Spring Break Day One

First off I apologize for shortness of this post. It has been a long couple days and we have an early match tomorrow morning.

Thursday we left campus at 9am for the trek to Southern CA. Academically it is tough to miss the last day before spring break -- lots of tests and papers are typically due before break. In fact I know last night several of the guys were up to the wee hours of the morning working on papers.

Today was the first day of the Stag-Hen tournament hosted at the campuses of Claremont and Pomona. This is one of the top DIII tournaments of the year. This year the 8 team tournament is loaded with four top 10 teams. This morning we started off the tournament against the #7 team in the nation Kenyon. We had been looking forward to this match for weeks: it isn't often we get the opportunity to play a top 10 team on a neutral surface.

Doubles was rough on us today. At #1 doubles Conor/Andrew went down 0-4. However as our #1 team was down our #2 and #3 teams were both up breaks at 3-1. At that point it was all Kenyon. Hard to swallow watching Kenyon reel off 7 of 8 games at #2 and #3. We dropped all 3 matches 8-4.

Here is where things get interesting. This Whitman team has a ton of heart and unbelievable support. The guys pull for each other up and down the line-up and from behind the fences. I'm proud to say there is no quit in this team. Kenyon won the team match 8-1 but that score doesn't tell the entire story. In the singles we lost 5 tiebreaks and 2 matches in three sets. Hell of an effort and I'll let the scores tell the story.

Singles
#1 Conor lost Polster 6-4, 7-6
#2 Andrew lost Burgin 6-3, 7-6 (Andrew was up a break 5-3)
#3 ET lost Williams 6-1, 6-7, 10-6
#4 Jeff def ye 4-6, 6-2, 6-4
#5 Chris lost Matthews 6-1, 6-0
#6 Adriel lost Griffin 7-6, 2-6, 10-7

After a lunch break we took the court to face a very talented Swarthmore team. I must admit I was nervous about this match. We were tired, not used to playing outdoors in the sun and had to play a dangerous team. And yes Swarthmore is a dangerous team the past two years they have pulled in seven three-star recruits. On paper they look the stronger team.

This time in doubles we took off a bit quicker and went up breaks in all three matches. However #2 doubles turned into a bit of breakfest as the two teams took turns breaking each other. At #3 doubles Quin/Matt again went up 3-1 but managed to drop five straight games to go down 3-6. Thankfully Andrew/Conor gave us a needed boost and rolled to a 8-2 victory. However Quin/Matt dropped #3 doubles 8-6 to even the match at 1-1. The finals doubles point came down to Jeff/ET who took #2 doubles in a tiebreak.

Singles only had one three set match but the match was a heck of a battle. Conor played strong ball rolling to a 6-2, 6-2 victory. At #2 Andrew won 6-3, 6-2 but it was a very close match. At #4 Jeff ran out of gas and lost to a talented freshman 6-2, 6-2. At #5 Chris continued to struggle losing 6-1, 6-0. With the match at 4-3 all eyes turned to ET (at #3) and Adriel (at #6).

At #3 ET won the opening set 6-2 but dropped the 2nd set 1-6. At the end of the 2nd set ET is cramping and he is emotionally out of the match (this was his 2nd three setter of the day). Doesn't matter how big one's heart is if the body is falling apart. In my mind this put the match squarely on Adriel's shoulders. Thankfully Adriel was up to the challenge and won the 1st set 6-3. Adriel's 1st set was incredibly long so ET was starting the 3rd when Adriel was beginning the 2nd set.

I couldn't believe my eyes when ET raced out to a 4-1 lead in the 3rd! Here he was cramping, no energy and absolutely lighting up his forehand! In an effort to keep the points short ET was going for broke most every shot. Truly one of the more amazing displays of courage I have seen. In the end Adriel clinched the match with a gritty 6-3, 6-3 victory. With all eyes focused on ET and he didn't disappoint winning 6-2, 1-7, 7-6 win. I was quite relived to come away with a 6-3 win.

Tomorrow we play for 5th/6th place against Trinity University who is #9 team in the nation. You know its a tough draw when you are playing for 5th place against the #9 team in the nation! Even though the team is sore and tired we are looking forward to the opportunity to play one of the top teams in the nation. Match starts at 10am.

Whitman 6 Swarthmore 3
Doubles
1. Conor/Andrew def Youngblood/Kelm 8-2
2. Jeff/ET def Kaye/Bressman 9-8
3. Quin/Matt lost Carciore/Udelson

Singles
1. Conor def Youngblood 6-2, 6-2
2. Andrew def Kelm 6-3, 6-2
3. ET def Bressman 6-2, 1-6, 7-6
4. Jeff lost Kaye 6-2, 6-2
5. Chris lost Collard 6-1, 6-0
6. Adriel def Park 6-3, 6-3