Monday, September 26, 2016

Short but sweet, it's Fall ITA Regionals Week

Hello out there!

I'm trying to get a post out weekly and this past week we had a week of recovery, learning and training after the WC Fall Invite.  The team is diligently working on schoolwork to get ahead for the coming weekend and have kept up their fitness and tennis with some really solid practices.

We look to up the intensity this week as we get ready to host the Fall Oracle ITA Regional this Fri, Sat, and Sun.  It is a phenomenal event with all of our conference teams bringing singles and doubles players.  Winners are automatically all-American and get into Fall Small College Nationals!

In terms of running the tournament, coaching and keeping everything going, it can be hard to update results, but I will do my best via twitter @whitwomentennis and on the WC Website on our schedule page.

The schedule (if dry) is to play on all 10 Whitman courts outside and inside

Friday 9am until done - 2 singles rounds followed by 2 doubles rounds
Saturday same as Friday
Sunday - singles main and consolation semis and finals, doubles final.

Looking forward to some great tennis!

John

Tuesday, September 20, 2016

It has begun! WC Fall Invite Kicks off Whitman's Season with Excitement

Our fall season always consists of great practices, team building and often one tournament, the Fall ITA Regional.  This year we hosted the first annual WC Fall Invite, a singles and doubles tournament with top 20 NAIA Lewis-Clark State (ID), and D1 Eastern Washington and Seattle University.  It was a fantastic weekend of tennis with all four teams very close and competitive, which is exactly what we needed to continue our growth.

We set up 2 flights of singles and 2 flights of doubles to get each player 3-4 singles matches and 2-3 doubles matches in 2 days.  Saturday, we had rain all day and enjoyed the brand new blue and yellow surface in Bratton and it was phenomenal!  Everyone played great with big wins, close losses and so much great intensity.  As we grow, we need these experiences to push us forward.

In the yellow flight, our depth shined on day one with Linds and Lori teaming up for a first round doubles win and a thrilling 5-7 no ad set loss to eventual champions from EWU.  Both players have worked so hard on doubles and Lindsey demonstrated tremendous leadership which will give us so many great doubles options this year!  On the singles side of the yellow flight, it was a first round Whittie sweep with both Lori and Linds rolling through their first round before intense tough nighttime losses that each will learn from and use for fuel going forward.  Our final player in the yellow draw was Hanna who worked hard over the summer and it showed as she rebounded from a 5-7 first set to win 6-3,10-6 in the super tie break over a D1 player from Eastern.  Not done, she faced EWU's top new player from Belgium and used her intensity and composure to make the right adjustments and pull out another three set victory in another 10-6 match tie break!  Overall, Hanna was 4-0 on the day joining with Mary in the Blue flight doubles to roll in the first round, then dominate the #1 seed in the semis to make the finals of the top flight.  What a day for Hanna to celebrate her off season commitment to her tennis!

In the Blue singles, Mary took on the #4 seed and fell in a super tie break for the third, also showing her improvements from last year and the summer.  She rebounded for a consolation win to go with her big time doubles with Hanna.  After a summer working and studying hard, Allie played great tennis in both singles and doubles and these matches will get her match fitness up for the fall ITA in two weeks.

Day two so early in the season is an important one for us.  We had some terrific performances and some places to learn and grow.  After a really long day indoors Saturday it was great to move outside and it was a fantastic day for each player to learn about how they compete and build as a tournament progresses.  Even matches we didn't play our best we were able to gut out wins and competitive scores - both terrific indicators of our character, talent and focus.

Along with our doubles and depth, a huge highlight of the weekend was our lone first year player, Andrea Gu.  Andrea fought her way through day one singles and in the semi's took the first set from the top seed, EWU's #1 player.  Despite being outplayed in the super tie break, Andrea came back in the third place match to battle and find her tennis to beat the #4 seed 8-5!  What an exciting start to her Whitman tennis career!

Read our web recap here


Now, as we learn and get back to work in the classroom, on the court and in the gym, I am so excited for our next tournament, also at Whitman!

We host the Fall Oracle ITA Regional Fri Sep 30-Sun Oct 2nd, welcoming the best singles and doubles players from our conference as we compete for the regional championships which bring all-American status and a trip to Fall Nationals.

Let us know if you'll be in Walla Walla in two weeks for the Oracle ITA Regional, and if we get live streaming up indoors I'll let you know!

Warmest wishes from Walla Walla,
Coach John






Thursday, September 8, 2016

Welcome, Welcome, Welcome

Hello WC Tennis Fans!

Well, its a new year and after a summer off of blogging, I wasn't sure if Whitman would have a new mascot yet or not.  Going forward the Missionary will no longer be the mascot, and the plan is to have a new one by 2017, so for now, the blog will keep this name and address.

Getting some early doubles work in on our new surface in Bratton!
And of course spending most of our days outside!


It is an absolute pleasure to welcome everyone back from summer.  There were many adventures, some great training and tournaments but a lot of variety of work, rest, travel, training and play.  What is so great for me to see is that each year I've been at Whitman, our first practice back has more depth, quality of play and the overall fitness just gets better and better.

Our other excitement comes from comings and goings.  Jenna came over during orientation to see her teammates, but is now safely landed in Spain for her semester abroad.  It is one of the awesome things about D3 that such a dedicated student athlete can still get this experience is incredible.  We miss her but are so thrilled for this opportunity she has.

I would like to officially welcome two new members of the team.  I'd like to welcome our new assistant Coach Brian Elliot. Brian comes from Eastern Washington, most recently living in Liberty Lake after growing up in Colville and playing #1 at Whitworth.  He has coached at clubs in Texas and California and brings a wealth of experience and so much passion for the game and team tennis, we are lucky to have Brian.  He's already dove in on court and with video for technical and tactical development.

With Tree and Jenna D. graduating last year (btw congrats on the respective moves to NYC and LA!!!), we have big shoes to fill through development, but helping on the recruiting side is the arrival of first year Andrea Gu.  Andrea is from Coquitlam, BC, spent 3 years of high school in Shanghai, China and now comes to Whitman ready to contribute right away.  She brings a spirit of engagement and positivity that resonates so well with our team.  On court, she is ripping the ball and working hard right away.  All of this from our highest ranked recruit ever, a 4 star top 150 in her class on tennisrecruiting.net, Andrea has played nationally in Canada as well as having great success in the USTA PNW section.  This year she stayed home a lot playing adult open tournaments in BC which will help her maturity and being ready for anything on the court.  I'll also welcome her parents Donna and Gary to the Whitman family, its wonderful to have you and Andrea is fitting in wonderfully right away.
Andrea at convocation - ready to start classes

While the excitement is high with the team, this first two weeks at Whitman have been different than any other I've experienced.  Our community is saddened by the loss of classmate and friend Josh Fishman.  Our thoughts go to his family, friends and loved ones and there has been a unusual combination of enthusiasm with grief throughout the past week.  In these times, as one player put it, we feel gratitude for our health, each other and the opportunities we have - I couldn't have said it better; thanks Mary.




Our first competition is a week from Saturday when we host a singles and doubles tournament with LC State (ID), Seattle U, and Eastern WA here at Whitman, the WC Fall Invite Sep 17-18th.

Then, two weeks later we also host the Fall Oracle/ITA Regional Championships here at Whitman Sep 30-Oct 2nd (Fri, Sat, Sun) - if you're in the area, come on out, if you're traveling to watch some great tennis, we'd love to see you!

Warm regards from Walla Walla,
Coach John