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
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
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
No comments:
Post a Comment