Final Spring Break Wrap Up

Big apologies for the delay, but the trip has me so excited about the team that we jumped straight back into our work and I neglected to update the blog.

Many have asked me upon returning to Walla Walla, "How was Spring Break?" and I haven't had one answer.  It was one of the most fun trips I've had and personally I enjoyed so much spending time with the team and also some of our great families and friends who came to watch (and sometimes just hang out when it was raining).  On court, I was really very proud of the team, but I also felt we could have done better at certain things in each match.  It's hard to ask more of these student athletes who already work so hard, but in the end I came to realize that we have such a special team which has been incredibly resilient so my take home message is:

SPRING BREAK WAS AWESOME! WE HAD FUN WHILE COMPETING HARD AND LEARNING A TON ABOUT OUR TENNIS AND OURSELVES.

I won't go into too much detail on the matches, but after a great response to rainy weather and a tough Salisbury team, we played pretty well with #15 Chapman and then went out to Redlands where we really had poor days at #2 and #3 doubles and lost a heartbreaker at #1 to go down 3-0.  Not to be dissuaded, our singles effort was incredible with Alyssa battling at #1 against a player who has been to nationals before losing a tight 10-8 match tie break. Elise stepped up again to beat a talented first year player at #2.  Emily, Kate and Lizzy all fought hard but lost in straight sets and at #6 Hannah competed incredibly well and took her match in a 10-7 match breaker.

After a wonderful dinner with the Otto family (thanks guys!), we hit the courts at Claremont for our final match on Saturday.  Honestly, I felt our effort was great in singles and doubles.  We had chances at 1 and 3 dubs and Emily and Kate at 2 played really well but were out served and returned.  What was really cool was playing a #4 doubles with Leah and Hadley dropping an 8-6 decision where both of them moved as a team and played off each others shots better than I've seen all year.  Even cooler was #5 where Olivia and Maggie lost 8-4 but I would love to have a count of how many times Olivia made huge poaches and Maggie covered great shots both at the net and baseline. 

In singles, our effort again was great, but it is tough at the end of a trip down 3-0 in the match to 'get up' for the final round of  singles.  Well, we brought great intensity, but CMS stayed composed and they have a solid lineup with one of the best players in the country at #1.  Elise and Lizzy played really competitive matches and the points up and down were very inspiring, but in the end it was CMS winning the match 9-0 but I was proud to see the team feel good about our effort on this match and through the week.

Competing with three nationally ranked teams in three days taught us a lot and as I said, back on campus, I'm looking at the sun coming out, getting fired up for today's practice and our upcoming matches and just thinking how lucky I am to do this 'job' with such an amazing group of players.

I can't end this post without thanking those of you who came out to support us in California, it was so much fun to share our tennis and off court time with you and you being there for us is huge.

Off to the courts!
John