Growing in Wisdom - Fairfield Match

Video

Varsity Recap

The Bruins took on the third ranked team in northeast Indiana, the Fairfield Falcons. After a rainy day, it cleared off and some great tennis began.

For the varsity, the senior laden Falcon doubles teams were very strong. Big forehands and big serves made it difficult for our team to be the aggressive players that are needed for doubles. But I was proud of how Malachi and Isaya attacked with abandon and how Dom and Aaron handled the pace and brought a challenge. Both teams ultimately fell, but not without big moments.

The singles were close battles. Ethan fell behind in the first set, but then suddenly found his groove. Being confident and aggressive, he pulled himself back into the set, and then despite losing it, he moved out to a lead in the second. Ethan's continuing to learn how to sustain that aggressive, attacking, movement filled tennis even when he begins to feel the nerves. He made it close, but lost in two.

Judah had the opposite pattern. He got out to an early lead, then saw the first set dragged into a tiebreak. He played a brilliant tiebreak, continuing to find weakness with his variety and consistency. He then raced out to a lead in the second set and was able to close out the victory despite some nerves.

Gideon also got down early in his match. But he completely flipped things entering the second set. Still, his opponent had the answers, hitting lines, angles and unbelievable passing shots. Gid hung around, took a lead, lost it, denied 5 match points to force a tiebreak but couldn't get it to a third set.

So the Bruins lost 4-1, but lots was learned. We certainly have opportunities to grow because we brought great effort.

JV Recap

On to the JV, where Elias led us off again with a win. Elias continues to lead a strong effort from our JV team, picking up his 12th win of the season. Last year's top JV record was 11 wins, so Elias eclipsed that tonight. And overall, the freshmen are doing a great job. Jordan had a close match at the next singles spots. And lower at the singles spots Ethan continued to show what he's learning. Sam won with Eli, actually winning 2 doubles matches and showing the power and skill varsity shots at times. I can't wait to see how these 9th graders continue to develop, as a group they have 30 wins on the season, leading a very nice winning record.

Our sophomores aren't doing bad either, with Eli being part of those doubles victories tonight. Lucas and Josiah also were in close matches, with Lucas and Silas being matched up against some really good seniors. Josiah and Ender provided some of the highlights of the whole night, almost sealing two more wins for the varsity. And Ayden played his heart out, getting three singles matches and pushing for his best in every single one. 

It was a lot of tennis for the Bruins, and I love it when we have to push ourselves to raise our level. Hopefully that type of challenge is something we see as a joy, a way to improve and progress. That's a wise way to look at things.

Let's go Bruins!

WE CAN BE HUMBLE, BECAUSE WE BELONG: Moments of Belonging

On a Tower

It was fun to listen to the conversation from the tower as we watched Ender, Josiah, and Ethan finish up their final matches. Teammates consoling other teammates. People talking about how they intended to get better. Some wondering how long until matches would end because they were hungry :-) I love just being around when the team is just being the team.  

WHEN WE ARE WISE: Wisdom is Playing the Percentages

Finding a Weakness

In Judah's match, he found what he thought was a weakness in his opponent. He then proceeded to go to that weakness until it could be proved that it was no longer a weakness. Sometimes it looked weird, Judah just hitting to similar spots of the court. His opponent adjusted and then so did Judah, but he really set himself up to have success by identifying a shot that he could use to help him in the match. 

Play to Improve

To improve when you play a good player, you have to play with true belief. You have to put your best game up against their best game, and then you'll know where you have to grow. It takes courage, because we're all afraid our best game isn't enough so we're tempted to be either too timid or too over the top... both of which don't help us grow. Tonight, Dom and Aaron took their best game and competed. They won great points, they withstood great pressure, they kept their heads up and improved with the experience. I'm looking forward to where that will take them.

Wise Quote of the Day

"Success is a journey, not a destination. The doing is often more important than the outcome." - Arthur Ashe

THEN WE ARE STRONG: Exceptional Outcomes

Gets and Smashes

I think the two most exciting parts of a tennis match are crazy "gets" and aggressive "smashes." Josiah and Ender gave us both of those in one point. Daniel had told them at the fence that Josiah needed to be ready to put something away at the net because, "Ender is going to set you up for one." Sure enough, Ender scrambled from one side of the court to the other to flick up some hard passing shots that had gotten by Josiah at the net. But as Ender sprawled to put up another lob, the opponent's scooped a lob right to Josiah, and he sent it screaming through the middle of the court for an overhead winner.

Judah Slice

Judah had an unbelievable point near the end of his first set. With the match really close, his opponent dropped a shot low to Judah's backhand. Judah sprinted forward and did a cross court backhand slice flick, that he hit for a clean passing shot winner. It was ridiculous and fun.

Awards

Cheerleader: Sam and Ethan M.

Hustle: Dom, Aaron, and Judah

Dig Deep: Ayden and Gideon

Prayer

God, help us continue to grow. Help us lean into being people of wisdom, who commit to playing the percentages, letting go of the outcome, and trusting You. Amen.

Scores

Varsity

#1S - Gideon Miller - 1-6, 6-7 (4) - Drew Beachey (11)

#2S - Judah Miller - 7-6 (2), 6-2 - Cameron Cripe (12)

#3S - Ethan Claassen - 3-6, 4-6 - Ben Penrose (11)

#1D - Dom Ramer/Aaron Hochstetler - 1-6, 1-6 - Brant Garber (12)/Andrew Mathews (12)

#2D - Malachi Yoder/Isaya Magatti - 2-6, 0-6 - Grady Garber (12)/Brady Park (12)

Junior Varsity

#1SJV - Elias Magatti - 8-3 - Conner LeCount (12) 

#2SJV - Elias Magatti - 3-8 - Ethan Clem (11)

#3SJV - Jordan Hochstedler - 1-8 - Andrew Bailey (10)

#4SJV - Jordan Hochstedler - 5-8 - Justin Herber (9)

#5SJV - Ayden Lehman - 0-6 - Jacob Mast (10)

#6SJV - Ayden Lehman - 0-6 - Evan Hart (9)

#7SJV - Ayden Lehman - 2-6 - Easton Garber (10)

#8SJV - Ethan Miller - 0-8 - Austin Lehman (9)

#9SJV - Ethan Miller - 1-8 - Darren Moore (10)

#1DJV - Silas Martin/Lucas Bateman - 2-8 - Isaac Mast (12)/Israel Moreno (12)

#2DJV - Silas Martin/Lucas Bateman - 2-8 - Adler Bender (11)/Zach Mehlberg (11)

#3DJV - Ender Finnigan/Josiah Aguilar Clark - 6-8 - Eli Lehman (12)/Logan Moore (11)

#4DJV - Ender Finnigan/Josiah Aguilar Clark - 8-9 (4) - Liam Fowler (10)/Austin Gall (10)

#5DJV - Eli Steiner/Sam Brenneman - 8-5 - Alex Uslaustev (11)/Daniel Stout (10)

#6DJV - Eli Steiner/Sam Brenneman - 8-4 - Liam Clem (9)/Ean Shoopman (9)