Final NWC home matches...determining the conference standings

Hello,

This past weekend at Whitman we had it all.  From the weather to the tennis to the relationships on our team, we experienced so much joy, but also some dissapointment.  First, we were without one of our players and families as Maddy went home to California to be with family, then on Friday morning as we were hoping to play outside as we had practiced all week, a storm came in with snow that turned to rain and then hail so we played indoors vs Linfield.  This was tough for me because after 4 years in the Northwest I LOVE outdoor tennis and as clean as the ballstriking is indoors and as much as I love Bratton, it still feels a bit strange to me to play tennis inside.  The upside is that our fans have such an impact in Bratton crowded against the railings above while down below the players experience the atmosphere of college tennis but still have some distance to focus on their shots and communication.

The Linfield match was a showdown for first, but with a 3-6 loss in McMinnville early, we needed a 6-3 or better win to win the conference and host the NWC championships.  As happened in McMinnville, Linfield jumped out early, this time at all three spots.   After going up 0-40, Alyssa and Courtney could not manage a break and got down 1-0, which became 3-0.  Fortunately, they didn't get rattled and reeled off 5 games for a 5-3 advantage.  Linfield fought to stay in it and with us up 6-5, they edged out two close games and then took the match 8-6.  This proved to be huge as we got way down at 2 before losing 8-4 and three was always chasing the match by the smallest margin.  At both spots, we were playing well and especially at 3, Kate and Sara could have just as easily won 8-2 the way that they played, that is pro sets I guess, though we did learn some things about our doubles.

So, down 3-0, which is a gloomy place to be, playing to 5, the team with the crowd and parents in for family weekend fought back.  Alyssa was phenominal in making one of the best players in Linfield's history look very ordinary in a 6-1,6-1 win.  Not to be outdone with parents and 'sister' Derry cheering her on, Courtney handed Linfield's 2 player her second NWC loss (other one to Alyssa) 6-1,6-0.  Morgan and Kate both dropped the first but Lil Mo came back to take the second 6-2 while Kate down a set and 5-0, chipped away to get the second set to a tiebreak which she won.  In fact, both of Kate's first two sets were tie breaks and they took so long that Lizzy got on court at #6 and won in straight sets and Morgan finished her third set with a barrage of passes and winners from her opponent and Emily got on and off in a two set match that felt like 3 with amazing points and close games all the way but Linfield taking both #3 and #5 to seal the match at 5-3.  Kate then went into another tie break, this one for the match, and with her opponent cramping, she stepped up even more to hit big shots while being super steady to win the super t and the match, making it an agonizing 4-5 loss.  With all that, our spirits were buoyed by the fact that the NCAA birth in our conference is decided at the conference tournament and if we win out, we'll be the #2 seed and will have a chance to play the top teams in conference for the right to get the automatic qualification to regionals.

So, it was back to work on Saturday against Willamette.  This time the weather was predictable and we were outside on a beautiful spring day, but Willamette's health was not predictable as they had 6 players traveling and 2 got very sick and had to default.  My main concern then became, "how do we keep focused on this win while enjoying the day and weekend where so many families came to watch the team play".  We had a meeting and set our lineup with as many people playing in front of their families as possible (fortunately, this team is not only amazing in character, but also talent so I was confident in our ability to win).  Alyssa was gracious to sit out and support her team while Morgan and Courtney played really solid doubles and HP joined with Emily (I don't know if they've ever even played together in practice) and both teams won convincingly playing great doubles with both offense and good defensive fighting.  Meanwhile, we  set up our remaining 8 players in exhibition matches against each other (thanks to Willamette for allowing us to do this), and the senior duo of Lizzy and Charlotte got out early and edged the freshmen Sara and Erin who were on a comeback when time ran out while Kate and Maggie won a terrific match over Liv and Hadley where it seemed every point I saw had all 4 players at the net!

So, with the match decided, Courtney went to work on their #1 player and its hard to tell from the scoreline, but I really thought this match was a good one for Court because she was really in the moment playing her tennis the whole way.  At #2, Morgan carried her third set struggles from the day before into a tough 4-6 first set loss and then things clicked and she won the second 6-0 and rolled through the match tie break.  Lizzy was again quite impressive in two tough sets winning both and staying positive the whole way.  In the last match (we only played 4 singles), Erin went out and played one of the best sets I've seen from her winning 6-2 with Willamette's player playing really well and Erin holding serve efficiently and fighting intensely for both breaks she got.  Her opponent showed great resolve and the second set was a struggle as she got down a break and then two before losing 2-6.  In the match tie break, she was again down big and ended up losing, but her focus and attitude were so good it was really a breakthrough and I couldn't be more proud of her effort.  If she keeps this up, her game will continue to translate into a crazy amount of fun tennis and Whitman victories.

Following the match on Friday we enjoyed a meal with families and friends on campus and I sincerely thank all of you who were there for coming out to Walla Walla to see us and share your time and support, it is priceless.  On Saturday, our Family weekend finished up with some fun time in the warm sun playing tennis and having a parent/daughter doubles tourney which I'll report on later...

Thanks to all and I look forward to everyone playing this weekend as we have matches on the road Friday at 3:30 vs George Fox and Saturday at 10am vs Lewis and Clark as well as a scrimmage at home on Saturday at 2pm vs Spokane CC.  It means we have to split up, but also that some players get to stay home and get extra things done (school as well as Charlotte in Chorale and Liv in the Orchestra) while still getting a match in which I'm super excited about.

I'll try to get pictures posted soon from the weekend so if you were here and took any great ones you'd like to share, send them my way!

All our best,

John