Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Northwest Champs! On to the NCAA Tourney!

What a weekend!

We worked all year to stay undefeated in conference which gave us our second straight NWC championship and the right to host the 4 team tournament to decide who gets the automatic qualification for the NCAA tournament.

This year the theme has been to carry playoff intensity during each practice and match, so we talked about Saturday's match being nothing different.  In a way it was as we have battled injuries all year and have had the depth to handle it.  In the semi's Saturday versus UPS we hoped Morgan would be back and she is close but needed a bit more rehab.  At the same time, our #1 doubles team were both nursing minor leg injuries.  So, it was incredibly special to play it as we had all year, getting all three doubles points and then entering singles with Courtney and Maddy resting.  This gave an incredible opportunity for everyone to step up, including Olivia, who has played incredible singles this year and saw her first post season action at #6.  She was up a set playing well after some early nerves, but the match was finished and stopped when Erin at #2 and Katrina at #4 won in straight sets.

Sunday morning I didn't know if Saturday nights rain would go away and keep us on our beautiful new outdoor courts.  Luckily it cleared for our match with Linfield.  The wildcats have been playing great late season and gave us our closest match of the season early on in a 5-4 win for us that came down to the last match.  Early on things looked good in windy conditions with all three doubles teams leading.  As we got wins at 1 and 2, #3 got super close and between the wind and the nerves between all four players neither team gained any separation.  This is where Hannah's senior leadership came through as she made some spectacular plays to get us to the breaker.  As the tie break started, the difference between a 3-0 Whitman lead and 2-1 felt huge to both teams.  We got down early as Linfield played great, then at 3-4, Jenna hit two huge serves and we had the momentum and lead that carried us to the final doubles point and a 3-0 lead.

Going into singles, we were excited to go after each point and won the first set at all 6 spots.  It was great to see Courtney and Maddy each battle to 7-5 wins against tough opponents who got tougher in the wind.  Early on, Erin and Allie seemed to be in charge of their matches, but after struggling to break serve at #6, once Katrina did, she relaxed and got us our next point with a 6-3,6-0 win.  Allie at #4 had just flipped the scorecard to 5-0 in the second and I think she felt that the match was on her racket as she exploded in the final game, crushing balls to the corners to clinch our third straight tournament title and trip to the NCAA's!

I'm so proud of our team's improvement throughout the year.  The way they compete together, support each other and play with great intensity while showing the utmost respect and sportsmanship is amazing.  All this comes from the incredible bonds they have created and the love on this team is really flowing as we prepare for regionals.

The NCAA regional rounds (Round of 64,32, and 16) will be announced (location, date/time and opponents) on Monday.  We'll be ready to travel and take on whomever we get the opportunity to play.

Thanks so much to the families (yeah Joel, Sandy, Mark!), friends (too many to name) and alums (go Dena, Emily, Christy!) who cheered us on.  Our home courts are truly as special as Whitman itself with the center of campus being not only the most beautiful place to watch a match, but it is also so active there and the support of our fans gave the place an incredible playoff atmosphere.

I'll write again when we find out where we're headed!

Coach John