What We Really Enjoyed 12: Varsity Week of Sept. 18-22

 Enjoy Some Highlights!

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What Happened With the Varsity?

Well, this was a super busy week for Bethany tennis. Rather than sit down each night and plunk out a match report (for basically every day of the week!), I figured I'd make on giant one. Hitting the highlights, you know?

Monday, the teams took on Fairfield. The varsity for Fairfield is the #7 ranked team in the northeast Indiana district of tennis. That simply means they are very good. And the Falcons were a really good team. Our team came out with a lot of energy, and all of the matches were close in the first moments. Ian at #3S played some great tennis, counter attacking and finding ways to make life difficult for the Falcon #3S. Gideon stayed in long rallies. #1D had many opportunities to close out their games. 

Despite great early play, as the matches moved on we began to lose a bit of momentum. Too many missed opportunities began to deflate us rather than encourage us. As we slumped, our level of play dropped as well, and we didn't produce as many opportunities. There were exceptions to that... Noah had his slump in the first set and recovered to play a competitive second. #2D were similar, finding some resistance and not allowing the Falcons to just walk to the second set. And Ian stayed right in the match until the end, but couldn't quite find the answer to the attacking shots played by the Falcon opponent. In the end, the Bruins started out the week with a 5-0 loss.

Tuesday, we prepped to play Fremont. But as has been the case all season long, as soon as we stepped on the courts we brought the rain with us. 5 minutes of warmup turned into calling the match off. We enjoyed a strategy session, some YouTube highlights (Bryan Brothers, Gael Monfils, Will Ferrell?) and a wonderful meal provided by some of our awesome parents! Then is was on to Wednesday.

Wednesday saw us face a young Jimtown team. The Jimmies were supposed to be our first opponent of the year, but we got rained out just after our warmup. Then we were supposed to play them in the second week of the season, but we were postponed again due to excessive heat. So finally, we got to put this match onto the courts. 

This was a match where we began to really see our best tennis come together. Both Noah and Gideon at #1S and #2S faced really talented opponents. They had to dig deep to return big serves or play out long points. This tested both of those players mentally, having to dig deeper and face some doubts and respond from stretches of poor play. But, both Gid and Noah can persevere so well. They moved well and took their chances at big moments, returning to their best styles of play and focusing on how to play well. Noah pulled away in the second set, while Gideon broke the big serve of his opponent to win his final game.

The other positions against the Jimmies took control early and didn't look back. Ian continued whipping forehands and using variety to stymie his opponents. He especially found good success with attacking shots in this match. #1D controlled the net very well, despite having some flat-footed shots. They also used their serves really well to control each set. #2D was really in their element. Their positivity and movement set them up for some easy finishes. Really loved seeing that!

With these great performances, the Bruins were able to wrap up a 5-0 win.

On Thursday, we traveled to the #8 team in our district, our second ranked matchup of the week. Against the Lions, we came in with good confidence from our Jimtown match. It was also a perfect night to play tennis - moderate temperature, no sun in our eyes, and no rain in the forecast. We kept up our good play in this match, really putting pressure on our opponents.

Each of the matches on Thursday were a story in their own way. We'll explain them in the order they finished...

#1D was the first to finish. With some injuries in the lineup, Elkhart had adjusted their normal playing order to put their regular #3S player at the doubles tonight. Though he's a freshman, he's a really good player. This Elkhart doubles team became an interesting one as it had very strong groundstrokes and decent volleys. This made it harder for us to comfortably take the net. We challenged this team early, but dropped off late. We'll improve on that mark in the future, but tonight, this was the most straightforward of the matches.

#2D was the second match off. Adam and Emerson got down early in this match, 3-0, but they never stopped competing. They were moving in excellent ways tonight, and their skills really compliment one another. They closed to 3-2 and it was game on. From there, the first set stayed nip and tuck. I really loved the positivity we played with. Adam's serve kept causing problems, as did Emerson's. Both serves were setting our net players up for simple finishes. The energy and liveliness of our feet helped us stay on top, after a nervy game trying to serve it out at 5-4, we ended up taking the first set 7-5. In the second set, the Bruins maintained their momentum, taking a large lead and finishing off our first team point.

#3S was a similar story. Ian led throughout a tight first set. Ian was playing against one of the JV players called up to fill in for some of Elkhart's injuries. Ian was playing, again, some of Ian's best tennis. At the end of the first set, there were some really tight moments. Ian found that shots driven or driving toward the feet of the Lions #3S were the most effective. In the big moments, Ian sliced and then drove the passing shot to the feet. Ian closed the first out, and then road that momentum to a big second set lead. From there Ian eased to victory, our second point.

So we needed one more between Noah at #1S and Gideon at #2S. These matches were very tight, with really good play from all four singles players. But Noah has been a consistent strength for the Bruins this season, with Gideon right behind him. They've won close matches, so we were confident we could get one. Noah began his match strong, but then battled nerves all through the first set. His opponent attacked the net again and again, and Noah got a bit hard on himself. After dropping a close first set, Noah turned it around in the second set, finding the passing shots with placement right near the end of the set. With this strategy unlocked, and his consistency wearing away at his opponent - Noah played a dominant third set. His precision won the day, and the third point for the Bruins. 

Which was good, because Gideon's match didn't even finish.

That's right, Gideon went so late we ran out of light. Gid had won the first set with really consistent tennis, but also timely attacks and counter attacks. In the second set, Gideon had gotten too conservative and lost the pace on his shots. He had fallen behind and then made a desperate comeback that fell just short of tying up the set. In the third set, the pattern repeated. Gid lost just a touch of pace on his shots, and that allowed the Lion #2 to attack. But down 5-1, Gideon loosened up and found that bit of pace. He knocked in a couple aces, he kept the rallies long and found passing shots. He pulled the set back to 4-5 and was getting ready to serve when it was too hard to see the ball anymore. The funny thing is, this is the second year in a row that Gideon didn't get to finish against Elkhart :-)

Still, what a way to end the school week of competition, a great win over a really good team. One regular season match left for the varsity!

What Were the Moments of Joy?

Noah's Game to Close Out Second Set Against Elkhart

Need to win a close game? Bang three straights service winners and that'll do it for you. That's exactly what Noah did to close out the second set. Two aces and an unreturnable serve. It was energizing and electric!

Gideon's Returns Against Jimtown

Jimtown's #2 boomed serves. He was one of the hardest servers we had seen all season at any position. And Gideon stayed really positive attacking his serves. He kept himself moving forward and deflecting the pace back into the middle of the court. He was able to found a lot of breaks of serves despite the weapon that it was. It was joyful to see him stay determined against such a weapon.

Adam's Angles and Emerson's Overheads

This week, Adam has really learned to make the best use of his shots by finding angles. He's doing a great job of dipping the ball to people's feet and keeping the ball low. This has enabled Emerson to really get a lot of balls popped up to him at the net, which he has done a great job smashing away. This happened time and again through Jimtown and Elkhart matches.

Ian's Passing Shots

Speaking of dipping, Ian is becoming a master of the dipping passing shot. Because Ian's game is so consistent, opponents are looking for ways to attack. They try to bring Ian to the net and are disappointed, as Ian has great touch. They try to come to the net themselves, and Ian finds their feet with a driven ball. It's been great fun to watch Ian succeed, which happened a lot in all Ian's matches this week.

Tristan and Justin's Down the Middle Volleys

Tristan and Justin have a couple of really good plays in their arsenal. One really good play is a sweeping serve out wide followed by a volley through the gap that serve has created. I love watching that happen. It is such a thing of simple beauty, and they both have the serves to do it. 

What Were the Moments of Encouragement?

Confidence

My favorite moments this week were moments where the Bruins gave each other confidence. I loved watching Adam and Emerson encourage one another during their matches. I loved watching the team give Noah energy at the end of his match against Elkhart, or giving Dominic their cheers against Jimtown, or standing on the tower at Fairfield encouraging Gid, Ian, Ethan and more. To hear from our teammates gives us confidence, and that was awesome!

Let's Take a Moment of Intention!

Lord, I'm grateful for this great week with the team. We faced some difficult opponents, but we found lots of ways to stay positive. Thanks for that grace. Thanks for the wonderful weather. One rainout was maybe a blessing for our bodies when there were four straight matches scheduled :-) Please, help us turn to one another in the last weeks of the season, to experience joy together. Amen.

Scores

Fairfield 5, Bethany Christian 0

#1S - Noah Schrock - 1-6, 3-6 - Garrett Stoltzfus (11)

#2S - Gideon Miller - 1-6, 1-6 - Cooper LeCount (12)

#3S - Ian McHugh - 3-6, 3-6 - Chase Buckholz (12)

#1D - Tristan Mast/Justin Hochstedler - 1-6, 1-6 - Noah Mast (12)/Brant Garber (10)

#2D - Adam Siemens Rhodes/Emerson Landis - 0-6, 2-6 - Grady Garber (10)/Drew Beachy (9)

Bethany Christian 5, Jimtown 0
#1S - Noah Schrock - 6-3, 6-2 - Zane Wort (11)

#2S - Gideon Miller - 6-3, 6-4 - Dalton Cook (10)

#3S - Ian McHugh - 6-1, 6-1 - Leighton Gingrich (10)

#1D - Tristan Mast/Justin Hochstedler - 6-1, 6-1 - Scott Harris (12)/Chase Clay (11)

#2D - Adam Siemens Rhodes/Emerson Landis - 6-0, 6-1 - Kamden Flores (10)/Braydn Warp (10)

Bethany Christian 3, Elkhart 1

#1S - Noah Schrock - 3-6, 7-5, 6-1 - Brady Kelly (11)

#2S - Gideon Miller - 6-2, 4-6, 4-5 - Ben Miller (11)

#3S - Ian McHugh - 6-4, 6-2 - Cortland Keim (10)

#1D - Tristan Mast/Justin Hochstedler - 2-6, 0-6 - Logan Kelly (9)/Cam Miller (9)

#2D - Adam Siemens Rhodes/Emerson Landis - 7-5, 6-2 - Lucas Karbalacali (10)/Hayden Holdeman (10)