Tuesday, February 23, 2016

Bouncing Back

There are some things in life that you never want to take for granted.  High among them are the traits of not just champion athletes, but champions in life.  Among others, these include appreciation, compassion, resiliency, courage, determination....the list could go on.

Jenna serving during the Winter Classic

Often at the start of a week, I'll write a recap of what the team has done and a preview of what is coming up.  This week I'll stray from that format because my belief in this team that I've had from day one of fall practice was affirmed this weekend.  The scoreboard on Friday's 2-7 loss to Lewis and Clark may not show it, but this is a championship team and I could not be more proud or excited for the next step in our journey together.

We have been learning from each match, and this past weekend was no different as our games and confidence grow each day.  Not every group of players would do that, but as I said, the true nature of these players as people is so incredible that I can only be inspired by the way they compete and so excited about each practice and match.

We bounced back from that loss with a determined sweep of Willamette and George Fox.  It was awesome to mix up the lineup and see everyone compete and demonstrate our level of play.  Appreciation, compassion, resiliency, courage, determination are perfect words to describe the women of Whitman Tennis.

This weekend we get a well earned weekend off and are training for our next match Saturday March 5th at 10am at Whitworth in Spokane.

Allie went undefeated in singles this weekend and is upping her doubles game too



Tuesday, February 16, 2016

An Instant Classic

Hello everyone!

This past weekend we were thrilled to host 5 nationally ranked teams at home for our annual Whitman Winter Classic.  There is no way that I can recap all the tennis, but Gregg Petcoff in our sports communication department did a tremendous job recapping the matches and getting scores posted as well as live streaming the matches.  You can read the recaps on our webpage here.  Except for some rain and chilly weather that kept us indoors, the weekend went really smoothly and so much of that is due to our training staff and coaches.  Maddy and Tom were everywhere helping out, driving teams to/from the airport, setting up a wonderful family/alum dinner and oh yeah....coaching.

For us, this entire season is one that is all about discovering who we are and what we can do.  We know we have incredible talent, desire, support and sportsmanship; but how would we fare against top ranked teams?  The answers are both exciting as we build confidence, but also motivating as we answer questions and see how great we are.

The weekend started with a match against #35 Trinity. The Tigers in my opinion just didn't have the schedule last year to start with a higher ranking, plus they added some great pieces in recruiting so we knew it would be a battle...and a battle it was.  After playing great doubles to take a 2-1 lead, both teams settled into singles and eventually it came down to 4-4 and Allie was so composed and within herself to get her match to a third set.  Unfortunately, her opponent responded with an amazing set and Trinity got the match 5-4, but every one of our 10 players was fully engaged from start to finish and to have a match this big be contested from the first ball to the last is something we needed and is huge to get it early in the year.  Everyone contributed and grew so our Whittie of the Match was a 10 way tie, I'm so proud of how our team competed and started the weekend off.

Saturday we had the early start to accommodate a busy match schedule which went from 8am to 10pm.  The Bulldogs from Redlands play solid doubles and while every match was contested to the end, going down 0-3 gives us plenty of motivation to improve on the doubles court even though I thought we played some great tennis at all 3 spots.  So many teams would go away down 0-3, but we fought back to take 3 singles matches with Jenna going deep in 3 sets at #1.  We're a team that can win at every spot and loves the challenge of fighting together.

Before the finish to the tennis, Maddy planned a dinner downtown for the team, families and alums.  We had some wonderful local alums with Christy Krutulis, Kate KP and Danielle Garbe as well as semi locals (Seattle), Morgan and Courtney Lawless.  The Hills, Dobrins, Wallins, Val Brodeck and the Lockwoods were all with us at DaMa Wines.  Mary Derby and her staff at DaMa  were such wonderful hosts and it was so enjoyable to spend time with everyone!

Back on court Sunday, the team had decided that the finale to the Winter Classic and the start to our Northwest Conference Title Defense vs Linfield would be our Think Pink match.  They did a midweek bake sale and took donations at the match to give to St. Mary's Cancer Center in Walla Walla.  Everyone was involved, but Allie took a huge leadership role in making this happen and with pink shoelaces and hair ties, we set out to start the NWC season strong!  That's exactly what we did, sweeping doubles against a very good nationally ranked Linfield team.  The singles were awesome with Linfield being very strong at 1 and 2 where Jenna played possibly the best tennis I've seen before falling in a heartbreaking super tie break 8-10 to the #22 player in the nation. Jenna is right there and will have her breakthrough soon; I'm so proud of all her hard work and everyone is inspired by her play and leadership.  While the scores didn't show it, Cello's game is developing the nuances she needs to get to the next level and to be this good now and getting so much better each day is incredibly exciting.  The same goes for Jana who has been working so hard to expand her game.  When you're brave enough to do this, there can be bumps in the road.  Jana hit some of those this weekend, but I am so thrilled to see her meet many of her goals and do the things that will benefit herself and the team in the long run.  The character, talent and desire of all four new players is off the charts and we've got so many great things ahead to look forward to.

Over the weekend, we also found out what we knew from practice, that we can play great dubs and that Hanna and Mary are a legit force at #1 going 2-1 on the weekend with a huge win over the #8 team in the nation who have been to 2 fall nationals and NCAA individuals together.  Mary also gained great experience in going 3-0 in singles at #3 displaying not just her talent but also her increased fitness and her mental consistency.  Speaking of undefeated, Lori went 2-0 at #7 singles and Lindsey was a perfect 3-0 this weekend!

Thanks so much for those who came to our matches, and if you watched online or followed tweets, I hope we kept you entertained.  The fun keeps on going as we've got a short week to stay on top of our studies and keep our momentum going as we head to Lewis and Clark and Willamette for conference matches this weekend.

If you're in the Portland area, you don't want to miss this Friday's 4pm match at LC between the top two contenders in the conference!

Bye for now!
Coach John

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


Monday, February 8, 2016

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

Monday, February 1, 2016

This past weekend we played our first match of the 2016 season at Eastern Washington University in Cheney.  Our first two weeks of practice have been outstanding, but as great as our practice mentality is, there is no substitute for dual match play.  The Eagles were very sharp in their 6th match of the season and in the shorter D1 format (no ad scoring, doubles to 6 games), they came out strong sweeping the 3 doubles and taking the 4th in an exhibition.  I like what we can do in doubles as the skills and competitive fire were there, just a few too many mistakes in our first set of the season.

The team supporting Lori and Lil J in their #4 doubles match
Singles was a totally different story up and down.  At #1, playing the same player she lost to 6-0,6-0 last year Jenna played an incredibly composed and competitive match losing 4-6,3-6.  Next to her, the improvement in our team was also tangible as Mary played a 5th year senior who played #1 the last time we saw her and beat Courtney 6-2,6-1.  Mary's first set was rough but she got it going in the second set finally going down 6-0,6-4, but not before showcasing her baseline skills and determination. 

#3 was the match of the day with Cello having a slow start, then coming back to make the first set close before stepping it up a notch in the second set.  This was where you could feel the first year's on the court start to feed off each other and really fight together and the spark today came from Cello's heart during the match, but also her commitment to having great habits in practice that are paying off.  With the overall match decided, the third set was a match tie break and getting down big, Cello again fought back to make it close before the final score of 7-6,2-6,10-8.

#4 and #5 were really good matches that despite both being straight set losses, show the mental toughness, fight and ability to grow on our team.  Jana at 4 was rock solid from the start, using her weapons and blending offense and defense brilliantly.  So steady and so tough, even when her opponent found another gear, JKM was in every game fighting for every ball.  She came this fall with some of the best variety on the team and seeing her integrate even more options into match play has us thrilled to see what is next from her.  In the same way, Lindsey has been working to expand her game and it showed more on court than on the scoreboard in a 6-2,6-2 match.  It is incredible to see the physical maturity of her game as her work in the weightroom showed in having some incredible extended rallies with a counterpuncher who likes the points to go as long as possible.

Allie played #6 Saturday and coming off limited practice I knew she was striking the ball well, but wasn't sure what to expect as she competed.  Well, she picked up where she left off in 2015, managing herself and using her offense and defense intelligently.  She also served great against a big hitter and lost a tough 7-5,6-4 match that could have gone either way.  We got a couple exhibitions with Hanna playing a proset that Eastern won 8-3, though after a slow start, Hanna got comfortable continues to grow with each singles opportunity.  Lori got a one set match and it is awesome to see her transition to college life in the states.  She is more comfortable and has worked really hard in the gym so her power and shotmaking was incredible in a 6-3 loss.

Overall, this match was an opportunity to beat a D1 team and we could feel the intensity of that, but mostly it was an incredible testament to the leadership of Jenna, Allie and Tree for bringing the underclassmen along and showcasing their skills and support.

For her leadership in everything we do, Jenna was voted Whittie of the Week this week by the team and for her courage and great play on court, Cello was named by the coaches as the Whittie of the match.  Thanks to Maddy and Tom for awesome work prepping the team and on court.  We can't wait to get back to work at practice and look forward to a nice home stretch.

Our next matches are this Sunday at 9am vs Lewis Clark State College (ID) and then at 5pm vs University of Idaho.  We'll get the livestreams in Bratton up and running and will make a better effort to tweet out scores (I thought they were going out, but in the end my phone must have swallowed them all - sorry).

If you haven't seen this teams energy, togetherness and tennis, you're in for a treat!

Bye until Sunday,
John