Kicking off a two week homestand with GRIT

Hello and happy post super bowl Monday!

I'll try to keep this brief(ish) because I'll send another blog in the next couple days with a preview of the upcoming big D3 weekend at Whitman, the Winter Classic!  If you're coming to that, keep in touch with me, Maddy or the team for fun events off court as well as up to date match info.

After coming out a bit slow in our first match, the team was determined to set the tone in doubles at 9am vs LCSC.  This was started by Jana and Lindsey at #3 as they demonstrated great energy, shotmaking and teamwork to win 8-4 and put us on the board.  Meanwhile, Jenna and Cello started slow against a crafty team, but quickly righted the ship and from 1-4 came back to win 9-7.  Hanna and Mary keep looking as solid as ever at #1 beating a very good team in a close, fun, high level doubles match 8-6.  The doubles sweep was huge and on court 4, Lori played an exhibition singles and won 8-2.  She is working hard at specific things and it really showed through this match.

In singles, with three dual matches on 4 courts, we started putting matches on while 1,2 doubles went long.  So Allie went on first and did what she needed to to win, managing her big groundies with great defense and some nice transitions.  Lil J stepped up to play #6 and it was so cool for her to clinch the match with the play that we see every day in practice coming out from start to finish.  It was 6-2,6-3, but her opponent really battled and some games were so long but LJ stayed with her plan and fought so hard.  It was fun to watch and if doubles wasn't enough, her performance lifted our fighting spirit and earned her the coaches Whittie of the Match.

With the match decided there was no let down as Jenna came back from down a break to win 7-5,6-4 at #1 showing her senior savvy making nice adjustments in both doubles and singles.  Mary was terrific up a set and 5-2 before her opponent who is really talented and athletic upped the level to battle into a tie break.  Shaking it off, our Iowan found another gear for herself and looked terrific in the tiebreak.  In fact, first year Whitties coming through in tie breaks became a theme as Cello was forced into a first set tiebreak before winning 7-6,6-2.  Cello has really done an amazing job giving and getting from the team and the improvement of her daily habits is showing in matches as she is always eager for any challenge and each week she is more and more ready for them which is a huge testament to who she is as a person and player...very impressive.  Speaking of impressive, Jana played our only three set match of the day.  Wow, this kid (young adult, but she has the enthusiasm of a playful child and the discipline of the most professional adult), has so many tools on court and is using her shotmaking, athleticism and intelligence really well.  Using the first set to figure out her opponent, she came back to control the second set and in a long hard fought match tie break, she was determined to play her game and it gave her the win and Whitman the 9-0 sweep.

After lunch while Idaho played LCSC to a 7-0 (D1 rules) win, we came out looking for more matches for everyone and switched up the doubles lineup.  Hanna and Mary were looking great up 3-2 then lost the break on a no ad point and each game was a battle.  The 3-6 score is respectable, but also fuel for this team who knows it could have been 6-3 Whitman.  We've been trying different combos and Allie and Jana after a some great practice dubs, played outstanding in a 3-6 set at #2.  The energy was big and positive and they showed their skills are right there with some bigtime teams.  At #3 Lil J and Lori were also right in it 2-6 and as Lori plays more and more doubles she just gets better and Jenna showed her leadership and consistent big level throughout, keeping them on track start to finish.

The singles were a great competitive and learning experience as Idaho is almost all foreign players on full scholarships who play really solid tennis. Everyone battled and got experience seeing that we can play at that level, but there are some subtle but significant things to keep improving to get there.  I was happy for the way JD, Cello, Jana and Allie played.  Just the same I was bummed for Lindsey who rested during singles vs LCSC then came out so pumped and ready but up 3-0 her opponent needed to rest an injury and retired.  Not every player would have forced her at less than 100% to feel she couldn't compete, but Linds took it to her.  At #6, Hanna showed her commitment to singles is paying off as she learns more and more how to blend offense and defense.  Her hard work was really fun to watch and if she keeps this going, she'll be a force in singles as well as doubles.

So much for being brief! I'm too excited about yesterday and can't wait for practice tomorrow.  As I said, I'll send a separate preview for the Winter Classic this weekend when we welcome 4 nationally ranked D3 teams in our friends from Linfield, Trinity, Lewis and Clark and Redlands to Walla Walla.

Coach John