressive error on a big point would make him embarrassed and timid. Luke should be able to win.

But it was as if Good forgot the error completely. On the next point, he continued to attack. On the final point, he hit a huge forehand forcing Luke off the court and attacked the net. He put his error, even as embarrassing as it was, behind him and continued to play aggressive.

This match still breaks my heart. I think we were better than Westview during the 2008 season. I think we probably should have had a more impressive record on the year, like 19-2 instead of 15-5. I hate the fact that Luke played so good and so hard and yet lost. It is disappointing in the worst way.

But I did have a deep respect for Steffen Good. He had looked embarrassment in the eye, and continued to be aggressive. That's what I wanted for my team. That's what I want from my players.

And we learned. Look at Mikey and Daniel in the Fairfield match. Johnny and Jeremy in the Sectional Final. And Luke in the Sectional Final. We need to have this attitude this season.

Monday Morning Match Memories

I've made a lot of match memories posts over the last year, and each of them help to define what Bethany Christian tennis is all about. If you've never read any of them, or want to review, that's what this post is for. Here is a short synopsis, with the moral of the story, for each of my favorite match memories so far.

BC vs. Eastern, 2009
Score: Bethany 2, Eastern 3
Synopsis: Against a one loss team, Kyle and Austin came out playing with high energy, and it filtered into the rest of the team. Playing our best tennis of the year, with a chance to win the tournament, we fell just short.
Moral of the Story: Energy will filter to through the whole team.

BC vs. Howe Military, thru the years
Score: NA
Synopsis: Counting down the top 10 memories from playing Howe Military. Includes stories about Justin Gregor, Evan Grimes, Austin Loucks, Joel King, Will and Weston Troyer among others.
Moral of the Story: Even a match that we usually win easily with our JV has it's purposes and memories.

BC at Jimtown JV Invite, 2008
Score: 1st Place
Synopsis: Our JV team, led by our current group of varsity players, dominated this tourney against Concord, Jimtown and Rochester. We did not lose a position in the entire tournament!
Moral of the Story: We have lots of really great talent on the varsity this year.

BC vs. NorthWood, 2008 Sectional Final
Score: 4-1
Synopsis: The team (full of seniors) played with a lot of poise and emotion, and won the first 3 matches off the court to sweep to a Sectional championship.
Moral of the Story: A Sectional championship was quite an enjoyable relief to share with those who worked for it!

BC vs. Penn, 2008
Score: 4-1
Synopsis: No one expected us to compete with a school of 3,300 students who had a tradition of excellent tennis. But we came out believing, and letting everyone know it with our high fives and encouragements. We all shared the energy in our loosest, best played match of the year.
Moral of the Story: When no one expects you to win, competing with confidence and energy and winning is the ultimate joy!

Johnny/Jeremy vs. Andy Van Klaveren/Michael Ciesielski, 2007
Score: 6-1, 6-7 (3), 7-6 (8)
Synopsis: After storming through the first set, Johnny and Jeremy got into the best match I've seen for a long time. They trailed 3-6 in the 3rd set tiebreaker, but fought off three match points to come back and win. Did I mention the team match was tied 2-2 at the time?
Moral of the Story: Pressure is a good thing, it means you are playing for something. Enjoy it!

BC vs. Lakeland, 2004
Score: 2-3
Synopsis: In the Lakeland Tournament Final, with the match tied at 2-2 , our #1 doubles team kind of fell apart emotionally. But it taught a lesson to the rest of the team, that we must deal with emotion.
Moral of the Story: We have to learn to deal with tension, emotion and the crowd in healthy ways.

Matthew Amstutz vs. Malachi Randolph, 2008
Score: 6-4, 4-6, 6-1
Synopsis: On senior night, Matthew jumped up from #3 singles JV to play #3 singles on the varsity. In a close and powerful match, Matthew got what he deserved, a big win!
Moral of the Story: Every player is important on pushing a team to victory. As a #3 singles JV player, Matthew did as much as anyone to help us win a Sectional.

BC vs. Northridge, 2007
Score: 2-3
Synopsis: Jonny Shenk and Luke Hostetter win there positions in 3 sets, but the whole team comes out firing, setting the tone for what would be our Sectional Runner-Up team.
Moral of the Story: Three things defined this team, and need to be true to compete.
1. We meet challenges with confidence and compete our best.
2. We play with emotion and passion.
3. We play without fear.

BC vs. Goshen, 2003
Score: 1-4
Synopsis: I gave the most awesome pregame speech ever, telling our team to "Cut off their heads." We lose, and lose badly.
Moral of the Story: Again, three lessons from this story.
1. A coach should make their words few, honest, and impactful.
2. Talent beats emotion.
3. Depth wins Sectionals.

Joel King vs. Marc Stutzman, 2004
Score: 6-4, 6-7(4), 6-4
Synopsis: A super tight, super competitive match with it's share of luck and skill, sees Joel pull out a gutty performance that actually ends at Goshen College's courts under the lights.
Moral of the Story: Joel launched an era in Bruin tennis, an era of knowing we can win against anyone.

Wes Klassen vs. Preston Swain, 2005
Score: 7-6 (5), 6-1
Synopsis: Wes swings big all match long, pounding his forehand into Preston's backhand, and pulls off a signature win in his great career.
Moral of the Story: In big matches, play smaggressive. Wes swung big, but often went crosscourt.

BC vs. Triton, 2003
Score: 3-2
Synopsis: Joel King makes a massive comeback, upsetting the opposing coach and firing up all of the Bruin players in one of the first close matches I had coached. It's still one of my favorites to this day.
Moral of the Story: Use your energy, get yourself up after big shots, have fun!

If you read all the way through the posts, I'm impressed. What did you learn? Are any alumni on here remembering these matches? Leave your comments!