Another nailbiter in McMinnville

Well folks, Happy Easter (and KKP Bday) to all who celebrate it. If you were following Zoe's twitter updates, you know the excitement and drama we went through yesterday must have rivaled that of the NCAA DI final four basketball.

We suffered a narrow 5-4 defeat (scores) at the hands of a hot Linfield team. On Friday, while we played a very solid match to beat a spirited and talented Pacific team 9-0, Linfield swept doubles and went on to beat the defending conference champion Whitworth who were previously undefeated in conference play this year.

That made our doubles play all the more satisfying, going up 2-1. At #1, we got down a break and in her final home match of an illustrious career, Linfield Senior Sallie Katter served huge and partner Abby Olbrich was solid all over the court to hang on for an 8-5 win over Elise and Alyssa who never quite found their rhythm as a team. At #2 dubs, we absolutely created our own rhythm with seniors Div and Hadley playing with unrelenting focus and fun to win 8-2. The closest match then became #3, where Emily and Kate hung tough and worked their way to an 8-6 victory to put us up 2-1.

The momentum was quickly regained by Linfield on their 3 indoor courts as their top two players played very smart and clean tennis. Abby Olbrich at 1 switched from offense to defense at all the right times and it was not a good day for Alyssa to be a little off in a 6-4,6-2 loss. As in doubles, a ton of credit goes to Sallie Katter for playing great tennis at #2 against Elise. It wasn't a great day for either of our top two, but in those spots everyone is so good that we know we have to bring our best every time and being a little off will quickly be exploited as it was yesterday.

At #3, Hadley played brilliant tennis, which is the norm for her, but she was just not consistent enough to come out on top and she lost by scores of 6-3,6-4 in a closely contested two set match.

So, from up 2-1 feeling great, we send out Div, Em and Kate needing a sweep in the final three. An even bigger hole was dug as Kate pulled out a long first set 6-4, but Emily and Div each dropped their first sets, so we needed some 3 set efforts.

As in doubles, Div was the first to do her part as she recovered from a quick 0-3 hole in the first set to come back to 4-6 and carry that momentum into the second, winning it 6-3 and showing why she is such a tough player to play against. Just as Div gained the momentum and was really feeling it for the split, Emily was now down 3-5 in the second. With the match on her racket and her back against the wall, she found an extra level of focus and fought off at least one amazing match point where she had to hit multiple overheads and finish with a drop volley. That kind of composure pulled her to 4-5 back on serve as Div went for some water before the third. As was so frustrating all day, Emily again went down, this time 0-40, and again she fought back 3 match (team and individual) points to get the game to deuce. Somehow, wildcat Sarah Watanabe found a way to lock down two points and the win for Linfield leaving us disappointed in McMinnville.

Then, with incredible fortitude, Div was able to control her match tie break 10-4 and Kate repeated her first set for a 6-4, 6-4 victory to pull us back to 4-5. It was a great match to be at and I give Linfield a lot of credit because if they play like that, we (and any other team) will need to really step up to get them at the conference tournament in Yakima in two weeks.

This weekend is our final match weekend and also our Family and Alumni weekend where we will play Lewis and Clark on 2pm on Saturday and Willamette at 9am on Sunday. The weekend will also include a dinner Saturday, so please contact me if you are coming so I know who will be here as we look to lock down 3rd place in conference and honor our seniors as well as enjoy each others company around some great tennis.

Thanks for reading,
John