Sorry for the late post. Was a long couple days of matches and travel. Dan and Justin had an unbelievable run at the 109th Ojai tournament. In the quarters they faced off against the #1 team in the region (#1 from UC Santa Cruz). What a great test for the Dan and Justin -- they would get the chance to play against the very best in the West. Well they certainly rose to the challenge! Match started off well for the Whitman duo as they went up a break 2-1. However the Slug team immediately broke back leveling the match at 2-2. I can't exactly explain what happened next but Dan and Justin played great tennis winning the next 6 games! Great victory -- beating the #1 team in the region 8-2 wow!
Unfortunately the semi's were a complete role reversal. Tennis can be strange -- one minute play great and the next not able to find the court. I think Dan and Justin had a bit of a let down and ran into a very tough Washington University team. We really struggled with 1st serve percentage and returns (to be fair the WA U team served incredibly well). In the end the Wash U ran away with an 8-1 victory. Dan and Justin were pretty disappointed, they were one match away from the finals (and the opportunity to play at the famous Libby Park) but what a great tournament! They advanced further at the Ojai than any other Whitman player ever has!
We are now in a holding pattern waiting next Monday's announcement of the NCAA pairings.
Monday, April 27, 2009
Saturday, April 25, 2009
At the Ojai!
Day one complete at The Ojai. Yesterday it felt more like Seattle than Southern California -- cloudy, chance of rain and temperatures in the low 60's. Unfortunately our Seattle boys (Dan and Justin) didn't feel at home in singles and dropped their opening singles matches. Dan lost to a very tough #2 player from Chapman 6-3, 6-4. Dan struggled a bit and didn't play his best tennis. In the first set he was broke early and could never get a look at breaking his opponent. In the second set Dan twice went up breaks but he struggled to hold serve. For the record the Chapman player is very good and went on to beat the #9 seed (#1 from Redlands) 7-6, 6-1. Justin played incredibly streaky in his opening match. He won the first set 6-0 and then lost 3-6, 7-5. Considering he hasn't played a singles match in over a month he played some very good tennis..at times. However at times he would also drop three to four points in a row which eventually doomed his chances of winning the match.
In doubles the Seattle boys fared better. In their first match they were down a break against the #2 Pomona team before winning 8-5. In the second match against Cal Lu's #3 team they played much better. Match started off pretty close with both teams holding serve. However at 4-4 Dan and Justin picked up their intensity and court movement (crossing more) and won the last 4 games. Very good effort for them to bounce back from disappointing singles losses and win two tough doubles matches.
At 3pm today they play the #1 team from UC Santa Cruz (and #1 seeds). As usual I will twitter updates to the blog.
In doubles the Seattle boys fared better. In their first match they were down a break against the #2 Pomona team before winning 8-5. In the second match against Cal Lu's #3 team they played much better. Match started off pretty close with both teams holding serve. However at 4-4 Dan and Justin picked up their intensity and court movement (crossing more) and won the last 4 games. Very good effort for them to bounce back from disappointing singles losses and win two tough doubles matches.
At 3pm today they play the #1 team from UC Santa Cruz (and #1 seeds). As usual I will twitter updates to the blog.
Friday, April 24, 2009
Ojai Tournament
Currently at the Ojai tournament in Southern California with Dan Wilson and Justin Hayashi. Both are playing singles and doubles in this incredible event. I will twitter match updates during the day. For those that received blog postings via email, the twitter updates can be found on the main blog page Whitman Tennis Blog.
Monday, April 20, 2009
NWC Championships Recap
Sorry about not getting this out yesterday. Weather was too nice to be inside and replacing a spring shackle on my Jeep became a major project that included cutting the frame, modifying brackets, and the removal of auxiliary parts.
This year's NWC tournament certainly provided us some challenges both on and off the court. Even before our first match we had some funky issues to deal with. Since there are no warm-up courts at the Yakima Tennis Club we went off-site before our matches to get loosened up and hit a few balls. During this warm up Nadeem got hit in the head and broke his glasses. Luckily he was prepared and had an extra pair of glasses in the hotel. Unfortunately the van wouldn't start! Now we are stuck at a public park with a broken pair of glasses and no way to get back to the hotel or even to the tournament site. Fortunately Coach Ann was driving six guys from Walla Walla that morning so we waited for her to arrive. Once she arrived, Nadeem and I jumped into the van to go back the hotel. However, Jake left his rackets and shoes in the van and didn't have his equipment to warm-up with. What a crazy morning! In the end we were able to shuttle people to lunch and to the tournament site. Coach Ann had to do the dirty work and find a repair shop, tow-truck and shuttle all while being left with a broken van. For the record Brett Hall Chevelot is Yakima was AWESOME...they towed the van, provided a shuttle for Ann and provided a complimentary Enterprise van.
Because of morning rain the tournament was running a few hours behind schedule. The extra hours allowed us to get eye-glasses, everyone feed, equipment to the correct players and everyone shuttled to the Yakima Tennis Club. Without that delay it would have been an incredibly stressful morning.
The NWC conference is a six-team tournament with the #1 seeds (us) and the #2 seeds (PLU) getting byes. Our first match was against Willamette (#4 seed) who defeated #5 seed Whitworth. As great has the facility is at the Yakima Tennis Club it can be very windy. Friday was no exception -- as my sailing friends would say it was "blowing like stink".
Against Willamette we didn't play our best doubles and they really brought their top game. In fact at one time we were down breaks at all three doubles! Last time we played Willamette we won the doubles by the scores of 8-1, 8-1, 8-0. What a change to be looking down the barrel of being swept. To use another sailing term (approriate because of the wind) we were able to "right our ship" and take #2 and #3 doubles. At #1 Justin and Dan played pretty nervous with the dual-pressure of an undefeated season on the line and playing at the #1 doubles spot. Even though they broke back at the end of the match to serve at 7-8 they were broke at love losing the match 9-7.
Singles wasn't great but we started better in the wind and hitting our stride. Chris was down early in his match to the talented #1 from Willamette 2-6, but was able to win the second 6-3 and was up a break in the 3rd when the team match was finished. The junior trio of Dan Wilson, Nadeem Kassam and Jake Cappel all won in straight sets to clinch the match for us. Because of the tournament delay the match was stopped (normally we play out the matches).
Whitman 5 PLU 1
The victory over Willamette set up a show down against #2 seeds PLU. PLU played a great semi-final match against Linfield (#3 seed). I knew the PLU vs Linfield was going to be tight and I figured whomever had the lead after doubles would win the match. As usual Linfield played great doubles and took two of the doubles. However PLU swept all six singles match giving them the victory. What a great effort by PLU. Also gives a strong indication of how much better PLU is playing (we beat Linfield 5-4 and 7-2).
Weather wasn't an issue in the finals...it was a beautiful day. It was also a beautiful day to have our full line-up playing for the first time all year. Because of injuries and illness we have never had our top singles and doubles line-up play a match. Nothing like the conference finals to finally have a full line-up!
In doubles we were able to quickly go up breaks at #2 and #3 doubles. At #1 Dan and Justin had their hands full against a very hot PLU team (on Friday they had beaten the #10 team in the region 8-0) and were down 1-4. At #3 Nadeem and ET fired up the entire team with a pretty quick 8-3 victory. #2 doubles Christoph and Quin won six of the final eight games posting a 8-4 victory. With everyone watching, Dan and Justin picked up their game playing aggressive doubles and bombing overheads. After being down 1-4 Justin had serve and broke at love putting the match back on serve. At 5-6 Justin had a quick hold and they broke the NWC Conference player of the Year (Joel Trudel) giving Dan the opportunity to serve for the match. Playing on the stadium court infront huge a crowd with the match on the line, I was so proud of how Dan and Justin embraced the moment and served out the match. One of the best proud coaching moments!
The sweep in doubles turned out to be huge. PLU continued their great singles play and put up an incredible match. I was really impressed with the PLU team. This is a team we had beaten 8-1 and 7-2 this season, we were up 3-0 after doubles and they didn't bow their heads or have any negative energy on the court. They came after us...hard!
The key to the match came down to the experience of juniors Jake Cappel and Nadeem Kassam. Both of these young men have played in the conference finals and NCAA National tournament. They were also matched up against two players who had never played in a conference final. Both had solid first sets with Jake winning 6-1 and Nadeem coming back from 0-3 before reeling off 6 straight games. Those were the only 1st sets we won: #1 (ET), #2 (Chris), #3 (Dan) and #6 (Adriel) all dropped their 1st sets! The final match score doesn't indicate the competitive nature of this match.
About 45 minutes into the singles we started to hit our stride. Jake finished out his match 6-1, 6-3 giving us a 4-0 lead. His quick victory really put the pressue squarely on every PLU player: they all had to win or the match was over. At #3 singles Dan had a great rally -- after being down 0-4 in the first he came back to even the match 4-6, 6-2. At #2 Chris overcame a horrible start and gutted his way into a 3rd set 2-6, 7-6 (10-8). At #6 Adriel ran into a red hot Justin Peterson but was able to even the match 2-6, 6-2. For the record Justin is a great player who is capable of producing unbelievable tennis. In fact last year he played #3 for PLU. As all these matches were splitting sets ET was locked in a battle with PLU #1 player. ET ended up dropping the 1st set 7-5 but had a ton of break points that he couldn't convert. Hats off to Joel Trudel. I've been around some high level tennis and I've never seen anyone serve themselves out of trouble the way Joel did on Saturday. Every break point he was able to bomb in a 1st serve. He certainly deserved to be named NWC Player of the Year.
As we were splitting sets at #2, #3 and #6, Nadeem clinched the match with a 6-3 6-3 victory. What a great win for Deem. In the past he has struggled closing out matches. Today Deem showed his maturity, composure and improved play. Once he got up in each set he was able to play his best tennis closing out each set! Very gratifying to see Deem clinch the match.
With the match over Dan and Chris won match breakers giving us a 7-0 lead. At #1 ET lost 6-4, 7-5 and at #6 Adriel lost 6-2, 2-6, 6-4. Even though ET lost it was unbelievable to have him back in the line-up. His fire, passion and love of the game (and competing) inspires the entire team.
We finished the year with undefeated conference season and repeat conference championships!
We now wait a couple weeks to see where we were be shipping off for the NCAA team tournament.
Whitman 7 PLU 2
This year's NWC tournament certainly provided us some challenges both on and off the court. Even before our first match we had some funky issues to deal with. Since there are no warm-up courts at the Yakima Tennis Club we went off-site before our matches to get loosened up and hit a few balls. During this warm up Nadeem got hit in the head and broke his glasses. Luckily he was prepared and had an extra pair of glasses in the hotel. Unfortunately the van wouldn't start! Now we are stuck at a public park with a broken pair of glasses and no way to get back to the hotel or even to the tournament site. Fortunately Coach Ann was driving six guys from Walla Walla that morning so we waited for her to arrive. Once she arrived, Nadeem and I jumped into the van to go back the hotel. However, Jake left his rackets and shoes in the van and didn't have his equipment to warm-up with. What a crazy morning! In the end we were able to shuttle people to lunch and to the tournament site. Coach Ann had to do the dirty work and find a repair shop, tow-truck and shuttle all while being left with a broken van. For the record Brett Hall Chevelot is Yakima was AWESOME...they towed the van, provided a shuttle for Ann and provided a complimentary Enterprise van.
Because of morning rain the tournament was running a few hours behind schedule. The extra hours allowed us to get eye-glasses, everyone feed, equipment to the correct players and everyone shuttled to the Yakima Tennis Club. Without that delay it would have been an incredibly stressful morning.
The NWC conference is a six-team tournament with the #1 seeds (us) and the #2 seeds (PLU) getting byes. Our first match was against Willamette (#4 seed) who defeated #5 seed Whitworth. As great has the facility is at the Yakima Tennis Club it can be very windy. Friday was no exception -- as my sailing friends would say it was "blowing like stink".
Against Willamette we didn't play our best doubles and they really brought their top game. In fact at one time we were down breaks at all three doubles! Last time we played Willamette we won the doubles by the scores of 8-1, 8-1, 8-0. What a change to be looking down the barrel of being swept. To use another sailing term (approriate because of the wind) we were able to "right our ship" and take #2 and #3 doubles. At #1 Justin and Dan played pretty nervous with the dual-pressure of an undefeated season on the line and playing at the #1 doubles spot. Even though they broke back at the end of the match to serve at 7-8 they were broke at love losing the match 9-7.
Singles wasn't great but we started better in the wind and hitting our stride. Chris was down early in his match to the talented #1 from Willamette 2-6, but was able to win the second 6-3 and was up a break in the 3rd when the team match was finished. The junior trio of Dan Wilson, Nadeem Kassam and Jake Cappel all won in straight sets to clinch the match for us. Because of the tournament delay the match was stopped (normally we play out the matches).
Whitman 5 PLU 1
The victory over Willamette set up a show down against #2 seeds PLU. PLU played a great semi-final match against Linfield (#3 seed). I knew the PLU vs Linfield was going to be tight and I figured whomever had the lead after doubles would win the match. As usual Linfield played great doubles and took two of the doubles. However PLU swept all six singles match giving them the victory. What a great effort by PLU. Also gives a strong indication of how much better PLU is playing (we beat Linfield 5-4 and 7-2).
Weather wasn't an issue in the finals...it was a beautiful day. It was also a beautiful day to have our full line-up playing for the first time all year. Because of injuries and illness we have never had our top singles and doubles line-up play a match. Nothing like the conference finals to finally have a full line-up!
In doubles we were able to quickly go up breaks at #2 and #3 doubles. At #1 Dan and Justin had their hands full against a very hot PLU team (on Friday they had beaten the #10 team in the region 8-0) and were down 1-4. At #3 Nadeem and ET fired up the entire team with a pretty quick 8-3 victory. #2 doubles Christoph and Quin won six of the final eight games posting a 8-4 victory. With everyone watching, Dan and Justin picked up their game playing aggressive doubles and bombing overheads. After being down 1-4 Justin had serve and broke at love putting the match back on serve. At 5-6 Justin had a quick hold and they broke the NWC Conference player of the Year (Joel Trudel) giving Dan the opportunity to serve for the match. Playing on the stadium court infront huge a crowd with the match on the line, I was so proud of how Dan and Justin embraced the moment and served out the match. One of the best proud coaching moments!
The sweep in doubles turned out to be huge. PLU continued their great singles play and put up an incredible match. I was really impressed with the PLU team. This is a team we had beaten 8-1 and 7-2 this season, we were up 3-0 after doubles and they didn't bow their heads or have any negative energy on the court. They came after us...hard!
The key to the match came down to the experience of juniors Jake Cappel and Nadeem Kassam. Both of these young men have played in the conference finals and NCAA National tournament. They were also matched up against two players who had never played in a conference final. Both had solid first sets with Jake winning 6-1 and Nadeem coming back from 0-3 before reeling off 6 straight games. Those were the only 1st sets we won: #1 (ET), #2 (Chris), #3 (Dan) and #6 (Adriel) all dropped their 1st sets! The final match score doesn't indicate the competitive nature of this match.
About 45 minutes into the singles we started to hit our stride. Jake finished out his match 6-1, 6-3 giving us a 4-0 lead. His quick victory really put the pressue squarely on every PLU player: they all had to win or the match was over. At #3 singles Dan had a great rally -- after being down 0-4 in the first he came back to even the match 4-6, 6-2. At #2 Chris overcame a horrible start and gutted his way into a 3rd set 2-6, 7-6 (10-8). At #6 Adriel ran into a red hot Justin Peterson but was able to even the match 2-6, 6-2. For the record Justin is a great player who is capable of producing unbelievable tennis. In fact last year he played #3 for PLU. As all these matches were splitting sets ET was locked in a battle with PLU #1 player. ET ended up dropping the 1st set 7-5 but had a ton of break points that he couldn't convert. Hats off to Joel Trudel. I've been around some high level tennis and I've never seen anyone serve themselves out of trouble the way Joel did on Saturday. Every break point he was able to bomb in a 1st serve. He certainly deserved to be named NWC Player of the Year.
As we were splitting sets at #2, #3 and #6, Nadeem clinched the match with a 6-3 6-3 victory. What a great win for Deem. In the past he has struggled closing out matches. Today Deem showed his maturity, composure and improved play. Once he got up in each set he was able to play his best tennis closing out each set! Very gratifying to see Deem clinch the match.
With the match over Dan and Chris won match breakers giving us a 7-0 lead. At #1 ET lost 6-4, 7-5 and at #6 Adriel lost 6-2, 2-6, 6-4. Even though ET lost it was unbelievable to have him back in the line-up. His fire, passion and love of the game (and competing) inspires the entire team.
We finished the year with undefeated conference season and repeat conference championships!
We now wait a couple weeks to see where we were be shipping off for the NCAA team tournament.
Whitman 7 PLU 2
Saturday, April 18, 2009
2009 NWC Champs!
Defeated PLU 7-2 earlier today to win our 2nd consecutive NWC championships. I'll try to do a tournament recap tomorrow.
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Whitties finish NWC 16-0!
Yesterday was a great day for the Whitties. In beating rival PLU 7-2 we finished the conference season with an unblemished 16-0 record! This is the third constitutive year we have finished 16-0 in the conference and our 50th consecutive regular season conference victory!
Ending our season against PLU was especially gratifying since they have been one of the best teams in the conference and will go into the conference tournament as the #2 seed. Certainly nice going into the conference tournament as the #1 seed and just beaten the #2 seed 7-2.
We went into the match a bit off-balanced with our doubles. Doubles standout Christoph Fuchs has been sick the past two weeks and he stayed at home to rest and recover. I was also hoping to insert Etienne Moshevich into the doubles line-up but at the last minute decided to scratch him from the line-up. As a coach it can be a bit unsettling having new doubles combos and teams playing in different positions going into a big match. However one of beautiful aspects of our team is our tremendous depth and team spirit. We put about 14 players into the doubles line-up and not miss a beat. This was evident against PLU as Dan Wilson and Justin Hayashi moved up to #1 doubles, Nadeem Kassam and Chris Bailey played #2 and the relatively new team of Jasper Follows and Quin Miller filled in at #3.
Justin and Dan continued their unbelievable season gaining an early break and never looked back winning 8-5 against a very good PLU team. Justin and Dan have been incredible this season. They started the year at #3 doubles and the past few matches have been playing #1 -- simply amazing that they haven't lost a match all spring! Nadeem and Chris were in early control of their match going up 5-2. However the resilient PLU team won three straight games to even the match at 5-5. At this point Chris played some great doubles: getting in a high percentage of 1st serves, closing at the net and putting Nadeem in good position to finish off points. They won three games of the final four games taking the match 8-5. Number three doubles was a treat to watch as both Quin and Jasper played smart, aggressive doubles. They both were animals at the net crossing at the appropriate times against a team that tried to dictate play from the baseline.
Honestly I was hoping for a 2-1 lead going into doubles. Being up 3-0 was early Easter gift!
In singles Dan gave us a 4-1 lead with a 6-0, 6-4 victory at #2 singles. PLU's #1 standout Joel Trudel, a DI transfer from University of Idaho, put PLU on the board with a 6-2, 6-4 over Chris Bailey. So far this year Trudel hasn't lost a singles match in conference play. I know ET was disappointed not to get a shot at him on Saturday (ET is also undefeated). However if the conference seeding holds true the two might square off on Saturday in the conference finals. Junior Jake Cappel clinched the match with a 7-5, 6-2 victory at #5 singles. Nice to see Jake play solid tennis, he has been sick the past couple weeks and he is just starting to get his legs back (also happy birthday Jake). Quin Miller had a good 6-4, 6-3 victory at #6 over PLU's Justin Peterson. Peterson played #3 on last year's PLU team and is a very talented, dangerous player. Each week it is a amazing to watch the progress that Quin makes in his game -- at the moment he is playing very solid ball. At #4 Adriel suffered his first defeat of the year 3-6, 6-3, 10-3. I felt that Adriel was in control of the match but at 3-3 in the 2nd the wheels fell off and he dropped three quick games and could never recover. In my eyes match of the day was #3 singles where Nadeem Kassam defeated Kevin Floyd 5-7, 6-1, 6-2. This was a great win for Nadeem -- last year Floyd played #1 for PLU and for the past three years has been one of the best players in the conference. Great confidence booster for Nadeem heading into conference.
Whitman 7 PLU 2
Next weekend is the NWC conference tournament in Yakima WA. As the #1 seed we get a bye and play the winner of #4/#5 (Whitworth and Willamette). If we make it through that match the finals will be at the Yakima Tennis Club around noon on Saturday.
Ending our season against PLU was especially gratifying since they have been one of the best teams in the conference and will go into the conference tournament as the #2 seed. Certainly nice going into the conference tournament as the #1 seed and just beaten the #2 seed 7-2.
We went into the match a bit off-balanced with our doubles. Doubles standout Christoph Fuchs has been sick the past two weeks and he stayed at home to rest and recover. I was also hoping to insert Etienne Moshevich into the doubles line-up but at the last minute decided to scratch him from the line-up. As a coach it can be a bit unsettling having new doubles combos and teams playing in different positions going into a big match. However one of beautiful aspects of our team is our tremendous depth and team spirit. We put about 14 players into the doubles line-up and not miss a beat. This was evident against PLU as Dan Wilson and Justin Hayashi moved up to #1 doubles, Nadeem Kassam and Chris Bailey played #2 and the relatively new team of Jasper Follows and Quin Miller filled in at #3.
Justin and Dan continued their unbelievable season gaining an early break and never looked back winning 8-5 against a very good PLU team. Justin and Dan have been incredible this season. They started the year at #3 doubles and the past few matches have been playing #1 -- simply amazing that they haven't lost a match all spring! Nadeem and Chris were in early control of their match going up 5-2. However the resilient PLU team won three straight games to even the match at 5-5. At this point Chris played some great doubles: getting in a high percentage of 1st serves, closing at the net and putting Nadeem in good position to finish off points. They won three games of the final four games taking the match 8-5. Number three doubles was a treat to watch as both Quin and Jasper played smart, aggressive doubles. They both were animals at the net crossing at the appropriate times against a team that tried to dictate play from the baseline.
Honestly I was hoping for a 2-1 lead going into doubles. Being up 3-0 was early Easter gift!
In singles Dan gave us a 4-1 lead with a 6-0, 6-4 victory at #2 singles. PLU's #1 standout Joel Trudel, a DI transfer from University of Idaho, put PLU on the board with a 6-2, 6-4 over Chris Bailey. So far this year Trudel hasn't lost a singles match in conference play. I know ET was disappointed not to get a shot at him on Saturday (ET is also undefeated). However if the conference seeding holds true the two might square off on Saturday in the conference finals. Junior Jake Cappel clinched the match with a 7-5, 6-2 victory at #5 singles. Nice to see Jake play solid tennis, he has been sick the past couple weeks and he is just starting to get his legs back (also happy birthday Jake). Quin Miller had a good 6-4, 6-3 victory at #6 over PLU's Justin Peterson. Peterson played #3 on last year's PLU team and is a very talented, dangerous player. Each week it is a amazing to watch the progress that Quin makes in his game -- at the moment he is playing very solid ball. At #4 Adriel suffered his first defeat of the year 3-6, 6-3, 10-3. I felt that Adriel was in control of the match but at 3-3 in the 2nd the wheels fell off and he dropped three quick games and could never recover. In my eyes match of the day was #3 singles where Nadeem Kassam defeated Kevin Floyd 5-7, 6-1, 6-2. This was a great win for Nadeem -- last year Floyd played #1 for PLU and for the past three years has been one of the best players in the conference. Great confidence booster for Nadeem heading into conference.
Whitman 7 PLU 2
Next weekend is the NWC conference tournament in Yakima WA. As the #1 seed we get a bye and play the winner of #4/#5 (Whitworth and Willamette). If we make it through that match the finals will be at the Yakima Tennis Club around noon on Saturday.
Friday, April 10, 2009
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Potential match change vs PLU
FYI, weather does not look good Saturday in Tacoma. Since PLU does not have easy access to indoor courts we MIGHT move our match to Saturday at 8am at UPS. If weather cooperates we will play at 11am on the PLU campus.
Monday, April 6, 2009
Squirrels Sweep final home matches
Great weather and some great tennis for our final home matches of the year. Only bummer for the day was illness took three Whitties out of the line-up (Jake Cappel, Christoph Fuchs and Reid Bennett). This was especially disappointing for senior Reid Bennett who was scheduled to play in his last EVER home match.
Our matches yesterday were against conference opponent Whitworth University. Whitworth is a solid team that will be the #4 or #5 seed in the upcoming NWC conference tournament. They have had some impressive doubles results this year including sweeping all three doubles against a very good PLU team. Also, the previous day Whitworth played very close against Linfield -- a team that always plays great doubles. Even though Whitworth was swept in doubles against Linfield they lost 9-8 at #1 and #2. Obviously getting off to a good start in doubles was going to be key to the match. After our long spring break trip we are in the process of reevaluating our doubles. One doubles team that doesn't need any reevaluation is Justin and Dan. Yesterday they kept their undefeated streak alive with a convincing 8-3 win at #1. At #2 Jasper and Quin played very well together posting a solid 8-4 victory. For their first match together I was really impressed with how well they moved and communicated. At #3 Thomas and Conor struggled a early in their match but after being knotted at 5-5 they won the last 3 games for earning an 8-5 victory.
In singles our line-up was #1 Dan, #2 Quin, #3 Jasper, #4 Justin, #5 Thomas and #6 Conor. Dan was positively chomping at the bit to play #1 and get a chance to avenge a preseason loss to the Whitworth #1. In our Fall ITA tournament Dan lost to Whitworth's #1 player in three hard sets. In that match Dan cramped horribly in the 3rd set. One thing about Dan he absolutely loves a challenge and always wants to play someone that beat him earlier in the year. In his rematch Dan played fired-up tennis and was the first one off the court with a 6-1, 6-2 victory. For the record Whitworth's #1 player is a very good player (and maybe the quickest player in the conference) and this was solid win for Dan.
Quin got the call to play #2 singles and certainly rose to the occasion. I feel that Quin has the ability and talent to play with anyone in DIII. At times he can positively play spooky tennis and flat out beat people. If Quin continues his rapid improvement and learns to balance out his game he will become a major force in our conference and nationally. Playing #2, Quin was solid throughout the match winning 6-3, 6-2
At #3 Jasper had the closest match of the day winning 2-6, 7-5, 10-5. Just a bad first set for Jasper. His backhand slice didn't have any effect and was floating on him and he had a horrible time finding his form. Once he started focusing on keeping balls more towards the middle of the court and sustaining rallies he was able to pull out the match.
Justin played a great first at #4 quickly winning 6-1. Second set was much tighter but Justin was able to take the match 6-1, 6-4. At #5 Thomas played through a bad back winning 6-1, 6-3. I must point out that it has been a pleasure watching Thomas's game mature over the course of the year. He, more than anyone, is doing a beautiful job setting up points and having a plan of attack when he plays. At #6 Conor (Co-Co or Con-Con, depending on the mood) struggled a bit in the 1st set. But once he remembered he doesn't have to win every point (i.e., it's OK to let the other person make a mistake) and was able to win 7-5, 6-1.
Whitman 9 Whitworth 0
The day was only half over for us. Both teams took a quick Subway break (thanks again for the wonderful $5 subs!) and then hit the courts for match #2. Since the women were playing in the afternoon we started our second match against Whitworth with singles. Going into the weekend I had every intention of using two-different sets of players against Whitworth. However because of illness Quin and Conor again played singles.
Singles line-up for the second match #1 Chris Bailey, #2 Nadeem Kassam, #3 Adriel Borshanky, #4 Quin Miller, #5 Conor Holton-Burke and #6 David Deming. Both Chris and Nadeem played some of their best tennis of the year winning 6-1, 6-2 and 6-2, 6-2. Was especially nice to see Chris bounce back after a rough spring break trip and play good tennis. In fact yesterday was probably the best he has played all spring. As a coach it is great to know your top players are playing better towards the end of the year. Adriel continued his solid play winning 6-2, 6-1 against the player that went three sets with Jasper earlier in the day. Unfortunately since we were using two sets of courts I didn't get to see Conor or David play. I do know, however, that David once again clinched the match for us!
Highlight in doubles was the return to the doubles line-up of All-American Etienne Moshevich. Having ET back will be a big booster to our line-up. At #1 doubles ET and Nadeem posted a 8-4 victory. At #2 Adriel and Jasper struggled closing out the match but won 8-6 and at #3 Chris continued his strong play partnering up with Quin for a 8-0 at #3.
Whitman 9 Whitworth 0
Couple of milestones for the team. We are now 15-0 in conference and clinched the #1 seed going into the conference tournament. Additionally, we posted our 3rd consecutive 20-win season. In NCAA III tennis this is not easy to accomplish since teams are limited to 20 dates of competition. Perhaps most importantly we getting close to having a healthy team. Interestingly enough we have not played a single match all-year where we able to use our "full" line-up. The injury bug has hit us pretty hard and our success has been due to the great depth of our team. Really it is pretty amazing to be 21-4 this year without being able to use a full line-up and at semester losing our #1 stand-out Matt Solomon to Boise State. Really a great team effort.
Next Saturday we travel to Tacoma to make up a rained out match against PLU (11am). Earlier in the year we beat PLU 8-1 and I'm sure they will be fired up to play us on their home courts (provided it doesn't rain). Even though seeding in the conference tournament is now complete (we will be #1 seeds and PLU #2) we always look forward to playing to the Lutes. Over the past couple decades this rivalry has produced some of the best tennis in the NWC conference.
Our matches yesterday were against conference opponent Whitworth University. Whitworth is a solid team that will be the #4 or #5 seed in the upcoming NWC conference tournament. They have had some impressive doubles results this year including sweeping all three doubles against a very good PLU team. Also, the previous day Whitworth played very close against Linfield -- a team that always plays great doubles. Even though Whitworth was swept in doubles against Linfield they lost 9-8 at #1 and #2. Obviously getting off to a good start in doubles was going to be key to the match. After our long spring break trip we are in the process of reevaluating our doubles. One doubles team that doesn't need any reevaluation is Justin and Dan. Yesterday they kept their undefeated streak alive with a convincing 8-3 win at #1. At #2 Jasper and Quin played very well together posting a solid 8-4 victory. For their first match together I was really impressed with how well they moved and communicated. At #3 Thomas and Conor struggled a early in their match but after being knotted at 5-5 they won the last 3 games for earning an 8-5 victory.
In singles our line-up was #1 Dan, #2 Quin, #3 Jasper, #4 Justin, #5 Thomas and #6 Conor. Dan was positively chomping at the bit to play #1 and get a chance to avenge a preseason loss to the Whitworth #1. In our Fall ITA tournament Dan lost to Whitworth's #1 player in three hard sets. In that match Dan cramped horribly in the 3rd set. One thing about Dan he absolutely loves a challenge and always wants to play someone that beat him earlier in the year. In his rematch Dan played fired-up tennis and was the first one off the court with a 6-1, 6-2 victory. For the record Whitworth's #1 player is a very good player (and maybe the quickest player in the conference) and this was solid win for Dan.
Quin got the call to play #2 singles and certainly rose to the occasion. I feel that Quin has the ability and talent to play with anyone in DIII. At times he can positively play spooky tennis and flat out beat people. If Quin continues his rapid improvement and learns to balance out his game he will become a major force in our conference and nationally. Playing #2, Quin was solid throughout the match winning 6-3, 6-2
At #3 Jasper had the closest match of the day winning 2-6, 7-5, 10-5. Just a bad first set for Jasper. His backhand slice didn't have any effect and was floating on him and he had a horrible time finding his form. Once he started focusing on keeping balls more towards the middle of the court and sustaining rallies he was able to pull out the match.
Justin played a great first at #4 quickly winning 6-1. Second set was much tighter but Justin was able to take the match 6-1, 6-4. At #5 Thomas played through a bad back winning 6-1, 6-3. I must point out that it has been a pleasure watching Thomas's game mature over the course of the year. He, more than anyone, is doing a beautiful job setting up points and having a plan of attack when he plays. At #6 Conor (Co-Co or Con-Con, depending on the mood) struggled a bit in the 1st set. But once he remembered he doesn't have to win every point (i.e., it's OK to let the other person make a mistake) and was able to win 7-5, 6-1.
Whitman 9 Whitworth 0
The day was only half over for us. Both teams took a quick Subway break (thanks again for the wonderful $5 subs!) and then hit the courts for match #2. Since the women were playing in the afternoon we started our second match against Whitworth with singles. Going into the weekend I had every intention of using two-different sets of players against Whitworth. However because of illness Quin and Conor again played singles.
Singles line-up for the second match #1 Chris Bailey, #2 Nadeem Kassam, #3 Adriel Borshanky, #4 Quin Miller, #5 Conor Holton-Burke and #6 David Deming. Both Chris and Nadeem played some of their best tennis of the year winning 6-1, 6-2 and 6-2, 6-2. Was especially nice to see Chris bounce back after a rough spring break trip and play good tennis. In fact yesterday was probably the best he has played all spring. As a coach it is great to know your top players are playing better towards the end of the year. Adriel continued his solid play winning 6-2, 6-1 against the player that went three sets with Jasper earlier in the day. Unfortunately since we were using two sets of courts I didn't get to see Conor or David play. I do know, however, that David once again clinched the match for us!
Highlight in doubles was the return to the doubles line-up of All-American Etienne Moshevich. Having ET back will be a big booster to our line-up. At #1 doubles ET and Nadeem posted a 8-4 victory. At #2 Adriel and Jasper struggled closing out the match but won 8-6 and at #3 Chris continued his strong play partnering up with Quin for a 8-0 at #3.
Whitman 9 Whitworth 0
Couple of milestones for the team. We are now 15-0 in conference and clinched the #1 seed going into the conference tournament. Additionally, we posted our 3rd consecutive 20-win season. In NCAA III tennis this is not easy to accomplish since teams are limited to 20 dates of competition. Perhaps most importantly we getting close to having a healthy team. Interestingly enough we have not played a single match all-year where we able to use our "full" line-up. The injury bug has hit us pretty hard and our success has been due to the great depth of our team. Really it is pretty amazing to be 21-4 this year without being able to use a full line-up and at semester losing our #1 stand-out Matt Solomon to Boise State. Really a great team effort.
Next Saturday we travel to Tacoma to make up a rained out match against PLU (11am). Earlier in the year we beat PLU 8-1 and I'm sure they will be fired up to play us on their home courts (provided it doesn't rain). Even though seeding in the conference tournament is now complete (we will be #1 seeds and PLU #2) we always look forward to playing to the Lutes. Over the past couple decades this rivalry has produced some of the best tennis in the NWC conference.
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Thanks!
I had a lot of help pulling off a two-week spring break trip. Thanks so much for all those helped out, chipped in and provided support during our lengthy trip.
Two special people helped out with driving and making sure the team(s) safely made it around the nation: coach Ann Beery and my lovely wife Jennifer. Besides coaching one of the teams Ann drove to the team from Walla Walla to Portland to Seattle and brought the van back to Walla Walla. Jennifer drove our mini van from Walla Walla to Seattle. She then drove a 15-passenger van from Charlotte to Hilton Head (where she drove the team around) back to Charlotte and then Seattle to Walla Walla. Whew, lots of driving!
Special thanks to the Fuchs and Deming families who housed and fed the team(s) while in the Portland area. The accommodations were better than an hotel! It was like Disney land for young adults -- Rock Band on the Xbox, late night ping pong and pool, stringing at the houses, hot tub and unbelievable food. Thanks so much for making the first week of the trip special.
Thanks to the Bennett family for following us around the first week of matches. We appreciate the match support and great snacks!
Steve and Marylou Sumioka thanks letting us park two vans at your house during our trip to Hilton Head. Grahama Sumioka thanks for getting up early Sunday morning to drive us to the vans.
The Feezell family who had the team stay at their house not once but twice! You would think some people would learn their lesson the first time:) We appreciated the great food and the flatscreen TV made for excellent basketball viewing. Whitman misses both of you!
Jeff Cappel -- what a great meal on Hilton Head island! You certainly spoiled the team with such a lavish meal. I hope you have a great trip to Arizona this week.
Borshansky family thanks for the support while at Hilton Head. Unfortunately you missed the match of the trip when Adriel saved off several match points in his victory against Depauw.
Subway thank you for having $5 footlong subs!
Enterprise in Walla Walla and Belmont, NC made renting vans convenient and easy. I know Kevin at Belmont will probably never see this -- you deserve a raise!
Anyone looking for a great Spring vacation spot should check out Hilton Head Beach and Tennis. Condos right on the beach or tennis courts at an unbelievable price (cheaper than a hotel).
Although he is a player thanks to Dr. Thomas who used his training skills and knowledge to keep the team healthy.
Another very special thanks to Jennifer for keeping me grounded and sane during two-weeks on the road. You are the best!
Terribly sorry if I missed anyone.
Two special people helped out with driving and making sure the team(s) safely made it around the nation: coach Ann Beery and my lovely wife Jennifer. Besides coaching one of the teams Ann drove to the team from Walla Walla to Portland to Seattle and brought the van back to Walla Walla. Jennifer drove our mini van from Walla Walla to Seattle. She then drove a 15-passenger van from Charlotte to Hilton Head (where she drove the team around) back to Charlotte and then Seattle to Walla Walla. Whew, lots of driving!
Special thanks to the Fuchs and Deming families who housed and fed the team(s) while in the Portland area. The accommodations were better than an hotel! It was like Disney land for young adults -- Rock Band on the Xbox, late night ping pong and pool, stringing at the houses, hot tub and unbelievable food. Thanks so much for making the first week of the trip special.
Thanks to the Bennett family for following us around the first week of matches. We appreciate the match support and great snacks!
Steve and Marylou Sumioka thanks letting us park two vans at your house during our trip to Hilton Head. Grahama Sumioka thanks for getting up early Sunday morning to drive us to the vans.
The Feezell family who had the team stay at their house not once but twice! You would think some people would learn their lesson the first time:) We appreciated the great food and the flatscreen TV made for excellent basketball viewing. Whitman misses both of you!
Jeff Cappel -- what a great meal on Hilton Head island! You certainly spoiled the team with such a lavish meal. I hope you have a great trip to Arizona this week.
Borshansky family thanks for the support while at Hilton Head. Unfortunately you missed the match of the trip when Adriel saved off several match points in his victory against Depauw.
Subway thank you for having $5 footlong subs!
Enterprise in Walla Walla and Belmont, NC made renting vans convenient and easy. I know Kevin at Belmont will probably never see this -- you deserve a raise!
Anyone looking for a great Spring vacation spot should check out Hilton Head Beach and Tennis. Condos right on the beach or tennis courts at an unbelievable price (cheaper than a hotel).
Although he is a player thanks to Dr. Thomas who used his training skills and knowledge to keep the team healthy.
Another very special thanks to Jennifer for keeping me grounded and sane during two-weeks on the road. You are the best!
Terribly sorry if I missed anyone.
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