Preview: Northridge

When: Tuesday, Aug. 16 at 4:45 PM

Where: Bethany Christian High School

Forecast: 81° with a 60% chance of rain

Stats: Bethany Christian (0-0) v. Northridge (0-0)

Projected Northridge Lineup:
Approximate Record from Last Season in Parenthesis

#1S - James Dugle (6-7)
#2S - Simon Gravengoed (7-6)
#3S - Logan Corns (5-8)
#1D - Luke Wogoman (5-1) / Alex Gingerich  (0-6)
#2D - Eric Firstenberger (9-3) / Drew Wheatley (4-2)

What to Expect: The Raiders were a young team last season. Of the 9 players to play in varsity matches last season, only 2 graduated. So the Raiders should bring back 2 seniors this season, 4 juniors and 1 sophomore. They were also very competitive during the last season. In fact, they beat us for one of our 7 losses last year.

We come back very experienced this year as well, and so we'll want to play well in order to get back in the victory column against the Raiders. It may be a long day of waiting to play, seeing if the expected rain actually hits and whether or not it prevents us from playing :-)

Looking at my best guess at who might play for the Raiders, we see that they have a solid singles lineup returning from last season. Each player returns to their position in singles. Last year when the Raiders defeated us, Simon Gravengoed and Logan Corns both won their singles matches for 2 of the 3 points for Northridge. Last year, the whole Northridge varsity played solidly and aggressively in our match. We'll need to match that this year to come out victorious.

Angola Scrimmage Preview

What: IHSAA Scrimmage

Where: At Angola

When: Thursday, August 11 at 5:00 PM

More Details: The IHSAA scrimmage for tennis is played in 3 rounds. These rounds are timed, and at the end of the time limit we stop, no matter what the score is.

1st round - 30 minutes
2nd round - 30 minutes
3rd round - 20 minutes

In between each of these rounds, we'll change the lineup so that players get chances to play both singles and doubles, or so that we can see how different people compete in different positions.

Preview: Angola is always a great opponent to begin to measure ourselves against. They will provide great competition, as they will be one of the better teams that we face throughout our entire season. This year, they return their #1 singles (Jake Honer) and #2 singles (Jaxon Davis) from last season's team, as well as a #2 doubles (Eric Nofziger and Spencer Griffis) team that won their conference tournament and lost very few matches. Of course, Angola will be looking to shuffle their lineup around a bit too, trying to find the right combination, so some of their doubles players could shift to singles. But they will have a strong varsity squad.

On the JV end of things, one of Angola's great strengths is always their depth. They have a wealth of solid players, and their JV typically reflects that. We can expect that the JV match will push our JV players to their best.

All around, this should be a really fun match. There's very little pressure, as there is no winner and loser declared at the end of the night. It's the perfect warmup to practice what our devotional has been about this week: striving together. In reality, both the Hornets and us are trying to grow our tennis games with this match. So let's dig in and swing away!

Scrimmage Preview

Who: Our opponent for the scrimmage match is the Angola Hornets. They are the defending NECC tournament champs and were ranked #6 or #7 in our district most of last season. They return several strong players in their new #1S player Jake Honer, #2S player Jaxson Davis, #1D Jordan Sager and also #3S or #1D Eric Nofziger. Those guys all had incredible records last year and are joined by a host of talented JV players this season. Angola's team mirrors ours pretty closely. As all of their returning players are moving up, except Sager who played #1D last year as well.

When: August 12, at approximately 4:30

Where: At Angola, there courts are between their middle and high school.

What: The scrimmage is a special IHSAA governed event, that has to follow certain rules. The intention is to get a little bit of match play against a different opponent before the official match season begins. As it is officially considered a regulated practice, there are 3 different segments that play follows. These segments are based on time, not score. So at the end of the allotted time, players simply end wherever they are.

The different segments are like this:
Segment #1
- Regular positions (3 singles and 2 doubles for varsity, 3 singles and 2 doubles for JV)
- Regular scoring
- Play for 30 min

Segment #2
- Regular positions (but usually at a different position than the first segment)
- Regular scoring
- Play for 30 min

Segment #3
- Regular positions (again, usually different than the last segment)
- Tiebreak scoring
- Play for 20 min

Why: Because the IHSAA wants to give teams the chance to get a taste of competition before the actual match season begins. This event does not count towards our season record, so there is less pressure but it does give us coaches the opportunity to see our players play against new opponents. It is really helpful in figuring out what we still have to work on.

Also, it allows us to play players in different positions and begin to get a true sense of our strongest lineups. I can't wait to see how our doubles players respond to different partners, different positions, different challenges.

How: How are we going to play? With confidence, with belief, with love.

Specifically, we are going to have some perspective.
We are going to take a deep breath.
We are going to remember our focus words.
We are going to see ourselves playing to those strengths in our head.
We are going to take a deep breath.
We are going to remember that we are supporting our brothers.
We are going to remember that we are a brother, nothing can take that away.
We are going to take a deep breath.
We are going to remember that we are children of God, nothing can take that away.
We are going to remember that the beginning and the end are love.
We are going to take a deep breath.
We are going to take a step in the direction of love, turning toward God and toward our brothers.

Goshen Preview

Details: Thursday, August 21, at 4:30. The match will be played at Goshen Middle School.

Last Season Review: Last season we defeated Goshen, 4-1. The only losing position in that match was #3S, where Sol Brenneman lost.

3 Interesting Facts:
#1 - Let's start with Sol Brenneman. It looks like he'll be having a rematch with Luke Rush, who defeated him last season in a close two set match.

#2 - Six of the seven players that Goshen fielded in their first match played varsity last season for significant amounts of time. Only Evan Beck is new to the Goshen varsity.

#3 - Playing a same town rival is always interesting. These are the guys that we go to lessons with, went to elementary with, even guys that we go to church with or who live in our neighborhood. That should make the last fun, high intensity, but full of friendship and respect.

Goshen Details: The Redskins are 1-0 on the season. They defeated Mishawaka High School 5-0 on Monday night. That win doesn't reveal much about the team, but we did see how they set up their lineup to begin the year. Evan Beck has moved up quite a bit since his JV play last year, and they still return Hudson Kay to #1S.

Bethany Christian Details: We lost a close match that we were on the verge of winning Monday to Jimtown. The young Jimmies went on to defeat a second Sectional rival on Tuesday, nipping NorthWood 3-2. We need to bounce back against on second Sectional rival on the season. Our ability to be excited and confident about this match will go a long way.

Projected Goshen Lineup:
Individual Record in Parenthesis
#1S - Hudson Kay (1-0)
#2S - Evan Beck (1-0)
#3S - Luke Rush (1-0)
#1D - Zach Troyer/Logan Troyer (1-0)
#2D - Andrew Vetter/Peter Vukovich (1-0)

Outlook: Like I noted in the season preview posts, Goshen is one of the better teams that we will face this season. This certainly doesn't rule out the possibility of our beating them, but it is a match that we will need to be at our current best for. We have to figure out the whole "Triangle" of tennis for this match, playing with great strategy, strokes and with joy! I'm excited to put the past matches behind us. We are going to come out strong and play with confidence. We are going to relax and play tennis that is really fun to play and watch.

Jimtown Preview

Details: Monday, August 18, 4:30 PM at Jimtown

Last Season Review: Last season we defeated Jimtown 4-1, early in the season. We did not have a rematch against them in the Sectional.

3 Interesting Facts:
#1 - The coaching staff at Jimtown is excellent and experienced, including Steve Fledderman who has 311 wins entering his 34th season and Todd Tharp, who had been Concord's head coach for many years.

#2 - This will be our first season playing a regular season match at Jimtown in some time. For years we played them at the Concord tournament. The last few years we've played them at home (once because of a rainout when we were supposed to play there).

#3 - Jimtown and Bethany Christian both have won the Sectional once, and we won those first titles in consecutive years. We won the 2008 Sectional followed by the Jimmies winning their first in 2009. Neither of us have been able to grab a second title yet.

Jimtown Details: The Jimmies come off a 6-11 season last year, but one where they improved throughout the year and actually finished 4-2 in their conference. They return 4 varsity starters from that team, including #1 singles Mikey Pawlak and 1 of their #1 doubles players. Pawlak finished 3rd in his conference last year, while Brock Johnson finished 4th at #3 singles. Hunter Price and Isaac Pope got to their conference championship but finished runners-up at #2 doubles.

Bethany Christian Details: We come off a great scrimmage against 6-time defending Sectional champion Angola. We challenged them to several close singles matches, and in a regular scored match there is no doubt it would have been 3-2 for one of us and right down to the wire. We are ready to open the competition season, and need to be confident and focused.

Projected Jimtown Lineup:
Since no one has played any matches this season, this is a complete educated guess... but why not?

#1S - Mikey Pawlak
#2S - Brock Johnson
#3S - Ben Jankowski
#1D - Hunter Price/Isaac Pope
#2D - Jesse Oakley/Matt DeCloedt

Outlook: Whenever you start your season with a Sectional opponent, you better be ready to play. I think that we can have confidence. We're experienced, we've had a good offseason, and we played well on Thursday night. But we have to have a "savage" edge. We've got to be ready to play our tennis, the way that we want to attack and construct points. We've got to be ready to put balls away. We've got to be ready to compete and finish off our matches. Let's go out with sheer energy and play with sheer joy!

Westview Preview

Details: Monday, September 10, at 4:30 PM at Bethany Christian High School.

Last Season Review: Last season we defeated Westview 5-0, but it was close at several positions. Westview returns all their players from last season.

3 Interesting Facts:
#1 - Our teams are very similar, both #1 singles players have struggled, while positions of strength have been #2 singles and #1 doubles.
#2 - Both teams are experienced. We came into the season having 6 players with varsity experience, all seven of their players had at least a year of experience.
#3 - This is always an intriguing matchup, as our overall record against Westview stands at 3-3.

Westview Details: Westview is 5-2 on the season, with losses to Goshen and Warsaw. Both Goshen and Warsaw have outstanding records, with Warsaw being ranked #4 in District 3. They come off a couple of easier wins, and will certainly be looking to beat us, as they've yet to beat an opponent with a winning record.

Bethany Christian Details: Speaking of opponents with winning records, Saturday's win over Triton was only our second over an opponent with a winning record. The convincing 4-1 win was exciting, but it was especially encouraging to see us play with confidence in a "toss-up" match.

Projected Westview Lineup:
#1S - Kohle Christner (1-5)
#2S - Andrew Yoder (5-1)
#3S - Stephen Gierek (4-2)
#1D - Hunter Christner-Jamar Weaver (5-1)
#2D - Zach Schrock-Taylor Eash (3-3)

Outlook: We played with confidence Saturday. This must continue, as the matches get even more important as the season moves along. In 2008, when our team won its only Sectional title, the best thing about that season was that the team improved as the season went along. In this match, we want to keep our improvement and momentum going. I feel like this is another great opportunity for us. This season is shaping up to be really exciting because from here on out, every match will be fun, close and competitive.

Triton Preview

Details: Saturday, September 7, 10:00 AM at Triton High School.

Last Season Review: Last season we defeated the Triton 4-1 here at Bethany. We also competed against them in the Merrillville Invite, edging them for 3rd place.

3 Interesting Facts:
#1 - For the second year in a row, Triton enters this match with good doubles teams. In fact, they've moved their #1 singles player from last year into the #1 doubles slot this season.
#2 - Triton is one of the few schools that has used the same lineup all year. Maybe we'll see a change all the sudden on Saturday.
#3 - Bethany Christian holds a 12-2 all-time edge over the Triton Trojans.

Triton Details: Triton enters the match with a 5-3 record. Their losses have come to teams with typically competitive programs: SB Adams, Plymouth, and Knox. Plymouth and Knox are both district ranked schools in District 3, where Triton is also located. Most of those matches were 3-2 losses, much like our 3-2 loss to Concord.

Bethany Christian Details: Our record is at 6-1 at this point in the season, but we're about to head into the meat of our schedule starting with this match-up. We're coming off two weeks where we've had some weaker opponents, so I think we're ready to pick it back up again.

Projected Triton Lineup:
#1S - Dean Howdeshell (6-2)
#2S - Jared Fisher (5-3)
#3S - Alex Eib (1-7)
#1D - Lucas Shafer/Darrin Harrell (7-1)
#2D - Jake Oldham/Austin Sellers (7-1)

Outlook: This match is one that traditionally makes me nervous. It will be competitive at almost every position.We could win 5-0, we could lose 0-5. We could win 5-0 but have every match go 3 sets, we could lose just the same. But that's the way matches are going to be over the next couple of weeks. It's September, time to get ready for Sectional. Let's go.

Fremont Match Preview

Details: Thursday, August 29, 4:45 at Fremont High School.

Last Season Review: Last season we defeated the Eagles 4-1 here at Bethany. That match was the first win for Abe Thorne and a big turning point in his season.

3 Interesting Facts:
#1 - This varsity Eagles team includes 3 newcomers. Wade Regedanz, Alberto Figueroa, and Connor McCann all did not play in our match last season, so are either freshman or newcomers to the team.
#2 - We started playing Fremont the year after I started coaching, and now have defeated them 8 times in 9 years.
#3 - Logan Miller played #3 singles last season and matched up against Abe Thorne. They'll meet again, this time at #1 singles.

Fremont Details: The Eagles enter tonight's match at 0-2 in dual matches, having lost to West Noble and FW Northrup this season. They also placed third at their own invitational this past weekend, ahead of Lakeland High School but losing to #7 FW Leo and FW Snider.

Bethany Christian Details: We've had a good start to the season, off to a 4-1 record. It's also been good that we've been able to defeat several Sectional opponents early in the year, in Goshen and Jimtown. We had a difficult win over a 2 player Columbia City on Tuesday night, both matches going 3 sets.

Projected Fremont Lineup:
#1S - Logan Miller (1-4)
#2S - Brandon Arnos (2-3)
#3S - Jordan Sanderson (1-4)
#1D - Wade Regedanz/Jeremy Seiler (1-4)
#2D - Alberto Figueroa/Connor McCann (1-4)

Outlook: This is a match that we need to come out, play well, and win. With three newcomers to the team, and only Brandon Arnos earning a victory against our Junior Varsity last season, this Eagle team is inexperienced and working their way into the season. We need to play with aggression and confidence.

Goshen Preview

Details: Thursday, August 22, at 4:30. Varsity will play at Bethany, JV will play at Goshen Middle School.

Last Season Review: Last season we fell to Goshen 3-2. Nathan Brendle won his match at #1S against Austin Stutzman, while Hans Miller played his one singles match of the year and defeated Zach Ganger in three sets.

3 Interesting Facts:
#1 - Even though we generally play Goshen early in the season, this is the only time we've played them where both teams are undefeated.
#2 - Last year's 3-2 loss to Goshen was the last time that Abe Thorne played doubles. It was also the last time the Hans Miller played singles. Abe has gone 15-7 since switching to singles, and Hans is 15-6 playing doubles.
#3 - This is the first year that we've split up the Varisty and JV location, hoping to get these students a good night's rest in a first week where we play 4 matches.

Goshen Details: The Redskins are 2-0 on the season, defeating Mishawaka Marian and West Noble. Both matches were good wins for Goshen, as West Noble returned a number of players and Marian is generally a competitive program. However, we really know very little about those matches other than scores.

Bethany Christian Details: We have also won our first two matches to begin the season, getting great play out of our doubles teams so far. Both doubles teams are currently undefeated, as well as Jesse Amstutz. We've yet to win a match at #1 singles.

Projected Goshen Lineup:
Individual Record in Parenthesis
#1S - Hudson Kay (1-1)
#2S - Austin Stutzman (2-0)
#3S - Luke Rush (2-0)
#1D - Derick Hostetler/Peter Vukovich (2-0)
#2D - Zach Troyer/Logan Troyer (2-0)

Outlook: This should be an extremely close match-up. Goshen returns a number of players from their last year's varsity, including a player with #1 singles experience now playing #2. We have many players with experience as well. Both teams have match experience early in the season. Hopefully we will be prepared to play our best match of the season, because we're going to need to tonight.

Jimtown Preview

Details: Monday, August 19, 4:30 PM at Bethany Christian

Last Season Review: Last season, our varsity was defeated twice by Jimtown, both by a score of 3-2. Our JV lost 5-0 to the Jimmies at the Jimtown JV Invitational.

3 Interesting Facts:
#1 - Jimtown becomes one of the few teams I've ever known to lose their entire varsity lineup from last year's Sectional. All 7 players were seniors.
#2 - Jimtown ended our season last year in a 3-2 heartbreaking loss. Now they will begin our season this year.
#3 - Steve Fledderman, Jimtown's coach, is the "Jim Buller" of Elkhart County tennis. He's in his 33rd year as coach.

Jimtown Details: Like was said above, Jimtown loses their entire regular varsity lineup. How this affects them, I'm not sure. They had a very good JV team last year, who defeated our JV team 5-0. But all these players are going to have to move up. It's pretty hard to give details when I don't know what's is happening with them yet this year.

The Elkhart Truth showed that Jimtown has 13 players on their team, so we'll have a JV match. Hopefully their guys will be willing to play twice so we can get a couple more matches in.

Bethany Christian Details: We return quite a few players with varsity experience (6 total) and had a good scrimmage experience against Angola. I think we'll come into this match with confidence. If we match that confidence with focus, I believe we'll compete well in this match.

Projected Jimtown Lineup:
I don't have any idea if this lineup will be accurate, but Gongwer and Pawlak played some varsity singles last year so...

#1S - Jacob Gongwer
#2S - Mikey Pawlak
#3S - Nick Beron
#1D - Adam DeShone/Brock Johnson
#2D - ??? / ???

Outlook: It's hard say how these matches are going to go with so little info. In fact, last year I just got to the JV Invitational in time to see the last points of Sol's match. So I don't even know how most of the Jimtown players play. I'm really looking forward to getting started. 

Elkhart Central Preview

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Blackhawk Christian Preview

Details: Tuesday, September 11, 5:30 at Blackhawk Christian High School.

Last Season Review:  We have never faced the Braves before in tennis.

3 Interesting Facts:
#1 - This is the first time we've played Blackhawk. They've only recently started their program.
#2 - This will be only the 4th team we've faced this season with a losing record.
#3 - We'll get to carry on the tennis team tradition of Magic Wand eating after the match!

Blackhawk Christian Details: The Braves are 3-7 on the season. They have actually faced some opponents that we have or will play, falling 5-0 to Fremont and also 3-2 to Eastern, a team we'll see in a 2 weeks. They come off a last place finish at the Madison-Grant Invitational, where they lost 2 "3-2" matches. They mirror us in some senses, they've had lots of close losses. Their most successful position has been #3 singles, a position where we've been strong as well. For comparison, here are ours and theirs Fremont scores, side by side.

#1S - v. Tyler Jenkins
Bethany (Nate) - Won - 6-0, 6-1
Blackhawk - Lost - 6-3, 0-6, 1-6

#2S - v. Glen McLain
Bethany (Ike) - Won - 6-2, 7-6 (5)
Blackhawk - Lost - 1-6, 3-6

#3S - v. Logan Miller
Bethany (Abe) - Won - 6-0, 6-2
Blackhawk - Lost - 5-7, 4-6

#1D - v. Brandon Miller/Tanner Frye
Bethany (Himal/Parth) - Lost - 6-7 (4), 4-6
Blackhawk - Lost - 6-4, 6-7 (4), 6-7 (3)

#2D - v. Mason Kolberg/Drew Sullivan
Bethany (Joel/Hans) - Won - 6-2, 6-0
Blackhawk - Lost - 4-6, 4-6

Bethany Christian Details: We're on a pretty good streak right now of winning and playing good tennis.  I'm obviously hoping this continues, but we've also gone through some of our weaker and more inexperienced competition during this run. Our schedule picks up quite a bit this weak. Blackhawk, then Elkhart Central, then the Merrillville or Fremont Invites, then Fairfield, then Bremen... there are no easy matches left. I think that's a good thing! Our record is 7-4 on the season.

Projected Blackhawk Christian Lineup:
Individual Records in Parenthesis
#1S - Jake Fiedler (2-6)
#2S - Brandenburger (2-5)
#3S - Ramsey (5-3)
#1D - Hoover (3-5)/Bailey (2-6)
#2D - Jared Fiedler(3-5)/Mills (0-3) or Smith (2-3)

Outlook: This is another match that it looks like we should win if we play our best. I certainly think that we caught Fremont (our common opponent with Blackhawk) on a down night and our scores may be a bit inflated against them. However, they still seem to indicate that this is a match we can win at each position. I'm especially excited to see the #1 doubles match, as Parth and Himal have really continued to improve and played their best tennis of the season on Friday night against NorthWood.

NorthWood Preview

Details: Friday, September 7, 4:30 at NorthWood High School.

Last Season Review:  Last season we were rained out in our regular season matchup with the Panthers, so we only played against them in the Sectional. We won 3-1, in a rain shortened match where we won all 3 singles and were tied in a third set at #2 doubles.

3 Interesting Facts:
#1 - NorthWood returns four varsity players from last year's team, the same number that we had returned.
#2 - We are approaching a .500 record against NorthWood all-time. Currently they lead the all-time series 11-9. The only school in our Sectional that we have a winning record against is Goshen (6-3).
#3 - Speaking of Sectional rivals, in 2008 when we won our only Sectional title, it was NorthWood that we defeated 4-1 in the final. They had defeated us the year before in the Sectional final.

NorthWood Details: The Panthers enter this match with an 0-8 regular season record. But don't let that fool you too much. Their losses have come against quality competition (Plymouth, Culver Military, Concord, Fairfield, Elkhart Memorial, Elkhart Central), and they've competed at several positions in those matches.

Bethany Christian Details: We've got our record back up over .500, and have won 4 matches in a row. The last two have been impressive in different ways, Triton for the quality of play that we had throughout and the Westview win for the final scoreline (5-0).

Projected NorthWood Lineup:
Individual Records in Parenthesis
#1S - Mitchell Keiser (0-10)
#2S - Quinn Stillson (3-8)
#3S - Abe Robinson (3-8)
#1D - Brennan Angle/Jayson Linhart (4-7)
#2D - Devyn Maugel/Caleb Yoder (4-7)

Outlook: This is another match where we have an opportunity to win. Despite some of NorthWood's losing records, they are going to be competitive with us at most positions. This is also a team that has continued to improve over the years and stayed positive through a lot of difficult matches and seasons.

The bottom line is that this is a big match for our season. We have yet to beat a Sectional opponent. We were competitive against Goshen and Jimtown, but couldn't find the final point to put us over the edge. I don't want to see that happen again in this match. I'd love to see us come out aggressively and put the matches away in 2 sets. We have the ability to do that, but can we focus and perform?

Westview Preview

Details: Tuesday, September 4, 4:30 PM at Westview High School

Last Season Review:  Last season we defeated the Warriors 3-2. Our 3 singles positions won, including Nathan Brendle and Ike Lehman. The Warriors return only 1 player to their varsity lineup from this team. We won the JV match-up 4-0.

3 Interesting Facts:
#1 - We've only played against Westview's varsity the past 5 years. For 5 years before that, we played their JV with our varsity.
#2 - We've defeated Westview 2 straight seasons, previous to which we had never defeated the Warriors.
#3 - Weather always seems to be an issue for this match. Last year we got rain, two years ago we had ridiculous winds. What will tonight provide?

Westview Details: The Warriors are 1-5 coming into this match. We've played some common opponents and had similar results, but by different scorelines. The Warriors have lost to Goshen, Jimtown and Northridge, as have we. However, they fell to Goshen 4-1 (we lost 3-2) and to Jimtown 5-0 (we lost 3-2). This seems to indicate that we might have some advantage, at least at some positions.

Bethany Christian Details: We defeated Triton on Saturday to improve to 5-4. Also, our JV was able to grab a close win, which was good to see them continue to improve.

Projected Westview Lineup:
Individual Records in Parenthesis
#1S - Kohle Christner (3-3)
#2S - Andrew Yoder (2-4)
#3S - Hunter Christner (2-4)
#1D - Asher Gingerich (1-5)/Stephen Gierek (0-6)
#2D - Taylor Eash (2-4)/Zack Schrock (2-3)

Outlook: We are definitely getting better. I suppose most teams do as the season goes along. We need to continue to pair our improvement with confidence. In a match like tonight, I hope my players all go out expecting to win, prepared to win, and then commit to doing the things necessary to win. Against Triton, we began by thinking we could win, but we didn't start the match with the movement and energy needed to win. Confidence truly entails playing with focus and energy along with its mental aspects of belief. If tonight we bring these things together, we will win another match.

Triton Preview

Details: Saturday, 10:00 AM at Bethany Christian High School

Last Season Review:  Last season we defeated the Trojans 3-2 in Bourbon. It was a close match won by all three of our singles players.

3 Interesting Facts:
#1 - Usually, both Bethany and Triton enter this match with winning records. This year, from what I can find, we are both right at .500.
#2 - Triton has switched their lineup up in 4 of their 6 matches. We've switched in 4 of our 8 matches.
#3 - This Saturday match is usually the one that falls closest to my birthday, so we've got to win it as an early birthday present to me :-)

Triton Details: From the results that I could gather, Triton seems to be 3-3 on the season. All 3 of their losses were by 3-2 scorelines, including a recent close loss to Plymouth, who traditionally has a strong team. They have four players who have really performed well this season, and have tried a lot of different lineups trying to utilize these players to earn maximum points. It will be interesting to see what lineup they throw out against us tomorrow.

Bethany Christian Details: We're coming off two easy wins to even our season record at 4-4. We've been playing better and better tennis, so it will be interesting to see how we respond to another close challenge. Nate is on a 7 match winning streak.

Projected Triton Lineup:
Individual Records in Parenthesis - I don't have complete Triton records, their tourney was difficult to to get full results on, so the records are approximate.
#1S - Jeff Ross (6-3)
#2S - Dean Howdeshell (7-2)
#3S - Jared Fisher (5-4)
#1D -Pete Kauffman (8-1) - Lucas Shafer (6-3)
#2D - Darren Harrell (2-6) - Jake Oldham (2-4)

Outlook: Here we go again. After two matches where we were able to be on a bit of cruise control, we're back into the tight ones as a team. While we will probably have a good matchup at #1 singles, the other positions seem to be ones that we could win or lose. With Nate playing really good tennis lately, it has been a task of trying to find the two extra points to get us the team win. Who wants to step up and earn us these points? Who wants to commit to working harder in practice, to getting better, to being confident? Those are the questions...

Jimtown Preview

Details: Saturday, 9:00 AM at Bethany Christian High School

Last Season Review:  We defeated Jimtown 4-1 during the season and 3-2 in the Sectional. You can find those match stories by clicking on either score.

3 Interesting Facts:
#1 - This is the first time since Matt started coaching that we don't face the Jimmies in the Concord Invite.
#2 - Last year, Abe Thorne and Evan Grimes had one of the closest matches in Bethany history against the Jimmies. They won 6-7, 7-6, (16-14) in a third set tiebreak. The only other match to have as many tiebreaks is when Kyle Miller and Matt Ebersole defeated Bremen 6-7, 7-6, 7-6
#3 - With this being the 20th anniversary of Bethany Christian tennis, the history of the BC v. Jimtown match-up is interesting. We were beaten the first 16 (!) times we played the Jimmies, but now have won the last 5 meetings.

Jimtown Details: The Jimmies are 2-1 on the season, with wins over NorthWood and Bremen and a loss to Elkhart Memorial. The Memorial and Bremen matches were both 3-2, with one going for and one against Jimtown. In the Memorial match, all 3 singles lost while in the Bremen match, 2 of the 3 won.

Bethany Christian Details: We've really begun to get into a groove with how we're playing. Now, besides a good rhythm, we need to get better. But the last two matches have been great, being able to snag two wins against solid teams. We're now 2-3 and would love to move back to .500 on the season.

Projected Jimtown Lineup:
Individual Records in Parenthesis
#1S - Austin Ward (2-1)
#2S - Jake Ward (2-1)
#3S - Jacob Gongwer (2-1)
#1D - Brett Aller/Cole Peterson (3-0)
#2D - Augie Farwig/Michael Hobbs (2-1)

Outlook: Similar to every match we've had this year, this team is going to be good. Returning every player from last year will do that for you. We've got to be on top of our game in this match, relaxed and playing with focus. Errors will hurt us, timidity will hurt us... so we'll just have to play with the opposite: smaggressive tennis. I'd guess this will be a 3-2 match one way or the other, and we're going to have to play under pressure to pull it out. Let's hope we perform like we did against Fremont, continually improving, continually learning. 

Fremont Preview

Details: Thursday, August 23, 4:45 at Bethany Christian High School

Last Season Review: Last year, we lost 3-2 to the Eagles. It came down to the very last position on the courts, and was disappointing in the end.

3 Interesting Facts:

#1 - This was the first match that I helped schedule when I became coach of the Bruins. It's been a great matchup almost every year, including last year which was so close.

#2 - We've tended to have grueling #1 singles matches against the Eagles. Both Luke Hostetter and Nathan Brendle have recorded 3 hour matches against Fremont. Interestingly, both long matches took place at Fremont.

#3 - Speaking of Nathan, he's only played 3 set matches against Fremont. He's 1-1 in those matches.

Fremont Details: The Eagles are 2-0 on the season with a 2nd place finish in their own invitational this past weekend. Fort Wayne Snider was the team that bested them at the invitational. The Eagles #1 doubles won that tournament, but are coming off their own 1st loss against Northrup.

Bethany Christian Details: We're coming off our first victory of the season, a 3-2 tightly contested match against the Eagles of Columbia City. 

Projected Fremont Lineup:

Individual Record in Parenthesis

#1S - Tyler Jenkins (3-2)

#2S - Glen McClain (4-1)

#3S - Logan Miller (4-1)

#1D - Brandon Miller/Tanner Frye (4-1)

#2D - Drew Sullivan/Mason Kolberg (3-2)

Outlook: This is another one of those tight matches that we need to start winning. We responded very well to this type of match at Columbia City, but we really do need to take our momentum from that match and put it into a new pattern of winning. We are going to need our #2 and #3 singles to perform as well, perhaps getting a win out of one or both of these positions. These are certainly the best kind of matches, the ones where you're not sure what's going to happen and who's going to step up. I can't wait to see who brings it at this match.

Columbia City Preview

Details: Tuesday, August 21 at Columbia City

Last Season Review: Last year, we lost 3-2 to Columbia City in excruciating fashion. It came down to the last match left on the court, which we couldn't convert. 

3 Interesting Facts:
#1 - This will be the first of 2 "Eagle" nicknamed teams that we face this week.
#2 - We have never defeated the Columbia City Eagles. In the 2 years that we faced them, each match has finished with us losing 3-2.
#3 - We have 1 common opponent played this season, the Concord Minutemen. We lost 3-2 on Saturday while Columbia City lost 4-1 last Monday.
 
Columbia City Details: From the match reports I can find, it looks like Columbia City is 1-2, having lost to Concord and Warsaw, while defeating Churubusco. Those results don't tell very much about them as a team. Concord and Warsaw are both strong teams, while Churubusco is weak. Their have been some interesting scores within these matches, like #2 singles going to 3 sets with Warsaw and #1 doubles being taken to 3 sets by Churubusco.

Bethany Christian Details: We unfortunately lost a close one to Concord on Saturday. If Abe's tiebreak would have gone his way, we may have found ourselves with our first win of the season. Instead, we sit at 0-3 as a team, with two losses of the 3-2 variety.

Projected Columbia City Lineup:
Individual Record in Parenthesis
#1S - Derek Hinen (1-2)
#2S - Nick Rongos (1-2)
#3S - Drew Benedict (1-1)
#1D - Blake Fearnow/Mason Coverstone (1-1)
#2D - Austin Paul/Daniel Woll (2-1)

Outlook: This is a match of turning the tides. We've lost our last two matches 3-2, to Concord and Goshen. We've lost to Columbia City 3-2 the past two times we've played them. We have yet to record our first team win of the season. This is the match where we've got to play good tennis and change the trends. I get the feeling that Columbia City is a team much like us, trying to figure things out as the season goes. They've tried several different lineups, as have we. They've had some close individual matches, as have we. It's time to be ready for our best match yet. Improving each time.

Goshen Preview

Details: Thursday, August 16, 4:30 PM at Goshen High School

Last Season Review: We defeated Goshen last season 3-2, winning all three singles matches and falling at both doubles positions. Blake sealed the point for us by winning in a third set at #2 singles.

3 Interesting Facts:
#1 - Goshen's head coach, Dan Love, was a freshman on the Goshen College tennis team when Matt was a senior on the team.
#2 - Bethany is riding a 5 match winning streak over the Redskins.
#3 - Historically, Goshen has the most Sectional titles in our Sectional. However, they have not won a Sectional since 2002. In total, they've won 10 championships.
 
Goshen Details: The Redskins come off a 4-1 victory over West Noble from Tuesday night. Their only defeat in that match came at #3 singles, where sophomore Zach Ganger fell. Goshen returns 4 players from their varsity last year.

Bethany Christian Details: We come off a loss to Northridge, where we played good tennis but couldn't pull out the big points.

Projected Goshen Lineup:
Individual Record in Parenthesis
#1S - Austin Stutzman (1-0)
#2S - Adam Bratten (1-0)
#3S - Zach Ganger (0-1)
#1D - Sylas Buller/Sam Stegelman (1-0)
#2D - Derek Hostetler/Hudson Kay (1-0)

Outlook: We've got to rebound in this match and begin to play well in the big moments. Even better would be to get off to a great start to this match so that we don't have to close out really tight sets. Goshen returns 3 of the 4 players who dealt us defeats last year. They should be fairly strong at #2 singles, and will have a very good #1 doubles team, a team that advanced out of the Sectional last year.

Fairfield Preview

Details: Monday, September 19, 2011 at 4:30 at Fairfield High School

3 Interesting Facts:
- We have met Fairfield in the Sectional for the past 4 years. Twice we won, twice we lost.
- Against teams with winning records, Fairfield is 3-2. We are 2-4 by comparison.
- It's raining. Last year when we played Fairfield at Sectional, it was raining too!

Fairfield Details: I believe the Falcons are 12-2 this season. Their only losses are to Angola and Concord. They have had many similar opponents to us, and they've defeated Columbia City (3-2) who we lost to, as well as Fremont who we lost to.

Bethany Christian Details: We are 7-5 on the season, having lost to Elkhart Central last week. However, we're coming off a good tournament weekend at Merrillville, the JV a good tournament at Fremont. We're still trying to figure out our best lineup as well, especially at doubles.

Projected Fairfield Lineup (with individual records):
#1S - Josh Mullet (11-3)
#2S - Austin Christner (12-2)
#3S - Landon Knepp (12-2)
#1D - Jordan Hochstetler/Dillon Lockwood (12-2)
#2D - Taylor Yoder/Marcus Rhodes ??? (#2 doubles is 12-2, it's been different combos)

Outlook:
Well, the outlook seems to be rainy :-) But as far as the match itself goes, we'll need to play our best to come out with a victory. But those are the matches we look forward to, the ones where playing our best will give us a great reward. I can't wait to get going tonight, I'm praying that the rain stops.