NWC Champs!

Over the weekend the Fighting Squirrels of Whitman (our unofficial team mascot) earned a spot in the NCAA III tournament by winning the NWC tournament in Yakima, WA. The tournament featured a few upsets, close matches and some very brutal conditions.

By virtue of our 16-0 conference record we earned the #1 seed in the tournament and a first round bye. In the semi's we played a very inspired, fired up Willamette team (#5 seed). Earlier in the day Willamette upset #4 seed Whitworth. Even through we had beaten Willamette twice during the season 9-0 they have some talented players and play good doubles. This match almost turned into a disaster. We started off tight and the weather only added to our woes -- temperature was about 45 with 25 mph sustained winds. In doubles Justin and Jasper continued to play solid doubles (they haven't lost a conference match all year) and rolled to a quick 8-3 victory. At #2 Jake and Nadeem struggled losing 8-4. With the team score 1-1 all eyes turned to the brothers Solomon who were locked in a battle at #1 doubles. Things looked good as we were serving 5-4 in the tiebreaker. However 2 big returns and a service winner left the Whitties down 1-2 after doubles.

This is the first time all-year we have trailed in a conference match! With the wind howling and the Willamette team (and coach) whipped into a frenzy the battle was on. Both teams knew that #1 singles (Eric MacMillan) and #3 singles (Andrew Murakami) would be close: if Willamette could win those 2 match and take one more match they would earn one of the biggest upsets in NCAA III tennis.

One thing about our team is we are very young (mainly freshman and sophomores) and this was a new experience for us (weather conditions plus a feisty, fired up team seeking an upset). Unfortunately (or fortunately) for us we didn't handle the situation very well. Instead of playing aggressive tennis we played not to lose and ended up losing our focus in the windy conditions. In fact 4 of the 6 singles went 3 sets. We dropped the first sets at #1 singles (Matt Solomon), #3 singles (Chris Bailey) and surprisingly at #6 (Justin Hayashi). The Bearcats realizing they they were only a few sets away from a major upset continued to play inspired tennis. Things started to turn in our favor as Junior Dan Solomon dominated #2 singles against Micah Mack winning 6-0, 6-1 to tie the team score at 2-2. At #4 Jake Cappel shook off his poor doubles play and rolled to a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Matt Houser. Even with the score 3-2 things didn't look great as the remaining 4 matches (#1, #3, #5, #6) all split sets. At #5 Dan Wilson gave us a 4-2 lead with a 6-2, 2-6, 6-1 victory over Fitz Paccione. Freshman Chris Bailey showed why is among the NWC elite players and fought his way to a 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 clinching the team match. Justin Hayashi finally settled down at #6 posting a 6-7, 6-1, 10-3 win. The only singles match the Bearcats were able to win was at #1 where Matt Solomon dropped a close 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 match.

Kudos to the Willamette team -- they played well in tough conditions. In fact this year they played us closer than any team in the conference.

Whitman 6 Willamette 3

The win set up a Saturday showdown with #2 seed and defending champion PLU (who narrowly got by Linfield 5-4). Last year we came into the conference tournament as the #1 seed and PLU knocked us off 6-3 -- we were determined NOT to let this happen again. In our pre-match meeting I stressed that our match against Willamette was the best thing that could of happened. We had already played a tight match in the tournament and got through our nerves. I was convinced that we were going to play better tennis -- we just needed to start strong.

And start strong we did. This might be the first match all year were we started the doubles fired up and brimming with positive energy. In showed as we rolled to a 8-2 victories at #3 and #1 doubles. The victory at #1 was especially sweet since the PLU team was undefeated in conference play. At #2 doubles Jake and Nadeem finally found their mojo: unfortunately they were down 2-7 before they started playing well. From 2-7 they battled back to 6-7 and had 3 break chances to even the match before losing 8-6.

Even snow flurries after the doubles (it was actually snowing) couldn't cool off the Fighting Squirrels. We maintained our high energy level sweeping all 6 singles matches. As a coach it was gratifying to see every team member step up and play great tennis when it mattered the most. In the conference finals each player was the hero. However I want to send out big kudos to team captain Justin Hayashi for his willingness to listen and make a major adjustment in his game plan -- Justin was down 2-6, 4-2 before winning 6-4, 6-0. Also Matt Solomon over came a horrible day against Willamette and provided the passion and inspiration that fueled his team to victory. Matt won 6-4, 6-1 against an opponent that beat him in straight sets earlier in the year (Kevin Floyd).

After the match Daniel Solomon provided a quote to our Sports Information Director that brought tears to my wife's eyes and made me feel like a proud papa. "Winning this title as part of a team with my brother is one of the most enjoyable experiences I’ve had in my life. I couldn't ask for anything more."

Conference Championship Match Whitman 8 PLU 1

Next Monday is selection day for NCAA III tennis. That afternoon we will know where and whom we play.

Also big thanks to David Deming for providing match updates via Twitter.