Match Report #11: Chesterton

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Varsity

We took a little road trip for this match. I received emails a week ago from the Chesterton coach wondering if we'd have room on the schedule to play. Chesterton is typically in the Portage Invite with us, and usually has a really good team, so I thought it would be worthwhile to play. So we headed on the road after school to make the long drive. I kind of enjoy long trips. I love rumbling through the Indiana countryside, all the fields, ponds, and trees as we go. 

For the guys, we got out and warmed up and started our matches, and it was obvious that Chesterton was a very good team. Their #1S and #2S were some of the best we've faced this season, and Noah and Cameron were given great opportunities to get better in this match. And boy did they take them. Cameron was overpowered by his great lefty opponent, but swung so many balls back into play with increasingly tenacity. His scoreline wasn't pretty (0-6, 1-6), but it was the second-to-last varsity match off the courts. Cameron made his opponent work for every point, and got better as it went. 

Noah's opponent was a senior who was really good. He was especially good at volleying, something that Noah hasn't seen that much this year at #2S. Noah did a great job playing lobs, passing shots, and coming to the net himself. But his opponent was just too good. I really loved seeing Noah never give up.

At the doubles, we got down quickly, but then fought our way back into the matches. Austin and Matthew were coming off their best match of the season, but tonight they couldn't quite find the same rhythm. A lot of that had to do with their opponents, who were some of the best volleyers I've seen this season. Matthew and Austin threw difficult passing shots at them, but they had touch at the net that was amazing. Often times they would take great shots for us and turn them into great winners for them.

At #2D, we couldn't seem to keep our shots in long enough to make good points and rallies. But that only lasted for the first set. In the second set, Breece and Jacob began to find their rhythm. It is always helpful when they find their serves, which they both did in this match. Jacob even began to find a more powerful first serve to help their cause. They lost the set, but it was much tighter, and I loved the way they came back.

Ethan was our closest match. He got out to an early lead, putting it all together. Actually, Ethan's match is really a good indicator of what our whole team is like right now. We've developed the pieces to be a really good team, to play really good tennis. It's just that we don't always display those pieces. We're like a puzzle where sometimes the pieces are sliding into place and it's beautiful, but sometimes the pieces are there, but they are flipped upside down and we can't figure out where they go. 

At the beginning, of the set, Ethan was flowing. His groundstrokes were confident, his serve was dominant, and he was driving his opponent around the court. But as he developed a lead, his groundstrokes tightened up a bit, which made it difficult for him to keep the ball in play on his finishing shots. But Ethan kept digging in, coming back. At the end of the set, there was a long game to see if it would go into a tiebreaker and the two opponents kept trading the advantage. Finally, Ethan lost the first set.

It stayed close in the second set as the evening drew on. Ethan learned to just go for his best shots. When he did this, it helped him play loose and have amazing points. When he got nervous and tried to be too careful, he would often lose spin and speed and push the ball long or wide. It's such a key, learning to play for fun, with smarts and aggression, on each point, and then restart it on the next one. Hopefully that's a lesson we learned from today's match.

And so, we left the match feeling good. Even without the win, we'd competed hard and continued to grow. That's the name of the game, and we hope it starts paying off soon. One thing I noticed is that the Chesterton coach was really complementary of our team, saying that we had really great players. Considering that they had 5-0'd us, our guys found that hard to believe. But our schedule has been fairly brutal so far. Look at the (unofficial from what I could gather on the Internet :-) records of the teams we've lost to:

- Jimtown - 5-7

- Northridge - 13-2

- Goshen - 10-3

- Fremont - 16-2

- Elkhart - 6-6

- Westview - 15-0

- Chesterton - 8-1

That unofficially totals up to: 73-21, a winning percentage for those teams of 77.6%. That means we've lost to really good teams! We're not quite up in this level yet, but we've been competing with these teams better and better throughout the season. But in that middle group of teams, we've been doing well. And we are a good team who plays good tennis, we just have to keep that going and growing.

JV Recap

Chesterton's JV was just as good as their varsity. They had not yet been defeated on the season, and the lineup was full of talented athletes. Our JV really competed hard at different positions, but couldn't quite find a way to pick up wins. We made matches close, we made points long, but often seemed like we'd come out on the losing end of close games.

This is all part of growing, but we gained a lot. We began to really focus on our feet. That was seen in Tristan's match, Justin's match and Jacoby's. We still need to stay with that a bit more in our doubles, especially against teams that can really put pace on the ball, like Chesterton did. 

We also gained more experience playing against teams that hit harder than we normally do. We don't get a lot of this at practice, but it is certainly something that we've got to work towards. Our quick footwork was allowing us to time our swings better, but it was easy to see why this was necessary when the ball was flying back. 

I loved seeing our doubles work together. I love the way that Ian and Adam fly around the court. I love the way that Josiah and Jacob can dominate the net and put down overheads. I love the touch and feel that Coby and Xayvion have. I love the serves and strokes I see from Justin, Emerson and Keagan. I love Tristan's growing confidence.

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 :-)

Jacob's flick volley down the line

In the second set, when Breece and Jacob had found a bit of rhythm, there was a point where their opponents hit an amazing forehand volley. It went low along the net, headed off the left hand side of the court only a couple feet from the net. Knowing that Jacob's best play would be to flick a forehand across the low part at the middle of the net, the Chesterton player moved to his right anticipating that play. But Jacob was able to flick the ball up, just barely skimming over the top of the net with little power, and bounce it down the line in the doubles alley. The Chesterton player just shook his head and clapped Jacob's nifty little winner!

Tristan's footwork

Tristan was moving and competing like crazy in tonight's match. He really was focusing on keeping moving within the point, and that allowed him to get so many more balls back in play. His opponent was super consistent as well, so they had long points, games, and eventually a long match. But Tristan really did a great job of getting on his toes, split stepping, moving out with confidence into his swings, and then moving back with crossover steps and quickness. This will make us better quickly, as we commit to moving with quickness and getting real tired within our points :-)

Jacoby's fightback

So, Jacoby came out strong in his match, but then lost his groundstrokes, going down 7-3 in his match to 8. But then, he just stayed with it. By swinging through the ball despite the score, he rediscovered his shots. He slowly worked his way back into the match, becoming more aggressive and more confident with every game. He worked his way to the net to finish points, took advantage of his opponents tentative nature. He brought it all the way back to 6-7 before finally falling in the last game. What an example though of swinging through nerves to re-find the shots we want to play!

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.

Josiah coming to Noah's defense

I am glad when I see our team being concerned for one another. In Noah's match, his opponent was letting out loud cheers when Noah would hit the ball in the net, and that was understandably getting to Noah. After Josiah finished his match, he came over to watch Noah's match. When he saw what was going on, he was upset as well, and ready to defend Noah. He calmed down, there wasn't much that could be done, but it shows that we really do care when our teammates are hurting. 

Moment of Intention

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

Lord, I will still pause to praise You. It was a wonderful night of growing and learning for our team. This has been happening all season, and I just keep praying that it continues. These guys have been a blessing, the way that they are moving forward and bringing their best to every point. You have been a blessing, keeping us from illness and injury. May it all continue. In Jesus name, amen.

Scores

Varsity

#1S - Cameron Heinisch - 0-6, 1-6 - Fabio Haiduc (11)

#2S - Noah Schrock - 0-6, 0-6 - Drake Redman (12)

#3S - Ethan Pairitz - 5-7, 3-6 - Paul Scott (10)

#1D - Austin Shenk/Matthew Dyck - 1-6, 0-6 - Connor Engels (11)/Brock Redman (10)

#2D - Jacob Leininger/Breece Erickson - 1-6, 4-6 - Ian Condes (11)/Connor Potesta (12)

Junior Varsity

#1SJV - Tristan Mast - 2-8 - Jai Barath (10)

#2SJV - Justin Hochstedler - 1-8 - Dominick Travis (9)

#3SJV - Jacoby Reinhardt - 6-8 - CJ Adent (10)

#1DJV - Jacob Shank/Josiah Schlabach - 0-8  - Mark Jewison (12)/Gavin Rivera (11)

#2DJV - Adam Siemens-Rhodes/Ian McHugh - 4-8 - Max Haughtington (11)/Ben Van Wagner (10)

#3DJV - Emerson Landis/Keagan Meyer - 1-8 - Adam Royster (11)/Payton Whalen (10)

#4DJV - Jacob Shank/Josiah Schlabach - 6-3 - Trevor Jackson (9)/Hayden Matthys (9)

#5DJV - Xayvion Maust/Jacoby Reinhardt - 2-6 - Lucas Mussatto (10)/Logan Arthur (9)

#6DJV - Ian McHugh/Tristan Mast - 2-6 - Izdel Huerta (9)/???