The Story of Sectional: Round 2

Finals, finals, here we come!

On a day where the clouds cleared and the winds whipped the courts clear of water, the Bruins came out to play some tennis. And because we played some of our best tennis of the year, we move into the Sectional finals tomorrow night.

The most impressive play today probably came from Ike Lehman. In the swirling wind, Ike committed to the attack. Early in the match, Ike found his aggressive stroke and began to play some of his best tennis of the season. His opponent, Jacob Gongwer, had trouble finding the court with some of his strokes through the wind. But as the match settled in, Ike stayed in control. He ended up with an easy win and the first match off the court.

He was quickly followed by Blake, who after losing the first two games of his match to a pumped up Austin Ward, proceeded to win 12 of the next 13. It was amazing to watch him change from a tentative player into an attacking and confident one. Once that transition took place, the match quickened up and Blake took a 5-2 lead in the set.

Meanwhile, #1 doubles played their best of the season. Evan and Abe got a nice lead in the first set and continued to attack throughout the set. They were focused, they were on their toes, they were finishing balls and forcing errors. Soon they won the first set. It was great to see confident tennis from them. But they lost the second set as the Jimmies began to pick it up, shot by shot. Abe and Evan began to pick it up as well, but they couldn't quite find the game ending shots. They split sets and got ready for a third.

#2 doubles didn't fare as well, but played really well. Again, they got behind in the first and second sets. What was amazing to watch was the way they stayed positive and fought. In the first set, they got a game, they broke some patterns and they got to a 6-3 set. In the second set, they fell down 5-2, but came back to change the sides again to get to 5-4. Unfortunately, they couldn't get all the way back, but I was totally proud of the way they came back.

Which brings us to the clincher, Nathan Brendle. His match was intense, a battle from beginning to end. Both players put their full concentration into the match which made for some great shots, some great points. Nathan won the first set, fairly comfortably, and then took a 5-1 lead into the second set. All the sudden, Jimmies' #1 Dan Gongwer, totally changed strategies, forcing Nate to hit shot after shot. Nathan did well, but couldn't quite find the finish. But at 5-4... he found the swagger again. Two beautiful points and a double fault put him at match point, and a backhand in the net gave the match to the Bruins.

#1 doubles couldn't quite keep up the fight in the third set, but you no what, it wasn't a big deal.

Because we were on to the finals!!! You know, we've battled winds, rain, and cold. We have been hard-pressed, but we have been brought out... and now we will not be afraid. I can't wait until tomorrow!

- Psalm 118:5-7

The Scores
#1S - Nathan Brendle - 6-2, 6-4 - Dan Gongwer
#2S - Blake Shetler - 6-2, 6-1 - Austin Ward
#3S - Ike Lehman - 6-2, 6-1 - Jacob Gongwer
#1D - Evan Grimes/Abe Thorne - 6-2, 2-6, 0-6 - Brett Aller/Cole Peterson
#2D - Parth Patel/Jesse Amstutz - 3-6, 4-6 - Augie Farwig/Michael Hobbs

2011 JV Season Review

This year marked a step forward for our JV. Last year, our JV was young and took quite a few hits on the learning curve. This year, our JV was ultra young... with 11 members of the freshman class taking turns playing some of the leading roles. In fact, in all but one match this season, a freshman played at either #1 singles or #1 doubles on the JV.

With that, let's start looking at some other interesting stats.

- Last year's JV had 2 winning records amongst the individuals. This year we had 9. All of our individual records are listed at the bottom of this page.

- We played outstanding under pressure this season. In tiebreaks, the JV had an 88.9% winning percentage this season... losing only 1 tiebreak.

- In team match's the JV ended the season accomplishing 2 varsity victories (Churubusco and Howe) as well a 5-6-3 record in solely JV contests. Altogether, that makes an above .500 season for the JV.

- The 2nd place finish at the Fremont Invitational is the highest place for a JV team at a tournament in 3 years. Only once (in 2008) has our JV won a tournament.

- Speaking of tournaments, in a flighted tournament (like Fremont was) Wade Troyer/Hans Miller and Himal King/Joel Gerig became the only Bruins JV players to ever win their positions.

- Looking at cumulative class records and winning percentage:
Juniors = 57.1%
Sophomores = 62.5%
Freshman = 48.0%

- However, freshman, there are only 2 classes in Bethany tennis history with higher winning percentages than that as freshman. Last year's class (which had the most wins in school history as seniors). And this year's seniors are the other (although they were significantly carried by Blake's 10 (!) wins as a freshman).

- Some of the JV got to play in varsity matches this year as well. Leading the way in those were Sol, Hans and Joel with 2 victories each.

- Hans takes home the prize for most JV victories (12), followed by Wade (10), Sol (10), Joel (9), and Landon (9).

- Best winning percentage belongs to Justin Zehr (75.0%), followed by Hans (70.6%).

- Again, Hans winning percentage is the highest for a freshman since Blake (83.3%).

- Exciting matches this year:

---> Watching Luke and Neel win in almost complete darkness against Fremont to seal a team win!
---> Finishing 2nd at the Fremont Invitational and winning some individual championships!
---> Wade and Hans' #1 doubles match against Concord at the Jimtown Invitational!
---> Sol's epic tiebreak against Jimtown at the same tournament!
---> Colin and Delan winning the first game as they played together against Triton!
---> Ryan Duckworth and Joel Gerig's comeback against Triton!
---> Roberto Ramos' win over Howe in the last match of the season!
---> Tristan and Sol grabbing us at least one win over Northridge in the first match!
---> Justin's amazing comeback at #3 singles varsity against Howe, fighting through a third set and a tiebreak!
---> Landon's fast start to the season, dismantling all #2 and #3 singles players!
---> Himal and Joel's final win over Howe, fighting their way back to a win!

Thanks, brothers, for a fantastic season! You are fun to watch play and are going to form the backbone of this program for year's to come. I love each of you, in a tennis team/brother sort of way :-)

Individual Records

--- Juniors ---
Wade Troyer - 10-8
Himal King - 6-4

--- Sophomores ---
Joel Gerig - 9-7
Justin Zehr - 6-2

--- Freshman ---
Hans Miller - 12-5
Sol Brenneman - 10-8
Landon Weldy - 9-7
Tristan Clark - 6-5
Ryan Duckworth - 5-4
Neel Bhagat - 1-4
Luke Schrock - 1-3
Roberto Ramos - 1-5
Colin Samuel - 0-5
Delan Schrock - 0-3

The Story of Sectional: Round 1

With the constant drizzle all day, the pouring rain in the morning, and the threatening radar, it didn't look like we'd play the first round of Sectional at all. If the Sectional tournament makes people nervous, the threat of rain was doing that for us anyway. But in one of the craziest weather patterns I've seen, the black storms encircled us, but they didn't strike.

And we had enough time to get the win.

We won all the singles positions convincingly, despite some hiccups at the beginning. Blake and Nathan both gave up the first game of the first set before really taking control. Blake took control to the tune of 12 straight games after the first lack of concentration game. Nathan had a little bit more difficulty with his consistent opponent, but still took a 6-3, 6-2 victory. Ike Lehman looked fairly comfortable at #3 singles as well. He had some long games where his opponent was able to keep the ball in the court, but the final score reflected Ike's experience and talent. With the 3 singles wins, we had won the match.

The two doubles matches were left on the court. In both we had lost the first set 6-3. In both, we began to really focus and play our aggressive games in the second set. In both, we were able to open up second set leads. #2 doubles, Parth and Jesse, were able to start breaking some bad patterns from the season. Traditionally, they fight to 2-3 but then lose the next four games to go down 2-6. Last night, however, they broke the pattern and got a game. Then, they broke a pattern of losing in two sets, by coming back to win the second set 6-3.

At #1 doubles, Abe and Evan began to play with aggression, smarts, and a little luck. But they kept winning the big points. They pulled ahead with a 3-0 lead in the match, and continued to look good. However, some mental lapses and poor serving allowed NorthWood to even the match. After the roaring comeback to start the set, Abe and Evan began to look a bit flustered. They stayed alive to tie the set at 5-5, but couldn't sustain the good plays, losing 5-7 in the second.

Both teams had good fight, good desire, and that's a great place to start. For #2 doubles, they didn't get to finish as the rain fell on them at the start of the 3rd set.

But I feel the storm metaphor works well for us. We've fought dark clouds all season. We've fought some injuries, some bad (and rainy) circumstances, some difficult lineup decisions, some mental battles to stay positive and to start fresh each point. But we've battled, as Nathan Brendle loves. And the storms, well, they've never struck. But we love to play under the clouds.

- Numbers 10:34

The Scores
#1S - Nathan Brendle - 6-3, 6-2 - Brennan Angle (11)
#2S - Blake Shetler - 6-1, 6-0 - Mitchell Keiser (10)
#3S - Ike Lehman - 6-2, 6-1 - Quinn Stillson (9)
#1D - Evan Grimes/Abe Thorne - 3-6, 5-7 - Jayson Linhart (12)/Ben Zercher (12)
#2D - Jesse Amstutz/Parth Patel - 3-6, 6-3, 2-2 - Shawn Stahley (12)/Austin Sanders (10)

The Story vs. Howe

The Lead: "Some are Fast and Some are Not"
In what may turn out to be our last regular season match of the year, we had a match of contrasts against The Howe School. Significant contrasts, especially in time of match.

On one hand, there was Wade Troyer and Hans Miller. Riding high with confidence from quite a good streak playing together, these two steamed through two sets of tennis. And when I say steamed, I mean like, in record time. Tying the record set by Seth Krabill, Wade and Hans clocked a 28 minute match, winning 6-0, 6-0. Not very many double faults or long points in that one!

On the other side of the courts was Justin Zehr. While not quite as dominating, Justin looked like he was going to cruise through his match pretty well. He picked up the first set win 6-3, and looked like he'd be able to control the match. However, in the 2nd set the match slowed down, and the points became long. Justin tried to control points by coming to the net but he couldn't quite find the finishing potion. He dropped down 3-0 in the 2nd, and then 4-1, then 5-2, and then it was a 3rd set. In the 3rd set, Justin was down 4-1, but then he started attacking his shots, hitting through the ball, really playing with aggressive groundstrokes. It turned the match around! He suddenly was up 5-4, playing for the match. But of course, we couldn't go without a tiebreak. In the tiebreak, Justin won all but 1 point. In the end, his match took approximately 2 and a half hours.

And everywhere in between. #2 doubles of Himal King and Joel Gerig got off to a rough start (falling down 1-5) but then rebounded to run off a great streak and win in two sets. Landon Weldy had a short and sweet game of consistency. Sol ground his opponent down in the second set. Colin and Roberto had epic matches, each fighting for their first win in tight contests. Ryan attacked smartly to win a JV #1 singles match. It was a fun day for these guys, and good to come out as winners!

The Hidden Narrative
The underlying story here is feet and positive focus. It was a cold and windy day yesterday, and you could visibly see the focus waning from players as they stood on the court. You could see people getting frustrated and standing instead of keeping their feet moving.

And it almost cost a couple of positions. Justin really didn't have either positive energy or moving feet at the beginning of his third set, and #2 doubles didn't have it for most of their first set. Even though both positions were playing against opponents who were not as good as them, the lack of mental and physical preparation was killer.

Both rebounded well, but it is a lesson to be learned for future varsity matches. Sometimes that is hard to regather, especially against a good opponent.

Other Storylines
- So, Hans has put away the crown of victories for a mostly JV player. With only one possible match left, he leads by two over Sol and Wade. His 12 match victories are the most since Blake Shetler had 12 in 2009 (Blake's sophomore year).

- Percentage wise, the best winning percentage will belong to Justin Zehr. His win puts him at 75% for the season. He has really improved throughout the year, and I was really proud of his comeback yesterday.

- Roberto picked up his first win of the season! Yea, Robert!

- Ryan Duckworth sealed an above .500 record for the season last night.

- Speaking of above .500, we'll have 9 JV players with above .500 records this year. Last year we had 2. Program improvement!

The Scores
Varsity
#1S - Sol Brenneman - 6-4, 6-1 - Spencer Phillips (11)
#2S - Landon Weldy - 6-2, 6-2 - Matt McDonald (12)
#3S - Justin Zehr - 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (1) - Kyle Harrison (11)
#1D - Wade Troyer/Hans Miller - 6-0, 6-0 - Brett Hendricks (12)/Shenguri Ma (12)
#2D - Himal King/Joel Gerig - 7-5, 6-2 - Tom Baker (11)/Leo Samara (11)

Junior Varsity
#1SJV - Ryan Duckworth - 8-2 - Griffin Toombs (9)
#2SJV - Neel Bhagat - 5-8 - Justin Hu (11)
#3SJV - Colin Samuel - 4-6 - Zhungyang Li (12)
#4SJV - Roberto Ramos - 6-4 - Ma (12)

Sectional Draw

We play the first round against NorthWood. That match is scheduled for 4:30 on Wednesday afternoon. The whole Sectional is played at Goshen Middle School.

If we win, the second round is scheduled for Thursday at 4:30. The final is scheduled for Friday at 4:30. This can all change with the rain!

Looking forward to seeing many of you out supporting us!

Thoughts

“Forget the former things;
do not dwell on the past.

See, I am doing a new thing!
Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?

I am making a way in the wilderness
and streams in the wasteland.

The wild animals honor me,
the jackals and the owls,

because I provide water in the wilderness
and streams in the wasteland,

to give drink to my people, my chosen,
the people I formed for myself
that they may proclaim my praise."

Isaiah 43:18-21

Tonight I was telling my tennis team about the beauty of tennis being that there are so many places to simply start again. Each point, each game, each set... it’s an opportunity to start fresh. Sure, there’s a little something lost. But if you can win more points than the opponent going forward, you will win the match.

That’s so much like life. There are so many places to start new. To start fresh. Every year, people make resolutions. Every day, people start new habits. Every minute, we make new choices. Every breath, we speak or think something new.

The hope comes with what we do with the next breath. And so, I have to face my failures, the way that tennis season often makes me become selfish and gluttonous. I get stressed, eat way too much food by myself, ignore my household chores and school duties. I get wrapped up in praying for what I want (for tennis, in a home, in my next meal) and figure out how I can manipulate situations to get that.

But...

I will start tonight by not eating ice cream and being gluttonous. Seems small, but I can do that with my next breath. I will pray for others, including each one of my team. I can do that in my next breaths as well.

And tomorrow the sun will rise, and I will too. Not only in hope but also in praise.

All praises to the One who made it all and finds it beautiful...

The Story vs. Bremen: Match #14

The Lead: "Good Play, Frustrating Day"
When #1 doubles began the match, it looked like it was going to be a quick loss. They held their serve, tied the match at 2-2 in the first set, but then lost four straight games to go down 6-2 in the first set. So many matches have gone like this throughout the season. We're close at the beginning, can't pull crucial games out and then lose in two sets. It appeared to be the same today.

But it wasn't. Suddenly, everything clicked for Abe and Evan. They began to play the way that we've talked about all year. They attacked the ball at the net. They got both up to the net. They got their serves in, they played with passion, they took an early lead in the second set. Buoyed by this great play, they won the second to force a third.

Meanwhile, Blake continued his dominant play as of late. I didn't talk to him one time during his match because he's playing with such incredibly good instincts right now. 6-0, 6-0 and we had the first win of the day. It was great play from him.

And #2 doubles was playing with some vigor as well. Although they dropped the first set, many of the games came down to nervous errors. There was hope as they took the first game of the second set, keeping the pressure on the Bremen Lions.

Nathan was rolling along at #1 singles. Senior Briley Bollenbacher was able to hit some tight angled winners, but for the most part Nathan held control of the match because of his ability to win the long points and consistently hit better angles and better balls. He took the first set and built a comfortable lead in the second.

And Ike lost the first set, but never lost his heart. As he calmed down moving into the second set, he began to play his best tennis of the season. Really stroking approach shots, confidently hitting overheads, getting himself right back into the match.

And so I was ecstatic. At most positions, we played our best tennis of the day today.

And then we lost. 3-2.

The Hidden Narrative
The hidden story here is why we lost. Despite playing our best tennis, when we got to important points, the crucial games we had to win, on those points we played nervous or fell into old habits. Evan struggled with his serve and Abe struggled with consistent aggressive volleys and returns. Ike struggled to stay loose and hit through the ball. #2 doubles struggled to finish points at the net.

These have been the stories all year long, and for most of the day, we were overcoming them confidently. But when we got to the final parts of a game, at deuce, down 3-5, whatever, the positions we lost struggled to stay with it.

There is a name for that in sports: that's what happens to inexperienced teams. Experience doesn't make your skills improve, it helps you understand how to deal with pressure. Last year, I made a big deal to the team about how to deal with pressure, and we'll start talking about it again now.

Under pressure, at the end of games and matches, you want to end things on your terms. You want to take a deep breath, and then attack those points with belief. You have to set your mind to what you want to do, and then imagine yourself doing it. Think of Djokovic at the US Open. On Roger Federer's first match point, you can see Djokovic on TV nodding to his box. He's going over how he's going to react on this return and he's physically affirming that he's going to do it. That's the mental strength. It's what inspired me about Blake against Fairfield... he was down but he knew he was going to do it.

We improve that aspect, the nervous mistakes get replaced with confidence, and we will win these points, games and matches.

Other Storylines
- JV tied 2-2. That is the second JV tie of the season, giving them a perfectly even record of 6-6-2, with 2 matches left.

- In the JV match, Hans Miller won with Wade Troyer to up his team leading wins to 11. The most JV wins in a season is 15 by Seth Krabill. And while Hans doesn't have the ability to match that, he'll get close if he can win the next 2.

- Yep, we had another tiebreak in the varsity match tonight. Perhaps it will begin to be news only if we don't have a tiebreak. We're up to 28 now.

- Oh, and this was our 6th "3-2" match of the season. We're 3-3 in these matches (beat Goshen, Triton, Westview - lost Fremont, Columbia City, Bremen). One more and we'll set the record for most "3-2" matches in a season as well. I guess we like it close!

- Blake's 6-0, 6-0 win was only our 2nd double bagel of the season. On the flip side, we've also only been double bageled twice (#3S against Northridge, #1D against Fairfield).

- For #1 doubles, this is only the 2nd time that we've lost a first set and still forced a third. This is a big reason why I'm so proud of them!

The Scores
Varsity
#1S - Nathan Brendle - 6-3, 6-2 - Briley Bollenbacher (12)
#2S - Blake Shetler - 6-0, 6-0 - Brad Foster (11)
#3S - Ike Lehman - 5-7, 6-7 (2) - Wes Burkholder (11)
#1D - Evan Grimes/Abe Thorne - 2-6, 6-1, 3-6 - Austin Huff (12)/TJ Bayer (12)
#2D - Parth Patel/Jesse Amstutz - 3-6, 2-6 - Joe Zeltwanger (11)/Nate Strehler (11)

JV
#1SJV - Sol Brenneman - 1-8 - Jalen Bayer (11)
#2SJV - Landon Weldy - 3-8 - Krent Hueni (9)
#1DJV - Wade Troyer/Hans Miller - 8-3 - Tyler LaFlash (10)/Austin Ingle (9)
#2DJV - Himal King/Joel Gerig - 6-2 - Matt Hall (11)/Kevin Woodyard (10)

Area Scores from 9/19 & 9/20

On Our Schedule
Wabash 4, Peru 1
#1S - Justin Middleton won 6-0, 6-0
#2S - David Driscoll won 6-0, 6-0
#3S - Edward Dillard won 6-0, 6-0
#1D - Stephan Eilts & JD Boone lost 2-6, 4-6
#2D - Jack Stein & Breyton Nealis won 5-1, default

Jimtown 5, Laville 0
#1S - Dan Gongwer def. Grant Frick 6-4, 6-4
#2S - Austin Ward def. Andrew Hulliberger 6-0, 6-1
#3S -Jacob Gongwer def. Matt Dixon 6-0, 6-0.
#1D - Brett Aller-Cole Peterson def. Blade Masterson-Keenan Clemons 6-0, 6-0.
#2D - Augie Farwig-Michael Hobbs def. Chris Nicodemus-Adam Baker 6-0, 6-0.

Goshen 3, Elkhart Memorial 2
#1S - Spenser Gilbert (EM) beat Eli Metzler-Prieb, 6-2, 6-2
#2S - Mazim Hakim (EM) beat Drew Hostetler, 6-1, 7-5
#3S - Paul Johnson (G) beat Jacob Gaffney, 6-1, 6-0.
#1D - Sylas Buller-Sam Stegelmann (G) beat Jerahmel Dudley-Kyle Grubb, 3-6, 6-2, 6-1
#2D - Matt Buncich-Adam Bratten (G) beat Elliiot Denton-Chivag Patel, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4.

Northridge 3, Plymouth 2
#1S - Gabe Vervynckt (P) beat Chris Robbins 6-3, 6-3
#2S - Lane Singleton (P) beat A.J. Thielking 7-6 (3), 4-6, 6-3
#3S - Josh Garfein (N) beat Luke Bumpus, 6-0, 6-2.
#1D - Alex Radelich-Andrew Gingerich (N) beat Connor Flynn-Jordan Scheetz 6-3, 7-6 (6)
#2D - Connor Cameron-Byron Slabach (N) beat Joe Knapp-Matt Flynn 6-2, 6-4.

Concord 3, Warsaw 2
#1S - Jason Denton (C) beat Kyle Wettschurack, 6-2, 6-2
#2S - Evan Miller (W) beat Jack Hinkle, 6-3, 5-7, 6-4
#3S - Keaton Joyner (W) beat Nick Pollock, 6-4, 6-2.
#1D - Bronson Dumont-Matt Ciesielski (C) beat Sam Rice-A.J. Herendeen, 5-7, 6-2, 6-2
#2D - T Cunningham-Matt Kotva (C) beat Connor Singrey-A.J. Jansen, 6-1, 6-2.

Rochester 3, North Judson 2
Triton 5, John Glenn 0
Wawasee 3, NorthWood 2
Westview 4, Central Noble 1
Elkhart Central 3, Mishawaka Marian 2

Ranked in the District
#2 Penn 5, Mishawaka 0
#5 Angola 5, Lakeland 0
#6 St. Joseph's 4, Michigan City 0
#6 St. Joseph's 5, South Bend Washington 0
#8 Elkhart Central 3, Mishawaka Marian 2

Other Scores
South Bend Adams 3, South Bend Riley 2
Knox 5, North Judson 0
LaLumiere 4, New Prairie 1

The Story at Fairfield: Match #13

The Lead: "The Last One"
We won the last match left on the courts. And while it didn't translate to victory tonight, it certainly leaves us walking away with the taste of hope.

It was Blake Shetler, again, fighting through a 3-set, 3 hour match to bring home a victory for the Bruins. And what continues to amaze and inspire me as a coach is the fight that Blake puts into a match. He never believes it is over. Last night, playing sophomore Austin Christner, Blake lost the first set in a tiebreak for the second match in a row. In the Merrillville tournament championship, he had taken a large second set lead. But tonight, in the second set, he fell behind 1-4.

He could easily have stared at that deficit and believed it was the end. He could have very easily quit. But he didn't. He won a point. He played his shots the best that he could. He continued to play the game that he is confident in, not doing more, not doing less. And what was incredible is that I didn't need to talk to him about it at all. I knew, I could see in his eyes, mannerisms, fist pumps and excitement that he didn't believe this was done.

After trailing 1-4, Blake made it back into the match. He was down 5-4, but tied it at 5-5. He went down 6-5, but tied it at 6-6 to send the second set into another tiebreak. In this tiebreak we lost 4 of the first five points. But keeping cool, he fought back for a 4-4 tie in the breaker. Christner then won two points in a row to set up 2 match points. But Blake, always attacking, always staying aggressive, came forward and denied them both. Then he tacked on two more to win the second set.

Going into the third set, I was confident that Blake would pull it out. He had the strategy, he had loosened up the pressure by his big second set comeback. And sure enough, he rode the confidence and energy from the second set through the third. But this time, he took and kept the lead so that he didn't have to make a comeback.

It was inspiring for me to watch. Quietly and with such belief, Blake made his way through his match. I was most impressed that he didn't try to do more than he knew he could. Determination and mental strength, it's been said, make up 90% of tennis. And Blake showed that today. I hope that he inspired more than just me, but that his teammates will feed off this win so that next time, we won't just win the last one.

The Hidden Narrative
Besides Blake's match, there was other exciting tennis on the courts tonight. Not much of it showed up in the scoreline, however. That was the frustrating part about this match. While I enter a possible Sectional meeting with the Falcons hopeful, there's not a lot in the scores that shows how well we played at some spots.

That's really true at the JV level. Sol Brenneman played some confident, attacking tennis, but didn't come away with a victory. Joel and Himal held a lead for most of their match at #2 doubles JV, but couldn't put things away.

And that's probably the next step for this team, putting things away. I mean that in multiple ways. One thing that set last year's amazing team apart from other teams that I've coached was their ability to be aggressive and execute without errors. In big points, they would attack and end the point. And they all had their own strategy to do that. Some would work the angles, some would attack the net, some would hit a big forehand.

We've yet to figure out how to play to our strengths so that we can finish points. But that is what practice is for! And even more exciting, as we learn to finish points, we will start to win more games and then more matches!

Other Storylines
- More tiebreaks tonight (3), so now we're only 2 away from doubling up the previous record. It's amazing to see how many tiebreakers we've played this season. I'm constantly amazed at how well we hold our nerve in them as well.

- With the varsity playing so many tiebreaks this year, the question was raised as to who has played the most. Turns out that honor goes to Blake Shetler as well, with a total of 8 tiebreakers played this season. Of course, 4 of those are in the last two matches.

- Exciting point from Blake's match: In the final game, Blake ran down 3 overheads in a row as Christner tried to put the ball away. On the final one, Christner accidentally hit the net trying to finish the point. He called the infraction against himself in a difficult position, an honest call that I have a lot of respect for.

- Parth and Ike were about to win a game, up 30-40 with the serve going to Ike. The serve was hit and zipped over to Parth's side of the court, striking him in the foot. That point goes to the opponent, so it was back to deuce and we eventually lost the game. Got to get those feet moving quicker!

- Delan Schrock got his first taste of singles today, getting two games off of fellow freshman Carver DeWitt-Gall.

- Justin Zehr go the JV win tonight, really playing a good game of groundstrokes and solid movement. His improvement this season has been impressive.

- Over the weekend, Hans Miller claimed the wins lead for the JV, now holding 10 on the season. He didn't get one tonight, but neither did his closest competitors, Sol (9), Wade (8) and Landon (8).

- Just to give a little comparison for our JV'ers... our Sectional winning team in 2008 had the following win totals as freshman: Luke Hostetter (8), Jared Schartzentruber (4), Jonny Shenk (?), Johnny Kauffman (5), Jeremy Thomas (5), Daniel Buschert (5), Mikey Kelly (9)... and they also all lost to Fairfield on their first tries.

The Scores
Varsity
#1S - Nathan Brendle - 7-6 (4), 0-6, 1-6 - Josh Mullet (12)
#2S - Blake Shetler - 6-7 (5), 7-6 (6), 6-3 - Austin Christner (10)
#3S - Abe Thorne - 1-6, 0-6 - Landon Knepp (11)
#1D - Ike Lehman/Parth Patel - 0-6, 0-6 - Jordan Hochstetler (11)/Dillon Lockwood (11)
#2D - Evan Grimes/Jesse Amstutz - 2-6, 2-6 - David Mohney (12)/Taylor Yoder (11)

Junior Varsity
#1SJV - Sol Brenneman - 3-6 - Adam Yoder (9)
#2SJV - Landon Weldy - 0-6 - Drew Cosby (11)
#3SJV - Justin Zehr - 6-4 - Samuel Clayton (10)
#4SJV - Delan Schrock - 2-6 - Carver DeWitt-Gall (9)
#1DJV - Wade Troyer/Hans Miller - 1-6 - Matt Yoder (11)/Marcus Rodes (10)
#2DJV - Himal King/Joel Gerig - 5-7 - Nathan Azzarito (9)/Jospeh Line (9)
#3DJV - Ryan Duckworth/Neel Bhagat - 1-6 - Connor Hochstetler (11)/Landyn Nunemaker (9)
#4DJV - Colin Samuel/Roberto Ramos - 0-6 - Andrew Hoover (9)/Samuel Clayton (10)

Fairfield Preview

Details: Monday, September 19, 2011 at 4:30 at Fairfield High School

3 Interesting Facts:
- We have met Fairfield in the Sectional for the past 4 years. Twice we won, twice we lost.
- Against teams with winning records, Fairfield is 3-2. We are 2-4 by comparison.
- It's raining. Last year when we played Fairfield at Sectional, it was raining too!

Fairfield Details: I believe the Falcons are 12-2 this season. Their only losses are to Angola and Concord. They have had many similar opponents to us, and they've defeated Columbia City (3-2) who we lost to, as well as Fremont who we lost to.

Bethany Christian Details: We are 7-5 on the season, having lost to Elkhart Central last week. However, we're coming off a good tournament weekend at Merrillville, the JV a good tournament at Fremont. We're still trying to figure out our best lineup as well, especially at doubles.

Projected Fairfield Lineup (with individual records):
#1S - Josh Mullet (11-3)
#2S - Austin Christner (12-2)
#3S - Landon Knepp (12-2)
#1D - Jordan Hochstetler/Dillon Lockwood (12-2)
#2D - Taylor Yoder/Marcus Rhodes ??? (#2 doubles is 12-2, it's been different combos)

Outlook:
Well, the outlook seems to be rainy :-) But as far as the match itself goes, we'll need to play our best to come out with a victory. But those are the matches we look forward to, the ones where playing our best will give us a great reward. I can't wait to get going tonight, I'm praying that the rain stops.

The Story at the Merrillville Invitational

The Lead: Blake's Championship
His sophomore year, he was denied in the final of the Wawasee JV Invite by a Warsaw player. Last year, he couldn't get a championship because of the rain at Merrillville and my silly brother's coaching move at the Wabash Tourney. But this year, not even losing the first set in a tiebreak or 3 lost match points could keep Blake from getting his championship!

Starting out against Triton, Blake had to adjust to a new opponent as the Trojans switched their lineup around and their normal #2 player was playing doubles. Blake didn't get off to a great start, and Ike sent me a text while I was watching the doubles that read: "Blake is playing awful." That was the last time that would be said throughout the day.

Blake quickly recovered from his slow start and pushed the lead out in the first match, winning 11 of 12 games at the end after losing 2 of the first 3. The result was a 6-2, 6-1 victory.

In the second round, Blake played Wawasee junior Isaac Rigdon. Now onto his game, Blake took even less time to win the second round, winning 6-1, 6-0. Onto the championship.

There he faced Centerville, the toughest team at the tournament and the eventual team champions. Junior Jacob Thompson had a game similar to Blake's, making it hard to get separation. In fact, the match went from 2-1, to 3-2, to 4-3 and so on all the way to Blake holding a 6-5 lead in the first set. Both players hit their angles, playing consistently, attacked when it was there. The first set went into a tiebreak, and Blake made three crucial errors to after the breaker was tied at 4-4.

We talked after the first set, noting that his errors had been "nervous" errors, not tactical or technical errors. He started the second set confident, and despite losing two early games, Blake was finally able to get some separation as his attacking shots kept drawing Thompson farther and farther off the court. Blake opened the match up to 5-2 and then was able to finish the set 6-3 to force the super tiebreaker.

In the super tiebreaker, again no one could pull away. The players traded 1 point leads until 6-6. Then Blake won 3 in a row to give himself match point. At that point, Thompson loosened up and blasted away on his shots. But Blake ran them down. After returning three blasted passing shots in a row, Blake forced a weak lob out of Thompson. He was an overhead from the match. But he missed it!

In fact, Blake lost the next 2 points as well to tie the breaker back up at 9-9. I began to worry that he would get mentally down, having lost 3 match points. But not Blake. He forced an error to get to 10-9, then in the next point he approached the net again and got a weak lob. This time his overhead was true, but a lunging Thompson sent the ball back to Blake. At championship point, Blake then finished off the final with a little volley into the open court!

After a difficult senior night, I was glad to see Blake get some redemption in these matches. Too bad he didn't get a trophy for his #2 singles tourney win, but hopefully he won a set of matches he will always remember!

The Hidden Narrative
While I highlight Blake's win, he was far from the only one playing well today. There were lots of wonderful highlights - and we'd have to start with Nathan Brendle.

Nathan started the day out really wanting to play Leonard Mathews, Merrillville's #1 singles player. 2 years ago he made the final 4 in the state, and last year at the Merrillville tournament he had the most amazing match with another final 4 player from Valparaiso. He was hoping to get to play him in the final, and the draw provided for that, if Nathan could win his first two.

He quickly took care of sophomore Kyler Love from Wawasee. Then he played a difficult but wonderful match against Eric Josephson, the #1 singles player from Centerville. In this match, Nathan had to fight through one of the most talented players he has played and a leg injury as well. But struggling through gave him the match up he wanted, in the final against Mathews.

And while the final wasn't close, it was fun to watch. Nathan played awesome, but Mathews is amazing. Nathan would pound a ground stroke and Mathews would drop a ball in front of him. Nathan would approach and Mathews would stretch out and put a lob right on the backline. Nathan kept the games close, but could never quite put the points together to win. Still it was an amazing day for him.

Ike also got to the final at #3 singles. He had a bye in the first round, then took on Triton in the second round. In that match, Ike started out well with attacking ground strokes and coming to the net to finish points. Into the second set, he began to lose some of his confidence and miss some of his strokes. After a 6-3 win in the first set, he lost the second 3-6. So into the super tiebreaker he went. It also went back and forth, like Blake, but Ike found himself down match point at 8-9. On that point he attacked the net and got lobbed over. In returning the lob, Ike landed it right in the back corner. His opponent, Austin Kanarr, went to return it and cramped in his right leg. After a time of stretching, Ike went on to win the super close breaker, 14-12.

In the final, Ike ran into a player with superior placement. Ike couldn't find a way to break down his opponents strokes and lost in rather lopsided fashion. It was a difficult end but a well-played day.

In doubles, Abe Thorne and Jesse Amstutz played their best tennis first thing in the day, against the Lowell Red Devils. Abe really controlled the net and Jesse controlled the baseline. In the second set, they couldn't find the knockout punch, and found themselves in a tiebreak. They had two match points to win the tiebreak, but couldn't finish it out. So they went to a super tiebreak 3rd set. There, I was super proud of the way they dominated, coming back from the difficult second set. They took a huge lead in the breaker, going up 8-1 and winning 10-2. They really played well in doing so.

In the end, we finished 3rd in the team tournament. That was a very good result.

Other Storylines
- The doubles were played at a different site that the singles. So I spent a good deal of the day going back and forth. I didn't see everything, but I saw enough to see our progress.

- 5 more tiebreaks today! Seems we're intent on shattering the previous season record of 15. We're now at 24, we'll see if we can double the record in our last 8 matches.

- Evan and Parth didn't fare quite as well today. They faced up against the eventual champions in the first round.

- Centerville won the tournament. They are undefeated and ranked 8th in District 4. They are also young. I think they only had 1 senior on their varsity team. This is going to be a good team.

- In #2 doubles second round match, our team actually had several points to win the first set. After losing it, they unfortunately could not come back to win the second. I'm looking forward to their mental breakthrough, as they had close sets all day, pretty soon they'll be winning them!

The Scores
#1S - Nathan Brendle - 2nd
def. Kyler Love (10), Wawasee - 6-1, 6-0
def. Eric Josephson (11), Centerville - 6-3, 6-4
lost to Leonard Mathews (12), Merrillville - 0-6, 1-6

#2S - Blake Shetler - 1st
def. Lucas Shafer, Triton - 6-2, 6-1
def. Isaac Rigdon (11), Wawasee - 6-1, 6-0
def. Jacob Thompson (11), Centerville - 6-7 (4), 6-3, (11-9)

#3S - Ike Lehman - 2nd
def. Austin Kanarr (12), Triton - 6-3, 3-6, (14-12)
lost to Adam Spencer (10), Centerville - 2-6, 1-6

#1D - Evan Grimes/Parth Patel - 7th
lost to Brady Wagenknecht (9)/Kaler Nicholson (10), Centerville - 1-6, 0-6
lost to Ryan Wieser (12)/Ben Roesel (9), Lowell - 1-6, 1-6

#2D - Abe Thorne/Jesse Amstutz - 4th
def. Johnny Goodrich (12)/Delner Fleming (10), Lowell - 6-2, 6-7 (9), (10-2)
lost to Jackson Downing (12)/Wil Rettinger (12), Triton - 5-7, 1-6
lost to Nick Lindsey (12)/Tyler Porter (11), Highland - 2-6, 5-7

The Story at Fremont JV Invite

We got 2nd!

I don't know all the details, but we do have 4 champions! Wade Troyer and Hans Miller dominated the competition to take home 1st place for the #1 doubles, while Himal King and Joel Gerig were crowned champions of the #2 doubles.

At the other spots, Landon Weldy finished 4th, Sol Brenneman 5th, and Tristan Clark 4th. More scores and updates on Monday after I talk to our assistant coach, Jordan Kauffman.

#1S - Landon Weldy - 4th
#2S - Sol Brenneman - 5th
#3S - Tristan Clark - 4th
#1D - Wade Troyer/Hans Miller - 1st !!!
#2D - Himal King/Joel Gerig - 1st !!!

Area Scores from 9/17

On Our Schedule
None seen.

Ranked in the District
FW CANTERBURY INVITE
#1 FW Canterbury 4, Angola 1
#1 FW Canterbury 4, #4 Penn 1
#1 FW Canterbury 5, Culver Military 0
Angola 3, #4 Penn 2
Angola 3, Culver Military 2
#4 Penn 3, Culver Military 2

FW CARROLL INVITE
#3 FW Carroll 5 FW South Side 0 (Finals)
FW Northrop 3 Blackford 2
FW South Side 3 Blackford 2
#3 FW Carroll 5 FW Northrop 0
FW South Side 4 FW Northrop 1
#3 FW Carroll 5 Blackford 0

Other Scores
HOMESTEAD INVITE
Guerin Catholic 35
Bloomington South 26
Floyd Central 25
Bishop Dwenger 22
Northridge 17
Homestead 8
Yorktown 8
Concordia 4

The Seniors: Blake Shetler

Blake has made a significant transition for his senior year, moving from a dominating #2 doubles player to a strong #2 singles player. Last year, teaming with Russell Klassen and Evan Grimes, Blake compiled a record of 19-3 playing doubles. This year, he is 8-3 playing #2 singles, with 2 of those losses being three set matches! Blake’s presence on the team is often under appreciated by many who are not part of our team. Blake does his damage quietly; practicing hard, challenging himself, even making silent fist pumps when he wins big points. Blake always reminds me of a Wendell Berry poem, “What if we all did our work like the snow? Quietly, quietly, leaving nothing out…” As a leader, Blake has also been someone who leaves no one out, giving rides to practice and being a hitting partner with whoever is around. I have been so grateful to have a strong player and leader on our team.

Colossians 3:16-17
Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Area Scores from 9/15

On Our Schedule
Fairfield 5, Westview 0
#1S - Josh Mullet def. Austin Schlabach, 6-0, 6-1
#2S - Austin Christner def. Kohle Christner, 6-3, 6-1
#3S - Landon Knepp def. Brett Yoder, 6-1, 6-3
#1D - Josh Hochstetler/Dillon Lockwood def. Nic Hostetler/Devin Bontrager, 6-4, 6-7 (3), 6-3
#2D - Taylor Yoder/Marcus Rhodes def. Jamar Weaver/Jonathan Hochstetler, 7-5, 6-3

Plymouth 5, Goshen 0
#1S - Gabe Vervynckt def. Eli Metzler-Prieb, 6-1, 6-1
#2S - Lane Singleton def. Drew Hostetler, 7-6 (5), 6-4
#3S - Luke Bumpus def. Paul Johnson, 7-5, 6-2
#1D - Connor Flynn/Jordan Schertz def. Sylas Buller/Sam Stegelman, 6-3, 6-0
#2D - Matt Flynn/Joe Knepp def. Matt Buncich/Adam Bratten, 2-6, 6-3, 6-0

Concord 3, Northridge 2
#1S - Jason Denton (C) def. Chris Robbins, 6-2, 6-2
#2S - AJ Thielking (N) def. Jack Hinkle, 6-4, 6-7, 7-6
#3S - Josh Garfein (N) def. Nick Polluck, 6-4, 2-6, 6-3
#1D - Matt Ciesielski/Bronson DuMont (C) def. Alex Radelich/Andrew Gingerich, 6-0, 6-2
#2D - T Cunningham/Matt Kotva (C) def. Byron Slabach/Connor Cameron, 6-3, 7-5

Triton 4, Jimtown
#1S - Jeff Ross (T) def. Dan Gongwer
#2S - Trent Kauffman (T) def. Austin Ward
#3S - Lucas Shafer (T) def. Jake Ward
#1D - Brett Aller/Cole Peterson (J) def. Josh Shafer/Austin Kanarr
#2D - Wil Rettinger/Jackson Downing (T) def. Augie Farwig/Michael Hobbs

Centerville 5, Union County 0

from 9/14
Hamilton Heights 4, Eastern 0

Ranked in the District
#2 Marion 5, Huntington North 0
#3 FW Carroll 5, Columbia City 0
#4 Penn 5, South Bend Riley 0
#6 Elkhart Central 5, South Bend Adams 0
#8 Kokomo 5, Logansport 0

from 9/14
#1 FW Canterbury 4, East Noble 0

Other Scores
Angola 5, Churubusco 0
Warsaw 5, NorthWood 0
Elkhart Memorial 5, Wawasee 0
Mishawaka Marian 4, Mishawaka 1
Norwell 4, East Noble 1
FW Snider3, FW South Side 2
DeKalb 5, New Haven 0
Hamilton Heights 5, Madison-Grant 0

from 9/14
Angola 5, West Noble 0

The Seniors: Evan Grimes

Evan has made a significant transition this year. After picking up tennis as a freshman, and only playing in 8 matches, Evan has improved year after year. This year, he moved from splitting time between varsity and JV to being a full-time #1 doubles player. He’s handled the difficult matches well, while not always being pleased with the results. He also brings a joyfulness to the team, as in all things, he seems to be able to keep a smile on his face or a joke on his lips. I think about the matches that he played with Nathan Brendle, and the way they were often laughing about things between points. Also, Evan is seen as a natural leader. In school, socially, and in tennis, many people look up to him. These things make him a valuable person for our team.

Matthew 20:25-28
Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your servant— just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

The Story vs. Elkhart Central: Match #12

The Lead: "Senior's Battle"
Tonight was our senior night. And tonight our senior's played with a lot of heart.

Blake Shetler, who has made the move from #2 doubles last year to #2 singles this year, played incredibly well. After coming out just a little off in the first set (and against an opponent who was just a little on fire), Blake really began to pick up his play in the second set. Holding serve each time, he built a 5-4 lead in the second set. It was amazing to see him really begin to believe he could win against Blazer senior Brett Morton. Morton was 12-0 on the season, took the first set from Blake 6-0, and was blasting serves and forehands. But Blake found a strategy, fought every point, and brought himself to the brink of winning a set.

Unfortunately, he couldn't break Morton's serve, and then got broken himself to go down 6-5. A little pep talk from me ( I told him to get it to a tiebreak, not the most brilliant advice, but practical) and a little help from Morton's nerves (he threw in a double fault for the cause), and Blake broke back for the first time all match to send it to a tiebreak. Again, in the tiebreak Blake fell behind 4-1, before rattling off three straight to tie the breaker at 4. The fight that Blake had to again and again believe he would win the next point was amazing. Morton would sizzle a passing shot past him and Blake would come right back to attack the net on the next point. Morton would blaze a big serve and the next point Blake would challenge him with a drop shot. It was exciting tennis to watch.

But it didn't go our way. Morton ended up winning the tiebreak and taking the second set (and clinching the team match for Central). Which left one of our seniors on the court fighting for a victory, Evan Grimes.

Evan had been playing #1 doubles with Abe Thorne all season, but we decided to split the pair of them up and challenge for the #1 doubles spot with new partners. Abe Thorne and Wade Troyer had won the challenge, and Evan and Parth found themselves playing #2 doubles for this match. Instead of being disappointed and down about losing the #1 challenge, Evan and Parth played their best tennis of the year in the first set against Blazer juniors Riley Futterknecht and Alex Moon. They kept the ball in play, and served extremely well, all of which added up to a 6-3 set win.

In the second set, they became more inconsistent. Sometimes they finished points, sometimes they stroked the ball long. Sometimes they held their nerve, sometimes they got frustrated. You could see the emotion and the frustration teetering back and forth. They wanted to win so badly, but despite a 6-5 lead in the second set, they also lost it in a tiebreak.

The tiebreak loss seemed to deflate the confidence, and inflate their frustration. In the third set, they again seemed to have trouble placing the ball in the court and finding their serves. It was an incredible emotional high in the first set, and it gave them an incredible set. But we just couldn't finish it off.

These seniors have worked really hard through the years, and perhaps tonight wasn't the best representation for them, to have losing matches on senior night. But I loved the battle. The determination and the desire to win. And I love these seniors. More about them in a later post.

The Hidden Narrative
It was a disappointing 4-1 loss to Central tonight, but the one varsity win was a huge highlight. Nathan Brendle has quietly been rounding his game into the best form of his career. Tonight Nathan quickly defeated Blazer #1 Nic Burton. Burton had similar scores to Nathan against the same opponents, and looked like he would be a really good match for Nathan.

And he was, but Nathan won the match comfortably according to the scorecard. Nathan's baseline game has been impressive lately, and his net game is ever improving. It is good to see him growing in confidence and positive energy as the season goes forward. As Nathan is learning to enjoy the game, he's playing it a lot better.

Now, every day can be like Tuesday!

Other Storylines
- Central's normal #2 doubles team has been changed a bit this week because of an injury to Franklin Fisher. He was in a car accident over the weekend. Please keep him in prayer.

- Nathan took over the lead in individual wins tonight, he had been tied with Blake. No one clinched a team win for us tonight, so Ike still leads that category.

- Everyone got to play tonight! In a rarity this season, Elkhart Central had exactly the same number of players as we did. We both even had an injured player, as Ryan Minter remains sidelined for us.

- On that JV level, Landon Weldy got the only win. This ties him with Sol Brenneman for the team lead, but moves him into the winning percentage lead. He's now 7-2 on the season!

- Two more tiebreaks for the varsity tonight. That's 19 played on the season. The most tiebreaks a team has ever played in a season before this one was 15 (in 2006, 2008, 2010).

- Central's team is filled with juniors. They have 11 juniors, just like we have 11 freshman. In two years, maybe we'll be in a similar situation, with just 1 loss and ranked in the district!

The Scores
Varsity
#1S - Nathan Brendle - 6-2, 6-3 - Nic Burton (11)
#2S - Blake Shetler - 0-6, 6-7 (4) - Brett Morton (12)
#3S - Ike Lehman - 0-6, 1-6 - Blake Brouwer (11)
#1D - Wade Troyer/Abe Thorne - 1-6, 0-6 - Mitch Hanberg (12)/Austin Sellers (12)
#2D - Evan Grimes/Parth Patel - 6-3, 6-7 (2), 1-6 - Riley Futterknecht (11)/Alex Moon (11)

Junior Varsity
#1SJV - Sol Brenneman - 0-6 - Sean Quinn (11)
#2SJV - Landon Weldy - 6-2 - Jake Mullins (11)
#3SJV - Hans Miller - 3-6 - Taylor Ely (11)
#1DJV - Himal King/Joel Gerig - 5-7 - Alex Buitendorp (11)/Brian Harter (11)
#2DJV - Ryan Duckworth/Tristan Clark - 2-6 - Matt Morrison (11)/Mikey Namisank (11)
#3DJV - Justin Zehr/Luke Schrock - 1-6 - Scott Hanberg (9)/Will Riblet (9)
#4DJV - Roberto Ramos/Neel Bhagat - 2-6 - Will Bernacchi (12)/Eric Burton (9)
#5DJV - Colin Samuel/Delan Schrock - 2-6 - Patrick Allen (9)/Dominic Massaro (10)

Area Scores from 9/13

On Our Schedule
Fairfield 5, West Noble 0
#1S - Josh Mullet beat Kevin Marsh, 6-1, 6-0;
#2S - Austin Christner beat Jordan Younce, 6-0, 6-0
#3S - Landon Knepp beat Tyler Rothhaar, 6-1, 7-5.
#1D - Jordan Hochstetler-Dillon Lockwood beat Austin King-Skylar Campbell, 6-1, 6-3
#2D - David Mohney-Marcus Rodes beat Quinn Groff-Kris Handshoe, 6-2, 6-2.

Taylor 4, Western 1
#1S - Nathan Gotshall (T) def. Matt Orr, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4
#2S - Logan Barnes (T) def. Tyler Lucas, 6-2, 6-2
#3S - Jack Lipchik (T) def. Austin Orr, 6-1, 5-7, 6-3
#1D - Cameron Clark/Drew Hansen (T) def. Brandon Penning/Austin LaFollette, 6-4, 3-6, 7-5
#2D - Nick Braden/Judson Quinn (W) def. Austin Douglas/Case Glick, 6-0, 6-0

Lewis Cass 3, Eastern 2
#1S - Connor Young (E) def. Kyle Williams, 6-2, 6-2
#2S - Riley Williams (C) def. Joel Coffman, 5-7, 6-3, 6-3
#3S - Robbie Welling (E) def. Nick Jackson, 2-6, 6-2, 6-2
#1D - Tyler Ploss/Isaac Yentes (C) def. Logan Colwell/Michael Lamb, 6-0, 6-0
#2D - Josh Harshman/Ryan Aldridge (C) def. Austin Chase/Josh Evenson, 6-0, 6-0

Westview 4, Prairie Heights 1
#1S - Austin Schlabach (WV) beat Justin Clark, 6-1, 6-0
#2S - Nate Clark (PH) beat Kohl Christner, 6-0, 6-3
#3S - Brett Yoder (WV) beat John Sloan, 6-1, 6-1.
#1D - Nic Hostetler-Devin Bontreger (WV) beat Tyler Carbone-Jacob Heller, 6-3, 6-2
#2D - Jamar Weaver-Jonathon Hostetler (WV) beat Braxton Elliott-Drew Vile, 6-1, 6-2.

Northridge 5, NorthWood 0
#1S - AJ Thielking beat Brennen Angle 6-0, 6-2
#2S - Chris Robbins beat Ben Zercher 6-2, 6-0
#3S - Josh Garfein beat Mitchell Keiser 6-1, 6-2.
#1D - Alex Radelich/Andrew Gingerich beat Jayson Linhart/Shawn Stahley 6-0, 6-2
#2D - Connor Cameron/Byron Slabach beat Quinn Stillson/Austin Sanders 6-1, 6-0.

Concord 4, Goshen 1
#1S - Jack Hinkle (C) beat Eli Metzler-Prieb, 6-2, 6-2
#2S - Drew Hostetler (G) beat Sean Purcell, 6-3, 3-6, 6-1
#3S - Nick Pollack (C) beat Adam Bratten, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4.
#1D - Matt Cieselski-Bronson Dummont (C) beat Sylas Buller-Sam Stegelmann, 6-2, 6-3
#2D - Matt Kofva-Michael Gismon (C) beat Matt Buncich-Paul Johnson, 6-3, 6-3.

Triton 5, New Prairie 0

John Glenn 5, Laville 0

Ranked in the District
#4 Penn, #5 St. Joseph's 1
#6 Elkhart Central 4, Bethany Christian 1
#7 Kokomo 5, Lafayette Jefferson 0

Other Scores
South Bend Adams 5, Mishawaka 0
South Bend Clay 5, South Bend Washington 0
Warsaw 5, Wawasee 0
Mishawaka Marian 3, South Bend Riley 2
Kankakee Valley 3, North Judson 2
Culver Military 5, Knox 0
Plymouth 5, Elkhart Memorial 0
Northwestern 4, Peru 1

Area Scores from 9/12

On Our Schedule
Angola 4, Fairfield 1
#1S - Georg Albrecht (A) def. Josh Mullet, 6-2, 6-0
#2S - Jacob Stump (A) def. Austin Christner, 6-0, 6-1
#3S - Cameron Hall (A) def. Landon Knepp, 6-2, 6-2
#1D - Justin Lamont/Craig Nofzinger (A) def. Jordan Hochstetler/Dillon Lockwood, 6-3, 6-1
#2D - Taylor Yoder/Marcus Rhodes (F) def. Noah Jones/Blake Trusty, 6-2, 6-2

Elkhart Central 5, Jimtown
#1S - Nic Burton def. Dan Gongwer, 6-1, 6-0
#2S - Brett Morton def. Austin Ward, 6-0, 6-0
#3S - Blake Brouwer def. Jake Ward, 6-0, 6-2
#1D - Mitch Hanberg/Austin Sellers def. Brett Aller/Cole Peterson, 6-2, 6-4
#2D - Jake Mullins/Riley Futterknecht def. Augie Farwig/Michael Hobbs, 6-2, 6-4

Triton 3, Bremen 2
#1S - Jeff Ross (T) beat Briley Bollenbacher, 6-3, 6-2
#2S - Pete Kauffman (T) beat Brad Foster, 6-4, 6-1
#3S - Wes Burkholder (B) beat Lucas Shafer, 6-2, 6-2.
#1D - T.J. Bayer-Austin Huff (B) beat Josh Shafer-Austin Kanarr, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1
#2D - Jackson Downing-Will Rettinger (T) beat Joe Zeltwanger-Nate Strehler, 6-4, 4-6, 6-2.

Wabash 5, Elwood 0
Justin Middleton won at #1 singles 6-0, 6-0.
David Driscoll won at #2 singles 6-1, 6-0
Edward Dillard won at #3 singles 6-0, 6-0
Stephan Eilts and JD Boone won at #1 doubles 6-4, 6-4
Jack Stein and Breyton Nealis won at #2 doubles 6-0, 6-0

Taylor 4, Delphi 1
#1S - Nathan Gotshall won 6-1, 6-4
#2S - Logan Barnes won 6-0, 6-0
#3S - Jack Lipchik won 6-0, 6-4
#1D - Cameron Clark/Drew Hansen won 6-3, 6-3
#2D - Lost

Westview 5, NorthWood 0
#1S - Austin Schlabach beat Brennan Angle, 6-2, 5-7, 6-1
#2S - Kohle Christner beat Ben Zercher, 7-5, 6-4
#3S - Brett Yoder beat Mitchell Keiser, 6-1, 6-3.
#1D - Nic Hostetler-Devin Bontreger beat Jayson Linhart-Shawn Stahley, 6-2, 6-2
#2D - Jamar Weaver-Jonathon Hostetler beat Quinn Stillson-Austin Sanders, 6-1, 6-1.

Northridge 5, Wawasee 0
#1S - A.J. Thielking beat Kyler Love, 6-1, 6-0
#2S - Chris Robbins beat Isaac Ridjohn, 6-0, 6-1
#3S - Josh Garfein beat Jake Thompson, 6-1, 6-1.
#1D - Alex Radelich-Andrew Gingerich beat Westin Becker-Tyler Kissinger, 6-2, 6-2
#2D - Connor Cameron-Byron Slabach beat Derek Zurcher-Cole Love, 6-4, 6-4.

Ranked in the District
#2 Marion 5, #7 Kokomo 0
#4 Penn 5, South Bend Washington 0

Other Scores
North Judson 4, John Glenn 1
Culver Military 3, South Bend Riley 2
Michigan City 4, New Prairie 1
LaLumiere 5, Laville 0
Mississenewa 5, Alexandria 0
Norwell 5, Bluffton 0
DeKalb 4, FW Concordia 1
FW South Side 4, FW Blackhawk 1
FW Northrup 5, Churubusco 0

Elkhart Central Preview

Details: SENIOR NIGHT! Tuesday, September 13, 2011 at 4:30 at Bethany Christian High School.

3 Interesting Facts
- We have never played Elkhart Central before (at least since I started coaching)
- This will be the 2nd district ranked opponent that we have played this season (Concord was the other).
- Elkhart Central has 2 positions on their team who remain undefeated this year, much like our team had last year.

Elkhart Central Details: The Blazers are ranked 6th in the district, this year, and begun the year ranked 21st in the state. A 3-2 loss to St. Joseph's knocked them out of the state rankings, much like what happened to us and Columbia City last year. They only have that 1 loss on the season.

Bethany Christian Details: We come into this match having won 4 straight matches, the last 2 have been by 3-2 scores. We are continuing to get better, and continue to shuffle things around a bit.

Probable Elkhart Central Lineup (with individual records)
#1S - Nic Burton (7-4)
#2S - Brett Morton (11-0)
#3S - Blake Brouwer (9-2)
#1D - Mitch Hanberg/Austin Sellers (11-0)
#2D - Franklin Fisher/Riley Futterknecht (6-5)

Outlook: While this will be one of our most supreme tests of the season, I expect to be competitive at several positions. Nathan Brendle should have a great matchup at #1 singles, and Blake Shetler will face his stiffest competition of the year at #2 singles. We are planning to revamp our doubles a bit for the match tomorrow, so we'll see what a new look #2 doubles can do against the Blazers team. Ike will also face a great test, as Blake Brouwer defeated Josh Garfein (one of the best #3's we've seen all year) in three sets. And I believe that Central's #1 doubles must be one of the best around, as their closest match that I've seen reported this year is 6-2, 6-4 (!)

I'm excited to play this match because I believe you truly get better when you throw your best effort at the best opponents. Besides that, we've got the ability to make the match interesting at several different positions. And it's senior night, which I'll be posting more on our two seniors tomorrow! But like I said, I'm looking forward to it!

Area Scores from 9/9 and 9/10

On Our Schedule
Goshen 5, NorthWood 0
#1S - Eli Metzler-Prieb beat Brennan Angle, 6-2, 6-1
#2S - Drew Hostetler beat Ben Zercher, 6-4, 6-4
#3S - Adam Bratten beat Quinn Stilson, 6-1, 6-0.
#1D - Sylas Buller-Sam Stegelmann beat Jayson Linhart-Mitchell Keiser, 6-4, 6-1
#2D - Matt Buncich-Paul Johnson beat Shawn Stahley-Austin Sanders, 6-3, 6-2

Fremont 3, Westview 2
#1S - Matt Hoff (F) beat Austin Schlabach, 6-4, 6-3
#2S - Matt Wilcox (F) beat Kohle Christner, 6-4, 6-1
#3S - Brett Yoder (W) beat Brandon Miller, 6-3, 5-7, 6-0.
#1D - Devin Bontreger-Nic Hostetler (W) beat Tyler Jenkins-Jake Bryant, 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (3)
#2D - Glen McClain-Andrew Smith (F) beat Jamar Weaver-Jonathnon Hostetler, 7-6 (6), 6-3.

Concord 3, Plymouth 2
#1S - Jason Denton (C) beat Gabe Vervynckt, 6-0, 6-7 (2), 6-3
#2S - Lane Singleton (P) beat Sean Purcell, 6-0, 6-0
#3S - Nick Pollack (C) beat Luke Bumpus 6-4, 6-0.
#1D - Connor Flynn-Jordan Scheetz (P) beat Matt Ciesielski-Matt Kotva, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3
#2D - Bronson Dummont-T. Cunningham (C) beat Joe Knapp-Matt Flynn, 7-6 (3), 6-2.

WILDCAT INVITATIONAL
Triton - 20 (won #2S, #1D, #2D, 2nd at #3S)
South Bend Riley - 18 (won #1S, #3S, 2nd at #1D)
Bremen - 11 (2nd at #1S, #2D)
East Chicago Central - 4
South Bend Washington - 4

WARSAW INVITATIONAL
Canterbury - 28 (won #2S, #3S, #1D, #2D, 2nd at #1S)
Park Tudor - 16 (2nd at #3S, #1D)
Warsaw - 12
Merrillville - 12 (won #1S, 2nd at #2D)
South Bend Adams - 12 (2nd at #2S)
Goshen - 7
Bishop Luers - 4
Huntington North - 4

CONCORD INVITATIONAL
Penn 62
Concord 38
Valparaiso 37
East Noble 26
Mishawaka Marian 24
Ft Wayne Snider 16
Westview 12
SB Clay 0

MADISION GRANT INVITATIONAL
Blackford 41
Madison Grant 29
Eastern 25
FW Blackhawk 20

Ranked in the District
#1 Canterbury - 1st at Warsaw Invite
#4 Penn - 1st at Concord Invite
#8 Concord - 2nd at Concord Invite

Other Scores
No other scores?

Unfortunate Scheduling Realities

An update on our matches this week.

Churubusco (JV) - Rescheduled for Friday, Sept. 16, 4:45 at Bethany.
NorthWood - Cancelled with no current reschedule date.

NorthWood had to cancel because they need to play their match with Goshen that was scheduled for yesterday. That match is a conference match for them and we are not. So they cancelled us. We are currently looking for a reschedule date, but we haven't heard back from them yet.

Practice will continue tonight, whether rain or shine!

Facebook Photos

If you go to the Bethany Christian Tennis Facebook page, you'll see that Tim Lehman has been taking lots of pictures of the guys at the different matches. There's some fun ones of almost everybody, if you search. There's even a picture of us singing Sarasponda after a victory!

So go here --> Bethany Christian Tennis Facebook

Area Scores from 9/7

On Our Schedule
Elkhart Central 3, Elkhart Memorial 2
#1S - Spenser Gilbert (M) def. Nic Burton, 6-4, 3-6, 6-1
#2S - Brett Morton (C) def. Mazin Hakim, 6-2, 6-4
#3S - Blake Brouwer (C) def. Jacob Gaffney, 6-0, 6-3
#1D - Mitch Hanberg/Austin Sellers (C) def. Jerahmal Dudley/Kyle Grubb, 6-0, 6-0
#2D - Elliot Denton/Chirag Patel (M) def. Franklin Fisher/Riley Futterknecht, 7-6 (6), 6-4

Plymouth 3, Bremen 2
#1S - Gabe Vervynckt (P) beat Briley Bollenbacher, 6-3, 6-4
#2S - Lane Singleton (P) beat Brad Foster, 6-3, 6-2
#3S - Wes Burkholder (B) beat Tom Felke, 6-2, 1-6, 6-1.
#1D - Jordan Scheetz-Connor Flynn (P) beat T.J. Bayer-Austin Huff, 6-1, 6-1
#2D - Joe Zeltwanger-Nate Strehler (B) beat Matt Flynn-Joe Knapp, 7-5, 6-1.

Wabash 5, Rochester 0
#1S - Justin Middleton won 6-0, 6-0.
#2S - David Driscoll won 6-1, 6-1.
#3S - Edward Dillard won 4-6, 6-0, 6-1
#1D - Stephan Eilts and JD Boone won 6-2, 6-4
#2D - Jack Stein and Breyton Nealis won 6-7(3), 6-1, 6-3

Western 5, Eastern 0

Triton 3, South Bend Riley 2
#1S - Aaron Zaderej (R) beat Jeff Ross, 6-1, 6-0
#2S - Peter Kauffman (T) beat Gilbert Williams, 6-3, 6-2
#3S - Jacob Melkarek (R) beat Lucas Shafer, 6-1, 6-1.
#1D - Josh Shafer-Austin Kanarr (T) beat Trent Fletcher-Matt Peterson, 6-1, 6-1
#2D - Will Rettinger-Jackson Downing (T) beat Riley Suter-Ryan O’Connor, 6-2, 6-4.

Knox 5, Laville 0
#1S - Davey Johnston beat Grant Frick, 6-0, 6-1
#2S - Austin Risner beat Andrew Hulliberger, 6-0, 6-0
#3S - Curtis Scherer won by default.
#1D - Harrison Metz-Elliott Coad beat Blade Masterson-Keanon Clemons, 6-0, 6-1
#2D - Cody Fletcher-Joe Clabough beat Ryan Heyse-Adam Baker, 6-0, 6-0.

Ranked in the District
No Scores Reported.

Other Scores
Culver Military 5, Peru 0
Michigan City 5, South Bend Clay 0
New Prairie 5, South Bend Washington 0

The Story vs. Westview: Match #11

The Lead: "Singles Shine"
"That's the best, most consistent, I've seen three singles players play in a long time."

That was the quote from our assistant coach, Jordan Kauffman, after our singles players swept 3 matches from the visiting Westview Warriors. Those 3 straight set wins enabled us to squeak by for our 7th victory of the season, defeating the Warriors 3-2.

The good play started right at the top of the lineup. Junior Nathan Brendle was in excellent form, losing the first game of his match but then winning the next 12 straight for a 6-1, 6-0 victory. Nothing that Austin Schlabach could do seemed to threaten Nathan, who held his patience and was absolutely controlling the match with his placement. Also, Nathan's net play was very strong tonight, which allowed him to finish points well.

At #2 singles, Blake Shetler faced a vastly improved played in Kohle Christner. Christner's game featured a booming serve (something Blake has seen a lot of this year) and aggressive groundstrokes. However, Blake was still able to control a lot of the points, something we've been working on. He used this ability to force errors from Christner, which eventually gave Blake the crucial points. His consistently smart play led to a 6-3, 6-2 win.

The clinching point was again provided by Ike Lehman. In the first set, Ike struggled to figure out the key to Brett Yoder's big serve. Neither player could secure a break easily, and the set went all the way into a tiebreaker. Which is no big deal for Ike, it's only his 4th tiebreak set in his 8 singles matches this year. However, Ike had yet to win one. Ike kept his nerve as the tiebreak got longer and longer. He had several chances to end it, but struggled a bit with his serve under pressure. Finally, at 9-8 he attacked behind an approach to Yoder's backhand, and the passing shot flew wide.

With the first set in hand, Ike loosened up immensely. In the second set, he played some of the best tennis I've seen from him. With his confident strokes, Ike took a commanding 4-1 lead, and finished out the match 6-2.

We had lost the 2 doubles matches by that point, so with it all on the line, Ike played his best tennis. That's what we love to see. People getting better, playing their best under the pressure. Because that's what the Sectional will be like!

The Hidden Narrative
Singles dominance on the JV too. Although both doubles teams on the JV fought back to win tight matches, the JV singles players dominated tonight as well. Sol Brenneman continues to lead the team in wins, with Landon Weldy right behind him. Sol picked up his 7th victory tonight behind attacking tennis, which is really good to see. It is rare at the JV level to see someone really attack in singles, so for Sol to do that was wonderful.

Landon continues to get better throughout the season. His strokes have the ability to be very powerful, but hopefully he will continue to get better at placing them as well. Tonight, he overwhelmed his competitor with time and time again sweeping in the deep groundstrokes.

It was fun for these guys tonight, I'm sure, to get dominant wins and add another win to the JV's tally as well!

Other Storylines
- As mentioned above, Ike clinched his 3rd match tonight. He's now in the lead for clinched matches!

- Westview's strength was in their doubles. Their doubles teams entered tonight a combined 10-4 on the season. Nic Hostetler was part of a team that almost won the Individual Doubles Sectional last fall.

- Against that strength, we didn't fare our best. #2 doubles match was much closer than the score would indicate. We had chance after chance to pull back into each set after they both started close, we couldn't seem to finish the crucial points.

- The JV doubles matches were amazing. They stayed close the entire time. In the #1 doubles match, we trailed most of the match then took a 7-6 lead. In the #2 doubles match, we led most of the time, but then they took a 7-6 lead on us. In the end, both teams played some clutch points to win 9-7.

- Of the 14 regular tiebreak sets we've played this year, Ike's first set today contained the most points (18, as Ike won 10-8). Nathan had the longest before this one, going 16 points against Fremont in the second set (winning it 9-7).

- Speaking of tiebreaks, did you know that our assistant coach Jordan Kauffman hold the Bethany record for most tiebreaks won in a career? He won 12. This year's leaders are Abe Thorne and Evan Grimes, having won 4 tiebreaks this year. For their careers, they've won 5 varsity tiebreaks together, having defeated Churubusco in a tiebreak last year. Abe's only a sophomore, he might be coming for your record Jordan!

The Scores
Varsity
#1S - Nathan Brendle - 6-1, 6-0 - Austin Schlabach
#2S - Blake Shetler - 6-3, 6-2 - Kohle Christner
#3S - Ike Lehman - 7-6 (8), 6-2 - Brett Yoder
#1D - Evan Grimes/Abe Thorne - 2-6, 0-6 - Devin Bontrager/Nic Hostetler
#2D - Parth Patel/Jesse Amstutz - 2-6, 2-6 - Jamar Weaver/Jonathon Hostetler

Junior Varsity
#1SJV - Sol Brenneman - 8-3 - Steven Geirek
#2SJV - Landon Weldy - 8-2 - John Campos
#1DJV - Wade Troyer/Joel Gerig - 9-7 - Hunter Christner/Jacob Churney
#2DJV - Himal King/Hans Miller - 9-7 - Taylor Eash/Lucas Mast

Area Scores from 9/6

On Our Schedule
Plymouth 5, NorthWood 0
#1S - Gabe Vervynckt beat Brennan Angle, 6-2, 6-1
#2S - Lane Singleton beat Ben Zercher, 6-0, 6-0
#3S - Luke Bumpus beat Quinn Stillson, 6-0, 6-0.
#1D - Connor Flynn-Jordan Scheetz beat Jayson Linhart-Mitchell Keiser, 6-0, 6-3
#2D - Matt Flynn-Joe Knapp beat Shawn Stahley-Austin Sanders, 6-3, 6-1.

Elkhart Central 4, South Bend Riley 1
#1S - Aron Zaderej (R) def. Nick Burton 6-0, 6-1
#2S - Brett Morton (C) def. Jacob Melcarek 6-1, 6-0
#3S - Blake Brouwer (C) def. Gilbert Williams 6-0, 6-0.
#1D - Mitch Hanberg/Austin Sellers (C) def. Matt Peterson/Riley Suter 6-1, 6-0
#2D - Franklin Fisher/Riley Futterknecht def. Trent Flecher/Ryan O'Conner 6-1, 6-0

Fairfield 5, Central Noble 0
#1S - Josh Mullet def. Austin Pulver 6-0, 6-3
#2S - Landon Knepp def. Chris Truelove 6-2, 6-0
#3S - Marcus Rhodes def. Kaleb Luce 6-4, 6-1
#1D - Jordan Hochstetler/Dillon Lockwood def. Kenny Rice/Nick McCoy 6-0, 6-1
#2D - David Mohney/Taylor Yoder def. Nathan Tomcik/Matt Paul 6-0, 6-1.

Knox 3, Bremen 2
#1S - Davy Johnston (K) beat Briley Bollenbacher, 6-2, 6-1
#2S - Austin Risner (K) beat Brad Foster, 6-3, 1-6, 6-2
#3S - Wes Burkholder (B) beat Curtis Scherer, 6-2, 6-3.
#1D - T.J. Bayer-Austin Huff (B) beat Harrison Metz-Elliott Coad, 7-6, 6-4
#2D - Joe Clabough-Cody Fletcher (K) beat Joe Zeltwanger-Nate Strehler, 7-6, 6-2.

Wabash 4, Bluffton 1
#1S - Justin Middleton won 6-0, 6-0
#2S - David Driscoll won 6-4, 6-3
#3S - Edward Dillard won 6-2, 6-4
#1D - Stephan Eilts and JD Boone lost 0-6, 4-6
#2D - Jack Stein and Breyton Nealis won 6-2, 6-2

Jimtown 5, John Glenn 0
#1S - Dan Gongwer def. Joe Jaworski 6-1, 6-1
#2S - Austin Ward def. Austin Hayes 6-4, 6-4
#3S - Jacob Gongwer def. Drew Sheffer 6-0, 6-1
#1D - Brett Aller/Cole Peterson def. Ben Weiss/Evan Rhodes 3-6, 6-0, 6-2
#2D - Augie Farwig/Michael Hobbs def. Calvin Kretchmer/Hunter Jaworski 6-2, 6-1.

Warsaw 3, Northridge 2
#1S - Kyle Wettschurack (W) beat Chris Robbins, 7-5, 6-4
#2S - Evan Miller (W) beat A.J. Thielking, 6-2, 7-6
#3S - Josh Garfein (N) beat A.J. Jansen 7-6, 6-4.
#1D - Andrew Gingerich-Alex Radelich (N) beat Sam Rice-A.J. Herendeen 7-5, 7-5
#2D - Connor Singrey-Simon Stone (W) beat Connor Cameron-Byron Slabach, 6-3, 6-0.

Elkhart Memorial 3, Concord 2
#1S - Jason Denton (C) def. Spenser Gilbert 6-1, 6-0
#2S - Mazin Hakim (M) def. Matt Kotva 7-5, 6-2
#3S - Nick Pollock (C) def. Jacob Gaffney 6-0, 6-0.
#1D - Jerahmal Dudley/Kyle Grubb (M) def. Matt Ciesielski/Bronson Dumont 6-3, 6-4
#2D - Elliott Denton/Chirag Patel (M) def. Michael Eisman/Sean Purcell 5-7, 6-4, 7-5.

Triton 4, Tippecanoe Valley 1
#1S - Nick Kindig (TV) beat Jeff Ross, 6-2, 6-2
#2S - Josh Shafer (T) beat Alex Newman, 6-2, 6-0
#3S - Lucas Shafer (T) beat Tanner Neely, 6-1, 6-1.
#1D - Austin Kanarr-Pete Kauffman (T) beat Clayton Adamson-Derek Cunningham, 6-0, 6-0 #2D - Wil Rettinger-Jackson Downing (T) beat Robby Groom-Diego Gutierrez, 6-0, 6-0.

North Judson 5, Laville 0
#1S - Devin Cruce beat Grant Frick, 6-1, 6-2
#2S - Bubba Shelton beat Andrew Holliberger, 6-0, 6-0
#3S - Lee Lukac beat Adam Baker, 6-0, 6-0.
#1D - Chris Lippelt-John Zeller beat Blade Masterson-Keanon Clemons, 6-0, 6-0
#2D - Levi Bailey-Zach Bailey won by forfeit.

Goshen 4, Wawasee 1
#1S - Eli Metzler-Prieb (G) def. Kyler Love 6-1, 6-3
#2S - Drew Hostetler (G) def. Isaac Rigdon 6-2, 6-0
#3S - Jake Thompson (W) def. Austin Stutzman 6-3, 4-6, 7-5
#1D - Sylas Buller/Sam Stegelmann (G) def. Westin Becker/Tyler Kissinger 6-1, 7-5
#2D - Matt Buncich/Paul Johnson (G) def. Cole Love/Derek Zurcher 6-3, 7-5.

Mississinewa 3, Taylor 2

Ranked in the District
#3 FW Carroll 5, Bellmont 0
#4 Penn 5, South Bend Clay 0
#5 St. Joseph's 4, South Bend Adams 1
#7 Kokomo 5, Maconaquah 0

Other Scores
FW South Side 5, FW North Side 0
Norwell 3, DeKalb 2
FW Northrup 4, FW Concordia 1

Area Scores from 9/2-9/3

On Our Schedule
Fairfield 3, Columbia City 2
Fairfield 5, Jimtown 0
Fairfield 5, Wawasee 0
Jimtown 3, Columbia City 2
Jimtown 4, Wawasee 1
Columbia City 5, Wawasee 0

Elkhart Central 4, Northridge 1
#1S - Nick Burton (C) def. Chris Robbins, 7-5, 6-2
#2S - Brett Morton (C) def. AJ Thielking, 6-0, 6-3
#3S - Blake Brouwer (C) def. Josh Garfein, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4
#1D - Mitch Hanberg/Austin Sellers (C) def. Alex Radelich/Andrew Gingerich, 6-3, 6-0
#2D - Connor Cameron/Bryon Slabach (N) def. Franklin Fisher/Riley Futterknecht, 6-4, 4-6, 6-1

Fairfield 5, Goshen 0
#1S - Josh Mullet def. Eli Metzler-Prieb, 6-4, 6-2
#2S - Austin Christner def. Drew Hostetler, 3-6, 6-1, 6-3
#3S - Landon Knepp def. Sylas Buller, 6-2, 6-4
#1D - Jordan Hochstetler/Dillon Lockwood def. Matt Buncich/Austin Stutzman, 6-1, 6-1
#2D - David Mohney/Taylor Yoder def. Adam Bratten/Paul Johnson, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3

Westview 5, Churubusco 0
#1S - Austin Schlabach def. Landon Pearson, 6-1, 6-0
#2S - Kohle Christner def. Luke Lillmars, 6-3, 6-2
#3S - Jonathan Hostetler def. Cody Luttman, 6-0, 6-2
#1D - Devin Bontrager/Nic Hostetler def. Joey Heaton/Brandon Wormcastle, 6-1, 6-2
#2D - Jamar Weaver/Brett Yoder def. Landon Lillmars/Brian Murphy, 6-1, 6-0

Bremen 5, North Judson 0
#1S - Bailey Bollenbacher beat Devin Cruce, 6-1, 6-0
#2S - Brad Foster beat Lee Lukac, 6-4, 6-2
#3S - Krent Hueni beat Josh Mullens, 6-1, 6-4.
#1D - T.J. Boyer-Austin Huff beat Chris Lippelt-John Zeller, 6-3, 6-3
#2D - Nate Strehler-Joe Zeittinger beat Levi Baley-Bubba Shelton 1-6, 6-4, 10-1.

Ranked in the District
Munster 4, #2 Penn 1
West Lafayette 3, #2 Penn 2
#8 Angola 5, Central Noble 0

FW Carroll Invitational
#1 FW Canterbury 5, Cathedral 0 (Finals)
#5 FW Carroll 3, Delta (3rd)
#8 Mississinewa 4, Homestead 1 (5th)
Plainfield 5, Huntington North 0 (7th)
#1 FW Canterbury 5, #8 Mississinewa 0
Delta 4, Plainfield 1
#5 FW Carroll 5, Huntington North 0
Cathedral 4, Homestead 1
#1 FW Canterbury 5, Delta 0
Cathedral 3, #5 FW Carroll 2
#8 Mississinewa 3, Plainfield 2
Homestead 5, Huntington North 0

Other Scores
St. Joseph's 5, Mishawaka 0

The Story at Triton: Match #10

The Lead: "Happy Birthday!"

It's my birthday (I turn 31 today in case you are interested). But I got a nice present. After having excruciating 3-2 matches go against us at Fremont and versus Columbia City, today the guys pulled one out for me.



Or maybe it was for Abe, since it's his b-day too!



Anyways, despite the 3-2 scoreline, this match was not as down-to-the-wire as the other 3-2 matches we lost. Nathan Brendle played really well today, causing Jeff Ross to hit from out of position all match long. He quickly got out to a 5-0 lead in the first set and never really looked back, only having to regroup through a little serving rough patch in the second set.



Blake Shetler had a close match, but it was one that he seemed in control of for the whole time. Against Pete Kauffman, a player who had beaten us last year, Blake controlled most of the points from the baseline. When presented the opportunity, he was able to attack Kauffman. The constant pressure and consistency ended up taking its toll, and Blake sealed a close first set at 6-4, and then got out to a good start to the second as well. From there, he finished the deal.



Ike Lehman wasn't feeling well today at all. After being sick all week, he braved out the match today. But his scheduled opponent, Lucas Shafer, couldn't make the match at all because of an injury. His replacement was Dean Howdeshell, and Ike continued to attack and attack despite his illness and lack of energy. The first set was quick, but as Ike lost energy, the second set got closer. But Ike sealed the deal without a third set this time.



We took losses at both double positions, but played well. More on that later. JV guys played quite well too, which I'll also post more on later. For now, it was really good to win a close one. We're now 6-4, winning record, with 2 great matches coming next week. Let's go, Bruins!



The Hidden Narrative

No doubt that the story most people will miss in just looking at the scores is how well #2 doubles played today. For the first time since they began playing together, Parth and Jesse looked like a team. They found their strengths and worked them into the points.



And it showed in the scores as well. Triton's #2 doubles is 2 seniors who have both had varsity experience in the past several years. They have had good results throughout the season, only losing twice so far. And Parth and Jesse hung right with them the whole time.



I was struck by how confident we played throughout the match. Even when we'd miss a shot, we'd bounce back and be ready for the next point. Tons of these games went many deuces. And so many times, we'd come back after a bad point and put it to deuce again. Or we'd have the advantage, lose, but then get the advantage right back again. The mental part of the match impressed me quite a bit from a freshman and a sophomore!



Other Storylines

- This is the second opponent Nathan Brendle has played that he knew well. Both of those matches have been ones where he played really well.



- Our singles are leading the way as far as individual records go. Blake is 7-3, and Nathan is also 7-3.



- For the JV, Sol Brenneman pulled back ahead in the wins race. He has 6 wins this season.



- Ike joined the race for top clincher of the season, winning our third point tonight for the varsity. He has clinched 2 matches now, as have Blake and Nathan.



- More tiebreaks! Parth and Jesse dropped a breaker in the first set at #2 doubles, but Tristan Clark pulled one out for the JV.



- Speaking of Tristan Clark, his tiebreak win sealed a tie for the JV. If he'd have lost, the JV would have lost the match as well.



- On the JV, we had 2 debut matches this afternoon. Himal King played his first match coming back from a bad ankle injury, and Delan Schrock played his first match after joining the team a couple weeks into the season. Unfortunately, both lost.



- Despite the rumors, Abe Thorne did not turn 13 today. He's a bit older than that.



- Ike Lehman is excelling in playing close matches. In his 7 singles matches, he has had 7 sets end at 6-4 or closer.



- Ryan Duckworth and Joel Gerig had a streaky match today. Took a 4-1 lead, fell down 6-4, then won 4 straight to win 8-6!



- Despite playing players who were higher up in the lineup than they, Colin Samuel and Delan Schrock grabbed the first game they played together. So did Luke Schrock and Roberto Ramos, who were playing the #1 and #2 JV players for Triton!



The Scores

Varsity

#1S - Nathan Brendle - 6-1, 6-3 - Jeff Ross (11)

#2S - Blake Shetler - 6-4, 6-3 - Pete Kauffman (10)

#3S - Ike Lehman - 6-2, 7-5 - Dean Howdeshell (10)

#1D - Evan Grimes/Abe Thorne - 3-6, 1-6 - Austin Kanarr (12)/Josh Shafer (12)

#2D - Jesse Amstutz/Parth Patel - 6-7 (2), 3-6 - Wil Rettinger (12)/Jackson Downing (12)



Junior Varsity

#1SJV - Hans Miller - 4-8 - Jared Fisher (9)

#2SJV - Sol Brenneman - 8-6 - Alex Eib (9)

#3SJV - Landon Weldy - 8-2 - Chase Eyrich (9)

#4SJV - Tristan Clark - 8-7 (4) - Dylan Holbrook (9)

#1DJV - Himal King/Wade Troyer - 6-8 - Darren Harrell (10)/Jake Oldham (10)

#2DJV - Joel Gerig/Ryan Duckworth - 8-6 - Austin Sellers (9)/Spencer Glingle (9)

#3DJV - Luke Schrock/Roberto Ramos - 2-6 - Jared Fisher (9)/Alex Eib (9)

#4DJV - Colin Samuel/Delan Schrock - 1-6 - Austin Sellers (9)/Spencer Glingle (9)

Triton Preview

Details: Saturday, September 3, at 10:00 AM at Triton High School.



Last Season Review: Last season we defeated Triton 4-1.



3 Interesting Facts

- Triton switched their lineup around in their match against Whitko like we did for Prairie Heights. #1 singles player Jeff Ross dropped to #1 doubles, but I don't know if this will be a 1 time switch or a new lineup.

- Over the years, Triton is the team that I've had the most 3-2 matches with.

- The Trojans are the opposite of us this year, we lost 5 varsity players, they return 5.



Triton Details: The Trojans are at least 4-2 on the season, losing to Plymouth and to Marian (as did Goshen). They are experienced and talented, with a good JV as well.



Bethany Christian Details: We're back above .500, with a 2 match winning streak coming off Monday and Tuesday. Practices have been going well this week, as certain spots have really continued to learn and gain skill.



Projected Triton Lineup (with as up-to-date as possible individual records)

#1S - Jeff Ross (3-3)

#2S - Pete Kauffman (3-3)

#3S - Lucas Shafer (4-2)

#1D - Josh Shafer/Austin Kanaar (5-1)

#2D - Jackson Downing/Wil Rettinger (4-2)



Overview: This match is cut in the mold of the Columbia City and Fremont matches. In other words, it's going to be close, it's going to come down to the end. The key to take away from those other close matches that we lost is that whoever aggressively plays their game in tight circumstances usually gets the win. This is where we get to practice for Sectional. No matter what happens, we'll gain some experience and some confidence, knowing we get to play matches that matter.

Area Scores from 9/1

On Our Schedule

Elkhart Memorial 5, NorthWood 0

#1S - Spenser Gilbert beat Brennan Angle 6-0, 6-0

#2S - Mazin Hakim beat Ben Zercher 6-3, 6-1.

#3S - Jacob Gaffney beat Quinn Stillson 7-5, 7-5.

#1D - Jeramal Dudley-Kyle Grubb beat Mitchell Keiser-Ben Wilson 6-2, 6-3.

#2D - Elliott Denton-Chirag Patel beat Shawn Stahley-Austin Sanders 6-1, 6-1.



Knox 3, Jimtown 2

#1S - Davy Johnston (K) beat Jacob Gongwer 6-1, 6-0;

#2S - Austin Risner (K) beat Dan Gongwer 6-4, 6-1

#3S - Austin Ward (J) beat Curtis Scherer 5-7, 7-6 (3), 6-4.

#1D - Harrison Metz-Elliot Coad (K) beat Cole Peterson-Jake Ward 6-3, 6-3

#2D - Michael Hobbs-Augie Farwig beat Cody Fletcher-Joe Clabough 4-6, 6-0, 7-6 (6).



Northridge 5, Goshen 0

#1S - Chris Robbins beat Eli Metzler-Prieb 6-4,6-3

#2S - Josh Garfein beat Drew Hostetler 6-1, 6-1.

#3S - Jed Miller beat Adam Bratten 4-6,6-4,6-2.

#1D - Alex Radelich/AJ Thielking beat Silas Buller/Sam Stenglemann 6-3, 7-6(3).

#2D - Andrew Gingerich/Byron Slabach beat Matt Buncich/Austin Stutzman 6-4, 6-7, 7-5.



St. Joseph's 3, Elkhart Central 2

#1S - Patrick O'Connor (SJ) beat Nick Burton, 6-4, 6-3

#2S - Brett Morton (EC) beat Tim Leonard, 6-1, 6-2

#3S - Holden Gangluff (SJ) beat Blake Brouwer, 6-3, 6-1.

#1D - Mitch Hanberg-Austin Sellers (EC) beat Nick Minaudo-Patrick Bruneel, 6-3, 6-0

#2D - Ryan Jamieson-Jason Rink (SJ) beat Franklin Fisher-Jake Mullins, 6-1, 6-3.



Tippecanoe Valley 5, Laville 0

#1S - Nick Kindig beat Grant Frick, 6-1, 6-0

#2S - Alex Newman beat Andrew Hulliberger, 6-1, 6-0

#3S - Tippecanoe Valley won by forfeit.

#1D - Clayton Adamson-Tanner Neeley beat Blade Masterson-Keanon Clemons, 6-1, 6-1

#2D - Robbie Groom-Diego Gutierrez beat Chris Nicodemus-Adam Baker, 6-1, 6-0.



Triton 4, Whitko 1

#1S - Tyler Baugher (W) beat Pete Kauffman 6-4, 6-2.

#2S - Lucas Shafer (T) beat Blake Castle 6-1,6-0.

#3S - Dean Howdeshell (T) beat Urian Bailey 6-0, 6-1.

#1D - Josh Shafer/Jeff Ross (T) beat Tyler Murphy/Seth Patrick 6-1,6-1.

#2D - Josh Kanarr/Darren Harrell (T) beat Tyler Pottenger/Cole Bechold 6-1, 6-0.



Westview 3, Lakeland 2

#1S - Spencer Mortola (L) beat Austin Schlabach, 6-2, 1-6, 6-3

#2S - Kohle Christner (W) beat Bret Balka, 6-1, 6-1

#3S - Dalton Schmidt (L) beat Jonathon Hostetler, 3-6, 6-2, 6-2.

#1D - Devin Bontreger-Nic Hostetler (W) beat Blake Balka-Ethan Fry, 6-1, 6-2

#2D - Jamar Weaver-Brett Yoder (W) beat Sam Miller-Robbie Arend, 6-2, 6-0.



Concord 5, Wawasee 0

#1S - Jason Denton def. Kyler Lane 6-0, 6-0.

#2S - Matt Kotva def. Isaac Ridgon 6-0, 6-1.

#3S - Jack Hinkle def. Todd Hauser 6-0, 6-0.

#1D - Bronson Dumont/Matt Ciesielski def. Westin Becker/Tyler Kissinger 5-7, 7-6 (7-5), 6-1.

#2D - Tony Fenech/Trevor Warren def. Cole Love/Derek Zurcher 6-1, 6-3.



Hamilton Heights 5, Taylor 0



from previous day...

Taylor 4, Madison-Grant 1

#1S - Taylor lost

#2S - Logan Barnes won 6-0, 6-0

#3S - Jack LIpchik won 6-0, 6-0

#1D - Cameron Clark/Drew Hansen won 6-2, 6-0

#2D - Austin Douglas/Damon Knosp won 5-7, 6-4, 6-4



Ranked in the District

St. Joseph's 3, #4 Elkhart Central 2

#8 Angola 3, Fremont 2

North Central 4, #6 Kokomo 1

#8 Mississenewa 5, Madison-Grant 0



Other Scores

Marian 5, South Bend Clay 0

New Prairie 3, Glenn 2

North Judson 4, Rensselear 1

Plymouth 4, Warsaw 1

Riley 3, Mishawaka 2