All Time Record vs. Prairie Heights: 13-1
Classic Matches:
Bethany Christian 3, Prairie Heights 2; 2004
The closest match that we've had with the Panthers since I started coaching, they brought a very experienced squad to the match. In this match, we suffered from the same problem we had much of the season. Strong doubles, but somewhat weak singles. Joel King won easily at #1S, and we took the doubles with ease... but the #2S and #3S that would cause difficulty during the year both lost. Really, both of our singles players were playing one position higher than they should have, but that can really cost a team over the course of a season.
Bethany Christian 4, Prairie Heights 1; 2005
Prairie Heights again brought six seniors to this match (much experience). But we brought five, and were able to take advantage of those positions. Wes Klassen had to claw out a long three set match, but his win kept alive his streak of matches won, which ended at 7 in a row in 2005.
Top Players over the Years: Zach Hollsinger, Zach Arnold, Anthony Ferguson, Nick Logsden, Phil Hubley, Brandon Buechley, Brandon Hollifield, Travis Northup
Last Season Result: Bethany Chrisitan 5, Prairie Heights 0
Returning Varsity Players:
#3S - Donald Cook (lost to Mikey Kelly, 0-6, 0-6)
#2D - Danny Hamm/Tyler Carbone (lost to Russell Klassen/Nick Rebec, 1-6, 0-6)
Top Returning JV Players:
Torin Kellett (lost to Blake Shetler, 1-8)
Brad Hughes (lost to Claude Stickler, 0-6; lost to Matt Ebersole, 0-6)
Outlook:
The matchups favor the Bruins heading into next season. We return more players, and the players that we return won their matches last year. The Panthers return 3, but none of those 3 was in a competitive match with our team last year. The Panthers are building up again, during our 2008 Sectional champion campaign, they also had a successful senior filled squad that finished a very respectable 4th in the NECC. Last year they began to build the program again. It will be interesting to see where they go from last year.