Day 2 of the ITA Small College Championships

It was a tough day for Matt and Etienne losing 6-2, 6-2 to the top team from Middlebury. The Middlebury duo came out strong and played very solid doubles the entire match. It is easy to see why Middlebury is consistently one of the top NCAA III programs in the nation. Next up for Matt and ET is the #1 team from Claremont who lost in a tight match-breaker to the tournaments #1 seeds.

ITA Update

Hello from the deep South. Yesterday was the opening day of the ITA Small College Championships sponsored by USTA and Outback steak house in Mobile, AL. Yesterday was the play-in match between PNW and TX. The winner of these play-in matches advance to the final eight and are guaranteed 3 more matches.

Sophomore Matt Solomon opened the day with a tough 6-4, 6-4 loss to Trinity #1 Oliver Gaines. Hats off to the Gaines -- he played well and served incredibly well the entire match. In fact at one point he bombed in 14 straight serves (yes I was counting) never giving Matt a whiff to break serve. End the end Gaines had a bit too much experience and was able to close out the match. For reference last year Gaines played #1 for the 6th ranked Trinity team.

In doubles Matt and Etienne showed a lot of poise coming back from an early break in the first set. It is strange how momentum works in sports and I sometimes this is no more evident than in college doubles. After being down a break 3-2 in the first Matt and ET fought back and leveled the match at 4-4. At 4-4 ET served a great game overcoming 3 huge winners (two off of returns) by the Trinity team to hold for a 5-4 lead. At 5-4 ET and Matt played a solid return game and finally won the set on their 3rd set point. At this point the Trinity team got down on themselves and the Whitties races out to a 4-0 lead (winning 6 straight games). In that set Matt and ET were broke once but were able to take the second set 6-3.

This afternoon Matt and ET faces the #1 team from highly ranked Middlebury. Those that want to keep abreast of all the draws can do so at the official tournament webpage

ITA Wrap Up

Things are certainly looking up for the Whitman netters. The ITA Regional tournament wrapped up with 4 Whitman singles players in the semi's and 2 Whitman doubles teams in the finals.

Both the singles semi-finals were amazing battles that lasted well over three hours. In semi #1 Freshman Chris Bailey defeated Sophomore Jake Cappel 6-4 in the 3rd set. And in semi #2 Sophomore Matt Solomon defeated Freshman Etienne Moshevich 7-5 in the 3rd. In the singles finals Matt defeated Chris 7-5, 6-2. The doubles final was another incredibly close match with Matt/Etienne narrowly defeating Jake/Nadeem 9-8.

Obviously this was a special weekend for Whitman tennis as we placed 12 players into the final 16, 7 players into the final 8 and 4 players into the semi's. In fact, in the singles draw only one person lost to a non Whitman player! This is an amazing accomplishment since the NWC conference is much stronger than in previous years.

Matt (singles) and Matt/Etienne (doubles) will now represent the PNW region at the ITA Small College championship Oct 10-14 in Mobile, AL.

Here is a link to some pictures from the weekend.

WOW!

The good (great) fortunate of the Missionary Netters continued through the second day of the PNW/ITA Regional Tournament. Going into the 2nd day of the tournament we had placed 12 guys into the final 16. On Saturday we placed 7 into the final 8 and 4 into the final 4! Our good fortunate doesn't stop there as we also have 2 doubles teams in the final!

Here are the results from Saturday
Round of 16
Chris Bailey (FR) defeated #1 seed Kevin Floyd (#1 PLU) 6-3, 6-2
Jake Cappel (SO) defeated #9 seed Mike Manser (#3 PLU) 7-5, 6-1
ET Moshevic (FR) defeated #14 seed Nick Ruess (Linfield) 6-3, 6-3
Christoph Fuchs (JR) lost to #3 seed Justin Larimore (#2 PLU) 6-3, 3-6, 6-3
Matt Solomon (SO) defeated teammate Robert Rye (SR)
Jasper Follows (SO) defeated teammate David Deming (SO)
Quin Miller (FR) defeated teammate Dan Wilson (SO)
Nadeem Kassam (SO) defeated teammate Justin Hayashi (JR)
Round of 8
Bailey defeated Follows
Cappel defeated Miller
Moshevic defeated Larimore 6-2, 7-6
Solomon defeated Kassam

In doubles Matt/ET defeated the #1 team from Willamette 8-5 and the #1 team from Linfield 8-5 to make the finals. Meanwhile Jake/Nadeem defeated a Linfield team 8-2 and the #2 seeds Larimore/Peterson (#1 PLU) 8-3.

Singles starts at 9am today with:
Jake vs Chris
Matt vs ET

The doubles finals will follow the singles final with Matt/ET vs Jake/Nadeem

ITA Regionals

What a great day to be a Missionary! Yesterday was the first day of the PNW/ITA Regional Tournament at Linfield College. This event is somewhat unique in college tennis in that all the players are thrown into one large draw and they duke it out regardless of position on a team. This isa great opportunity for guys lower on a team's ladder to showcase their skills. Just let me say that ALL the Whitman guys made the most of this opportunity. We were fortunate enough to get 12 players into the 64 draw and going into the round of 16 all 12 Whitties are still playing! That is right, 12 of the last 16 players in the draw are from Whitman!

Highlights from day one include:
Jasper Follows defeating the #5 seed (#1 from Linfield) 10-5 in a third set breaker
Nadeem Kassam defeating a very good #6 seed (#1 from Willamette) 10-4 in a third set breaker
Christoph Fuchs defeated the #9 seed (#1 from Whitworth) and has won both his matches in straight sets
Robert Rye hasn't dropped a set including defeating the #13 seed (#4 from PLU) 6-4, 7-6
Quin Miller rolled through both his matches defeating the #12 seed (#2 from Willamette) 6-3, 6-3
ET Moshevich has only dropped 4 games in 2 matches
David Deming won both his matches including defeating the #16 seed (#2 from Whitworth) 6-3, 6-3
Justin Hayashi gutting his way through 2 tough matches winning 1-6, 7-6 (6), 10-8 and then 6-4, 7-6
Chris Bailey rolled through his first matches and now plays the #1 seed
Matt Solomon played well winning his first two matches 6-0, 6-0 and then 6-0, 6-3
Jake Cappel won his first two matches 6-3, 6-0 and 6-0, 6-2
Dan Wilson motored through his first matches without dropping a set

In doubles we placed three teams into the final eight: Matt/ET, Jake/Nadeem and David/Dan

Todays match-ups are
Chris vs #1 seed Kevin Floyd (PLU)
Jake vs #9 seed Michael Manser (PLU)
Christoph vs #3 seed Matt Larimore (PLU)
ET vs #15 seed Nick Ruess (Linfield)

The rest of the matches are Whitman vs Whitman matches
Jasper vs David
Dan vs Quin
Justin vs Nadeem
Matt vs Robert

Match Stats

On the main blog page I added links (they are on the right side) for match stats for the 2006-2007 year and updated career match stats (since 1995). Both of these lists are sortable in a number of different ways including wins, losses, tiebreaks, and third sets.

If you receive this update via email you can find the Whitman Tennis Blog at http://whitmantennis.blogspot.com

Team Grades

Just wanted to a brag a bit and let everyone know the Whitman Men's Tennis GPA was over a 3.4 last semester! Quite an accomplishment when you consider the overall caliber of Whitman student body. Also 6 players achieve above a 3.7 GPA while only 2 players were below a 3.0.

Great job to everyone on the team!

Looks like I will be stringing more rackets next semester. I have a standing bet with the team that if they (as a team) achieve over a 3.2 GPA I will string their rackets the following semester.

Happy 4th of July to everyone!

Awards Awards Awards

Year-end team and player awards!

All Conference Awards
1st Team All Conference
Phalkun Mam
Steven Ly
Robbie Munday

2nd Team All Conference
Matt Solomon

NWC MVP
Phalkun Mam

Whitman College Awards
Outstanding Freshman Male Athlete
Matt Solomon

Outstanding Senior Male Athlete
Phalkun Mam

Borleske Trophy Winner (outstanding male senior athlete and leadership award)
Steven Ly

George Ball Sportsmanship Award (team award)
Men's Tennis

Coach of the Year
Jeff Northam

ITA Regional Awards
ITA/Arthur Ashe JR. Award for Leadership & Sportsmanship
Robbie Munday

Team Awards
Team Captains
Steven Ly, Phalkun Mam, Robbie Munday

Team MVP
Phalkun Mam

Most Inspirational
Steven Ly

Rookie of the Year
Matt Solomon

Most Improved
Dan Wilson

End of the Season for the Whitties

Sorry I didn't write a post after our final match against Depauw. Doing a recap of our last match would mean the season was actually over -- something I hoped would never happen. It also means that my time with Kenji, Steven, Robbie and Phalkun is officially over. It has been an absolute pleasure and honor to have gotten to know these four outstanding men.

Against Depauw we got off to a horrible start in the doubles. The tigers came out firing and quickly went up breaks in all the doubles matches. The #8 ranked Tigers used that momentum to sweep all three doubles in convincing fashion -- #1 8-4, #2 8-3, #3 8-2.

In singles we played much better and, for the most part, played Depauw about even (the scores don't reflect how close the match was). At number #1 singles Phalkun regained his early season form playing some great ball. Phalkun came out firing quickly going up a set against the #6 ranked player in the nation. This was a very entertaining match to watch as both players cracked huge forehand after huge forehand. In the end Phalkun lost 2-6, 6-3, 6-4.

At #2 Steven was playing aggressive tennis and quickly went up a break in the 1st set. Steven served for the 1st at 5-4 but the Depauw player rallied and pushed the 1st set into a tiebreaker. In that breaker Steven went down 6-0 but won the next 5 points in a row to make the score 6-5. On the his 6th set point the Depauw player was finally able to clinch the set. In the second set Steven fought hard and played pretty well. Unfortunately the Depauw player pressed his advantage and never let Steven back into the match winning 7-6, 6-0.

Robbie's match at #3 was also very tight. Like heavy weight champions both players traded blow after blow. Both players were equally matched and only a couple points made the difference in the match. Because the team match was finished they played a 10-point breaker for the match. Robbie ended up being on the short end of that tiebreaker losing 6-4, 4-6, 10-7

At #4 Matt played perhaps the best #4 player in DIII tennis (he lost only 2 matches all year). His opponent was very quick, rarely missed and possessed pin-point passing shots. I was very impressed with Matt in this match and even though he lost in straight sets I feel he played one of most complete matches of the year. Early in the match Matt was being patient, setting up points and then going after big forehands. Although he had some success, his opponent was playing 8-10 feet behind the baseline and was running EVERYTHING down. Matt made a couple brilliant tactically adjustments: he served and volleyed more often, he started opening up the court with shorter angles and even hit some drop shots to mix up the play. Each set was decided by only 1 break with Matt losing 6-4, 6-3.

The most pleasant surprise in singles was Jake at #5 who pulled our only team point with a 6-3, 6-3 win. The surprise in this match was how quickly Jake pulled his game together after doubles. Jake would be the first to admit that he played horrible in the doubles. I was very nervous that his tight played would carry over into the singles. To Jake's credit he turned around his play and quickly dismantled his opponent (he was the 1st singles match off the court).

At #6 Dan played well but couldn't find an answer for his opponent's unconventional style of play. I've seen players with good slice backhands but I've never seen a player with a devastating slice forehand. Dan's opponent took the ball early off both slides and more that not sliced the ball keeping out of Dan's strike zone. He possessed a pin-point lob that always seemed to land on the baseline. Although unconventional, the Depauw player has been very effective all season long only dropping 2 matches in the entire season. Dan played and competed very well but ended up losing 6-3, 6-4.

Even though the final match score was 8-1 the match was close down to the wire. At one point in the match Jake was closing out his match, Phalkun was up a set, Steven was serving for the first set, and the other matches were on serve. The 3-0 lead after the doubles gave the Depauw team a wide cushion and never allowed them to feel any pressure in the singles.

Doubles

No. 1 -- Webeler/Swanson (DePauw) def. Mam/Solomon: 8-4
No. 2 -- Jeff Zanchelli/Keith (DePauw) def. Monday/Fuchs: 8-3
No. 3 -- Heck/Sandager (DePauw) def. Ly/Cappel: 8-2

Singles

No. 1 -- Evan Webeler (DePauw) def. Phalkun Mam: 2-6, 6-3, 6-4
No. 2 -- Kortney Keith (DePauw) def. Steven Ly: 7-6 (7-5), 6-0
No. 3 -- Scott Swanson (DePauw) def. Robbie Munday: 6-4, 4-6, 1-0 (10-7)
No. 4 -- Brian Heck (DePauw) def. Matt Solomon: 6-4, 6-3
No. 5 -- Jake Cappel (Whitman) def. Scott Sandager: 6-3, 6-3
No. 6 -- Scott Sauer (DePauw) def. Dan Wilson: 6-3, 6-4

Whitties make sweet 16!

We played perhaps our best match of the year defeating Albion 8-1 in the 2nd round of the NCAA III championships. Honestly we felt lucky just make the tournament -- after losing in the conference championships our season appeared to be over. However the NCAA III committee gave us a second chance and gave us an at-large birth into the national tournament. We view this as our shot at redemption and are playing like we have something to prove.

Although we didn't know much about Albion we did have a common opponent in Kalamazoo College. During our spring break trip we narrowly defeated Kalamazoo 5-4. Albion split their two matches with K-college during the year. Based on these results we knew it would be a good match.

We have been a bit flat in doubles so we decided to try some new doubles combinations. Matt and Phalkun played well at Ojai last weekend so we kept them together at #1 doubles. Robbie and Christoph haven't lost a doubles match since early March so they stayed at #2 doubles. To round out the line-up we put Steven and Jake together at #3 doubles.

The new doubles combinations certainly payed off today. We cruised to very quick wins at #2 and #3. At #2 Robbie and Christoph continued their strong play winning 8-1 (they have won 10 in a row). At #3 Jake and Steven got broke the first game and then won 8 of the last 9 games to win 8-2. We did drop #1 doubles 8-4 but Matt and Phalkun played pretty well.

The momentum from doubles spilled over to the singles were we won the first set in all the matches. Dan was the first off with a 6-1, 6-2 victory at #6. Steven quickly followed with a 6-4 6-1 win at #2. Phalkun sealed the match victory with a convincing 6-2, 6-2 win at #1 singles. At #4 Matt was on fire going up 6-1, 4-1 but then stumbled a bit dropping the second set in a tie-break. Since the team match was decided he played a match breaker for the 3rd winning 10-3. Jake made the singles sweep complete with a solid 7-6, 6-2 victory.

Tomorrow we play host #8 Depauw. I like how we played and competed today -- the match tomorrow should be a good battle!

Match Scores
Doubles

No. 1 -- Forster/Vandenberg (Albion) def. Mam/Solomon: 8-4
No. 2 -- Monday/Fuchs (Whitman) def. Still/Marshall: 8-1
No. 3 -- Ly/Cappel (Whitman) def. Lulek/Miller: 8-2

Singles

No. 1 -- Phalkun Mam (Whitman) def. Neil Forster: 6-2, 6-2
No. 2 -- Steven Ly (Whitman) def. Jon Vandenberg: 6-4, 6-1
No. 3 -- Robbie Munday (Whitman) def. Brandon Still: 6-3, 6-4
No. 4 -- Matt Solomon (Whitman) def. Nate Marshall: 6-1, 6-7 (7-4), 1-0 (10-3)
No. 5 -- Jake Cappel (Whitman) def. Ben Miller: 7-6 (7-4), 6-2
No. 6 -- Dan Wilson (Whitman) def. Andrew Lulek: 6-1, 6-2

All Conference Honors

The Whitman senior trio of Phalkun Mam, Steven Ly and Robbie Munday were all named to the 2007 NWC All-Conference first team. Freshman standout Matt Solomon also made All-Conference honors being named to the second team.

Also by vote of the coaches, Phalkun Mam was named NWC MVP!

Official Press Release

Live Scoring at the NCAA's

Our match(es) in Depauw will feature live scoring via the web. Friends, parents and fans can keep track of our progress by visiting the Depauw tennis page

Our first match is Saturday 2pm vs Albion.

NCAA Bound!

Looks like we will traveling to Greencastle, IN (Depauw) for the first 3 rounds of the NCAA III Tournament! Since we didn't win our conference tournament we had to wait until late Monday afternoon to know if we received a bid into the tournament. Our #12 ranking and strength of schedule got us into the tournament and earned us the #2 seed in the Depauw bracket.

We are fortunate not only to make the tournament but also to play out of the West region. DIII is a bit different than DI tournaments in that it is based around regional play. If a school resides within 500 of a host site they are required to play at that site. That means the West region is a nightmare -- the #1 (UC Santa Cruz) and #2 (CMS) teams in the nation both have to play in West regional tournament. Too bad because only one of these teams will make it to the final 8. Additionally, the other teams in this bracket are forced to play two of the best teams in the nation.

Think good thoughts for us this weekend!

The Ojai

Over the weekend Matt Solomon and Phalkun Mam represented Whitman in the 107 Ojai tournament. The only way to describe this tournament is "amazing". The tournament has over 1,500 participants spread across divisions ranging from juniors to men's open. Ojai has a great structure for the tournament. Because of the large number of participants matches start in outlying areas and as players progress through the tournament they move into Ojai.

In singles Phalkun didn't play so well and lost 6-4, 6-2 to a lower UCSC player. I know he was disappointed to make such a long trip only to go out in the first round. Matt faired a bit better defeating Billy Kingsbourgh of Redlands before falling to the #3 (Mikey Lim) from CMS. In that match Matt served for the first set 5-4 -- unfortunately after he got broke the wheels came off and he lost 7-5, 6-1.

Doubles was a pleasant surprise. Matt and Phalkun have maybe played together once all year so we didn't have any idea how they would do together. Turns out they played some of the best doubles of the year. In their first match they defeated the #2 team from Cal Lutheran 8-5. In their second match they defeated the #4 seed and #4 team in the region (Redlands #1) 9-8. In the quarters they lost to the eventually finalist (Pybas and Liberty-Point of UCSC) 9-8.

Their strong play gives us something to build on if we make the national tournament this weekend. Selections are later today. Hopefully I will post with some good news later tonight!

Whitties Fall in Conference Finals

Unfortunately our dreams of a National Tournament invite were squashed at the hands of PLU. We went into the conference tournament as the #1 seed going undefeated in conference play and defeated PLU twice during the year 7-2 and 5-4. We made it into the finals by defeating #5 seed Willamette who earlier upset #4 seed UPS.

In the Championship match we didn't play our best tennis and PLU played perhaps their best match of the year. We started off in trouble going down 1-2 after the doubles. Our only win in doubles was a 9-8 victory at #2 doubles (Robbie and Christoph). In #1 and #3 doubles we had many chances to break serve and take the lead but couldn't convert the much needed points. About half way through the opening sets we had a total of 11 break points between #1 and #3 doubles but couldn't convert a single one of them.

Even though we were down after the doubles we had our chances in singles. Things actually looked pretty good when we won the first set in 4 of the matches. The Lutes, however, battled hard and ended up winning two of those matches.

Any shot at the national tournament is now out of hands. There are 7 at large bids for the tournament and we are hoping to get one of those spots. For the most part we had a spotless record going 23-7 on the year with our only losses being to 3 DI schools and 3 top 10 NCAA III schools and our BLACK SATURDAY match against PLU.

Match scores

Doubles

No. 1 -- Miller/Larimore (PLU) def. Mam/Ly: 8-6
No. 2 -- Monday/Fuchs (Whitman) def. Loranger/Peterson: 9-7
No. 3 -- Floyd/Vidano (PLU) def. Solomon/Nadeem Kassam: 8-5

Singles

No. 1 -- David Miller (PLU) def. Phalkun Mam: 4-6, 7-5, 6-3
No. 2 -- Steven Ly (Whitman) def. Kevin Floyd: 6-2, 6-2
No. 3 -- Jeff Loranger (PLU) def. Robbie Munday: 4-6, 6-2, 6-4
No. 4 -- Justin Larimore (PLU) def. Matt Solomon: 6-3, 7-5
No. 5 -- Justin Peterson (PLU) def. Christoph Fuchs: 6-1, 6-2
No. 6 -- Jake Cappel (Whitman) def. Jared Vidano: 6-2, 6-3

Conference Tournament!

This weekend is the NWC Tennis Championships at the Yakima Tennis Club in Yakima, WA. With our undefeated conference schedule we earned the #1 seed and a 1st round bye. Our first match will be at 12:30pm vs the winner of #4 UPS/#5 Willamette. If win our semi-finals match the finals will be Saturday at noon.

Directions to YTC

Whitties get washed out, defeat Pacific, fall to DI Gonzaga

Saturday we broke the team into WhittieA and WhittieB for matches against conference opponent Pacific (at home), DI Eastern WA (Cheney), and DI Gonzaga (Spokane).

Before leaving for his medical school interview at Minnesota, Coach Brad was able to get WhittieB past Pacific 9-0. With the victory over Pacific we finished the regular season undefeated in the conference! It also means we go into next weekends conference tournament as the #1 seed.

WhittieA didn't fare as well as our counterparts back at home. We were part way through the first sets of the singles (we started with singles because of the weather) when the rain washed out the match. Unfortunately the rain out canceled one of the the most anticipated singles matches of the year between Phalkun and his younger brother Panharra. Panharra has had a great year for EWU defeating the #1 players from both Portland and Oregan. He is also closing in on EWU all-time single season win record. It is refreshing to see two brothers compete against each other showing both love and grace. Hats off to the Mam family for having such a special family!

The rain pushed our 1:30pm match against DI Gonzaga back to 7:00pm. Although Gonzaga gave us a good 5-1 thumping I felt we played well. Because of lack of court space and the late hour we started with singles. Freshman Jake Cappel played a brilliant match posting a 6-3, 6-1 victory at #6 singles. Even though the team score was 5-1 both Phalkun (#1) and Matt (#3) lost in 3rd set match breakers and Christoph lost a very tight match at #4. We were also playing without Robbie (normally #3) who is at the National Undergraduate Conference presenting the research from his thesis.

Big kudo's Coach Dreves (EWU) and Coach MacDonald (Gonzaga). Both these coaches have done an amazing job with their respective programs -- keep up the good work! Along with Coach Hart at WSU and the amazing Coach Fong at LCSC, the Eastern WA area boasts some very good college tennis teams!

WhittieA travels to Moscow, ID to take on the DI Vandals at 3pm today.

Match Scores
Pacific
Doubles
1) Deming/Wilson def Kai-Corpuz/Ford 8-2
2) Roston/Bennett def Honda/Forgey 8-2
3) Zippel/Strait win by default

Singles
1) David Deming def Josh Kai-Corpuz 6-0, 6-0
2) Dan Wilson def Ryan Ford 6-0, 6-0
3) Thomas Roston def Brett Honda 6-0, 6-0
4) Reid Bennett def Nick Forgey 6-0, 6-0
5) Kenji Strait def Alex Taimano 6-0, 6-0
6) Seth Zippel wins by default

Gonzaga
Singles
1) Phalkun Mam lost Bryce Cooper 6-4, 5-7, 10-8
2) Steven Ly lost Roman Dojcak 6-2, 6-1
3) Matt Solomon lost Brett Womack 6-4, 6-7, 10-6
4) Christoph Fuchs Lost Marco Pineda 7-6, 6-4
5) Nadeem Kassam lost Zack Radetsky 6-1, 6-1
6) Jake Cappel def Charles Adams 6-3, 6-1

Mam sets All-Time win mark, Netters go 3-0

First off let me apologize for the briefness of this article. Its a beautiful Sunday morning so I'm heading up to the mountain to follow my other passion -- fly fishing!

Historic weekend for the Whitties. We went 3-0 over the weekend sweeping conference opponents George Fox, Whitworth and Lewis-Clark College. This improves improves our team record to 21-4 and 15-0 in the conference. Although we still have one conference left, against Pacific, we have locked up the #1 seed in the conference tournament. Additionally breaking the 20 match barrier in DIII is an amazing accomplishment. In DIII tennis teams are limited to 20 "dates" of competition (multiple matches on a single day count as one date). I believe we are the first DIII team this year to break the 20 win mark.

Over the weekend Phalkun broke Whitman's All-Time win record and currently stands at 151 wins. It will be interesting to see how many more wins Phalkun can get this season. We take next weekend off and then have three matches against DI schools followed by our conference tournament. If Phalkun and/or the team qualifies for post-season play he might be able to stretch his wins into the 160's!

Nice article about Phalkun and the team on the front page of the Walla Walla Union Bulletion.

Match Scores
George Fox

No. 1 -- Mam/Ly (Whitman) def. Pearson/Jenness: 8-0
No. 2 -- Munday/Fuchs (Whitman) def. Ovenell/Vargas: 8-3
No. 3 -- Solomon/Hayashi (Whitman) def. McKenzie/Schulz: 8-3

Singles

No. 1 -- Phalkun Mam (Whitman) def. Kyle Pearson: 6-0, 6-1
No. 2 -- Steven Ly (Whitman) def. Mac Ovenell: 6-2, 6-0
No. 3 -- Robbie Munday (Whitman) def. Nick Jenness: 6-2, 6-0
No. 4 -- Matt Solomon (Whitman) def. Ralf Schulz: 6-1, 6-2
No. 5 -- Christoph Fuchs (Whitman) def. Jordon Vargas: 6-0, 6-0
No. 6 -- Dan Wilson (Whitman) def. Shawn McKenzie: 6-0

Lewis Clark

Doubles

No. 1 -- Mam/Ly (Whitman) def. Lindsay/Wheeler: 8-1
No. 2 -- Munday/Rye (LC) def. Allen/Ray: 8-0
No. 3 -- Justin Hayashi/Strait (Whitman) def. Moller/Matthias Kullowatz: 8-2

Singles

No. 1 -- Phalkun Mam (Whitman) def. George Allen: 6-3, 6-2
No. 2 -- Steven Ly (Whitman) def. David Lindsay: 6-0, 6-1
No. 3 -- Robbie Munday (Whitman) def. Luke Wheeler: 6-1, 6-2
No. 4 -- Thomas Roston (Whitman) def. Peter Ray: 6-0, 6-1
No. 5 -- Robert Rye (Whitman) def. Andrew Moller: 6-2, 6-3
No. 6 -- Kenji Strait (Whitman) def. Tom Youmans: 6-0, 6-3

Whitworth

Doubles

No. 1 -- Solomon/Kassam (Whitman) def. Anegon/Bourne: 8-2
No. 2 -- Jasper Follows/Cappel (Whitman) def. Carlson/Donnell: 8-6
No. 3 -- Fuchs/Wilson (Whitman) def. Storm/Abelar: 8-2

Singles

No. 1 -- Matt Solomon (Whitman) def. Ed Anegon: 6-2, 6-4
No. 2 -- Christoph Fuchs (Whitman) def. Scott Donnell: 6-1, 6-3
No. 3 -- David Deming (Whitman) def. Michael Carlson: 5-7, 6-0, 1-0 (10-4)
No. 4 -- Nadeem Kassam (Whitman) def. Scott Bourne: 6-2, 6-1
No. 5 -- Dan Wilson (Whitman) def. Colin Storm: 6-2, 6-1
No. 6 -- Jake Cappel (Whitman) def. Austin Abelar: 6-0, 6-2

Matches this weekend, Senior Day, Mam poised to break record

Busy weekend on tap for the Missionaries. On Friday we take on conference opponent George Fox @4pm at the outdoor courts (indoors if rains). On Saturday we are breaking into two teams to play Lewis Clark College 3pm at home and 3pm against Whitworth in Spokane.

The George Fox match on Friday is our senior day. This will be the last time the current seniors will play a home match together. Before Friday's match we will celebrate their accomplishments and their legacy to the tennis program. This year we graduate three amazing student athletes.

Steven Ly a Biology Major from Gresham, OR is currently 26-12 on the year and has a career record of 130-83. Steven has participated in the NCAA III team tournament in '04 and NCAA III Singles tournament in '06. He is currently the 6th ranked singles player in the West Region and is #4 in doubles with partner Phalkun Mam.

Steven has been named to the NWC All-Conference team each of the past 3 seasons. In '06 he was also named the NWC Most Valuable Player. He has been named Whitman College's outstanding Freshman, Sophomore, and Junior Athlete. Steven is the only athlete at Whitman College to have received the Outstanding Athlete Award in three consecutive years.

Robbie Munday a Biochemistry, Biophysics and Molecular Biology Major from Okanagan Falls, BC currently ranks #3 on Whitman's All-Time win list. Robbie participated in the NCAA III team tournament in '04 and has been named to the NWC All-Conference 1st team in '04 and 2nd team in '06. Robbie's record for the year is 25-10 and 139-75 for his career.

Robbie is a true scholar athlete. He was recognized by ESPN the Magazine, making the All-Region All-Academic team. He was Whitman College's Organic Chemistry Student of the Year and placed in the 98th percentile on the national Organic Chemistry exam.

Phalkun Mam a Philosophy major from Salem, OR is poised to set Whitman College's All-Time win record. Phalkun has an amazing 33-12 record on the year and a career record of 147-78. He is only 2 matches behind current record holder Tim Mullin (also from Salem, OR).

In the Fall, Phalkun won the ITA West Region Singles Championships which qualified him as an NCAA All-American. He is currently ranked #4 in the NCAA III national rankings and #4 in the West Region doubles rankings. Phalkun was also a member of the '04 team that qualified for the NCAA team tournament. He has been named the NWC All-Conference 1st team twice and a member of the 2nd team once.

If you are in Walla Walla Friday I hope you will drop by the courts to watch these three outstanding young men play one of their final matches on the Whitman courts.

Whitties down WI Oshkosh, #13 Kalamazoo lose to #16 Bowdoin

Sorry for the late update but the internet connection at the hotel was down last night.

Yesterday the Whitties continued their magic and won yet another 5-4 match (that makes 3 this year) -- this time over #13 Kalamazoo. We were able to take 2 of the 3 doubles and won the first set in EVERY singles match. However the K College players showed why they are perennially one of the top teams in the nation and pushed five of the singles matches into the third set. The hero of this match turned out to be freshman Jake Cappel. Jake who overcame a 0-3 deficit in the third set (2 breaks) to post a 6-3 victory at #6 singles to seal the team match.

While WhittieA was playing Kalamazoo College, WhittieB posted a hard fought 7-2 victory over WI Oshkosh.

Today was not so kind to the Missionaries as WhittieB was rained out against Cal Tech and WhittieA lost to #16 Bowdoin 7-2. It was a rough way to end an almost perfect Spring Break trip. In the warm-up Steven Ly was having trouble with his arm and was unable to play singles or doubles. Without Steven we were only able to muster victories at #4 singles (Christoph) and #2 doubles (Christoph and Robbie).

Sorry for the short write up but I'm at the Sacramento airport waiting to catch a connecting flight to Portland.

Whitties down Cal Lutheran 6-3

It has been a long two days for the men's team. Last night we didn't get back to the hotel until 9pm after our thrilling 5-4 victory over Redlands. This morning we jumped into the van at 7am for the long drive to Cal Lutheran (Thousand Oaks). Unfortunately the damp marine layer made the courts wet and we couldn't get the match started until noon.

In doubles we made some adjustments to the line-up hoping to recreate our early season doubles spark. Because of their strong play, Robbie and Christoph moved up to #2 doubles and they responded with a 8-2 victory. At #1 doubles Steven and Phalkun got on track with a quick 8-0 victory. Unfortunately Matt and Nadeem can't seem to find their early season mojo and lost 8-5 at #3 doubles.

In singles Robbie continued his strong play posting a 6-0, 7-5 victory at #3. He his now 6-0 on the spring break trip and playing very confident tennis. We also picked up wins at #4 (Matt), #5 (Christoph), and #6 (David Deming). However we lost both #1 (Phalkun) and #2 (Steven) in close 3 set matches.

Tomorrow is a much needed day off. Monday WhittieA takes on nationally ranked Kalamazoo at 8am on the CMS courts while WhittieB plays at the Whittier courts.

Was great seeing Nick Dupuis '03 at the Cal Lutheran match today!

Doubles
#1 Steven/Phalkun def Staley/Hunt 8-0
#2 Christoph/Robbie def Wetterholm/Culpepper 8-2
#3 Matt/Nadeem lost Lassila/Karsant 8-5
Singles
#1 Phalkun lost Ben Staley 7-6, 6-7, 7-6
#2 Steven lost Paul Wetterholm 5-7, 6-1, 6-3
#3 Robbie def Joe Lonergan 6-0, 7-5
#4 Matt def Forest Hunt 6-2, 6-4
#5 Christoph def Ryan Lassila 6-4, 6-4
#6 David def Jordan Culpepper 6-2, 6-1 (nice win for David moving up into the #6 spot and winning in straight sets)

We are now 16-3 and 12-0 in conference.

Whitties defeat #12 Redlands in a thriller!

This afternoon the #15 ranked Whitties defeated #12 Redlands 5-4 at the UR courts. The match was a thriller from the start to finish. In doubles we were rocking and rolling quickly going up breaks at #2 and #3 doubles. With #1 doubles playing even things looked good for the Missionaries. However our doubles party was crashed by UR as the #2 Bulldog team came back from 1-4 (15-40) to win 8-6. At #1 doubles Steven and Phalkun played even the whole match only to get broke at 6-7 to drop the set. Fortunately for the Whitties, Robbie and Christoph continue their strong play winning at #3 doubles 9-8 (6). Besides putting us on the board, the victory at #3 doubles gave us a small amount of momentum going into singles.

In singles we quickly dropped the #6 match (Dan) 6-3, 6-0 giving UR a 3-1 lead. Even though we down 3-1 things were looking good as we won the first sets at #1 (Phalkun), #2 (Steven), #3 (Robbie), and #4 (Matt) -- Christoph, however, lost the first set in a highly competitive #5 match. At one point I thought we had a lock on the match: Matt posted a 6-4, 6-4 win at #4, Steven won 6-2, 6-4 at #2, Phalkun took the #1 match 7-6, 6-3, and Robbie was serving for his match at 5-2 in the 2nd. However UR refused to go down easy on their home courts. Robbie's opponent battled back from a 2-5 deficit to take the 2nd set 7-6. Fortunately for us right as Robbie split sets, Christoph pushed his match into the 3rd set. At this point we were up 4-3 with both #3 and #5 singles going into the 3rd set. At this point in the match everything got topsy-turvy! Christoph went up a break and Robbie went down a break. A bit later Robbie broke back to even his match at 4-4 and Christoph got broke to even #5 at 4-4. As both the singles matches went into their 3rd hour (in sweltering heat) both teams and fans were absolutely going crazy.

At 4-4 Christoph played some lose put-away volleys giving the UR player all the momentum he needed to take the match 6-3, 4-6, 6-4. All the pressure was now squarely on Robbie's shoulders. In the 3rd set, Robbie continued to serve well holding fairly easy. With UR serving 4-5, Robbie had a match point only to push an approach shot wide. At 5-5 Robbie held in a close game putting the pressure on UR. At 5-6 Robbie again had a match point only to miss a big forehand long. The UR player was able to hold his serve to set up a 3rd set tiebreak to determine the outcome of the match. In that deciding breaker, Robbie stepped up to play big tennis, dictating play from start to end posting a 7-2 victory.

I can't begin to express how proud I am of Robbie. Even though he had lost all the momentum in the match he kept his cool, competed hard and earned us a rare team victory in the Southern CA desert. I think the last time we beat UR was in 1987.

Tomorrow we play at 10am against Cal Lutheran and our JV takes on the Claremont JV at 1:30pm

Doubles
#1 Steven/Phalkun lost Wager/Reading 8-6
#2 Matt/Nadeem lost Zach Hasenyager/Cook 8-6
#3 Robbie/Christoph def Bradburn/Trippel 9-8 (6)
Singles
#1 Phalkun def Eric Wager 7-6(4), 6-3
#2 Steven def Aron Ouye 6-2, 6-4
#3 Robbie def Ian Bradburn 6-3, 6-7 (5), 7-6(2)
#4 Matt def Mike Reading 6-4, 6-4
#5 Christoph lost Chris Trippel 6-3, 4-6, 6-4
#6 Dan lost Ransom Cook 6-3, 6-0

We also had a couple nice victories on some of the extra matches:
#7 David def Billy Kingsborough 6-2, 6-4
#8 Jake Cappel def Andrew Murakima 6-3, 6-3

WhittieB Erases Poets

The Whitman B team downed a pesky Whittier team 9-0 today. We started off strong in doubles with the #3 duo of Justin Hayashi and David Deming downing Whittier 8-1. Justin played his first match with an injured shoulder and adjusted quickly to his new underhand serve. The number 2 doubles team of Thomas Roston and Robert Rye broke in both the first and the final games of the match and held serve the rest of the way to sneak away with an 8-5 win. At #1 Jake Cappel and Jasper Follows were solid with their returns throughout the match and won 8-4 shortly after the #2 victory.
In singles, Jasper Follows sewed up a stellar day with an 6-3, 6-1 victory. Jasper continues to impress me with his aggressive play and will be a force for Whitman as he gains more match play. Justin Hayashi remained one of Whitman's most consistent players on court coming home with a 6-2, 6-3 team victory clenching win at #4 . #1 Deming and #5 Roston both finished shortly after with equally solid wins 6-1, 6-1 and 6-0, 6-3, respectively. Junior Robert Rye boosted the score to 8-0 with a 6-2, 6-3 victory.The final match of the day was easily the most impressive win for the WhittieB's today. Freshman Jake Cappel struggled in a lopsided first set losing 6-1 before rebounding to take the second 7-5. Jake showed a lot of composure in taking the second set in front of a hostile crowd. Jake used that momentum to earn a quick lead in the match breaker 6-1 with the aid of a Whittier point penalty. The Poet player clawed back in front 9-8 and served for the match before Cappel rallied off three points to close 11-9. In an exhibition at #7, Seth Zippel won a see-saw 8-5 match. I'm proud to say the Whitman guys competed with a lot of class today and I couldn't be happier with the performance. WhittieB will take on the Redlands B team on Friday after we travel to Indian Wells to watch Pac Life Open. Woo Hoo!


Whitman def. Whittier 9-0

Singles
1) David Deming def. Justin DeLong 6-1, 6-1
2) Jake Cappel def. Sean Robertson 1-6, 7-5, 1-0 (11-9)
3) Jasper Follows def. Gus Cawler 6-3, 6-1
4) Justin Hayashi def. Sean Summeral 6-2, 6-3
5) Thomas Roston def. Danny Benesch 6-0, 6-3
6) Robert Rye def. Joseph Choi 6-2, 6-3

Doubles
1)Cappel/Follows def. DeLong/Roberston 8-4
2)Roston/Rye def. Hinsworth/Summerall 8-5
3)Deming/Hayashi def. Astbury/Benesch 8-1

Coach Changstrom

First matches of spring Break -- Whitties go 1-1

And the Spring Break '07 trip is underway! Truthfully, we have been on spring break for a few days, but today was our first set of matches.

This year we are traveling with 14 players and are splitting into two teams playing two matches each day (team A and team B). This morning the first team lost a 7-2 battle to #8 Washington University St Louis. The final score doesn't do justice to the competitive nature of this match. As we found out the WA U team is a very talented, deep team. In fact their #2 player is ranked #3 in NCAA III tennis! The match started off with 3 amazing doubles matches. I don't think I've ever seen a dual match with three closer doubles matches. At one point I thought we were going to win all three matches and a few moments later thought we were going to lose all three matches. At #1 doubles the Wash U team came back from a break down to defeat Steven and Phalkun 9-7. Robbie and Christoph played some of their best doubles of the year to post a 9-7 victory at #3. At #2 doubles Matt and Nadeem got off to a horrible start quickly going down 1-4 (two breaks). To their credit they battled hard, picked up their game and brought the match back even at 8-8. Unfortunately for us the Wash U team played great tennis taking the breaker 7-5.

Even though all the singles matches were close the only match we won was at #3 where Robbie cruised to a 6-3, 6-2 victory. It was nice to see Robbie find his groove and play his best tennis of the year.

Though we lost 5 of the 6 singles matches we had chances in most of the matches. Both Steven (#2) and Matt (#4) lost in the third sets. Christoph (#4) lost the first set in a breaker and Dan (#6) was serving for the first set at 5-4.

Team B had a solid win against Whittier. Coach Changstrom will be providing an update on that match later tonight.

Tomorrow is a day off for the Whitties and we are going to the Pacific Life Open!

We resume play Friday 2pm at #9 Redlands (both teams).

Check out pictures of the spring break trip. Some pretty funny pictures of the freshman dressing up to go see the movie 300.

Doubles
#1 Steven/Phalkun lost Charlie Cutler/Chris Hoeland 9-7
#2 Matt/Nadeem lost Trevis Bowman/Eric Pollak 9-8
#3 Christoph/Robbie def John Watts/Charlie Howard 9-7
Singles
#1 Phalkun lost Charlie Cutler 6-4, 6-2
#2 Steven Lost John Watts (#3 in nation) 6-2, 5-7, 6-3
#3 Robbie def Chris Hoeland 6-3, 6-2
#4 Matt lost Danny Levy 6-7 (6), 7-5, 6-4
#5 Christoph lost Charlie Howard 7-6, 6-2
#6 Dan lost Trevis Bowman 7-5, 6-0

Whitties win a thriller

Wow, wow, wow -- I'm still in shock after yesterdays match against PLU. So far this season we have been on a roll: going into the weekend we were 10-0 in conference and 11-2 overall (our only losses being to DI power U of Portland and the top team DIII team in the nation,UC Santa Cruz). Additionally, in all but one of those matches (Portland) we had won at least 2 of the 3 doubles matches. I've mentioned it before, but I feel the 9 point scoring system places too much emphasis on doubles. In my mind scoring a doubles set the same as a full 2 out of 3 set match isn't correct.

Against PLU we got off to a horrible start. In all three doubles matches we quickly went down breaks. Unfortunately for the Whitties, it only got worse from that point. At #1 doubles Steven and Phalkun went down two breaks to 1-4 and at #3 doubles Christoph and Robbie went down 0-5. At this point the PLU team sensed blood in the water and went on a feeding frenzy. The Lutes played inspired doubles, sweeping all three doubles matches.

While being down 0-3 isn't a death sentence we were more than a few feet in the grave and PLU was starting to pile on the dirt! For some perspective to our plight, consider that a noted DIII coach recently looked at 160 NCAA II and NAIA men's matches where a team was swept in doubles. Only once in those 160 matches did a team come back from 0-3 down to win the match. Not only were the odds against us but we were playing a red hot, fired-up PLU team. To make our situation even more tenuous we were missing the services of sophomore sensation Justin Hayashi. This forced Christoph Fuchs to move up to the #5 spot and Dan Wilson was inserted into #6 spot. With Matt Solomon playing #4 we were relying on the services of three first-year players to anchor our line-up. Since the match was played on four courts the order of singles play goes 1 through 4 followed by 5 and 6. If we had any chance at victory it would be in the hands of our first-year players.

At #2 singles Steven Ly played his typically efficient game winning 7-5, 6-2 making the team score 1-3. However at #3 Robbie Munday lost a tough 6-4, 7-5 to a much improved Jeff Loranger. With the team score 1-4 our backs were fully against the wall. One more singles loss and the match was done.

Freshman sensation Matt "Bear" Solomon overcame a slow 0-3 start and posted a 7-5, 7-6 (8-6) victory at #4 singles. The team score was now 2-4, with #1 singles Phalkun Mam locked in a three set battle against PLU's David Miller (Phalkun lost to David in 3 sets a few weeks ago). As first-year players Christoph Fuchs and Dan Wilson started their matches. Phalkun showed why he was named NWC Player of the Week, grinding out a hard fought 6-1, 5-7, 6-2 victory. Score was now 3-4 with Christoph and Dan left on court.

Going into the match I was most worried about was Dan's match at #6 singles. I have been around coaching long enough to have seen any number of freshman struggle in their first "big" match. Plus playing at home in front of fans and friends can add a load of extra pressure. Dan showed no signs of nerves and played incredible tennis. Dan "the milkman" Wilson certainly delivered the goods as he played brilliant tennis. He showed absolutely no fear bombing big serves, ripping forehands winners and nailing overheads in clutch situations. Dan's 6-2, 6-3 victory tied the match 4-4 and sent fans scrambling over to Christoph's court to watch the dramatic match conclusion.

There is no greater thrill in college tennis than winning the deciding match when the team score is tied. It was awesome to see Christoph handle the pressure of being the last match on, being the deciding match AND having everyone in the building focused on his match. Christoph pulled out a sweet 7-6, 6-2 win giving us an improbable come from behind win.

Day wasn't over yet as we still had to play UPS. After a very quick 30 minute lunch break we took the courts to battle the Loggers. Our only set back in the UPS match was at #2 singles where Matt lost a hard fought 7-6, 0-6, 11-9. This was a tough match for Matt to keep his energy up -- we had been involved in matches for 11 straight hours, he was the last match to go on, and he was emotionally burned after he helped key our victory over PLU.

We are now 13-2 on the year and 12-0 in conference play. We get a much needed week break before heading off to Southern CA for Spring Break.

Match Scores

Pacific Lutheran University

Doubles

No. 1 -- Miller/Larimore (PLU) def. Mam/Ly: 8-6
No. 2 -- Loranger/Peterson (PLU) def. Nadeem Kassam/Solomon: 8-6
No. 3 -- Floyd/Vidano (PLU) def. Fuchs/Munday: 8-3

Singles

No. 1 -- Phalkun Mam (Whitman) def. David Miller: 6-1, 5-7, 6-2
No. 2 -- Steven Ly (Whitman) def. Kevin Floyd: 7-5, 6-2
No. 3 -- Jeff Loranger (PLU) def. Robbie Munday: 6-4, 7-5
No. 4 -- Matt Solomon (Whitman) def. Justin Larimore: 7-5, 7-6 (9-7)
No. 5 -- Christoph Fuchs (Whitman) def. Justin Peterson: 7-6 (7-5), 6-2
No. 6 -- Dan Wilson (Whitman) def. Jared Vidano: 6-2, 6-3

University of Puget Sound

Doubles

No. 1 -- Mam/Steven Ly (Whitman) def. McCullugh/Hosmer: 8-2
No. 2 -- Kassam/Solomon (Whitman) def. Amland/Andrew Oates: 8-2
No. 3 -- Fuchs/Munday (Whitman) def. Neal/Sato: 8-5

Singles

No. 1 -- Phalkun Mam (Whitman) def. Andrew Neal: 6-1, 6-1
No. 2 -- Nick Amland (UPS) def. Matt Solomon: 7-6 (7-5), 0-6, 1-0 (10-8)
No. 3 -- Robbie Munday (Whitman) def. Jamie Hosmer: 6-3, 7-6 (7-1)
No. 4 -- Dan Wilson (Whitman) def. Sam McCullugh: 6-3, 6-2
No. 5 -- Nadeem Kassam (Whitman) def. Kai Sato: 6-3, 7-6 (8-6)
No. 6 -- David Deming (Whitman) def. Zac Peeler: 6-1, 6-2

March Birthdays

March is a busy birthday month for the Whitman Tennis Family

Sam Spiegel March 1
Phalkun Mam March 2
David Deming March 4
Evan Chiang March 16
Brandon Davis March 24
Brian Oliver March 26
Tim Mullin March 26
Christoph Fuchs March 27
Tim Thomas March 30

The Horde goes 5-1 in Portland

Thats right 5-1 in two days! This is the first time in my coaching career we have played 6 matches in two days. So far it has been a wonderful experience breaking into groups for dual matches. It gives the guys much needed match play experience and the opportunity to play in a team environment.

On Sunday I split the teams into the more experienced team and the rookie team. The rookie team consisted of Matt, Nadeem, David, Jake, Jasper, Thomas and Robert (not a rookie). They were shipped out to Salem with rookie coach Brad to play Willamette. Willamette is a much improved team and have a nice freshman addition in Donovan LeDoux. Last weekend Donovan dropped a close three set match to Phalkun so I knew Matt would have his hands full at #1. The rookies certainly rose to the the challenge sweeping the match 9-0! Both David (playing #2) and Thomas (playing #6) showed their mental toughness grinding out matches in 3 sets.

While the rookie team was battling in Willamette in Salem I took the more experienced crew to play Linfield. Of all the matches over the weekend this was the match I was most concerned about. Linfield is a very well coached and their guys always compete hard. Plus because of the weather we were forced to play indoors on their fieldhouse (multi-purpose) courts. These are very fast, slick courts that are hard to play on. It is a huge advantage for the Wildcats when they play dual matches on these courts. I was also nervous about the match since I sent the rookie dynamic duo of Matt and Nadeem to play Willamette. Going into the match we were down our #4 singles player and our #2 doubles team!

As expected the match was tight from the start. Phalkun and Steven continued their strong run in doubles quickly downing the Linfield #1 team. However the doubles got real interesting as both #2 and #3 doubles went down to the wire. At #3 doubles freshman Dan "milkman" Wilson served for the match at 8-7 only to feel the pressure and dropped his service game at love. The Linfield team took advantage of the break to win the tie-breaker 8-6. With the doubles tied at 1-1 the doubles points came down to a serving slug fest at #2 doubles. With 4 guys serving huge on the quick courts there were no breaks of serve and the match went to a tie break. In that match Linfield senior Ian McGrath showed the depth of his character when he overruled his partner on a close call awarding the point to the Whitties. Its rare to see athletes make such a gesture little alone when it was in the tie-break of a tight match! Robbie and Christoph ended up winning that match to give us a 2-1 lead.

We had a bit more drama in the singles as Justin Hayashi needed to be pulled from the line-up because of a sore shoulder. This forced Dan to move into the #5 slot and sophomore Reid Bennett moved to #6.

In singles we were able to find our groove and win #1, #2, #3, #5 in straight sets. At #4 Christoph played a great match but ended up losing to a big serving John Roberts 11-9 in the match breaker. Christoph played a great match only getting broke once the entire match. The Linfield player simply served too well and possessed too much experience on the slick courts. Similarly Reid played a solid match but lost in straight sets to a two year Linfield letterman.

Leaving Linfield with any victory feels good. Beating them without our #2 doubles team and two singles players on those fast courts was a great effort.

The day wasn't over for the rookie team as they had to eat on the run and high tail it back to Portland to take Pacific. The rookies once again showed their promise defeating the Pacific team 9-0.

We are currently 11-2 overall and 10-0 in conference play. Our only two losses so far have been to the #75 team in DI and a tough UC Santa Cruz team (#7 NCAA III). Interesting to note that over the weekend UCSC defeated Emory (#1 team in the nation) 6-3 and Claremont (#3 in the nation) 9-0.

This Saturday we play at home against PLU at 9am, UPS at 2pm and will be sending a team to Spokane to play Whitworth at 10am.

Whitties go 2-1 Saturday

First day of the long weekend is over with the "Horde" going 2-1. We started off the day losing 5-2 to a very good U Portland team (#75 NCAA I). In doubles we played well at #1 and #3 -- in fact we were up breaks early in both those matches. In the end the Pilots were too tough for us sweeping all three doubles. In singles we were able to book end the Pilots winning at #1 (Phalkun) and #6 (Christoph).

After the UP we broke into two teams to play conference rivals Lewis and Clark College and George Fox. The "all freshman" team defeated much improved LC team 8-1 while the "experienced" team defeated George Fox 9-0.

Overall was a good day of tennis. We had the opportunity to play against one of the best DI teams in the nation and proved we could compete with them. The afternoon was a special treat breaking into different teams giving most everyone a chance to play.

The schedule for tomorrow (Sunday) is Willamette 10am (team freshman), Linfield 11am (team experience) and Pacific 3pm.

We great seeing Whitman Alumn's Kurt Casad, Dr Clifford Mah and Eric "Almost finished with PhD" Bartee.

U Portland
Doubles
#1 Steven Ly/Phalkun Mam lost to Sivkovic/Kennel 9-8
#2 Matt Solomon/Nadeem Kassam lost to Schleining/Jager 8-2
#3 Christoph Fuchs/Robbie Munday lost to Machado/Strom 8-6
Singles
#1 Phalkun def Strom 2-6, 6-3, 6-3
#2 Steven lost Jaeger 6-2, 6-3
#3 Robbie lost Kincaid 6-4, 6-3
#4 Matt lost Yemm 6-2, 6-2
#5 Justin Hayashi lost Schleining 6-3, 6-3
#6 Christoph def Kennell 4-2 ret

Lewis Clark College
Doubles
#1 Nadeem Kassam/Matt Solomon def Lindsay/Wheeler 8-1
#2 Jake Cappel/Jasper Follows lost to Allen/Rayn 9-8
#3 Thomas Roston/Robert Rye def Moller Davy 8-4
Singles
#1 Solomon def Allen 6-3, 6-2
#2 David Deming def Lindsay 6-2, 6-2
#3 Cappel def Wheeler 6-2, 6-3
#4 Follows def Ray 6-2, 6-2
#5 Kassam def Moller 6-0, 6-0
#6 Roston def Youmans 6-0, 6-0

George Fox
Doubles
#1 Steven Ly/Phalkun Mam def PEarson/Overnell 8-2
#2 Robbie Munday/Christoph Fuchs def Jenness/Vargas 8-1
#3 Dan Wilson/Justin Hayashi def McKenzie/Overnall 8-1
Singles
#1 Mam def Pearson 6-1, 6-1
#2 Ly def Schultz 6-1, 6-0
#3 Munday def Vargas 6-0, 6-1
#4 Hayashi def Overnall 6-0, 6-1
#5 Fuchs def Jenness 6-0, 6-2
#6 Wilson def Leon R 6-0, 6-0

Tennis Horde Set to Invade Portland

I'm not exactly sure how to describe our team anymore. In terms of tennis we are far too large to be a team: after all most tennis teams are made up of 6-8 players. Personally I don't like using military jargon such as troops or armies. So this week we are the Tennis Horde and we en route to Portland! This weekend the Horde will feature 14 players, 2 coaches playing 6 matches in two days. My plan for weekend is to split the team up into 2 groups to give players the players an opportunity to play in counting dual matches.

Because of project poor weather some of our match times and locations and have changed. The new schedule is:

Saturday
9am vs U of Portland
3pm vs Lewis Clark College (at LC bubble)
4pm vs George Fox (at Tualatin Parks and Rec)

Sunday
10am vs Willamette (at Courthouse)
11am vs Linfield (in Linfield fieldhouse)
3pm vs Pacific (at Tualatin Parks and Rec)

I'm not 100% positive on how I will break out the teams. But this is what I'm tentatively planning.
Saturday matches
UP - Phalkun, Steven, Matt, Justin, Robbie, Christoph, Nadeem
LC - Dan, Jake, David, Jasper, Thomas, Robert, Reid
George Fox - same group that played UP
Sundays matches (this is very tentative)
Willamette - Matt, Nadeem, Dan, Jake, Thomas, David, Reid
Linfield - Steven, Phalkun, Christoph, Robbie, Dan, Justin, Robert

If you are a fan or parent wondering where a particular player will be playing please give me an email in the evenings and I will try to respond.

Hope to see some Whitman shirts in the crowd this weekend!

Interesting Article in NY Times about DIII

The New York Times has a very interesting article about a growing rift at NCAA III institutions. I know at the annual NCAA conference there as been some talk about creating a NCAA IV or a new subset of NCAA III.

While I believe a majority of NCAA III schools are private Liberal Arts Colleges there is a growing swell of State schools joining the DIII ranks.


http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/13/sports/othersports/13ncaa.html?ex=1172120400&en=85994514d2cf7ec6&ei=5070&emc=eta1

Weekend Wrap Up

Well our fast start came to an end as we ran into the talented Slugs of Santa Cruz (#7 in nation). As with our previous four matches we got off to a quick start taking 2 of the 3 doubles giving us a 2-1 lead. The doubles teams of Steven/Phalkun and Nadeem/Matt remained undefeated on the year winning at #1 and #2 doubles respectively. We couldn't complete the sweep as a very tough #3 UCSC doubles team downed Robbie/Christoph 8-3. Still we were excited to go into the singles with the lead. However we got off to very slow starts in all the singles matches. In fact we quickly went down 1-4 in the first set in almost every match. The Santa Cruz fast start translated into 5 of the 6 singles victories for the Slugs giving them the match 6-3. Even though we got off to a slow start the Whitman guys rallied and made every match competitive. As a coach it made my heart warm to see the guys battling and supporting each other on the court. This team has a special team dynamic/bond that will only help us down the stretch. Kudos to Phalkun who bounced back from his tough defeat the earlier day to win in the #1 spot.

The matches over the weekend showed the strength and depth of the Whitman program. Last year we lost to UCSC without winning a set whereas this year we played them closer losing 6-3. Over the weekend we also beat defending the defending Northwest Conference (NWC) Champions PLU 7-2 (they defeated us twice last year), the NWC 3rd place team Linfield 8-1, the NWC 4th place team Whitworth 9-0, and the NWC 5th place team UPS 9-0. Our results from the weekend put us firmly on top of the Northwest Conference standings.

Overall it was a great weekend of play and quality team time. I actually can't remember having so much fun on a tennis road trip. I am incredibly blessed to have the opportunity to work/coach so many fantastic young men.

Oh, besides playing tennis I felt it was important for the rookie players to have some Vocational Education to go along with their Liberal Arts education. Here you can see Nadeem, Christoph and Matt getting the van ready for our drive home.Overall the rookies did a pretty good job with their duties. Hopefully their speed and efficiency will improve with more practice. It is after all a long season:)

You can view all the photos from our trip this weekend at:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/77626588@N00/tags/tacoma2007/

Team Scores vs UCSC (#7 in Nation)
Doubles
#1 Ly/Mam def Ortiz/Pybas 8-6
#2 Kassam/Solomon def Villalobos/Liberty-Point 8-5
#3 Fuchs/Munday lost Kamel/Vartabedian 8-3
Singles
#1 Phalkun Mam def Jeff Fong 6-4, 5-7, 10-2
#2 Steven Ly lost to Jared Kamel 6-3, 6-2
#3 Robbie Munday lost to Max Ortiz 6-1, 6-4
#4 Matt Solomon lost to Brian Pybas 6-1, 6-4
#5 Justin Hayashi lost to Colin Mark-Griffin 6-1, 6-4
#6 Christoph Fuchs lost to Alex Villalobos 6-3, 6-4

Whitties pick up 2nd and 3rd win of the day

Sorry for the brief write up but it is late and we have a 9am match tomorrow against #7 UCSC.

Earlier in the day our teammates back home blanked the Whitworth Pirates 9-0. It speaks volumes about the depth of our team that we can leave half our team in Walla Walla and defeat the #4 in the conference without dropping a set. Here are the scores from that noon match.

Doubles:
1. Jake Cappel/Jasper Follows def Ed Anegon/Scott Donnell 8-6
2. Robert Rye/thomas Roston def Michael Carlson/Scott Bourne 8-5
3. David Deming/Reid Bennett def Colin Storm/Kellen Oetgen 8-1

Singles:
1. David Deming def Ed Anegon 6-3, 6-1
2. Jake Cappel def Michael Carlson 6-2, 6-0
3. Jasper Follows def Scott Donnell 6-2, 6-1
4. Thomas Roston def Scott Bourne 6-2, 6-4
5. Robert Rye def Kellen Oetgen 6-3, 6-3
6. Reid Bennet def Colin Storm 6-0, 6-0

In the night cap match in Tacoma the Missionaries defeated UPS 9-0.

Doubles
1. Steven Ly/Phalkun Mam def Nick Amlund/Jamie Hosmer 8-1
2. Matt Solomon/Nadeem Kassam def Sam McCollogh/Andrew Oates 8-2
3. Robbie Munday/Christoph Fuchs def Andrew Neal/Kai Sato 8-5

Singles
1. Robbie Munday def Andrew Neal 6-1, 6-0
2. Matt Solomon def Nick Amlund 6-1, 6-0
3. Justin Hayashi def Sam McCullugh 6-4, 6-4
4. Christoph Fuchs def Jamie Hosmer 6-4, 1-6, 10-7
5. Dan Wilson def Kai Sato 6-2, 6-1
6. Nadeem Kassam def Zac Taylor 6-1, 6-2

Fuchs helps power Whitman past #19 PLU

As I mentioned last night I'm not exactly a big fan of the 9 point scoring system. I feel it places too much emphasis on the doubles "sets" and devalues the meaning of full singles matches. However after our last two matches I've certainly enjoyed going up 3-0 after the doubles. This morning we swept the doubles losing only 9 games in the 3 sets. Phalkun and Steven played a solid match defeating the #9 doubles team in the region 8-1. Number 3 doubles (Christoph and Robbie) kept the ball rolling with a quick 8-3 win and the sweep was complete when Matt and Nadeem came back from a break down to win 8-5 at #2 doubles.

Most the singles matches had big momentum shifts and lead changes. Although we didn't necessarily play our best singles the guys hustled and competed well. I was impressed with how well the guys handled the pressure of playing on the road in front a large and noisy PLU crowd. The PLU guys played well today and none more so that their #3 player Jeff Loranger. The PLU player has certainly stepped up his game the past year and defeating Robbie Munday in 3 sets. Our other loss in singles was at #1 where Phalkun dropped a tough three-setter to ex-Whitman player David Miller.

Big thanks to the Whitman Women's Basketball team who came to our early morning match to support the team. It is one of the many things that makes Whitman such a special place -- the student-athletes all know each other and support each other. We are going to return the favor this afternoon when they play UPS. Was also a treat to see Ye-San Lin and Graham Sumioka at the match.

Our next match is 8pm tonight against UPS.

Doubles
#1 Steven Ly/Phalkun Mam def David Miller/Justin Larimore 8-1
#2 Nadeem Kassam/Matt Solomon def Justin Peterson/Jeff Loranger 8-5
#3 Robbie Munday/Christoph Fuchs def Jared Vidano/Kevin Floyd 8-3
Singles
#1 Phalkun Mam lost to David Miller 5-7, 7-4, 6-3
#2 Steven Ly def Kevin Floyd 7-5, 6-1
#3 Robbie Munday lost to Jeff Loranger 6-1, 5-7, 6-1
#4 Matt Solomon def Justin Larimore 2-6, 6-3, 6-4
#5 Justin Hayashi def Justin Peterson 6-2, 7-5
#6 Christoph Fuchs def Jared Vidano 6-4, 6-3

Whitman 7 PLU 2

Solomon powers Whitman past Linfield

We opened our season this afternoon vs conference opponent Linfield. We were a bit lucky with the scheduling of the match as Linfield had just finished a tough 5-4 loss to PLU. Our fresh legs were a bit much for the Wildcats as we battled to a 8-1 win.

Scoring is a bit different this year in NCAA III tennis. We are now playing a 9 point system where each doubles set counts for a point. While I'm not in favor of the scoring change I think it plays into our strength. In practice we have been working on doubles and the importance of getting out to a fast start. This work paid off as we swept all three doubles matches. Leading the charge was the freshman dynamic duo of Matt Solomon and Nadeem Kassam who cruised to 8-0 win at #2 doubles. Christoph Fuchs and Robbie Munday quickly followed with an 8-2 victory. Steven Ly and Phalkun Mam are struggling a bit with the flu but managed to squeak out an 8-6 at #1 doubles.

Because of the flu Steven pulled himself out of the singles so we were forced to move everyone up a spot in the line-up. Robbie responded to the challenge of playing #2 and was the first off the court with a solid 6-3, 6-1 victory. Matt sealed the match for Whitman with his first dual match win -- 6-0, 6-3 at #3 singles. What a nice way for the freshman to start his college dual match career: an 8-0 win in doubles followed by singles win that clinched the dual match. We also posted victories at #1 (Phalkun) 6-0, 6-4, #4 (Justin Hayashi) 6-4, 6-4, and #5 (Christoph Fuchs) 6-0, 6-2. Our only set back of the night was a 6-3, 6-1 loss at #6 (Dan Wilson).

Tomorrow is an important day for the Missionaries as we play defending conference champion PLU (#19 in nation) at 8am followed by an 8pm nightcap against host UPS.

Doubles
#1 Steven Ly/Phalkun Mam def Gabrielson/Anderson 8-6
#2 Nadeem Kassam/Matt Solomon def McGrath/Roberts 8-0
#3 Christoph Fuchs/Robbie Munday def Minice/Ruess 8-2
Singles
#1 Phalkun Mam def Ian McGrath 6-0, 6-4
#2 Robbie Munday def Cole Shelton 6-3, 6-1
#3 Matt Solomon def John Roberts 6-0, 6-3
#4 Justin Hayashi def Wes Gabrielson 6-4, 6-4
#5 Christoph Fuchs def Kyle Anderson 6-0, 6-2
#6 Dan Wilson lost Nick Ruess 6-3, 6-1

Opening Weekend!

And we are off! Today we leave for our matches of the year. This weekend we are playing four matches at the UPS indoor courts: Friday 4pm vs Linfield (#3 team in conference), Saturday 8am vs PLU (defending conference champions #19 in nation), Saturday 8pm vs UPS (#5 team in the conference) and Sunday 9am vs UC Santa Cruz (#7 in the nation). We also playing Whitworth at home Saturday at noon. Yes we will have to be at two places at the same time! More on this later.

I can't begin to express my enthusiasm for the upcoming season. Given our mix of talent and experience I feel this could be a banner year for the Whitties. The team features 3 seniors (Phalkun Mam, Steven Ly, and Robbie Munday) whom combined have won over 300 matches for Whitman. Both Phalkun and Robbie are on track to surpass Tim Mullin's Whitman record of 149 wins. Will this be the year that Tim's amazing record is broken?

Besides our wealth of experience the team also features a lot of young talent. Sophomore Justin Hayashi is coming into his game and playing some great tennis right now. It has been a pleasure to see the jump in Justin's playing and confidence. As a freshman last year Justin's game was often rocky: he would go through streaks of good and bad tennis. This year he has been nothing but solid and is currently playing his best tennis. The ground has certainly been fertile in the Walla Walla Valley because we had a bountiful crop of freshman talent the like of which has never been seen! Matt "the Bear" Solomon leads the charge of the freshman. Besides being a talented doubles player, Matt is showing he deserves a spot near the top of the Whitman line-up. Christoph "the transfer" Fuchs is another newcomer that will start the year out in the top 6. Christoph brings a very aggressive style of play to the courts; in fact, I think he is the first true net rusher the team has had in many years. With his talents at net, serve and physical size Christoph is an impact in doubles. Rounding out our trip to Tacoma will be freshman Dan "I don't have a nickname" Wilson and Nadeem "Deemer" Kassam. Although Dan will see limited action this weekend I have to say he has been one of the more pleasant coaching surprises I have had at Whitman. Dan possesses the "surf and turf" game of big serve and big forehand. With his competitive spirit (I love the way he competes) I have no doubt Dan is going to blossom into a top notch player. Deemer won't see much singles time this weekend but he will be a huge part of the team with his doubles play. He and the Bear won the Fall ITA regional tournament and start the year out ranked #5 in the West region. After our fall season, Deemer took a few months off to rehab sore knees. Because of his long break from tennis his game isn't quite where he would like it to be. However I expect we will be seeing great things out of him by the end of the season.

The weekend gets more interesting as a second group of players will be staying in Walla Walla to play Whitworth (#4 in conference) Saturday at noon. This is the first time I've EVER taken a group of players on the road and had another team stay at home to play! This is a great experience for guys on the team to get in quality matches. Leading the home group will be freshman David "papa smurf" Deming. David has worked hard over the course of the year and would get my vote for most improved. I know its hard to have a most improved when we haven't started playing, but regardless he gets my vote! Also anchoring the top of the line-up versus Whitworth is Jake "Jakegalos" Cappel. Jake is another member of the talented freshman class. If someone would of told me at the beginning of the school year that Jake and David were playing #5 and #6 for us I would be thrilled! Both of these young men are awesome individuals and talented players. Fans of Whitman tennis should keep their eyes on these two men. Another duo of freshman will be playing #3 and #4 on Saturday. Jasper Follows is another pleasant surprise this year. Although Jasper looks like a 14 year old chess champion this guy can flat out play (sorry Jasper Steven made me say that!) Jasper is very solid in every aspect of the game. He has the ability to move the ball around and pop the ball on his forehand and serve. Thomas Roston figures to play #4 on Saturday. Thomas possess one of the most graceful one-handed backhands I've seen in a while. Given his natural athletic ability and good instincts at the net Thomas figures to get plenty of playing time this season. Rounding out our match with Whitworth are returning players Robert "roro" Rye and Reid "professor" Bennett. At the end of last year Robert was one of the biggest surprises on the team. At the conference tournament last year I juggled our doubles line-ups and inserted RoRo into the #2 slot. During that tournament Robert played as well as anyone on the team! He was a beast at the net closing off the middle and sticking his volleys. In the Fall ITA Regional tournament Robert beat a good #1 player from one of our conference competitors -- that is how deep this team is! The "Professor" has been working very hard this year and has shown steady improvement in his game. Being around a large group of good players has elevated Reid's game. Reid possesses a big serve and solid groundstrokes. Hopefully given the chance to play a lot of matches this year will give him some court confidence and needed experience.

Should be a great weekend of play. If you are in the Seattle area I hope you will swing by the UPS courts for one or all of our matches. If you are Walla Walla there is still an opportunity to watch some great tennis as we play Whitworth on Saturday.

January Birthdays

Happy Birthday!
Matt Solomon (class of '10) Jan 6
Nadeem Kassam (class of '10) Jan 7
Dane Miller (class of '07) Jan 23
Coach Northam (class of '88)

Team GPA

Even with eight new-players on the roster the team posted an average GPA of 3.25 last semester! I have an agreement with the team that if they can post a 3.2 GPA or higher I will do all the racket stringing in the following semester. Guess it is time to limber up the fingers and get ready to string.

Although Whitman is still on break the tennis season is quickly approaching. Once the semester starts Jan 16th we only have a couple weeks of practice before our first weekend of play. On the weekend of Feb 9th we open against UC Santa Cruz (#7 in Nation), PLU (#19 in Nation), UPS and Linfield. Besides playing two nationally ranked teams we also have to contend with two of the better teams in the conference. This should be a great gauge to how we will stack up Nationally and within the conference.

Happy New Year, be safe and have fun!