The Story - Chapter 1 - Bethany Christian at Lakeland

Video Highlights

Coming Soon...

The Varsity Story
Wrinkles and knots. 

The Lakers varsity team threw out different challenges for the Bruins on a beautiful Monday evening. Power, touch, two back returning. New wrinkles that the Bruins needed to face and figure out.

And then their were the knots of our own game. The tangles that cause us to lose confidence or get tentative. When we freeze, when we get tight, when we can't stay aggressive. The Lakers put our team under pressure with good tennis, consistency, and never backing down. The Bruins needed to respond.

The matches got off to good starts. Each position won the first game. But in many, the Lakers won the next game. But the Bruins were coming in with good confidence, built from a successful scrimmage at Angola. In each of the first sets, the Bruins were able to come through without much pressure. But it was the second sets - when the Lakeland team adjusted - that Bethany needed to smooth out the wrinkles and untangle their knots.

For Judah, his match was full of highlights. His forehand was on fire. He was keeping the ball low and making it difficult for his opponent to attack. He was cracking away when he got to the net. In the second set, he began to have to figure out his serve, which was beginning to get difficult for him. But the story he believed was that he could figure it out. We noticed the toss was off, and he lifted it a bit higher and into a better place. From a close 4-3 scoreline he reeled off the last two games to win the match. 

Those two games actually ended up securing the team match for the Bruins, because two other matches were off the courts before Judah. The first was Elias Magatti. At #2S, he was perhaps the most confident win of the night. He really impressed in this match in the way that he was able to get to the net, using both low short balls and also driven shots into his opponent's backhand. His overhead was really on fire as well.

The other early team point came Jordan and Lucas at #2D. They really dominated the first set, but ran into a knot right at the end of it. They were up 5-0, when their was a little wobble. Their consistency dropped a bit, double faults crept in, and volleys were left in the net. They finished out the first set, but went down 2-1 in the second. Jordan's serve led the same then, helping them breeze through a game. From their confidence grew and the two ripped off 5 more games in a row. It was a great job recovering their best game after a wobble.

With the three points secured, we turned our attention to #3S. That was the next match to finish. Aaron used his forehand well to set up attacking play. His well placed groundstrokes were also drawing random errors. All his skills added up to a first varsity singles win for Aaron.

Which led us to the team dealing with the biggest wrinkle of all, #1D. After a fairly easy first set, Malachi and Ethan found themselves down 5-4 in the second set. Their own games were full of little knots, shots that they weren't confident in. Because of that, their feet and their focus were kinda everywhere. But they really responded under pressure. They played two great games to turn a 5-4 deficit into a 6-5 lead. Then the Lakers responded with a great game to send it to a tiebreak. In the tiebreak, some great serving gave the Bruins an advantage. Both Ethan and Malachi served up some unreturned serves. A couple of solid overheads led them to match point. On that point, Ethan ripped a forehand return down the line to seal the match.

The match challenged us to respond. To nerves, to disappointment, to downturns in our play. And so the Bruins responded to those wrinkles and knots.  

The JV Story
A wealth of experience. Our JV started the night with many players with several years of JV experience. These are players who know what we want our Bruin team to be about: growth and joy. 

Isaya started this match showing both of those characteristics. His shots were strong and showed his growth. His confidence and demeanor showed joy. He breezed through his match and got the Bruins our first JV point. 

The other matches took much longer, but Silas and Eli were able to put point number 2 on the board. Despite some early struggles with focus and consistency, Silas's net game was enough to put them on top. Eli played reliably from the baseline, putting shots in for their opponents to hit to Silas, who put those shots away. 

Ayden provided the third Bruin point, a long match where he was dominant. His footwork and movement were real keys, allowing him to outlast his opponent in hitting balls in the court. He did have some awesome moments, where he got a ball in the mid-court and smashed it away into the corner.

Josiah and Ender apparently love to play close matches. Last year they were the kings of the close match, and this year started that way again. Little mistakes and shots that just didn't find the court sometimes cost them the advantage won from strong net play or strong groundstrokes. Getting that margin of errors to balls in court will be key to the Bruins success this year.

Our final point came from Sam. He played back against the Laker #1SJV player, but had great placement on his groundstrokes and was able to pull away. His backhand was especially laser-like, finding the cross-court corner often and forcing errors. 

The last match on court was Ethan and James. James was playing his first match of official high school tennis, and he definitely had some highlight volleys and put aways. He's really grown in his comfort level at the net over the young season. And Ethan continues to grow strengths he started last year. His serve improves and his backhand can be a weapon, especially on weak serves. He used those to his advantage, but the doubles pair fell, 8-4.

But the JV opened with a 4-2 win to follow up the varsity's victory.

Who Can Focus in the Moment? 

Moments of Wise Play

Silas Takes Out the Trash
Often during practice we do a drill that Daniel named “Take Out the Trash.” You start at the net, and if the ball fed to you is low over the net, you volley deep into the court. If it floats higher, you finish it with a strong shot. Silas put that drill straight into practice during his doubles match. A low passing shot dipped over the net and Silas bent his knees to send the ball back deep. This ball dropped near his opponent’s feet. This led to a shot that popped up, and Silas stepped forward to slam it away. It’s awesome to see our drill bear fruit in a match.

James Applies New Learning

Speaking of taking things from the practice court to the match court, James really did the same. Last week, we really tried to emphasize proper form for James on his volleys. We encouraged him to learn to not swing through on the volley, but a make a short forward movement. In the match tonight, he was ready. As his opponent's tried to pass him in doubles, James poked several volleys through the middle of his opponent's. James is learning fast. 

Ethan's Tactical Brain

Just a quick one. Ethan had some great cross-court returns to win points. After the match, he explained his thought process. He had realized that he was hitting backhands really well in practice. So he decided to return on the Ad side, the backhand side, during his doubles match. The tactical decision paid off in several points.

Who Can Have Peace in the Match? 

Moments of Belonging and Encouragement

Nerves

There were a lot of nerves tonight. It was the first match of the season to truly count toward our record. Many of us were in new positions for the match. Some of us had just dropped our oldest sons off at college (oh, wait, I guess that was just me :-) In that, we needed each other. During the matches, we were a bit quiet. But after the matches, it was great to see the players process with one another the good and the bad. This chatter will help us as we move forward.

Cheers for #3DJV

Loved seeing the team gather around the final court and cheer on the volleys and overheads from James and Ethan. There are always the temptations to lose ourselves in phones or in private conversations, but when the team cheers on those who remain on court, it is special. Loved that Lakeland came down and did the same.

Who Can Have Joy for the Season? 

Moments for Celebration

Judah's Overheads

Judah started his #1S career with a victory, and a large separator between him and his opponent was the ability to do damage at the net. For Judah, a lot of this came from his overheads. Late in the first set, he approached the net and was lobbed. With no hesitation, he stepped in a pounded a flushed overhead. The ball exploded down off the court and then hopped over the fence. It was a cool point to witness, again, something that carried over from practice to the match.

Ethan and Malachi's Tiki-Taka Point

In soccer, tiki-taka is a style of intricate passes that end up breaking down the defense. In the #1D match, there was a sweet point where Malachi hit a great forehand deep in the court, and then the next ball was placed to Ethan. Ethan hit a drive forehand volley at his opponent's feet, who picked up a reaction volley and lifted it towards Ethan's feet. Ethan slid back and placed a flat shot near the middle of the court. This caused his opponent to shuffle over and bend down to lift another soft volley near Ethan's feet. Ethan shuffled quickly too, this time lifting a long, low half volley into the backhand of his opponent, who missed a passing shot from the low contact point, hitting it into the net. The whole point was played with such precision and patience. It was a way of attacking shot after shot with accuracy and control. Kinda like tiki-taka.

Over All This is Christ's Love for Us

Moment of Prayer

God, what a gorgeous evening. The clouds were fluffy and huge. The sun was glowing up the courts. It was warm but not hot. Thanks for that. Continue to teach us to rely on You for perspective about this season, about all the things that are to be rejoiced over. Continue to work in the lives of each of these players. I can't wait to see what you can do in and through us.

Scores
Varsity
#1S - Judah Miller - 6-1, 6-3 - Logan Curtis (11)
#2S - Elias Magatti - 6-2, 6-1 - Matthew Miller (10)
#3S - Aaron Hochstetler - 6-1, 6-3 - Zeke Jacobson (11)
#1D - Ethan Claassen/Malachi Yoder - 6-2, 7-6 (4) - Bradley Miller (10)/Adrian Troyer (10)
#2D - Lucas Bateman/Jordan Hochstedler - 6-1, 6-2 - Maxwell Mishler (12)/Will Hofer (12)

Junior Varsity
#1SJV - Isaya Magatti - 8-1 - Jacob Hofer (9)
#2SJV - Ayden Lehman - 8-3 - Alex Resor (9)

#3SJV - Sam Brenneman - 8-2 - Jacob Hofer (9)
#1DJV - Ender Finnigan/Josiah Aguilar Clark - 6-8 - Caleb Hahn (11)/Ethan Huppenthal (10)

#2DJV - Silas Martin/Eli Steiner - 8-2 - William Barrick (11)/Luke Hofer (11)

#3DJV - Ethan Miller/James Weaver - 4-8 - Caleb Hahn (11)/William Barrick (11)