Close loss at Whitworth

Sorry it took a while to get this out, but after a busy weekend it was nice to have a day off back in Walla Walla.

After a great finish to the home season vs Pacific we trekked up to Spokane for a match with conference leader Whitworth.  The final score ended the same as in Walla Walla with a 6-3 Whitworth win, but we had definite progress in several areas.  In doubles, Elise and Alyssa got down early and fought well to get back on serve before dropping a close 8-6 proset.  At 2, Em and Kate came out a bit tight going down 0-5 before making a good match out of it but losing 8-2.  Three doubles kept us in it with Hannah and Lizzy stepping up for an 8-5 win.  We also got in an exhibition proset with Hadley and Olivia playing. 

Elise started us off strong with a straight set win at #2 and Kate ran into a tough opponent at #3 losing in straight sets.  Down 3-2, Emily came on and fired up the Whitman supporters with a huge effort to win 7-6, 6-4 with the first set tiebreak being a tightly contested 8-6.  Speaking of close tiebreaks, Alyssa won the first set with an 8-6 tiebreak win for herself.  At this point Lizzy had started completely on fire up 3-0 in the first set and we were looking great.  The #1 match was terrific tennis and each point and game was long and well played and both players showed that their tennis keeps getting better and better.  I feel great about where Alyssa is at even though she lost in 3.  The same goes for Lizzy who after her hot start cooled off going down in two sets, still she is making definite improvements in her game and her hard work in practice will keep paying off. 

Speaking of improvements, I was so happy to get in exhibition singles for Maggie and Leah.  Both played tough experienced college players and improved from previous exhibitions on the scoreboard as well as with some of the things they've worked on.

The last match of the day was Hannah at 6 and it was a very good match as she lost 6-4, 7-5.  I'm really proud of the way HP stayed focused after the match was decided and its great to see her playing really solid singles to go with her intense doubles.

It's tough to lose a close match when we've worked hard to prepare, but I'm super proud of the effort and love where we're at as a team.  This is not only a super fun and hard working team, but I've found them to be incredibly resilient and always ready for the next challenge.

It's a short week as we have a doubleheader in Bellevue and Tacoma on Friday and then our final NWC match with UPS on Saturday.  If you're in the Sea/Tac area and plan on coming, let me know as we'd love to see you at the matches.

Take care all!
John