Match Report #9: Westview

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Varsity Recap

This match started on Tuesday and ended on Wednesday. And they were days with very different weather. On Tuesday, the skies were black and the wind was howling. On Wednesday, it was blue skies and slight breeze. But the tennis that the Bruins played tonight was great!

From the first ball, we looked lively and into it. Breece and Jacob were the first position to get started and finish a game, and they grabbed an early 1-0 lead behind Breece's serve. Soon, most all of our positions had put a game on the board. Austin and Matthew looked confident as they attacked their opponents at #1D. Noah had a game plan at #2S and was flying around the court. Ethan looked a little unsure in his feet and the way the ball was bouncing, but his groundstrokes were clean all night. And Cameron never lost his fight.

And it began to show on the scoreboard. Especially for Breece and Jacob. Breece really served well and Jacob was aggressive with groundstrokes, angles, lobs and feet. This was the best that #2D's had looked all season, confident and aggressive. Helped by some inconsistent serving from their opponents as well, they took the first set 6-2. 

All across the courts the first sets were close. Noah was down 3-4. #1D was up 3-2. Ethan made a comeback from 2-5 to 4-5. It was exciting play as well. All the guys were paying no attention to the wind, moving their feet to deal with crazy bounces, and staying positive. Meanwhile, storms clouds continued to be dark overhead. A few raindrops began to fall. 

Despite our good play, Westview is really good. At the end of the sets, many of their players regained focus and simplicity. Their experience and the hard work they've put into their shots paid off, and they were able to finish off each of the first sets besides #1D.

As the second sets began, lightning cracked around the court, and we were done for the night. We sprinted to the building, recorded scores, and decided we'd finish the match the next night.

Wednesday was bright and sunny, and we got off to a great start to the match. Austin and Matthew were able to win the first game back in play and start their doubles match off taking a lead. But after that, there wasn't enough time for us to find any footing in the match. Much like they had at the beginning of the second sets, the Warriors had refocused and played simple. They showed why they are ranked #15 in the state. It was really impressive.

But we had learned a lot. Learned how to compete. Learned how to play loose. Learned about simple aggression and making the smartest plays. Now, we will take those great lessons into more competitive matches as well.

JV Recap

Only one JV match had made it to the court before the lightning flashed. But Josiah and Jacob had not been able to get a point played before we had to end. So the whole JV match took place on Wednesday. 

And Josiah and Jacob played a great match. When they were filled with belief, they were able to move and make the simple shot and put points away. When they were tentative, they would return to uncertain patterns. But so much of the time, they kept that loose feeling that the varsity had led with. But the match always stayed close in score, within one or two games either way. In the end, we fell behind 5-7, clawed a game back. At 6-7, they had several opportunities to send the match to a tiebreak, but couldn't quite get there.

At #2D, Ian and Adam really played well. Adam has really good instincts at the net, and Ian has the ability to send back groundstrokes in a way that causes opponents problems. In this match, they were too consistent and too aggressive at the net for their opponents. They were able to pull of a 8-1 win.

In the last doubles match, Emerson and Xayvion had the misfortune of having to play the only available Westview players, which happened to be their junior #1SJV and #2SJV. These guys competed well, but couldn't quite overcome the quality of the Warrior's top JV players. But, there were definitely highlights (see below).

In the singles matches, Tristan and Jacoby both found themselves playing more experienced, older players. Both of these guys were able to rally with their opponents and even control the point at times, but in the end, it was their footwork that let them down. Too many times we would stand up straight, and then lose split seconds having to go back down for our shots. We didn't stay in our stances, in ready position, really looking ready to attack. When we were able to stay down, we really competed. I was proud of the work these guys put into this during the match. The results will continue to come.

Justin's match had a similar theme. When Justin was able to take his normal shot, he won most of the points. When he was forced into awkward slices or way out of position, then he would miss. So, he worked really hard on quickness, and was able to pull a few games back at the end of the match. 

This JV match was really fun for me to coach because I really got to focus on it. There were no varsity matches continuing and I really loved getting to see where our guys are at. We played well in spurts, and then lost the footwork necessary to continue our good play. As we focus on that, we are going to continue to just keep growing.

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 :-)

Ethan's short ball attack

In the first set, Ethan has often put under pressure by his opponent's deep shots. Especially with the wind of the Tuesday part of the match, Ethan found himself having to adjust. And so, he started taking advantage of shorter balls. In one particular point, Ethan hit a serve wide to his opponent's backhand. The ball came back to Ethan's backhand, which he stepped in and sent cross court at an angle. His opponent got a weak racket on the ball and left it short in the court. Ethan quickly moved up beside the ball and ripped an inside-in forehand from the left side of the court, down-the-line and into his opponent's forehand corner. His opponent could not catch up to this well constructed point. 

Jacob's hustle

In the first set, Jacob and Breece were on their toes, moving brilliantly. One part of being aggressive is that you never give up on a point. Several times in the first set, Jacob was able to scoop up balls at the baseline that looked like they were going to be winners. Once, he was able to lob it back over his opponent for a point. Once, he was able to flip the ball over the net, where his opponent then missed a volley. This hustle, this desire to get one more ball back over the net and make your opponents finish it, this is a thing of beauty!

Emerson's ace

Emerson served, with he and Xayvion down 0-5 in their match to 6. I had told him to go out and serve some aces, but on the first two points his opponent's had been able to get a racket on the serve and hit some difficult shots of their own. But on the third point, Emerson smacked a serve right down the middle, right on the T, that left his opponent flat-footed. That's exactly the type of serving I had hoped for!

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.

Echo

I love our echoing. This year, the guys have decided that when they hear encouragement from anyone, they will echo it back. If Cameron yells out, "Let's go Breece!" then Breece will yell "Let's go Cameron!" It's a great way of giving positive energy out on the courts and in the stands. But what I loved most was that the guys were echoing it to everyone. When I cheered, I would hear "Let's go Matt!" coming back to me. Even though I'm not playing, it's good to hear encouragement with my name. And even when Judah, our 6th grade manager, would cheer out, he got a call back from the team. It's so cool. 

Moment of Intention

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

God, keep us going. We have so many changes, shifts and storms that we face in life. Let us remember that we are people trying to show the fruit of Your Spirit, and one of those is self-control. Through the storms, through the rain, through the wind, help us continue to do the right things. Make this true of our character, in our lives, and in our tennis. Thanks for the ways You showed up through us in this match. In Jesus name, amen.

Scores

Varsity

#1S - Cameron Heinisch - 0-6, 1-6 - Isaiah Hostetler (11)

#2S - Noah Schrock - 3-6, 0-6 - Elijah Hostetler (12)

#3S - Ethan Pairitz - 4-6, 0-6 - Brennan Beachey (12)

#1D - Austin Shenk/Matthew Dyck - 3-6, 3-6 - Isaac Rogers (12)/Kendall Schwartz (12)

#2D - Jacob Leininger/Breece Erickson - 6-2, 1-6, 1-6 - Kylen Bender (11)/Jethro Hostetler (11)

Junior Varsity

#1SJV - Tristan Mast - 2-8 - Cole Mast (11)

#2SJV - Jacoby Reinhardt - 0-8 - Dawson Schrock (11)

#3SJV - Justin Hochstedler - 4-8 - Dylan Schrock (9)

#1DJV - Jacob Shank/Josiah Schlabach - 6-8 - Mason Clark (9)/Gavin Engle (9)

#2DJV - Adam Siemens-Rhodes/Ian McHugh - 8-1 - Jace Lang (10)/Kason Schrock (9)

#3DJV - Emerson Landis/Xayvion Maust - 0-6 - Cole Mast (11)/Dawson Schrock (11)