Growing in Wisdom - Prairie Heights Match

 Video

Varsity Recap
In our first match for a week, the Bruins varsity got off to a rusty start against the Panthers. Nerves, lack of practice time, opponents playing great tennis, and slow feet were the mixture of difficulties for the Bruins. 

But to play great tennis you have to be a problem solver. And the Bruins did a great job figuring this puzzle out. At #2S and #1D, it was a simple problem. The opponents hit hard shots, but made mistakes if the points were drawn out or if we were in control of the net. Judah, Malachi, and Ethan did a great job of getting their feet going to control the points and make their opponents hit extra shots. A big part of solving problems is focusing on your strengths. #2S and #1D did that, and that was enough to get the Bruins two points.

At the other positions, we had to figure out more difficult problems. At #2D, we were missing a lot of easy shots. Aaron used a great technique to figure out the puzzle. He thought to when he played well, and that was while doing drills in practice. In thinking about what he wanted to play like, he began to play like that. It carried over to the whole team, and after a close start, #2D cruised.

Elias and Gideon had similar puzzles. Their opponents made a lot of shots and made it difficult for them to win with straight forward games. Both Elias and Gideon made a lot of errors early in their matches. Gideon figured the first piece of the puzzle for him was finding a rhythm, especially with his footwork and not his swings. Also, removing simple errors was important. Then taking short balls to attack, not trying to hit winners from the baseline. Then the puzzle fell into place. Gideon came from 2-4 down to win the next 10 straight games. 

For Elias, it was all about recognizing the patterns that forced his opponent into errors. Elias began playing a style 0, making no errors, but his opponent was better at that. So Elias started playing 4D tennis, cutting the ball at tight angles, dropping it short, moving his opponent. Elias stormed back from 1-5 down in the first set to force a tiebreak, which he won. He continued the patterns in the second set to sweep up a 6-1 win, and 5-0 varsity victory for the Bruins.

JV Recap

At JV, Jordan started us out by picking up his team leading 5th win of the season. In singles, he was followed by Josiah, who also battled and figured out the puzzle as he went. Like our #2S on varsity, Josiah played to strengths of movement and consistency to win. Both doubles teams played well too, Eli hitting great forehands, Ender growing in consistency, Sam with excellent topspin, and Ethan with great reflexes and groundstrokes.

The Bruins finished things up with some JV intra-squad matches. The intensity in these matches was high, but it was good to see the high level of tennis that was displayed as well. Lucas, Isaya, Silas, and Ender all had moments of beautiful and joyful tennis, serves and returns and putaway volleys. Ayden played a great singles match, with wonderful effort and speed.

Great to see everyone begin to problem solve and compete tonight. On to the next puzzles!

Let's go Bruins!

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

Welcoming Back Our Teammates

Noah stopped down to watch the team on Tuesday, bringing along one of his classmates from college. It was great to see him (I mean, he's not that far away, but...) It was also good to see people who were eager to share and hear what he is up to. He's not the only former teammate to stop by, as players from 2021's team and others have checked in. I love that we welcome back everyone!

WHEN WE ARE WISE: Wisdom is Playing the Percentages

Rhythm

The most important thing to do in the first couple of games of a match is find a rhythm. It can be tempting to go out in your match will all guns blazing, trying to fire winners and slam putaways. This is especially tempting in singles, when you are playing consistent opponents. Typically, this rushed approach to the game produces errors. Tonight, that's how a lot of our singles started from Gid and Elias to Jordan and Josiah. But each player pulled it back in and found their rhythm, finding shots they were confident in and repeating them, before they began to attack. It was a great mental response.

Mental Practices

Last week, we emphasized finding mental practices that would let us respond in matches. Tonight, we needed to practice some of those. Many players (Aaron, Gid, among others) were using positive self talk to identify how they played at their best. Many players were using body anchors, small movements of positivity after their points (Judah). Even when we weren't playing well, many players were keeping strong, positive body language and being great sports, encouraging their opponents and teammates instead of wallowing (Malachi, Ethan, Dom and Aaron - plus the JV intra-squad group of Isaya, Ender, Lucas, and Silas). Continuing to build these practices will make a huge difference in how we play.

THEN WE ARE STRONG: Exceptional Outcomes

Getting Back an Amazing Shot and Finishing the Point

At #1D, Ethan was really playing with some great angles. In one point, Ethan went to finish a floating ball at a tight angle. The volley took his Panther opponent off the court, but he got there, and the Prairie Heights player hit an amazing "around the post" shot back into our court. But Malachi calmly swept that up and put the ball in. The Panther's next shot floated to Ethan again, but he put it away with strength at the same tight angle as the first time!

Continued Net Presence

Loved a specific point in #2D, where Dom hit his return in and then Aaron's poached on the next shot to get a leaping overhead. The Panthers were able to track down the overhead and shovel it across the net. Aaron cut it off with a backhand volley in the middle of the court while Dom came to the net beside him. Again at the stretch, the Panthers flicked up the volley but sent it right to Aaron's overhead, which he put away with power.

All Out Sprint

At #2SJV, Josiah had an amazing point. His opponent flopped a framed shot over the net and it was spinning wildly and was not going to bounce back to him. Josiah set off with a full sprint to flip the ball back into the middle of the court. His opponent moved to it nicely and now Josiah was at the net. With a passing shot, Josiah's opponent aimed for his backhand. But Josiah watched it right in the the "W" on his racket, sending a backhand sharp angled winner off to the side of the court. 

Prayer

God, tonight was a lot of fun. I never want to forget to praise You when we get to enjoy our gifts like tonight - gifts like the community of people that you have surrounded us with. Tonight, as the matches ended and players wanted to go play more tennis... I love watching that. So thanks. You are good. Amen.

Scores

Varsity
#1S - Gideon Miller - 6-4, 6-0 - Landry Keipper (12)

#2S - Judah Miller - 6-1, 6-1 - Braeden Morr (12)

#3D - Elias Magatti - 7-6 (5), 6-1 - Sean Bontreger (12)

#1D - Malachi Yoder/Ethan Claassen - 6-0, 6-2 - Keegan German (12)/Brady Strater (12)

#2D - Dominic Ramer/Aaron Hochstetler - 6-3, 6-0 - Koltan Vaillancourt (12)/Luke Johnson (10)

Junior Varsity

#1SJV - Jordan Hochstedler - 6-1 - Landon Wylie (10)

#2SJV - Josiah Aguilar Clark - 6-3 - Landon Wylie (10)

#1DJV - Ender Finnigan/Sam Brenneman - 6-0 - Miles Travis (9)/Alex Weller (9)

#2DJV - Eli Steiner/Ethan Miller - 6-1 - Miles Travis (9)/Alex Weller (9)