It was an amazing trip to Salem, OR this weekend. First, I was impressed with the teams preparation, not just on court, but off in getting ahead on schoolwork, taking and preparing for exams and writing papers. So, needless to say the drive over had some sleepy Whitties.
Fortunately, a visit with alums Divneet Kaur and Hadley DeBree and some amazing food in Portland perked us up and after soon after getting to Salem, it was off to bed for early Saturday matches. Saturday, the forecasted rain held off and we played almost two rounds of singles all outdoors with first round wins from Alyssa, Courtney, Morgan, Emily, and Olivia in the match of the round for us as she split sets and got down in the match tie break before battling back to an 11-9 win, but I guess I've already written about that....so on to day 2.
Sunday the courts were wet and we hoped to get outside but it just never happened, so we had everyone at one club in the morning with great round of 16 perfomances by Alyssa beating a talented first year player from UPS 6-0,6-0, Morgan downing Willamette's #2 player and 8th seed Sabrina Guiterrez 6-2,6-4 and Courtney handling Kaila Nip from Linfield, the first year who beat Emily in round 2 6-0,6-0. Alyssa and Morgan continued their path to a semifinal showdown with wins over Shannon Palmer from Willamette (#6 seed) and unseeded but tough Caroline Brigham from Linfield. Courtney, however ran into defending finalist and former champion Abby Olbrich from Linfield who was seeded #1. This proved to be one of the best matches of the day with Abby bringing amazing intensity from the start, jumping out to a one set lead. Courtney, stayed composed and made the adjustments she needed to to win the second set 6-3, but Abby won the big points and close games in the third to take the match. Everyone who watched knows that there will be a ton of great tennis from our tough Texan.
And....those people didn't have to wait long because the doubles began with C Law and Alyssa rolling to the finals with 8-1 and 8-3 wins over quality teams from LC and Willamette, what a showing from the first year and her junior parter! Our other main draw team of Emily and Morgan faced the #2 seeds from Linfield and the doubles was very good, but some big plays from Linfield had them down a break 0-3. From then, Morgan held and it was on serve (maybe trading a break) to 4-8 which showed that Em and Morgan can play with anyone in the conference (which I knew from practice, but is great to see in a match).
Meanwhile, on the other side of town, the consolation doubles began and ended with back to back to back to back 8 game prosets. First year Whitties Erin and Maddy fired up their intensity and aggressive doubles to roll into the semis where they played great quality but lacked the consistency to beat a good team from George Fox. All in all, not only was it a wonderful learning experience for these two, but they can absolutely play at this level and if its even possible to be more positive and fired up than they are every day, I think we'll see that in the upcoming months! Our final doubles tandem was the reunion of last years #3 team of Lizzy and Hannah. Whoa, they were good last year, but with the same communication and improved movement, shots and confidence, they absolutely stormed through the consolation bracket, fighting hard when their opponents played well and taking it to them when they didn't. I love seeing Whitman out there late in the day battling for championships and it is even more gratifying when you see that all the hard work these players put into growing their games pays off, congrats to Lizzy and Hannah!
Ok, Monday. Day 3...Semis...finals...championships. In a first for me as a coach, on the final day I did no coaching in the morning as the team watched from the balcony above and Morgan and Alyssa played a very high level of tennis against each other. Weathering a very strong start from her first year teammate, Alyssa managed to get to 3-3 in the first and then settled in from there to win the match 6-3,6-0, which was really all Alyssa because Morgan may have let up a tiny bit, but her tennis was very good to the end, I was so proud of both of them. Alyssa then moved on to a final showdown with Linfield's Abby Olbrich. In a battle of the 1 and 2 seeds, this time it was Alyssa whose fitness and consistency were absolutely fabulous. The ballstriking and court coverage by both players was unreal and it seemed as if almost every game was very close, and certainly every point was a contest of will, strategy and skill. Alyssa was tremendous at playing her game the entire time and it paid off in a 6-2,6-4 win and a trip to Mobile, Alabama to represent the Northwest at the USTA/ITA Small College Nationals! She'll also gain her first singles all-American status to go with last years doubles honor.
Speaking of doubles, the day wasn't done as Courtney was hungry for more tennis and she and Alyssa again played Abby Olbrich, this time with partner Caroline Brigham. It was a really good match, I actually can't describe it too well except to say that all 4 players executed very well and while there were some nervous shots at times, whichever of the 4 players hit it, bounced right back with great tennis. The team play of our #1 seeded team at the end of each set came through as they earned a 7-6 (2), 6-4 win. The chemistry between them was great and they communicated and moved very well. So well, that they will keep moving on to Mobile where they will compete at nationals.
I'll post more details on next weeks event, but for now, its a day of rest and then back to practice both with our new All-Americans as well as the rest of the team who did a fabulous job playing, supporting, and getting to know each other even better. This is truly a special group and seeing the new players personalities on the road for the first time is always a highlight for me and this group was unreal with how much they cared for each other, respected each other and enjoyed each others company right from the start.
Thanks to Katie Oost and Hadley DeBree for acting as assistant coaches for the weekend, you were both amazing. Also to Div, the Rolstons, Jen, Liz Bates and the Robergs for cheering, running errands and making this a fun family weekend for all!
Sorry to you alums who I missed in Walla Walla, let's all keep in touch about future events!
My very best to you all,
John "Proud of each Amazing Student Athlete" Hein
