Saturday, September 28, 2013

Defining Success at the Fall USTA/ITA Regional

So far, just a few short weeks into the 2013-2014 campaign, we have been working really hard on court and having a ton of fun together as a team.

These are always two huge goals and so I've decided to decrease the amount of team meetings and mental work we do and maximize our on court and fitness time.  Coach Chelsea has been instrumental in this because she plans and executes workouts with a joy and intensity that is paying early dividends and works so seamlessly into our overall plan to develop better players.

There is probably no better test of everything that makes tennis so special than the fall ITA.  It is grueling to play up to 11 matches in 3 days.  It is physical, mental and spiritual to face different opponents in various situations.  I told the team that success would be defined by their effort and what we both demonstrated in Portland, but also by what we learned and could take back to work on before the Spring season.  I find myself so invested in the work they've done and how much of themselves they put into everything they do that to lose even one match is devastating.  This is unrealistic as we had 8 players and only one of 64 singles and 32 doubles could win the tournament, but having this goal provides insight into what will take each game to the next level.

Maggie was our lone senior in the draw and she played a great match against a seed from UPS and game for game was in it, moving and playing some of her best college tennis in a tough two set loss.  The consolation was different as she fought toe to toe with a talented first year player and lost a heartbreaking 9-7 proset.  Doubles with Seana started brilliantly with great teamwork before their opponents turned it on to take the match winning the last several games.

Speaking of Seana, what a singles tournament.  If I was excited about her potential before, I'm ecstatic now.  She toughed her way through a first round win and against a seeded player who had a huge game.  After being broken in the first set, Seana held serve convincingly to start the second and played a beautiful game blending power and angles to break to go up 4-1.  From there, each game was close as the second set fell to Pacific 6-4.  What a start for Seana, it was a fun match, both players enjoyed the level and this is something she can really build on.

Our other first year, Allie, came in seeded 9th and moved through the first day of singles and doubles displaying her many weapons and fiery competitiveness.  Sunday proved to be frustrating in both singles and doubles as our talented freshmen expects a lot of herself and had winnable matches in both.  In both matches, her opponents showed poise in staying really solid and stepping up at key moments to fend off Allie's charges.  So, while she lost to very good players who played well, this weekend she's learned some things about her own game as well as what it takes to mature into the college tennis player we know she'll be.

Her doubles partner Jenna had a similar tournament, with so much work over the summer on her game, we knew our 4th seed was a threat to win the whole tournament, but due to rain, we played 10 point tie breaks on Sunday and one bad set had Jenna fighting for her place in the quarters.  After a great battle she, like Allie fell in a match tie break and was disappointed, but I'm not sure anyone is more positive than Jenna and she was immediately back out there cheering on her teammates.

Two of those teammates played each other in the round of 16.  Erin announced herself to our conference as the 10 seed and won her fist match easily before dropping a strange first set and having to come back to dominate the second and the match tie break.  This put her up against probably the most dangerous unseeded player in the draw, her doubles partner Katrina.  Tree had also played a match tie break Saturday where she won a 12-10 thriller over the 7 seed from Linfield, one of the toughest players in our conference.  Tree carried this momentum against her doubles partner and beat Erin in straight sets to move on to the quarters.  What a tournament for her as she was up an early break and battled the 2 seed who in the end just had too many answers for Katrina's game.  This is something I love about this tournament, that it doesn't matter what number anyone played last year in their singles lineup, if they have done the work and improved, they can show it, and Tree certainly did!  In doubles, these two big hitters played fun aggressive tennis through Saturday and Sunday to earn a place in the semis on Monday morning.  I wouldn't say they had a slow start because they played a great game to hold and nearly broke to go up 2-0, but instead, several back and forth games had them down 1-4, then I think 3-7 before they found the rhythm again to fight back to 6-7 before the 2 seeded team from Whitworth had a terrific hold of serve to win the match.

The reward for Whitworth was a date with Courtney and Morgan in the finals.  This two of three set match was physically tough as the Pirates get a ton of balls back and fight hard, but the twins ability to get to the net and finish points was the difference in a convincing 6-1,6-2 win.  In the start, Courtney's serving got us going and in the second set, Morgan's big net play had a huge impact.  I'm so proud of them both, especially Morgan who has earned all-American status for the first time and will compete with her sister at the small college nationals in Fort Meyers Florida in a week and a half.

Representing the Northwest in Florida for singles will also be Courtney.  The number 1 seed and defending champ not only rolled through the draw without dropping a match, but to me, I saw in each match the display of some of the things she has worked hard on which she learned at NCAA's last year.  More work needs to be done to keep the consistency of all her shots at the highest level, but last weekend was a terrific display of focus and playing the plays she needed not only to win but to be successful at the next level.

While the on court success was terrific, we talked about how we would show up as a team and represent Whitman with sportsmanship and support.  This was on display throughout and it led to one of the most fun road trips I've ever been on. 

Another huge part of that was spending time with family and friends.  Thanks to the Bell's, Dobrin's, Alice Allick, Tom Sawatski and our many alums who came out to support and hang out with us in Portland.  Thanks to everyone and keep following us here, on twitter and facebook as Courtney, Morgan, Chelsea and I head to Florida Oct 9th-12th.

-Coach John

Sunday, September 22, 2013

Day 2 of the Fall USTA ITA

Hi, just a quick note before we start the day.  Yesterday was a long but very fun day.  It was dry to start, but rain throughout the day off and on had us split at 2 sites, as it will today: Lewis and Clark College and Tualatin Hills Parks and Rec Center in Beaverton.

Leading the charge in singles through two rounds are Courtney, Jenna and Allie who all moved into today's round of 16 with straight set wins.  Erin Bell shook off a first set tie break loss to roll in the second set and match tie break of her second match.  She now faces teammate and doubles partner Katrina who got down an early break, fought back vs the #7 seed from Linfield and then suffered a late break to go down a set 4-6.  Tree stuck to her game, served and finished beautifully and forced a deciding match tie break that was full of great shot making and close play.  She battled it out to win 12-10!

Earlier, Maggie played a wonderful match losing to the #16 seed from UPS 6-3,6-1, but showing great movement and tough play as every game was competitive.  Seana found her way through the nerves of her first college match and then squared off a talented first year from Pacific in a battle of big hitters that was MUCH more competitive and entertaining than a 6-2,6-4 scoreline might indicate.  From what I saw yesterday the future is bright for this young Whittie.  I'm proud of Seana and Mags as they also played some terrific doubles, but the momentum swung to George Fox at the end and they couldn't quite pull it back in an 8-5 loss.

Our other three teams all advanced through the first round of doubles.

Today is round of 16 singles and doubles, here is the schedule and you can see the tournament website for updates: http://www.lcpioneers.com/sports/wten/2013-14/releases/20130920jdk21x

9am singles:
Courtney vs Jenna Gerdsen at Tualatin Hills
Jenna vs Marisa Friedman at Lewis and Clark
Katrina vs Erin at Lewis and Clark

10am singles
Allie vs Taylor Pena at Tualatin Hills

12:30 singles consolation
Maggie vs Mackenzie Fraser at Lewis and Clark

Second singles to follow for winners and doubles after that with two rounds today.

Let's go Missionaries!

Friday, September 20, 2013

Fall USTA/ITA Tourney starts TOMORROW

After three awesome weeks of practice, we are so pumped.  The work in the off season was great and we took it to another level back at school.

As of now, I don't think there is a tournament webpage, but check the Whitman and Lewis and Clark (host school) websites.  I'll be updating via the blog daily and twitter @coachhein all weekend as well as facebook when we can.

Here is the singles draw (assuming rain which is highly likely)



Doubles draws should be posted today, but we're at the mercy of rain so hope to get two rounds of dubs in but may get one Saturday.

If you're in Portland, come cheer us on, we'd love to see you!

Coach John

Monday, September 16, 2013

Another Wonderful Week of Training and a Special Visit

Hello everyone,

Last week was a special week.  Not only did we welcome new Assistant Coach Chelsea Patton to the family, but we had a visit from David Wagner to campus and practice which was an outstanding treat.

A Special visit.  Throughout life, there are times when you meet an amazing person, someone whose charisma and character just light up a room and inspire you.  Having David on campus gave that chance to about 25 local youth tennis players and our entire team as well as several parents, friends and members of the campus
David Wagner, 3 time Paralympic Gold Medalist





Coach Chelsea on court with the kids
community.  Thanks to the Whitman Athletic Department for bringing David to our campus as he spoke to a public gathering about his journey from being a kid in Walla Walla to becoming paralyzed during college then taking up wheelchair tennis where he is one of the top players in the world.  Read more about David at www.davidwagner.us

Still smiling, while pushing and finishing a forehand... Man does David love tennis
He passed around a gold and silver medal from London 2012 and talked about his pride in competing and doing his best, it was so special.  Then, what we were really ready for, was to see a full time professional athlete on the court.  David trains 6-8 hours a day or more and it shows as he just flew back from the USOpen as quad doubles champ and singles runner up.  Every kid played with him in "Up Down" doubles where the player in the chair gets two bounces.  Then, at the start of practice, he talked to the team and did some warm up with us. Coach Greg from BSU would have been proud to see our team and his daughter out there doing roly poly with David!  Many thanks go to College Place Schools and Gear Up for bringing David to Walla Walla and thanks David for sharing your story, athleticism and smile with us.

Lil Mo lining up a volley
Practice update - we are so tantalizingly close to the new courts being ready, but as they are getting their finishing touches, we have alternated between playing indoors in Bratton and outside across town.  Even a 5 minute car ride gets me so fired up for our upcoming trip because each person has such great personality and I can't wait for a weekend together to strengthen bonds and forge new friendships.  And oh yeah, they play some pretty mean tennis too.  We've been working hard to get in match shape with our shots and fitness and it shows.  The focus and determination of this team is beyond any I've had the pleasure to coach and with Coach Chelsea there to add an extra pair of eyes at practice, new ideas on fitness and a quick smile and laugh, we are well on our way.  In fact, C-Patt was so on fire last week and made such an immediate impact, the team demanded that she be named Whittie of the Week!  Congrats Chelsea!

Fall USTA/ITA Regional - is this weekend in Portland; or rather its hosted by Lewis and Clark at Taulatin Hills Park and Rec center in Beaverton, OR.  I hope anyone in the area can come and watch and cheer us on.  I imagine the format will be 2 singles Friday starting at 8 or 9am with doubles to follow going into the evening and the same on Sunday with Semis and finals on Monday.  I'll blog a preview when the draws come out (probably Wednesday), but keep in touch with me if you plan on coming or would like more details, we'd love to see you!

The team with David



Monday, September 9, 2013

New Season, New Leaders, New Coach, New Whittie of the Week

WoW indeed.

This week's Whittie of the week was Morgan.  See the link here to read more about how Morgan took her leadership and team play to a new level in her first week as an upperclassmen.

We had a wonderful first week of practice.  Definitely, there was some rust to shake off, but the focus and fitness level coming off of the summer were both outstanding.  Seana, Allie and Erin fit right in and we got to work.  With the first week of practice we did short practices so the teams ability to focus was tested early and as we played more and more at the end of the week it was apparent that they were ready to go.  Especially impressive were our group of seniors.  The senior year is challenging as players have extra academic responsibilities to graduate and they are working hard to be ready to transition from Whitman to beyond.  Liv, Hannah and Maggie were all great, playing some of the best tennis I've seen from each of them in four years.

Going from experience to a new beginning, I cannot say how excited we are to have Chelsea Patton join us as our assistant coach this year.  I've worked summer camps with Chelsea and she was a dream hire for us with both knowledge and enthusiasm for the game that are second to none, Chelsea is showing that she will help us bring our work ethic and attention to detail up while laughing and enjoying every minute.  Welcome Coach Chelsea!

I have to get busy blogging, because we also had berry picking at Hutch's last week and loved hanging out with the guys and getting out to a beautiful setting off campus, Coach Jeff took some photos here.

And, I am incredibly excited about Wednesday when we host 3 time Paralympic Gold Medalist David Wagner on campus for a community tennis event.  David went to school here and had an injury as an adult but didn't miss a beat and has become one of the best wheelchair tennis players in the world.  I am excited to welcome David back to Whitman and for the teams and students here to meet him!

More to come, it is that exciting time of year, welcome to Missionary Tennis 2013-2014 baby!!

-Coach John