Match Report #10: NorthWood

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Varsity Recap

This match was so exciting. We've continued to build and build throughout the year, each match showing new skills and new fight. This was a match that I knew would be close going in, but one that we might have a chance to win. Before the match, I let the guys know this, saying that tonight we'd be in close matches, and sometimes it wouldn't be going well. When that happened, I wanted everyone to continue to believe - because I believed they could do it. And I wanted each of them to continue to get back in it with their energy and their feet! In each match of the varsity tonight, we got to witness that mental toughness, that moment of re-energizing. We got to build that belief, and we got to enjoy getting better again. 

It's probably best to describe this team match just by describing each individual match. I'll go in the order that these matches finished, from the one to finish first to the one that finished last. 

So #2S was the first match to finish. This match was a hard one for me to read. The points were long, as both players had consistent games. But because of this, it was hard for me to tell who was winning a majority of those points. But Noah kept flipping the scorecards in his direction, and pretty soon it was 5-0. He hadn't yet met his adversity. He continued to cruise into the second set, up 3-0, when all of the sudden he dropped to straight games. And then you could see him begin to get tight. He stood more still, he moved more slowly, the bite went out of his shots. This was his moment to believe. The match stayed tight from there on out, but Noah was able to pull away with angled net shots, deep lobs, and solid serving. He banked the first Bruin victory of the night - 6-0, 6-3.

The next match off the court was one of the most astonishing. It was #1S, where Cameron came out playing tight and his opponent came out swinging freely. That combination boiled over into frustration for Cameron, as it seemed nothing would go his way. He quickly found himself down 0-5. At the changeover, we talked about how he was playing the score and not playing each point. I encouraged him to just play each point, and then play the next. 

And everything flipped. Cameron was now playing loosely, and his opponent was playing tight trying to finish out the set. Cameron was able to win his first game, and then won a second before changing sides. He kept the momentum going by winning a tight third game. Then a fourth. Then the fifth in a row to tie the set at 5-5. Now Cameron was pumped and his opponent definitely struggling to find the court. Cameron ended the set on fire, winning 7 straight games to come back and win the first set. He kept the ball rolling in the second set, getting up 3-0. At this point, the roles reversed again, as Cam tightened up with the finish line in sight. And while it got close, he didn't stop fighting. The match ended with both players playing well and making each other work for each point, but Cam pulled out an amazing, fist-pumping victory - 7-5, 6-4.

And then we had a long wait before anything else came off the courts, because even though we had a 2-0 team lead with those victories, the third point was anything but certain. All three of the remaining matches went three sets. 

#2D of Jacob and Breece looked like they might finish in two sets. In the first set, the guys had played wonderful tennis. Breece was volleying well and Jacob was hitting his spots. Each guy really seemed to be in their flow. They also had such positive energy. They rolled out a a big lead, Breece covering the net and Jacob sweeping up anything behind him. Then in the second set, it stayed more nip and tuck, but we were always slightly ahead. The Panthers looked like they had settled down, but we still had a lead. But at 4-3, we got too tentative as NorthWood attacked. We lost 3 straight games and instead of a third team point, we were headed to a third set. 

Jacob and Breece regrouped, got new tennis balls and headed back with focus. Energetic feet, energetic teamwork. And right from the get-go, they executed. A service game from Breece put them up 1-0. Then a hard fought break of serve to take the 2-0 lead. Jacob served a good, long game to make it 3-0. Another long break game to go up 4-0. Breece served out of some break points to make it 5-0 and the guys were pumped. A final break of serve to end a 6-0 third set. It was amazing to see these guys really keep fighting, defending the big points and really making some great volleys. As their match ended, we had our third team point for the victory, but still two third sets to finish up.

At #1D, we had a comeback on! Austin and Matthew had hung in a tight first set, down 3-4 on the change of sides and playing with good momentum. But then, they stopped being aggressive and confident, dropping two games. But buoyed by great crowd support, they started the second out strong, sprinting out to a big lead while really playing some great tennis. What impressed me most in their play over this set is how they were playing out the doubles adage - "Aggressive shots to simple shots." They ripped forehands, moved at the net, finished overheads, stayed on their toes. Moving into a third set, they kept that same kind of momentum, putting pressure on by serving so well too. Holding the 5-4 advantage, they needed a break to win the match. They got it on a fantastic point where Austin made some reflex volleys at the net and then poked a forehand volley between the two NorthWood players for the victory. A senior and family filled crowd really cheered loudly as the Bruins won another match.

Which left just Ethan playing a long #3S match. What really impressed me in this match was Ethan's resilience. There were parts of this match where Ethan wasn't playing all that well. He would drop two games in a row, he would push ball long or wide, or his opponent would take advantage of Ethan's court positioning. But Ethan always responded in this match. Even after losing a close first set, he came back with a great, long opening game to the second set and built a small lead, 2-0. That lead really seemed to fill Ethan with confidence, and he continued to build. One game thing I noticed in this match was the way that Ethan served. He was able to get a lot of "free" points by forcing return errors from his opponent. Which was great, because these two played loooooooonnnnnnggggg games. I don't think I've seen so many games go to deuce. Over and over, they'd end up in deuce games. But tonight, Ethan had the consistency and the weapon to pull enough of them out. He ended up the 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 winner on the evening!

And so, we'd ended up with a close match, but a 5-0 team victory. It was a really fun, high level match. It was a super fun night because of the HS tailgate event that brought a bunch of fans out to watch. And it was fun as we built on what we've been doing with our tennis. We will continue to build it up!

JV Recap

While I had to leave before the JV match ended, I was so happy that I got to see a little bit of each JV match. There were so many good ones tonight!

I love watching Jacob and Josiah play. I really wish for them that they'd get one of these tiebreaks. They will at some point, because they are playing such good points. It was really fun to watch them control the net and really play to the best of their skills - Jacob hitting good forehands, Josiah's with touch shots at the net. Unfortunately, the match didn't end with their win.

At #2D, Adam and Ian kept trading games. For one, they would dominate the net and the flow of play. In the next one, NorthWood would dominate the net. It was a reminder that really being active at the net and hitting it away from the other team's net person are staples of good doubles play. In the end, Ian's forehands and Adam's volleys won the day. It's awesome to watch the quick hands and feet they have when scrambling through points.

In the first singles match, Keagan was playing beautifully. His groundstrokes were fabulous, and when he could get in rallies, he often found himself winning them. Unfortunately, early in the match his arm started to hurt. It kept affecting him so that he couldn't hit his normal serve. This threw his game off a little, but that first game where he was feeling good was so full of promise!

The other matches were ones I didn't get to see as much of, but I know that at the end, it was either going to be a tie or a loss for the JV based on the result of Xayvion's close match. From what I gather from texting with Daniel, the team gathered around and cheered Xayvion to a close win. These are moments I really enjoy, and am sad that I had to miss. But again, it seems like the JV is really starting to pick up their game as well.

Moments of Joy
These are going to be moments that I saw in the match that were fun, beautiful and memorable! Again, just from what I happened to see :-)

So many moments of joy! I was trying to take notes on my phone of all the awesome moments before I forgot them, but it was so hard. There were too many! I'm going to list the ones that I saw, and fill in the details as soon as I can...

Noah's match point

So much of Noah's tennis ability comes from being able to be consistent. But he really plays his best when he adds quick movement and hustle to that. In a close last game, Noah's opponent hit a ball deep to Noah's backhand. Noah sprinted over and scooped it up, but his opponent had approached the net. He hit a little drop volley, and Noah took off at full run to get the ball. He reached it and scooped it up, landing it in for the winning shot!

Cameron's "screaming" winners

In the midst of Cameron's 10 game streak, he had two points in a row that really stood out. On both points, he played points that enabled him to move up to short balls. On both points, he whipped forehand shots that wrong-footed his opponent, leaving him unable to turn around and cover the court. Both points therefore ended in winners, and Cameron letting out a shout of victory. But after the second amazing winner, Cameron screamed so loud that he literally lost his voice for a bit. So, yeah, he was pretty pumped.

Austin's reflex volleys

Austin had one point where he was under fire. The NorthWood net players were firing volleys right at him. Dodging and flicking his wrist, Austin was able to send two volleys back into the court, the last one actually finding some open space. As his opponent ran to pick it up, Austin positioned himself in the center of the net and slammed down the next shot for a winner. A quick transition from defense to offense!

Josiah's amazing volley point

Near the beginning of his match, Josiah and Jacob played an amazing point. It began with Jacob's great serve, and a return that was low over the net. Josiah hit a wonderful touch volley, which the Panthers scooped up low to him again. Josiah shifted and made another great touch volley. At a full stretch, the NorthWood opponent lifted it up again. Josiah was able to strike this ball deeper to the still back returner. The returner tried a passing shot, but Josiah cut it off at a great angle. Lunging, the ball was lofted to Josiah's overhead, which he put right through the middle. It was a great example of continuing to expect the ball to come back and finishing with simplicity!

Keagan's forehand rally

In the first game of Keagan's match, I saw a point that just warmed my soul. It was Keagan trading forehands with his opponent, but I loved it so much because it was just like our Cross Court Battle drill. Keagan had the upper hand the whole time, forcing his opponent deeper as Keagan struck beautiful forehands. And Keagan just kept going cross court, which was smart. The moment that his opponent tried to change the direction of the point, the ball went long and Keagan won the well constructed cross court battle!

Moments of Encouragement
This segment is where I'll highlight ways that we built each other up during the match or the lead up to it.

True Excitement

We had a number of players win their matches tonight. And when we win our individual matches, it's easy to get excited for ourselves. But we turned that individual excitement into team desire tonight. As guys won (or lost), they quickly became invested in other matches, hoping and cheering for our teammates to get a victory. It was like we were wanting to share that feeling of victory with one another. And that is really satisfying to see as a coach. While I had to leave before the final match, it was so encouraging to get a text from Coach Daniel saying that even the last match on court had everybody gathered around, cheering like crazy for a victory for Xayvion. I love that true excitement for one another!

Moment of Intention

This is a space where I will offer a short prayer for the team.

God, I pray that You continue to encourage us to encourage one another. Help us be people who love You and love others. In that way, I also pray that we are a team that loves our opponents. On a night where we are excited, it can be easy to forget about the other team. We know that You are working in the lives of all people, and know all situations. We want everyone to experience Your love and grace. So, we pray that for the teams that we face this year. May we represent You well, competing with joy, not animosity. May we continue to build that joyful attitude, and may we show that to each team that we play. Thanks God. In Jesus name, amen.

Scores

Varsity

#1S - Cameron Heinisch - 7-5, 6-4 - Nic Anderson (10)

#2S - Noah Schrock - 6-0, 6-3 - Isaac Roberts (12)

#3S - Ethan Pairitz - 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 - Wes Steiner (12)

#1D - Austin Shenk/Matthew Dyck - 3-6, 6-2, 6-4 - Brady Chupp (12)/Charles Anderson (12)

#2D - Jacob Leininger/Breece Erickson - 6-1, 4-6, 6-0 - Logan Perry (11)/Karson Kirby (12)

Junior Varsity

#1SJV - Keagan Meyer - 1-8 - Wyatt Hammond (10)

#2SJV - Xayvion Maust - 8-6 - Wyatt Petrie (12)

#1DJV - Jacob Shank/Josiah Schlabach - 8-9 (5) - Joe Hahn (11)/Wes Newcomer (10)

#2DJV - Adam Siemens-Rhodes/Ian McHugh - 8-6 - Trent Beer (11)/Skee Mishler (11)

#3DJV - Emerson Landis/Jacoby Reinhardt - 8-3 - Brennan Chilberg (9)/Ezra Cook (9)

#4DJV - Tristan Mast/Justin Hochstedler - 3-8 - Alex Yoder (11)/Caleb Yoder (10)