Two wins at home

After playing our first five matches on the road it was nice to finally be playing at home. Saturday presented a challenging day as we played a back-to-back double header. In the first match of the day we played Lewis & Clark (0-2 in conference play). This was a great match for the team as we mixed up the line-up giving most everyone the opportunity to play.

Doubles started off strong, grabbing an early lead in all the matches. At #1 doubles Quin/Matt won 8-3, at #2 doubles Sam/Adriel won 8-0, and at #3 the freshman duo of Will/Sam won 8-1.

In singles Quin really thrived playing in the #1 slot. Quin was very excited for the opportunity to play #1 because LC has one of the better #1 players in the conference. Quin has been playing great tennis this season and dismantled a very good player 6-1, 6-1. The rest of the matches featured similar scores -- #2 Sam won 6-0, 6-1, #3 Adriel won 6-1, 6-0, #4 Matt won 6-2, 6-0, #5 Will won 6-0,6-0 and #6 Steven won 6-2, 6-1.

Immediately following the LC match we took to the courts against conference rival Linfield College. As a team we had been looking forward to this match for several weeks. Besides being a good and well-coached team, the Linfield match was our only home match against a regionally ranked opponent before our spring break trip. Linfield entered the weekend 2-0 and #9 in the region.

In doubles we got off to very quick starts at #2 and #3. Jeff and ET are really thriving together and feeding off of each other's energy. Both of them are absolutely crushing returns and playing aggressive doubles. After Jeff held to open the match they immediately broke to take a 2-0 lead. After that break they went on to win 8-4.

I really like how our #3 combo of Quin and Matt have been playing doubles. Matt is serving well, going after returns and closing hard at the net. Quin has always been an aggressive doubles player but this year is much more thoughtful about his play and has been focused on setting up the points. Even though Matt and Quin won 8-2, their match featured several long deuce games.

Number 1 doubles was one of the strangest matches I have seen in a long time. Linfield has a very good #1 doubles team that is capable of playing spooky good doubles. They also came out fired up to play Conor/Andrew. One thing about being nationally/regionally ranked is EVERYONE comes after you. So far Andrew and Conor have handled that pressure very well. However against Linfield they didn't play their best tennis early in the match and the Linfield guys executed their game plan flawlessly. In fact at one point I think the Linfield guys were up 7-4 serving. At 7-4 a funny thing happened -- Conor/Andrew started playing much stronger tennis (especially Andrew) and the Linfield team got a bit tight trying close out the match.

At 7-4 break point Andrew crushed a forehand return winner which ignited the team and the crowd. At 7-5 Andrew held at love making the score 7-6. The hold at love was incredibly important Andrew/Conor had now won 5 straight points, had the momentum in the match and had the large crowd squarely behind them. At 7-6 serving Andrew/Conor again found a way to break evening the match at 7-7. Both teams held to set up the deciding tiebreak. All the momentum we had carried over the tiebreak and we quickly went up 5-0. Oh how things can quickly change. At 5-0 Andrew was serving and only needed two points to win the match. At this point Andrew did what most people would do and went for the ace. Unfortunately he double faulted. At 5-1 Andrew hits a great serve where the Linfield player stabs at the return and sends up a weak lob. Conor gets tight, doesn't get properly set for the ball and misses while trying to crush the overhead. With the tiebreaker at 5-2, the Linfield team is starting to get some energy. We miss two straight returns and the Linfield team is right back in the match. In the past 4 points we have double faulted, missed an overhead, and missed 2 returns!

Now it's 5-4 Conor serving -- Conor hits a great 1st serve, Andrew crosses to the middle to intercept the return but the ball skips off the net tape making it unplayable for Andrew. At 5 all the two teams trade points. At 6-6 Conor rips a forehand return winner down the line giving us match point. At 7-6 Andrew was able to close out the match. Certainly was one of the more thrilling comebacks I have seen in a while.

In singles we started with #1 Conor, #2 Andrew, #3 ET and #4 Jeff. After the doubles we were all incredibly fired up after Conor and Andrew's amazing come back. I was hoping we would maintain that energy going into the singles. Often after a great match or high energy moment there is a corresponding low energy moment. On Saturday there was no such lull with Jeff and ET. They were like sharks in the water that sensed victory. Both of them won in under an hour -- Jeff first 6-1, 6-2 quickly followed by ET who clinched the win with a 6-1, 6-1 victory.

At #2 Andrew was able to break early in each set against a very big serving Linfield player winning 6-4, 6-3. Conor had his hands full against a player he had defeated in three sets at the Fall ITA tournament. Once again they split sets with Conor taking the match breaker 10-5 (6-3, 2-6, 10-5).

Because of major exams Chris Bailey couldn't play so Sam got the nod to play #5. Honestly Sam might have played the best tennis of anyone yesterday. He was absolutely crushing his serve and groundstrokes. He was in such control of his game that he began to serve and volley and even approach on the return. Great move from Sam, he hits the ball so well off the ground but often doesn't press advantage and finish points at the net. Once Sam becomes comfortable finishing points at the net he is going to be a completely different player. Sam ended up beating one of the best 5 players in the conference 6-1, 6-1.

Oh those whacking freshman. Will was like a big puppy in his excitement of getting the opportunity to play #6. Will took advantage of the opportunity and rushed out to a 6-1, 5-1 lead. And then Will started playing like a nervous boy at his first dance. Three times he served for the match and three times he couldn't put the match away. With the entire team at court side Will was finally able to win the match in a tiebreak (6-1, 7-6). Gotta love those freshman moments!

Its been a busy week playing five matches in six days. Next Friday we play another double header in Tacoma -- 3pm vs UPS followed by a 6pm match against rival PLU (at UPS).

We are now 1st place in the NWC conference with a 5-0 record.

Scores for the match:
Whitman 9 Lewis & Clark 0
Whitman 9 Linfield 0