Monday Morning Match Memories

MMMM #9: Bethany Christian vs. Penn, 2008

At the beginning of the season, Penn High School was ranked in the top 20 in the state of Indiana, a surefire Sectional winner, and probably a contender for Regional and semi-state. Playing #1 singles was Andy Hansen, one of the top ranked players in the state as only a junior, and they also had the heavy firepower of Ethan Leiter, a top baseball prospect with a big arm and hence, a big serve. Penn's JV had over 25 players and hadn't lost the previous season, nor were they expected to lose again. The JV program at Penn had become almost as much as a powerhouse, if not more, than their varsity.

At the beginning of the season, Bethany Christian's team was uncertain. Talented, returning an entire varsity, but struggling with injuries and confidence, the end result was not necessarily a Sectional (NorthWood had returned 5 players to their varsity as well). JV was even less certain, as a good team returned everyone, but there were players with marginal records in 2007 who were going to need to showed marked improvement in 2008 in order for the season to be spectacular.

We didn't have Penn on our original schedule, but I noticed early in the year that they were seeking an extra match. They were building new tennis facilities and they would not be finished until late in the season. Penn hoped to find an opponent to open the new courts with. We didn't have a place on our schedule open, but I remember thinking that if there were any year for us to play Penn, this would be the year. I saw our ability, and knew we could compete, both at the varsity and JV levels.

Well, the rain opened up the opportunity. It was such an answer to prayer, specifically Daniel's request that something good come out of our rainouts, when I convinced Bryan to call Penn's AD and schedule a match. Bryan was a bit surprised, but I told him that I thought we'd win. When Penn's AD called back, I gathered the team and told them of the opportunity that we had, and asked for their feedback. It was a unanimous "yes," let's play the Kingsmen. Let's challenge ourselves and see if we can handle it.

It was interesting to note everyone's feelings entering this match. I was nervous but confident. Jonny Shenk said that he felt calm, because we weren't supposed to win. Daniel and Mikey were pumped, because Daniel wanted to finally play some challenging opposition and Mikey was playing the school he would have attended if he wasn't at Bethany.

I can still feel the excitement that I had during this match coursing through my veins as I write the report. I remember walking out on their courts and realizing that they were hosting a challenge match before we played them, trying to figure out who would play #3 singles. I remember the chaos of what seemed like hundreds of JV players milling around their coaches as I tried to fill out lineup cards. I remember the Ultimate Frisbee team telling us that we had no chance, that Penn was really good, that we were going to get pounded. I remember their players being a bit less than serious as we did introductions.

But what I really remember is the shock of the way we came out and dominated the beginning of the match. Jonny compared the match to March Madness, and I think that is a great comparison. We came out so ready to play, pumping with the perfect combination of fire and coolness, getting energy and momentum from our big shots, pumping fists and smacking high fives and playing with unbelievable confidence. And just like March Madness, we caught the favored team by surprise. As I looked down the line and saw everyone won the first game, I noticed that the Penn players looked shocked, like they were gasping for breath.

Luke noted that a lot of their players seemed "gruff" and "serious." I noticed that too, once we got play underway. However, I wonder if that wasn't because they didn't expect to have a difficult match and then didn't know how to deal with the emotion we played with. Seriously, Jeremy and Johnny were getting majorly pumped, as were Daniel and Mikey in this match, and I was too. I was shouting and running and pumping my fist and trying to contain my smile as I watched us play our best tennis all year.

Well, all of us played our best tennis but one...Ben Mast. He was stuck on the end next to Daniel and Mikey, where the emotion was flowing. But Ben's opponent came out strong after losing his challenge for the #3 singles position. Ben got in a huge hole quickly in his match, and despite turning his play around for the better, he couldn't make the comeback. Last season, when Ben lost the JV lost, and there was no way around that. So with Ben out at #1, it looked bad for the JV. But the JV was rolling on this Friday.

Ben said, "I was filled with a huge appreciation for the JV team and a sense that everyone else really carried me that day. It was an incredible feeling to know that your team has your back." And had his back they did. There were some incredible matches played that day. Seth went back and forth at #2 singles JV, playing a more attacking style than I was used to seeing him play. He often sliced the ball low and to the backhand and then put the pressure on by coming to the net. He trailed at the beginning then took control of the match, but then failed in two chances to close it out. Just when I was afraid he had lost his aggressive side, the match was over as he closed the door and won 8-6.

Matthew Amstutz match was just as close. I can remember thinking that Matthew deserved a close match for the way he had played all season long, and he got it. It seemed like he had a slight lead the whole match, but it always teetered on the brink of falling Penn's way. But Matthew pulled through and gave us a second point in the singles section. The ones who didn't have to scrape through were the doubles. Russell and Kyle just played their most complete match of the season, and took a relatively easy 8-4 decision. Austin Loucks and Nick Rebec held down the #2 doubles position, just easing past a talented opponent in what was probably their best match of the season. Even Evan and Justin got into the doubles act, slamming a memorable #4 doubles victory to help give us a big lead. And Claude, playing his beloved singles, sliced and diced his way to the match sealer. Our JV remained undefeated, much to the relief of Ben Mast. It was a win that defined the JV season, the ability that they had to pick each other up.

Back on the varsity end, I don't know if I ever wrote this in the original report but Jared Schwartzentruber played his best match of the year. Playing against one of the better opponents he faced, Jared controlled the match from the beginning. In fact, he never trailed, but he kept getting tied in the second set. Never losing his cool was amazing, he just kept holding serve and holding serve and finally with the match on the line, he broke Ethan Leiter and won the match!

#1 doubles was all worked up and playing well, unleashing the I-formation for the first time. Johnny and Jeremy were popping up from the middle of the net and dominating the match. In the second set it tightened up, but Johnny and Jeremy revealed their resolve and fought off the serge to seal the match for us. It wasn't the last important match that they would sow up for the Bruins.

After the match, it was a constant stream of congratulations from our fans. I remember thinking that as excited as I was, it wasn't me who had won the match. I was also having trouble figuring out what I should say. I was kind of in this thankful glow, I felt like God was really rewarding us for the hard work we had put in. Not that God had made us win the match, but that things had worked out for us to play our best.

I remember Jonny Shenk's dad was just beside himself with awe, that we could beat such a big school. I remember running across the huge parking lot to the bathroom by the baseball fields, and being so incredibly energized that I did the middle school thing of jumping up and touching the top of the doorway on the way in. Then I remember thinking that was gross because it was a bathroom door, then thinking that actually it probably didn't matter that it was a bathroom door, because not a lot of people probably touch the top of the frame. Then I went back to thinking how awesome it was that we had won, both varsity and JV, and our JV was still freaking undefeated. I also can remember thinking that nobody back at school would understand how awesome it was, and how I wanted to hang on to the moment of joy forever, because it was going to be anticlimactic from the moment we pulled out of the parking lot until the moment we laid down in our beds.

When we got back to the school, the guys jumped out of the van and stumbled over each other to get to the soccer fields and up the stairs to tell the official scorekeeper that we had beaten Penn. Of course, it was anticlimactic for me because nobody at the soccer game really knew what a huge upset it was. The guys got to tell Bryan Kehr and enjoy his "incredulous" reaction. They got to tell the rest of the student body and celebrate.

I just stood on the edge of the soccer field, very satisfied with the night but a little sad. My community that cared had just run away, and though my wife would be happy, nobody meets my excitement level like the players. Plus, I didn't know how long it would be until I had a moment of joy like this in athletics again. I mean, if I am honest, the Sectional victory was more of a relief, while this Penn match was pure joy!

Pure joy.

Penn Match Report

This was a historic match for Bethany Christian, and a true indicator of the hard work many of us put in all offseason. Both JV and varsity walk away from this match with one more tally in the win column, and one more memory for continued storytelling.

We had a rainout, that is why we contacted Penn. There courts weren't done to open the year, and so they were looking for a match here late in the season to serve as an opening for their new courts. We were happy to provide the competition because we needed a test. I searched through scores and scores to see if we, a 200 student school, would have the chance of upsetting the 3300 student giant of a school. What I found told me that it might be close.

See, Penn had beaten Concord early in the season 3-2. We lost to Concord last week 2-3. Concord had beaten Plymouth 4-1 and last weekend, Plymouth beat Penn 3-2. So with these common scores circling around in my head, I knew that we could compete at the varsity level.

Compete we did. From the very first point it was obvious that this team was not intimidated. In fact, in the varsity match, every single position won the opening game. That tells me we were confident and focused in our approach to the match. We certainly had motivation for the match, as we felt like we had lost too many close matches to good schools and it was about time we won a match.

At number two doubles, Daniel Buschert and Mikey Kelly quickly turned the 1-0 lead into a 3-0 lead. Then they continued to 5-0 and then to take the first set 6-0. It all happened very fast and in impressive fashion. As John Mast noted, "I've never seen these guys hit groundstrokes so well." The second set was closer, but not by that much. Daniel and Mikey continued to be aggressive at the right times and put away many overheads and volleys at the net. Soon, the first match off the courts belonged to the Bruins, as the two doubles team won 6-0, 6-3.

A cheer went up from the Bethany fans to congratulate Mikey and Daniel, and the rest of the team had confirmed to them what they already knew: we had a chance to win. By the time Daniel and Mikey came off the courts, we had won the first set at every position except number one singles. Jared Schwartzentruber had won his first set 6-2 playing against Penn senior Ethan Leiter. Jared played this match under control and with a lot of determination. He seemed to be in the habit of playing the perfect shot at the perfect time. When he needed a big serve, he would find one. When he needed a topspin lob, we would hit one. Or he would work Leiter back and forth throughout the game to have Leiter finally end the point with an error. The second set was back and forth, and nobody lost a game on their serve. Jared served first, so he consistently would take the lead, and then be tied, take the lead and then be tied. Jared then took the lead 5-4, and if he broke serve, Bethany would lead the team match 2-0, because Jared would have won his match. Sure enough, Jared smacked a return at ad-out that Leiter couldn't handle. Bruins 2, Kingsmen 0.

There where then two matches left on the courts in which we had the lead, number one doubles and number three singles. Johnny Kauffman and Jeremy Thomas had come out fast in their match, much like the number two doubles team. They raced to a 5-0 lead before the match started to tighten a bit. They split the next two games, which allowed them to win the first set 6-1, but began a pattern of splitting games that continued throughout the second set. The first set they had played loose and dominated the net, hitting down powerful putaways and watching Penn's attempts to attack them sail both deep and wide. But in the second set, credit to the Kingsmen (Vince Beam and Oliver Gunter) they began to attack the net as well. This evened up the match, and the second set went back and forth. Bethany never really trailed in the second set, but couldn't pull away. Up 5-4, Johnny and Jeremy had a chance to break serve and win the match with two match points. They couldn't make the breakthrough though and had to serve for another chance. Johnny served a great game that they held easily, again setting them up with a chance to break the Kingsmen serve and win the match. This time they came through. Jeremy hit his return crosscourt and Johnny cut off the next groundstroke with a volley between Beam and Gunter. Their match was over and at this point the team match was over as Bethany led 3-0.

Luke's match was the only one where we did not win the first set, but up against a formidable opponent, Luke was making the match very, very tight. He lost the first set 6-4, and junior Andy Hansen was frustrated throughout. Hansen continued to talk to himself and hit balls into the fence and net after each game, even the games that he won. Luke played some great tennis, taking away some of Hansen's winners by running them down, hitting the way he'd been hoping for all season, forcing some errors, holding his serve. It was a great match for Luke, which is strange to say considering that he is the only one who ended up on the wrong side of the scoreline, 4-6, 4-6.

Which tells you who won the number three singles match. Jonny came out stroking the ball really nicely, which was good, because the player that he matched up against seemed to be a mirror image of Jonny himself. Both had nice forehands, but both players preferred to keep the ball in the court rather than attack the net. Jonny controlled many of the points in the first set, forcing junior Karter Kistler deep into the court and into errors. In the second set, Kistler took the small advantage as Jonny got back on his heels a bit. But as the chorus of cheers erupted for the end of the number one doubles match and the sealing of the team match, Jonny began to find his play once again. Much like number one doubles, he took a 5-4 lead and had several match point opportunities that he could not finish off. But in the next two games he found his determination and was able to hit a couple of big overheads at crucial points. He finished off the match at 6-3, 7-5.

And so the varsity won to move to 13-4. But there was still the matter of the JV's undefeated season...

So the JV went up against their second undefeated opponent of the week. Fairfield had been undefeated on Monday, and Bethany had handed them their first loss. Penn was 12-0 entering the contest, and the Bruins were able to do it again, sending the Kingsmen to 12-1 while the Bethany JV upped its record to 15-0.

It didn't come all easy. Ben Mast found himself in a real fight at number one singles. Ben also had a personal undefeated record on the season, and was looking to keep that up against an unconventional opponent who hit the ball hard with a two-handed forehand and backhand. Ben struggled throughout the match and found himself trailing 4-7. He made a comeback to pull within 6-7, but lost the next game to fall 6-8.

Seth Krabill found himself in a similarly close match, except he was on the winning side. His opponent was a chip and charge player, who sliced the ball low on almost every shot and then attacked the net. This would seemed to have suited Seth well to play against, because he has good passing shots, but the amount of pressure wore on Seth. Though he kept the lead throughout, the final scoreline of 8-6 showed what a battle this was. Seth was able to come through in the clutch though and secure the victory.

Matthew Amstutz also had a close match for the first time this season, at least on the JV level. But again, just like in his Fairfield varsity match, he was able to use his experience to pull it out at the end.

The rest of the spots had significantly less close matches, but played very well. Austin Loucks and Nick Rebec at number two doubles and Russell Klassen/Kyle Miller at number one doubles deserve special mention for the way they committed to playing solid strategic doubles, and it paid off.

So the JV remained undefeated, with only two games left!


Varsity: It gets harder and harder to give these moments of beauty, because I see so many well played points throughout the match. So for this match, I'll give the moment of beauty to the point that I believe defined the match for the whole Bruins tennis team. I actually only remember one shot of the point even, and it was in the number one doubles match. There was a rally going and a ball fell short and in the middle of court. It was to Jeremy's backhand side, and so even though he was closer he called on Johnny to get to it and hit it with his forehand. First off, love me the communication between our players. Then Johnny had to full speed sprint because he had been expecting Jeremy to take it, and was a bit out of position. Secondly then, love me the hustle that we put in. Johnny barely got to the ball and did what he could to just scoop it up over the middle of the net. It should have been smashed back at them for a winner, but the Penn players didn't expect the ball to come over. They thought they had already done enough. The ball split the two Penn players as they just looked at each other and fell inside the baseline for a winner. Communication, effort, belief. Got to love it, right?

JV: This is tough, so many of the JV matches were on while the varsity was playing, so I didn't see many specific points. I'm going to have to go with a point I did see. Justin Gregor and Evan Grimes were to be the clinching point to the team match if they won, and leading 5-1 Evan had the shot of the match where he was able to pounce on a ball at the net with a big, aggressive overhead. That's the way doubles is supposed to be played, slamming away those big overheads, and for a moment I thought that Evan had become "Deathstick." Therefore, winner-winner, chicken dinner for Evan Grimes!

Scores

Varsity
Luke Hostetter - 4-6, 4-6 - Andy Hansen (11)
Jared Schwartzentruber - 6-2, 6-4 - Ethan Leiter (12)
Jonny Shenk - 6-3, 7-5 - Karter Kistler (11)
Johnny Kauffman/Jeremy Thomas - 6-1, 7-5 - Vince Beam (12)/Oliver Gunter (11)
Daniel Buschert/Mikey Kelly - 6-0, 6-3 - Brian Hickman (11)/Andrew Bushnell (11)

JV
Ben Mast - 6-8 - Unknown
Seth Krabill - 8-6 - Wes Kujawski
Matthew Amstutz - 8-6 - Seth Apol
Claude Stickler - 6-2 - Luke Schram
Russell Klassen/Kyle Miller - 8-4 - Jake Coe/Jason Bergstrand
Austin Loucks/Nick Rebec - 8-2 - Steven Kim/Justin Holland
Jake Gerig/Blake Shetler - 2-6 - Mike Crane/Nick Lu
Justin Gregor/Evan Grimes - 6-1 - CJ Teeple/Matt Kline