Wednesday, February 10, 2016

All the info you need for the Whitman Winter Classic

It's almost here!!!! Teams are packing their travel bags, the final practices are happening and I think we've got one of the best DIII events of the year right here in Walla Walla!  I want to extend a huge thank you to the visiting teams and their hard working coaches who make this happen as well as Coaches Maddy and Tom and our training and sports information staff at Whitman who all work so our wonderful players can PLAY!

The teams involved are:
Whitman - host and #22 preseason ranking with #18 ranked recruiting class
Redlands - #18 nationally with #14 ranked recruiting class
Lewis and Clark - #29 nationally
Trinity (TX) - #33 nationally
Linfield - #34 nationally

These rankings are based off last year, but we're excited for all these west region teams to face off this early in the season.  Whitman starts the weekend off with a tilt vs Trinity TX.  Coach Gretchen Rush's Tigers made the NCAA tournament last year falling in a well fought match with #4 CMS.  Saturday brings a rematch of what has annually been a great matchup between Redlands and Whitman.  In my time here, we are yet to beat the Bulldogs, but have had many competitive matches, last year dropping a 7-2 decision on Spring Break in Redlands.  That result along with a gritty win over Tufts propelled Redlands to the top of the 18-25 insanity in the DIII rankings.  Both teams brought in great young players and the first meeting in Walla Walla should be a doozy.  Linfield was one of our top competitors in the NWC last year and they return most of their lineup with some key additions.  This match starts our conference season and will set the tone for our NWC title defense.  The Wildcats have already made a trip to California where they beat CalTech and LaVerne, but lost to Redlands.

All matches will be indoors in the Bratton Tennis Center unless both coaches agree to go outside.  The best chances for outdoor tennis are Friday Whitman vs Trinity and Sunday Whitman vs Linfield.  Indoor matches have livestreaming on the Whitman Website.

You can follow each team on twitter for their updates, for us @coachhein has in match score updates.

If you have any questions about the weekend, don't hesitate to contact me heinj@whitman.edu or (509)301-8502.

The schedule is:
Friday Noon: Whitman vs Trinity
Friday 5pm:   Lewis and Clark vs Trinity
Saturday 8am: Whitman vs Redlands
Saturday 1pm: Trinity vs Linfield
Saturday 5pm: Lewis and Clark vs Redlands
Sunday 9am(maybe 8am) Redlands vs Trinity
Sunday 2pm: Linfield vs Whitman