A week off...and a Texas sized preview

Hi everyone,

I'm sorry I didn't get around to posting anything after the Lewis and Clark and George Fox matches.  These came at the end of our academic week leading into Spring Break at Whitman.  This is typically a very tough time as students are hammered with papers and exams before break.  That is on top of the fact that we've played about half our conference season and have trained hard and played matches through a time when the whole campus seemed to be sick at some point.

While wary of this weekend, the character and mental strength of our team shined through as brightly as the warm sun that had us playing outside while Ankeny field was full of relieved students finishing up for break.  At this point, the team overall is healthy and getting physically stronger as evidenced in some outstanding practices through the week, so there was no need to rest anyone, but with our tremendous depth and Lizzy away taking some exams for her Teach for America job next year it was an a great weekend to get more players in the lineup and on the court.

You can read about who played and the scores on the Whitman Website, but I will say that we came out really well against LC, playing really good doubles and fighting super hard whenever they tried to make a run or things got tough.  It certainly did at 3 dubs, but Sara and Kate dug deep and the team cheered them on to comeback from 4-7 and win it in a tiebreak.  In singles, to speed things up, we played outdoors and inside so Seth was coaching outside as Courtney, Alyssa and Morgan held down the top three spots while Maddy made a successful #4 debut.  At #5 inside I saw HP play brilliant tennis to stay in control from the second game on.  Erin jumped in at #6 and she definitely struggled a bit, but showed how big her heart is and what a player she is when she turned it around in the second set and then won a close match tie break 11-9, she always seems to find a way, which I truly admire in her even more than her big serve and great groundstrokes.  Olivia, like HP was super efficient and the way she manged both her own emotions and shots earned her the Whittie of the Match.  Maggie got another close match in, losing in a match tie break, but showing that when she stays with her game, the result is great tennis.  Thanks to the Whitties, profs, families and community members who came out on a gorgeous friday to watch and support us.

Saturday was tough not to suffer a let down as campus quieted down for break and George Fox came to play.  At every doubles spot it was a battle, but we took all 4 with 1,3 and 4 winning 8-6 while HP and Maddy took control at 2.  I like how they played so well together after just a couple of practices.  It has been a huge challenge to find the right doubles teams and the team all wants to know who is playing, but with so much depth especially in doubles I know that we are much stronger as a whole by having so many people get chances to play in the lineup and with different partners.  In singles vs Fox, it was just as much of a grind as doubles.  Staying focused was tough and to their credit they put a ton of balls in play and made us earn just about every game.  This isn't always as fun as blasting winners or hitting hard and forcing errors early, but up and down the lineup we did what it took to succeed.  Some highlights were Sara at 5 and Hadley at 6 coming back from competitive first sets to fight out close second set wins and each carry that momentum into match tie break victories.  Unfortunately, at #4 (which may be Fox's toughest spot right now), Erin ran into a seasoned player who made her work for every single point and again I am super proud of Erin's fight, she has a terrific game and her effort is unbelievable.  While she was dissapointed to not force a third set, sometimes these matches don't go your way and I know she'll learn from this match.  On a day when many struggled and overall we did an outstanding job focusing through it, Kate earned the Whittie of the Match for staying super focused and always positive in both singles and doubles; it showed in the results as she and Sara beat a solid doubles team 8-6 and she won at #3 singles in straight sets over a very talented player, great job KKP!

Now, with our two week Spring Break, everyone has a week off to rest and get ready for a huge trip to Texas.  I'll try to keep you up to date via the blog, facebook etc, but the weather could force us to delay matches or alter times a bit as they are getting some much needed rain after a drought year last year.

Our schedule right now is:
Tuesday:
9am at Temple JC (Temple TX),
3pm at U Mary Hardin Baylor (top 15 NCAA West Region)

Thursday:
time TBA, probably 9am - Hardin Simmons University (at UT Dallas)
after HSU, UT Dallas

Friday
4pm at UT Tyler (#7 in the West)

Saturday
10am vs Trinity University at UT Tyler (currently #25 nationally, but should move up in this weeks ITA rankings)

Best,
John