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| Allie showing the form that helped her clinch the NWC Tournament Championship |
Well sports fans, I hope you were able to be at or follow our conference tournament last weekend. It was certainly the most exciting I've been involved in as our team was firing on all cylinders to sweep
Whitworth 5-0 in the semi's and then the finals and trip to the NCAA tournament came down to the wire as we fought off
Lewis and Clark for a 5-4 win. Any 5-4 tennis match is exciting as the two teams are evenly matched. It gets even better when the last match on is in a third set so the two players are matched up evenly and if that isn't enough the excitement builds even more when 12 games aren't enough to decide the outcome and there is a tie break to decide it all. Well, that's what we had and at the same time that I am so proud of Allie's mental and physical strength to pull it out for us, those matches are won by the whole team and everyone who supports us. It's the practices after a long day of classes, the workouts when your body doesn't want to do anymore, the yoga sessions where we not only stretch, but work on visualization and strengthening the mind/body connection so we're able to focus on that one moment when it happens. There is also knowing we have people behind us who care for and love us no matter the result, and absolutely having a crowd to cheer on each point is not only exciting, but fuels the fire to make one more shot, set up one more winner, finish one more point.
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| Your 2015 NWC Regular Season and Tournament Champions...On to NCAA's |
We're lucky to have the opportunity to enjoy this intensity together in practice and matches. To have it all come together last weekend at the NWC tournament on our home courts in front of our fans is one of the most special things in college tennis and this hard fought berth into the NCAA tournament means so much to me not just because its fun to win, but even more because we get to keep practicing together with another opportunity to compete and extend our season with the ultimate goal of ending it at the NCAA national championships in Cincinnati, Ohio.
But speaking of special, I can also report that we had our end of season team banquet last weekend and along with enjoying each others company along with our friends and families who were in town, Erin Bell was a rock star in putting together a tribute to this years team and especially our four amazing seniors Erin, Morgan, Maddy and Courtney. It's so special to know that their careers will continue, but here are links to photos from the weekend by Erin as well as her video from the season. The photos can be downloaded so please share and enjoy!
Photos on our flickr page:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/tennislove/sets/72157649911121604/
Erin's end of year video on youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xl_R1w1cUFM&feature=youtu.be
There is even more to celebrate with four all conference players; Jenna and Courtney were named first team and Morgan and Allie second team, congrats! Courtney also received her third Northwest Conference player of the year award and we also got the NWC Coach of the year honors. You can read about the awards online
here.
Next up for us is the NCAA tournament. With and automatic bid we are just waiting for selection day Monday to see where we'll go and who we play. Our first match will either be Thursday, Friday or Saturday next week. There are so many subtle things that could affect the schedule, I'll wait until we get it to let you all know what's happening. What I can tell you for sure is that practice has been fun and intense as we prepare for our best tennis of the season.
Thanks for all your support!
John
