Saturday, February 27, 2010

One of the greats!

A few weeks ago I was surprised by a visit from Chris Gregersen. Chris is one of the best (if not very best) player to ever grace the Whitman tennis courts. After being ranked #1 in DIII, Chris transfered to Northwestern where he was Todd Martin's doubles partner. He and Todd achieved a high ranking of #13 in NCAA I doubles.

For perspective on Chris's accomplishments, consider that it is a big milestone to win 100 matches during a 4-year career. Since Whitman's moved to NCAA III (from NAIA) only a handful players have broke the century mark. Since the move to DIII, Phalkun Mam holds the all-time win record of 157. Chris's freshman year he was 44-4 in singles and 38-7 in doubles and his sophomore year he won over 60 matches. Amazing to think that Chris won nearly 150 matches in just two years of play!

I was lucky enough to be Chris's teammate for his two years at Whitman. One of our team highlights during 1986 was defeating the University of Washington 6-3. Not a bad effort for our non-scholarship program to take down the mighty Huskies!

Chris currently resides outside of Florence Italy with his wife and two young children.

Thursday, February 25, 2010

Going for a walk!

Wednesday the team did something a bit different for conditioning. I thought it would be a good idea to get some fresh air and get off campus for a couple hours so we walked up one of the foothill grades outside of town. We walked up McKay grade which is very steep. The grade starts off in fields of wheat and finishes in the forest. Certainly one of the more enjoyable conditioning routines of the year!

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Matt Solomon -- Yellow Jersey

Yellow jersey for the week goes to senior Matt Solomon. Those that nominated Matt spoke about his positive energy on the court over the weekend. Chris Bailey noted that Matt is in the tough position of playing #1 singles and sees the best players from every team in the conference. David Deming said about Matt that "he leads by example" on the court and in conditioning.

Congratulations to Matt Solomon!

Sunday, February 21, 2010

Fighting Squirrels fly over George Fox

The past week we spend a lot of time in practice talking about energy. We worked on exuding positive energy after points. In our match with the improved George Fox the guys were a bundle of positive energy. It was a treat to watch them start strong in doubles and let that energy spill over into singles. Etienne felt he was ready for doubles play so he and Matt got the opportunity to play #1 doubles. After the match Matt pointed out that this is the first dual match they have played together even though they are both two-time All-Americans with each other! Matt and ET got the ball rolling with an efficient 8-0 victory. #3 doubles wasn't very far behind with Jeffrey and Jasper finishing with a 8-1 victory. Quin and Christoph had a good battle at #2 winning 8-4 against a hard serving George Fox team.

In singles Etienne is starting to get into match form (because of injury he hasn't been able to play in 9 months). In only his second weekend of match play, ET made a huge improvement in his game. I absolutely love ET's coachability (not sure if that is a word but if not it should be). He has been working on adding some new patterns to his game and I'm convinced it will pay off as the season progresses. At #2 singles ET rolled to a 6-1, 6-0 victory.

The most interesting match of the day was at #1 singles where Matt took on George Fox's only all-conference performer from last year. At the beginning of the match Matt continued his struggles from the past week. He was down a break at 1-3 and playing very defensively..not hitting through the ball very well and being content to counterpunch. Even though Matt wasn't playing very confident tennis it was great to see him commit to playing a bigger game and dictate play. Its one thing to try to dictate play when playing well but completely different to do so when not hitting ball very clean. Not sure if I've ever seen such a rapid transformation in a player's game: from down 1-3 Matt wins 6-3, 6-1 against a very good opponent. After the match we both agreed it was the perfect match for Matt at the perfect time.

At #3 singles Jeffrey got his first singles victory of the year with a 6-1, 7-5 win. I was very proud of how Jeffrey overcame an incredibility tough week to come out and play solid tennis. I believe this young man is going to have a great year and by the end of the year will be competing with anyone in the nation.

Our yellow jersey wearer, Chris Bailey, had a solid 6-2, 6-1 victory at #4. I didn't get a chance to see Christoph Fuchs (#5) or Jasper Follows (#6) play as they were both outdoors. Christoph overcame a windy day to win 6-2, 6-2 and Jasper won 6-0, 6-0.

It was a treat to have another great turn out for our match. At the start of the match we had roughly 75 in attendance and I'm sure over a 100 people dropped by during the course of the match. It is wonderful to have so many members of the Whitman community come out to watch and support the team.

Friday, February 19, 2010

Looking ahead to the weekend

A bit of an interesting weekend for the Fighting Squirrels as we only have one match this weekend. Saturday 2:30pm we host conference opponent George Fox University. The match will be played at the outdoor OR indoor courts depending on the weather. The weatherman says sunny and 50 on Saturday. Our fingers are crossed for an outdoor match, but this time of the year the weatherman is often wrong more than right.

Saturday the team will be providing pizza for spectators at the start of the match. Against UC Santa Cruz we had such a great turnout we thought we would again provide pizza. We had over 200 people show up for the UCSC match..so show up early for pizza and the start of doubles.

Still early in the season so it is hard to get a read on conference. George Fox has a new coach and I expect their program to improve dramatically in the coming years. I must say I'm very glad to have coach Ninteman at George Fox working to make both George Fox and the NWC stronger. I'm sure the George Fox team will be more competitive this year but I think they are a couple years out from making a run at the top six in the conference. I have no doubt that the Bruins team will improve in the coming years.

Most interesting match-up should be at #1 where George Fox's Scott Barnett takes on Whitman's Matt Solomon. Barnett is off to a great start this year going 3-0 (winning against College of Idaho, Lewis Clark College, and Willamette) without dropping a set. As a team we are fired to be playing at home and hopefully create some momentum leading into a series of important March matches.

Hope to see you at the courts on Saturday.

Thursday, February 18, 2010

And the Yellow Jersey goes to...

Chris Bailey! Actually this was the most overwhelming team vote of the year ... 9 different players voted Chris as the team leader. Obviously part of the reason was Chris's match performance on Saturday. With the team match tied at 4-4, Chris played some great tennis in the third set to give us the team victory. However one of his teammates pointed out the reason Chris got his vote was because the past two weeks he has been working harder than anyone in the weight room.

Chris is a junior economics major from Mercer Island, WA. Even though Chris is an econ major he is also satisfying Whitman's pre-med requirements and may apply to medical school after Whitman.

Congratulations!

Sunday, February 14, 2010

Moody Match


This is a very tough post. Besides playing two matches yesterday, we learned that a member of the Whitman community (and good friend to a member of the tennis team) died yesterday in a tragic skiing accident. My thoughts and emotions go out to the Whitman community and family.

Yesterday we had a very long day in the UPS fieldhouse as we took on rival PLU and host UPS. We arrived at the fieldhouse at 10am and didn't leave until until 7pm! As readers of my blog know I have the greatest respect for the PLU team. They are an experienced team with enough talented players to give most any team trouble. Yesterday they were trouble for us....

While we ended up gutting out a tough 5-4 match I'm not happy with how the match played out and our team attitude. As a team we spend time talking about values -- personal values, team values, core values, gratitude and competition. We work on how we want to look (individually and as a team). We have an expectation of how we want to compete on the court. As a group, as a family we know how we should compete in the face of adversity. Frankly we were a moody, angry group on court and it showed in our results. Is it possible to be disappointed in a 5-4 victory that came down to the last match? I believe I speak for our group when I say yes. Hopefully yesterday's experience will serve to motivate us, inspire us and teach us. I truly believe we have all the tools to be a great team. However if yesterday's performance and attitude is going to be the norm we are in for a long season.

Doubles. Doubles its so important in DIII tennis...not only is it three points but with the pro-set format it is over in a hour. Its a game of confidence and momentum. There is no second or third set to recoup, regroup or reset. Doubles sets the tone for the match. The energy, or lack thereof, carries over to singles. We are used to success in doubles, we are used to having good energy coming out of the doubles. The strength of our team should be doubles. I know we have the skill-set and players to stand toe-to-toe with any DIII team in the nation. So far this season we have aways been playing from behind. Even in our doubles sweep of LCSC we were behind and on the ropes the entire match. Against UC Santa Cruz we were behind but that had numerous opportunities to take a 2-1 or 3-0 lead.

Yesterday was more of the same. Our woes started at #1 doubles. Right out of the blocks Matt was broken -- a couple bad mistakes and they are down after the first game. Later in the match they break back only to immediately get broke back. In their three matches this year Matt and Jeffrey have been down early (sometimes multiple breaks) and are forced to play from behind. Its bad flow and doesn't produce good energy going into singles.

While one doubles was struggling we were rolling at two and three doubles. At number two Quin and Christoph have been playing solid doubles. So far this season they have been serving well and haven't faced much pressure on their serve. In three matches I think they have only been broken once (against UC Santa Cruz). I have no explanation for what happened at three doubles yesterday. Unfortunately Jake re-injuried his wrist and was unable to go on Saturday. However with our team this shouldn't be a problem, we have a plethora of people that can fill in three doubles. I opted to go with Jasper and Conor at that slot. Everything looked great as they raced out to a 5-0 lead in about 15 minutes. They get broken one time and the wheels started to fall off. Instead of shrugging off the break they got mopey and moody. Then they got broke again and they fall apart. The PLU team seized the momentum of the match winning 7-0 in a tie-break.

Not only do we go into the singles down 1-2 but we go into the doubles down 1-2 after falling apart in the doubles. Not a good way to start the singles.

In singles PLU's #1 player showed everyone why he was 2009 NWC Player of the Year by dismantling Matt 6-0, 6-2. PLU's Trudel played some incredible tennis and Matt certainly helped make him look good. Matt didn't play well and is disappointed with his performance. At #6 Jasper shrugs off his doubles performance and wins 6-2, 6-1. At this point the match score is 2-3 and we have won the 1st sets at #2 (Moshevich) 6-1, #3 (Tolman) 7-5, and #4 Bailey (6-0) but lost the 1st at #5 (Fuchs) 4-6.

Moody players and the tide turns...Moshevich, Tolman, and Bailey all drop the 2nd set. Christoph isn't playing well but wins the second set. Jeffrey drops his match 5-7, 6-2, 6-3 and now we are down 2-4 with 3 singles matches in the third set. Props to Moshevich, Bailey and Fuchs for overcoming some shaky tennis and pulling out third sets wins to give us the match 5-4. Moshevich got the ball rolling by winning 6-1, 4-6, 6-3 in the third. Fuchs was up 5-2 in the third but got broke before breaking to win 4-6, 6-4, 6-3. That put Bailey in the spot light in a very streaky match. I'm damn proud of how Bailey overcame a huge mental lapse (lets say he was way up in his match) and momentum shift to win his match. By virtue of Christoph's win the match was tied at 4-4 and Chris was at 3-3 in the 3rd set. At three games all Chris breaks and quickly holds to go up 3-5. The PLU player is starting to cramp and needs a training time-out. At 3-5 Chris has 3 match points and nets a three backhands. PLU holds and regains energy. Hats off to Chris who bombs in three huge first serves and holds at 40-15 to clinch the team match 5-4.

Its days like yesterday that I'm grateful we have a deep roster. Immediately following the PLU match we start against host UPS. No team warm-up or talk just play. For the UPS match we used a completed new set of players (good thing because everyone was physically and emotionally strung out). After watching their teammates struggle through a close match against PLU the guys playing against UPS were fired up and ready to go. They swept through the UPS match without losing a set.

We don't travel again until Spring Break and now have the luxury of time to get down to serious training. Its been a rough few weeks playing the #1 team in the nation, a top 20 NAIA team, and our conference rival. As a team we all felt like yesterday's match gave us a second chance at the season. Yesterday we were a moody bear that just woke out of hibernation. Now we will see what the spring brings!

Friday, February 12, 2010

A Whitman Classic!

A recent update in google buzz made me think about ice blocking so I had to post this video taken in 2000 (I think). During a tennis trip to Boise, ID the team took an afternoon to ice block on JR Simplot's hill. In the video Rick Smith navigates the hill as Nick Dupuis, Eric Bartee and coach provide commentary. A classic!

For those that get the postings via email you might need to visit the tennis blog to view the video.

Update on the "actors" - Eric Bartee completed a PhD in Biology and is living and doing research in Florida, Nick Dupuis recently finished up his PhD in Physical Chemistry from UC Santa Barbara, and Rick Smith completed the Masters in Film Production at Montana State and is currently producing videos projects.

Thursday, February 11, 2010

Getting ready for Tacoma

We open our conference play Saturday 10:30am against PLU and immediately follow with UPS. Both matches will be at the UPS indoor tennis courts.

Kind of interesting that we start off our conference schedule against the same team we played in last year's conference finals -- Pacific Lutheran University. In fact, the past six year's conference finals have been a Whitman vs PLU affair with each team winning three. The past three years we have had a bit of a hot streak against PLU going 8-1 overall and winning the conference title in 2008 and 2009.

Saturday's match should prove to be a great match. PLU is the most experienced team in the conference with four seniors starting in their top six. Two of those seniors (Joel Trudel and Michael Manser) played DI tennis before transferring to PLU. Trudel was undefeated in singles conference play last year and was named 2009 NWC player of the Year. In the fall Trudel teamed with fellow senior Justin Peterson to win the Northwest Regional tournament. They are a very formidable doubles tandem and are currently ranked #3 in the West Region. PLU's other senior, Kevin Floyd, has consistently been one of the best players in the conference. I would expect these four seniors (Trudel, Floyd, Manser, Peterson) to play in the PLU top four. Zach Ah Yat is an athletic, talented sophomore who had a good freshman year playing five for PLU. With a year of experience under his belt he could make a strong bid to play in the top four for PLU. At this point its hard to know since Saturday will be PLU's first match.

We are expecting a very good match from the Lutes. Last year in our three matches against PLU we were able to get the upper hand after the doubles. However, with Trudel/Peterson playing good doubles, racing to an early lead in doubles will be difficult.

Singles should have a number of very good match-ups. In our last match against PLU (conference finals) the Lutes scored their points at #1 singles and #6 singles. They have some quality players at the top of the line-up and certainly have the depth to go along with their experience. Obviously they are a very dangerous team and this match could go down to the wire.

In the afternoon match we are planning on using a second group of players against UPS. Having a roster that is 15 deep gives us plenty of second team options. On paper the Loggers look a bit weaker than last year. Last year they squeaked into the conference tournament and finished sixth. It appears that both George Fox and Pacific are stronger and might push UPS out of the conference tournament.

I'll try to provide twitter updates during the matches.

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Team Preview

Dave Holden, Whitman's incredible SID, posted this preview of our season.

WALLA WALLA, Wash. – The men’s tennis program, the flagship for athletic success at Whitman College for the past decade, has plenty of wind at its sails as it embarks on its latest spring voyage.

If anything, Whitman is riding the waves at a speed a few knots faster than a year ago, when it surfed merrily through a 24-5 season that included a third consecutive undefeated Northwest Conference regular season, a second straight conference tournament title (fourth in 10 years) and a berth in the NCAA Div. III national tournament for the third time in as many years.

Jeff Northam

“If everyone stays healthy, this will be the best team I’ve ever had at Whitman,” says coach Jeff Northam, now in his 16th season at the helm of his alma mater's tennis fortunes.

“We have enough very good players at the top of line-up to compete with some of the best teams in the country. We’re also deep enough that I can throw a bunch of guys into a variety of spots and still be successful. We have a lot of options open to us this year.”

For his squad to reach its full potential, Northam knows that his top four players need to stay healthy. That could be an issue since two of his top four start the season with a question mark next to their names.

“The players at the very top of your line-up are a huge factor in college tennis,” he says.

Senior Matt Solomon, the best of Whitman’s best, is back after having having spent last spring playing NCAA Div. I tennis at Boise State.

Solomon was back on campus last fall and won his third consecutive singles title at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association’s regional tournament.

Solomon, the NWC Player of the Year as a sophomore, and freshman teammate Jeff Tolmanalso came within one victory of winning last fall’s regional doubles title, even though Solomon was nursing a torn stomach muscle that limited his play, his serve in particular.

Matt Solomon

“Matt’s stomach is better at this point,” Northam says. “Once he got through the ITA’s national tournament last fall, he stopped playing to let the injury heal.

"Once he’s back into the daily routine of playing a lot, we’ll see how his health holds up. We may need to hold him back at times and make sure he’s ready for the long run.”

Regardless of the nagging injury possibility, Northam is thrilled to have Solomon -- a four-time ITA All-American -- back after his one-semester hiatus. “Having Matt back for his senior season is very important for our team. He’s been our best player for a few years, and it was tough on everyone when he spent last spring at Boise State.”

“Having said that,” Northam adds, “Matt had a great experience at Boise State, and he returns to us as a much better player. He was on a Boise State team that made the Round of 16 at the NCAA Division I national championships. He played a singles match against Virginia, the No. 1 team in the nation. He played doubles against teams like Pepperdine and Stanford.”

The improvement in Solomon’s game was obvious last fall at the ITA’s Division III national tournament, where he won two matches and lost two close decisions.

Etienne Moshevich

“Matt showed me, himself and everyone else that he can compete with anyone in the nation at the Division III level,” Northam says.

“He was playing that national tournament with about 75 percent of his serve. Because of the injury, he wasn’t able to stay consistent with his serve, or to reach back and hit a big serve when he needed it. Despite those limitations, he was up one or two breaks at times on some of the best players in the nation.”

Whitman’s other pre-existing health concern at the top of the line-up rests on the right shoulder of junior Etienne Moshevich.

“Etienne was playing No. 1 for us to start last season,” Northam notes. “Before he hurt his shoulder, he beat the No. 1 player from the University of Montana, and he had a match point against the University of Chicago’s No. 1, who either made the quarters or semis of the national tournament. He has showed that when he’s healthy he can play with anyone in the nation.”

Moshevich spent his most recent fall semester on foreign study in London.

“Etienne didn’t hit any balls while he was in London, and didn’t start playing again until the semester break,” Northam says. “His shoulder is better, but he can still feel it. We’ll see how his shoulder holds up once he starts playing more.”

Junior Chris Bailey also returns to the top half of the singles line-up.

“Chris played at No. 2 for us last spring as a sophomore, and he faced some very strong players when we played the better teams during Spring Break,” Northam says.

Chris Bailey

“He picked up a lot of high-level experience, which is only going to translate into more success for him this spring. I’m confident that Chris could play anywhere at the top of the line-up this spring and have a successful season.”

“Chris still has a huge upside,” Northam adds. “There are parts of his game that he’s working on. Because he’s such a pure ball striker, he can still make some big strides by continuing sharpen his other skills.”

Jeff Tolman, the best of three freshman on the roster, is the “wild card” at the top of the line-up, Northam says. “There were times in the ITA tournament last fall, which we hosted here on campus, when Jeff played some of the best tennis that’s ever been played on our campus. The guy has big shots; he brings a lot of tools to the court.

“I’m excited to see how Jeff develops in his first season. I’m convinced he can also play with anyone in the country.”

Many players at the Division III level rely in part on “keeping balls in play and outlasting their opponents,” Northam says. “Tolman on the other hand has weapons all over the place. When he’s playing well, it can be lights out for his opponent.”

Jeff Tolman

As a freshman last fall, Northam says, Tolmon "went deep into the singles bracket and beat the defending conference player of the year, an older senior who is a very good player, who had played Division I tennis earlier in his career, and who didn’t lose a singles match in our conference last spring. Jeffrey certainly has the tools to play at the top of our line-up, wherever we choose to play him."

If his top four stays steady and healthy, Northam enjoys an embarrassment of riches in terms of his options at No. 5 and No. 6 singles.

“We have a bunch of guys who can easily play at No. 5 and No. 6, and in the higher spots if and when we want them to do that,” Northam says.

At the top of the list is senior Christoph Fuchs, one of the bigger hitters on the squad.

Fuchs, who wasn’t in school last fall, is an Academic All-American who has his degree requirements all but finished. “Christoph is back with the goal of helping us be more successful at the national level,” Northam says. “He’s a big, strong guy with a big serve and great volleys. He’s certainly one of the guys who can play singles for us.

Doubles duo: Quin Miller (left), Christoph Fuchs

“We’ve been to the national tournament in each of the past three years, and Christoph has been part of each of those teams. He has a lot of experience.”

Jake Cappel, also a senior, missed last fall’s ITA tournament with an injury but is back on the court to start the spring season.

“Jake was also a major player on our last three national tournament teams,” Northam says. “Some guys can make huge strides during their senior season and take their games to another level. We think that could be the case with Jake. He’s part of a talented senior class that has a ton of experience and leadership ability.”

Nadeem Kassam, a senior who earned ITA All-American honors early in his Whitman career, made a “strong progression with his singles game last spring,” Northam says. “He’s always been a very talented doubles player, but he’s ready to push for those top six spots in singles.

Jake Cappel

“Nadeem has also played on all of our conference championship and national tournament teams,” Northam says. “He’s another guy who very much wants to end his college career on a strong note.”

Rounding out the powerful senior class are lefty David Deming and righties Jasper Follows and Thomas Roston.

“No matter where we play David, he tends to be successful,” Northam says. “We play him at No. 1 in some conference matches, and he wins and stays very consistent. He’s a bulldog on the court, and he’s always there as an option for a strong singles line-up.”

Follows is another player with a track record of success in singles and doubles. “Jasper was in and out of the top six last spring,” Northam says. “He’s also a very good doubles player who has played in the national tournament in doubles.”

Roston strengthened his claim for court time last spring. “Thomas elevated his game a year ago and has carried that into this season,” Northam says. “He realizes now that he doesn’t always have to play big. He also has a lot of tools -- drop shots, a slice, different shots. He can play a more unconventional style at times and be successful with it.”

Nadeem Kassam

At last fall’s regional tournament, Roston posted a straight-set victory over one of the top players from Pacific Lutheran before losing 7-6 in the third set to teammate Chris Bailey. “It’s good to know that Thomas can compete with the best players on our team,” Northam says.

Whitman’s junior class includes Quin Miller, a left-hander with the skills to challenge for a top-six spot in singles.

“Quin is a very good athlete who keeps getting better all the time,” Northam says. “His play might reach the moon by the end of this season. He works incredibly hard. His progression over the past few years has been astounding. He played No. 2 doubles and No. 6 singles in the national tournament last year, so we know what he can do.”

Miller also bested some of the top players in the conference a year ago.

“There’s still a huge upside with Quin,” Northam says. “He's very athletic and has a lot of tools. He’s another one of our guys who has had good success against very good players.”

Northam also raves about his two sophomores, Adriel Borshansky and Conor Holton-Burke.

David Deming

“Adriel played No. 6 for us at the conference championship tournament, and he also had some big wins during Spring Break against teams like Chicago, DePauw and Carleton, all of them top-15 teams at the national level.

“When he’s in the line-up, I have faith that Adriel can hold his own. He’s a total gamer. He loves to compete. He had some of our team’s biggest individual wins last season.”

Holton-Burke was starting to make his mark by the end of his freshman season last spring.

“Conor was playing as well as anyone at that point,” Northam says. “He’s a very hard worker, on and off the court. He’s the true scholar-athlete. He maintains a top-notch grade point average at a school where that isn't easy to do, and he still spends as much time as possible working on his tennis game. He loves to compete and he loves to battle.

“By the end of last season, if our team wasn’t as deep as it was, Conor would have been playing consistently in our top six. At the ITA tournament last fall, he beat one of the better players in our conference, and then lost to Matt in the quarterfinals. Conor is a big kid with a big serve and a big forehand, and he moves well on the court.”

Jasper Follows

In addition to Tolman, the Missionary roster includes two more freshmen, Matt Tesmond and Sam Sadeghi.

“We’ll find out more this season, but both Matt and Sam had success at the regional tournament last fall,” Northam says. “Sam beat the No. 2 player from Pacific Lutheran, and Matt beat the No. 1 player from Whitworth. The fall tournament is early, but it’s nice to know both Matt and Sam can play with some of the best players in our conference.”

Whitman got an early jump to its season in late January, splitting a pair of matches with Lewis-Clark State, an NAIA powerhouse, and UC-Santa Cruz, the defending NCAA Div. III national champion.

Whitman starts the NWC regular season on Saturday, Feb. 13, with matches at Pacific Lutheran and Puget Sound.

“The conference as a whole is better and more competitive than ever,” Northam says. “PLU has five seniors who have a lot of experience. As freshmen, they were part of a team that won the conference title. So, the Lutes have good talent and leadership.

“Linfield is always going to be a good, well coached team. Both Whitworth and Willamette – especially Willamette – made huge jumps this year. Willamette is going to be a spooky, dangerous team.”

Thomas Roston

With a deep roster, Whitman will continue its recent practice of dividing its roster in two and playing two matches on the same day, sometimes in different cities. “It’s a good way to keep all of our guys sharp and competitive,” Northam says.

One of the goals for this year’s team is to pick off more wins against nationally-ranked teams during Spring Break, and to hopefully qualify and then advance further into the national tournament.

“It’s never going to be easy to advance past our region,” Northam says. “Three years ago we lost to DePauw, a top-eight team. Two years ago, we lost to Claremont, which was a top three team at the time. And last year we lost to Santa Cruz, which went on to win the national championship.

“If our very best players stay healthy this spring, maybe this is the year we make the jump and go deeper into the national tournament. That’s what we’d like to do.”

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Yellow Jersey -- Jasper Follows

The Yellow Jersey has changed hands! The team gave the leader jersey to senior Jasper Follows. Jasper is a senior from Vancouver, BC who is currently in the process of applying to Canadian DDS schools. Last year he had an unblemished record of 18-0 and is off to a strong start this year. In our first matches of the year he and partner Jake Cappel defeated the #3 doubles team from UC Santa Cruz (#1 team in NCAA III) and LCSC (a nationally ranked NAIA program).

The members of the team that nominated Jasper all spoke of how well he competed during last weekend's inter-team matches. We all appreciate Jasper's hard work on/off the court and his infectious smile!

Well earned!

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Yellow Jersey Winner - Christoph Fuchs

The leader of the second stage of our journey is Christoph Fuchs. Christoph is a senior from LaCenter, WA who transferred to Whitman after his freshman year at U of Portland. Academically Christoph is one of the top students in his class and last year was elected to Phi Beta Kappa.

For the past couple years Christoph has been a mainstay in our doubles line-up and this weekend he had the opportunity to play #4 against LCSC and UCSC. The guys that nominated Christoph all noted his tenacity on court. In both his singles matches this weekend he lost the 1st set 2-6. However he was able to make some changes to his game plan and won in three sets against LCSC and lost in a tight second tiebreaker against UCSC. Others also noted the extra time he spends in the weight room and on court. Well earned! Another teammate noted how positive he was on the court and how much he supported those playing around him.

Christoph flying out to Baylor this weekend to interview for Medical school. If you see him on campus make sure to wish him well!