The Story - Chapter 2 - Bethany Christian vs Northridge

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The Varsity Story
This match is about the long game.

Literally, this match featured three positions that totalled over 9 hours on court! But more importantly, this match was all about the building blocks of confidence that will lead to a great season.

Even in the quickest of matches, Judah’s loss at #1S, there was a lot to be learned. Judah had opportunities to play against big serves and big groundstrokes, also hit with perfect placement. He got to see how his feet created opportunities, and how some strokes cause players more trouble than others. But ultimately, Northridge was just too good at #1S, and Judah’s match ended in less than 45 minutes or so. But by playing hard and never letting up, Judah was building up for the long haul of the season.

At that point, every other match was just getting started. No other match was even in the second set when Judah came off. In fact, it was more than an hour and a half later that Aaron came off court after suffering a lengthy two-set defeat. Again, Aaron learned a ton in this match - attacking weaknesses of his opponent and facing up against his own nerves. Every game was close, and sometimes single shots changed the complexion of a whole set. I was quite proud of Aaron’s ability to bounce back and keep the pressure on throughout this match.

That left three matches on the court, and we needed to win each one to grab a victory. And we came oh so close to doing exactly that. Two of these matches lasted over 3 hours, and the other went almost 2 hours and 40 minutes. It was a ridiculous level of tennis over a long period. Elias at #2S continued his great start to the season. He battled back and forth with an opponent who struck very attacking shots, but also made some mistakes. Elias was able to find the returns and change the contact points of his opponent, encouraging errors. His first set went to a tiebreak, which he prevailed in. The second set went back and forth, mostly against serve. But Elias fell behind and was eeked out 6-4 in the set.

This sent it to a third, and Elias fell down 3-2. He was a bit discouraged, because his earlier strategy was drying up. We talked about making one more stand, giving it all of his energy and seeing what happened. Standing up and taking the big punch and sending it back. What happened was that Elias ran off 4 straight games to take the third set and win the match in 3 hours and 10 minutes.

Also finishing up at that exact same long time was #1D. Malachi and Ethan similarly seesawed through the first set, taking an early lead but then fading late. In the second, they trailed the whole set but kept it close. In the middle of the set, they made a tactical change, choosing to use the lob more. Down 5-4 they won a big game. Then kept the momentum up to take the set to a tiebreak. Full of confidence in their strategy, they raced out to a 5-0 lead in the tiebreak, then took the set to force a third.

In the third, the match stayed close. But there was a confidence and security to Malachi and Ethan. They had discovered a strategy, it was still working, all they had to do was play. With that attitude they toughed through a tight third set, and in 3 hours and 10 minutes, defeated the Raider doubles crew. They were honestly serving their match point at the exact same time as Elias 🙂

But unfortunately, those two matches weren’t enough to win the match. Just 25 minutes before those matches ended, Jordan and Lucas had fallen in a long third set at #2D. They played great tennis throughout, especially serving very well. In each game, one error was keeping them from inching ahead. At the end of the first set, they went through a period of movement and focus that eliminated those single errors, and they took a tight first set. But that focus waned in the second set, and they fell behind and couldn’t make the comeback.

In the third, they came out with the needed energy and focus. Again, confident serving and net play were on the cards. However, the Raider team pushed back with joy and excitement. They upped their game and called upon Jordan and Lucas to do it to. We couldn’t quite overcome the nerves at that point, and double faults and first ball errors crept in. In the end, that cost the Bruins the final point. But there was brilliant tennis throughout for #2D.

In the long game, this was quite a victory for the Bruins. Experienced players gutted out long matches. Inexperienced players got experience under pressure, and a chance to learn from that experience. We all got to play competitive matches that tested us.

And in the long game, that can be a very good thing.

The JV Story
The story wasn’t that different for the JV. Long matches that were good challenges for our growth.

Isaya went on at #1SJV right in the middle of the varsity matches, figuratively and literally. On the center court, he built a lead with consistent and yet powerful strokes. His normal shot really zooms off the racket, with a lot of spin, and when it is controlled it does a lot of damage. His opponent made a lot of errors early. But after Isaya had a lead, his opponent began to play much more cautiously. The match tightened and went to a tiebreak. In the tiebreak, Isaya played brilliant tennis, but couldn’t quite find the finishing touch. In the end, the Raiders took the tiebreak in a long match.

Silas and Josiah then took center court, and began their match while Elias and #1D toiled away on either side. Silas looked really strong in parts of this match, especially on serve and when finding forehand passing shots. Josiah did a great job of angling a lot of volleys away for winner when playing the net. It was another tight one though! It also went into a tiebreak. This time the Bruins were able to pull away for the tiebreak win.

Eli at #2SJV didn’t have a tiebreak, and didn’t get the win either, but he played long points that required a lot of effort and running. He really had the ability to get a lot of shots back in play. His feet were good, and now racket preparation and recognition need to follow. Eli’s serve also continues to improve and that really helped when he played again in doubles.

#3SJV was Ayden tonight, and his match was crazy. Ayden isn’t a crusher of the tennis ball, but someone who’s effort is the way to victory. He built a lead behind crazy good effort tonight, offering shot after shot to his opponent and trying to draw an error. Up 6-5 with the light fading, Ayden offered to play a tiebreak because the light was going to make things difficult to finish. Unfortunately he lost the tiebreak, but I still consider it a win because of his generous offer and the fact that he had led by a game when the light was basically gone.

#2DJV of Ender and Sam struggled to find rhythm tonight. They made good shots but their opponents would return them. They couldn’t quite string 3-4 shots in a row to really keep the pressure on their opponents. Still, they kept things close and supported each other really wel..

#3DJV really showed what can happen when you keep the ball in play with good placement. Eli and Josiah excelled at simply finding the court with their shots, but especially because they were able to direct those shots to the open court. Rather than just lift shots toward the Raider net player, they would force the player in the back of the court to move and hit passing shots. This strategy wore away at the Raiders until Eli and Josiah S pulled away.

#4DJV continues to improve. Every time I watch Ethan he is serving better. Every time I watch James he seems more balanced and consistent. They had a great tennis battle with their opponents, finding the angles and advantages. Increasing their anticipation is probably the next step.

Overall, I’d say that’s a good word for the whole JV. We will run and hustle, giving it our all. We’ll do that all night long. But we need anticipation, court positioning, and feet moving before the ball is at our feet. That anticipation and preparation are the keys to getting better.

Who Can Focus in the Moment?
Moments of Wise Play

Finding a Strategy and Working It
Ethan and Malachi adjusted in the middle of their match. They realized things weren’t going their way, listened to advice from Coach Daniel, and turned things around. They incorporated another piece of information from me. From 5-4 down in the second set, they took simple doubles to a better level. From then on, they had a great chance to win the match. And they did. It was as simple as moving to a strategy that helped them keep the ball in the court more, and put themselves in advantageous positions. Malachi just used the lob a bit more, and Ethan made sure he was balanced before attacking. And they hunted for backhands, aiming at their opponent’s weaknesses. Then they stayed with it to secure the win.

Who Can Have Peace in the Match?
Moments of Belonging and Encouragement

The Meal
One of my favorite traditions is eating together. I love that we all wait so that we can enjoy the meal together. Tonight, we grabbed rice and fruit skewers and disappeared into the dark, under the pine trees. Laugh, we poured too much soy sauce on our bowls. We came back for seconds. We called everyone over to offer them a seat. Love it!

Who Can Have Joy for the Season?
Moments for Celebration

Ethan’s Passing Shots
Description coming soon...

Lucas’s Angled Volley
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Josiah’s Four Overheads in a Row
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Awards
Cheerleader: ??? We need someone to step up and make this their own!
Hustle: Elias
Dig Deep: Ethan/Malachi

Over All This is Christ's Love for Us
Moment of Prayer

God, we were so close tonight. Bring us growth in these close moments. Give us the grace of having a big match where we make the difference, we cheer for our teammates, we give the encouragement or make the shot. These are fun, and make for great stories. Thanks for every opportunity. Amen.

Scores
Varsity
#1S - Judah Miller - 0-6, 0-6 - Seth Lomas (12)
#2S - Elias Magatti - 7-6 (4), 4-6, 6-3 - Ty Stahly (11)
#3S - Aaron Hochstetler - 3-6, 4-6 - Lucas Ellis (10)
#1D - Ethan Claassen/Malachi Yoder - 4-6, 7-6 (1), 6-4 - Grahm Tabor (11)/Miles Hainlin (12)
#2D - Lucas Bateman/Jordan Hochstedler - 7-5, 1-6, 2-6 - Grant Kauffman (11)/Finn Schmidt (11)

Junior Varsity
#1SJV - Isaya Magatti - 6-5 (8) - Brody Keeler (9)
#2SJV - Eli Steiner - 2-6 - Jacob Stephens (11)
#3SJV - Ayden Lehman - 6-6 - Landon Bennett (9)
#1DJV - Silas Martin/Josiah Aguilar Clark - 6-5 (4) - Brady Barkby (11)/Caleb Miller (11)
#2DJV - Ender Finnigan/Sam Brenneman - 2-6 - Lewis Rush (9)/Easton Caldwell (9)
#3DJV - Ethan Miller/James Weaver - 2-6 - Nickolace Karpenko (9)/Benaiah Rasier (9)
#4DJV - Eli Steiner/Josiah Shue - 5-3 - Garin Wilkinson (10)/Truman Mast (10)