After a couple weeks on the road it was nice being home in the comfy confines of the Bratton Tennis Center. On Friday we played back-to-back matches against conference opponents PLU (#19 in nation) and Linfield.
Because we had back-to-back matches I juggled the line-up a bit to keep everyone fresh. One of the many nice things about a deep roster (we are legit through 14 spots) is we always have fresh arms and a multitude of players chomping at the bit the play.
With a new combination at #1 doubles (Matt Solomon and Justin Hayashi) we managed to take a 2-1 lead after doubles. Matt and Justin were first off the courts with a 8-4 victory. David Deming and Dan Wilson managed to squeak out a 9-7 win at #3 doubles. Unfortunately the #2 team of Robert Rye and Chris Bailey were unable to capitalize on a early break and ended up falling 9-8.
One thing I've learned about the Linfield teams is that compete hard so I knew the singles were going to be competitive. In fact at one point we were down in three of the four singles matches that were on court. Freshman Quin Miller had a see-saw battle at #6 singles winning 6-4, 0-6, 10-8. Meanwhile Sophomore Jake Cappel ran into a hot opponent dropping a close 6-4, 6-4 decision at #2 singles. Dan "I love match breakers" Wilson played his 4th match breaker in two weekends and posted a 5-7, 6-4, 10-6 victory at #4 singles. Other singles winners against Linfield included Matt Solomon at #1 6-3, 6-1, Chris Bailey at #3 6-2, 6-2 and David Deming at #5 6-3, 6-4.
Whitman 7 Linfield 2
Against PLU we played some solid doubles and were poised to take a quick 3-0 lead. Jake and Nadeem started us off with a 8-5 win at #2 doubles. Christoph and Etienne quickly followed with a 8-2 victory at #3. Brothers Matt and Daniel were on the short end of a momentum shift and lost 9-8 after being up 7-4.
In singles senior Robert Rye got us on the board first with a solid 6-3, 6-2 win at #6 singles. Daniel Solomon played a very solid match coming from a break down in the first set to win 6-4, 6-1 against PLU's senior All-American Justin Larimore. Jake Cappel got a bit of vengeance after his morning loss and sealed the Whitman victory with a 6-2, 6-3 win at #4 singles. Chris Bailey also posted a 6-3, 3-6, 10-5 win at #3 singles. PLU picked up wins at #1 singles (Matt Solomon) 6-4, 6-3 and #5 (Christoph Fuchs) 1-6, 6-3, 10-8.
Obviously beating PLU is always a big victory. This one was pretty special as we defeated the nationally ranked lutes without 2 of our singles players and our #3 doubles team.
Whitman 6 PLU 3
The highlight of the weekend was our 8pm match against the #1 ranked UC Santa Cruz Banana Slugs. I can't even begin to express how incredible it was to play at home in front of a HUGE boisterous crowd. This match felt more like a play-off basketball game than a tennis match. Thanks to everyone that showed up for this late night thriller!
The doubles matches were intense and fun to watch. Each team pushed each other to greater heights of play and pumped the crowd into a frenzy. Doubles pro-sets in college tennis can be crazy. All it takes is one shot or strong game to turn a match around. At one point we were up a break at #1 doubles, down a break at #2 numbers and in command of #3 doubles (up 6-2). Funny thing the only doubles match we won was the match we were losing (#2). At the end of the night (we finished at 12:30am) I was left wondering what would of happened if we could of taking a 3-0 lead after doubles. Hats off to the Slugs, we were only a couple points from taking #1 and #3 doubles but when pressured the Santa Cruz team played some of their best tennis.
Even though we didn't win any singles matches we played the #1 team in the nation close. Daniel Solomon continued his strong play losing at #2 to the defending doubles National Champion 6-3, 6-7, 10-3. Freshman Chris Bailey continued his strong play losing at #5 singles 4-6, 6-4, 10-3.
Whitman 1 UCSC 8
Next match for the Whitties is Saturday when we travel to Portland to take on Pacific (2 pm) and George Fox (3pm). We will be splitting the team into two squads for the Saturday matches.
Thanks again to everyone who came out to watch us play this weekend!
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