Whoa, there is so much to talk about this time of year so I'm sure I'll forget some things. First, I want to get some thank you's out there. We hosted two home weekends here and everyone from our families, the campus and the Walla Walla community who came to support us (and our opponents) helped create a wonderful, positive exciting atmosphere for college tennis. We want to thank you all, it means so much to have fans. Speaking of fans, I know some of you were able to watch the matches livestreamed online. This could not have happened without generous financial support, the wild genius of Men's Coach Jeff Northam and hard work from Dena Wessel, Brian Griffith, Kyle Singer, the WCTS crew of Mike and Kevin and Jordan Paden here at Whitman. We are still in the infancy/testing stages, but I have heard from some of you that you were able to watch matches which is terrific!
Going back to the exciting environment, we started our Northwest Conference title defense carrying the excitement from the Winter Classic with a down the wire 5-4 win over perennial rival Linfield. We came out strong in doubles, taking 2 or 3 plus a great win by Liv and Seana at 4; but the sweep was averted by a tough Linfield #1 team who squeaked out an 8-6 win over Courtney and Erin. When you look at the box scores, you'll see lots of lineup tinkering by me and having players with the talent, focus and love of each other to switch things up, adjust for school, illness or injury and not miss a beat is something that just reinforces to me what a special team we have this year.
Going back to that scoresheet, up 2-1, Erin rebounded from the tough doubles loss by controlling baseline rallies but also playing defense when necessary and building really solid offensive points in a quick 2 set win to put us up 3-1. On the other end of Bratton, Katrina struggled to find consistency and her opponent took advantage playing the best match I've ever seen from her to close the gap to 3-2. Playing one of the top players in conference, Courtney showed why she is the defending NWC player of the year with a convincing win that put us up 4-2 on the brink of victory. With Morgan resting a strained muscle, Jenna stepped in at #2 and had a tough time but battled like a champ, inspiring Seana and Hannah who went on next to her. Seana fought well in losing, but where before we saw glimpses of her best tennis, she is quickly maturing into a wonderful singles player to go along with her big doubles game. But the day rightly belonged to Hannah. The senior has been so good with her habits physically, mentally and in putting in extra work on her shots. She prepares as well as anyone we have and in a close match, she brings it. Her opponent was also super tough mentally but Hannah found ways to win points, sometimes long grinding ones, other times being aggressive, but always fighting with huge heart. at 3-4 with everyone watching, she secured a huge hold, then broke and held strongly to elate the team and give us a huge 5-4 win.
Today was also the day we honored Courtney as a member of the Whitman Century Club. Her accomplishments on court are many as she will finish this season as a 5 time (3 doubles 2 singles) all-American and she hit the century mark during NCAA's her sophomore year which is ridiculous. Currently, her Whitman record is at 128-40 (76%) which places her already among the best in program history. And by the way, she is still ultra hungry to keep improving...watch out.
 |
| 100 wins for Whitman ...and counting! |
 |
| We surprised Courtney with the Banner presentation! |
Oh, there is so much more, as Willamette came to town Saturday. Again, mixing things up, a big highlight was Katrina and Erin winning at #1 doubles as we rested the twins. They defeated one of the top teams in conference who had the day before won at Whitworth who have a great #1 doubles team. Allie, who has been patiently working back from a wrist injury, finally got on court and won freshman doubles with Seana 8-0 and also scored a double bagel in singles at #5. Liv was also dominant at #6, winning 6-0,6-1 but more than the scoreline, she was moving super well around the court and played smart the whole time. Katrina, Hannah and Courtney also contributed big wins in our 8-1 victory to go 2-0 in Conference play.
Wanting to squeeze every bit of fun from the weekend we drove up to Cheney and Chelsea enjoyed a homecoming to her alma mater (class of 2013) at Eastern WA. Last time we came, C Patt won both her matches en route to a 7-0 EWU win. This time, the young Eagles team came out fast in doubles, getting the point even with some solid play from us. Then, in singles, Courtney and Morgan ran into hot players playing their best while Jenna and Erin battled hard in straight set losses. So, with the match decided, our team proved that we fight for every ball and do it together all the way. With Hannah dominating at #6 and Katrina stepping up in a back and forth battle to win the match tie break, we closed the gap to 5-2 (doubles is one point in D1 tennis) and came away not only with a fun level of tennis and some great experience, but a tangible benchmark of our teams improvement.
This week will be fun to get some practices in, rededicate ourselves to fitness and prepare for a road trip to Portland to play George Fox and Lewis and Clark.
George Fox is Saturday at 11am at GFU unless it rains and then we have courts at Tualatin Hills Parks and Rec Tennis Center in Beaverton at 12pm (est. 12:30 start).
Lewis and Clark is a 10am Sunday start and is a rematch of last years NWC tournament final. The Pios have had trouble in the young season but are still a well coached program with a lot of talent, so we'll be ready for both teams to bring their best!
If you're in the Portland area, we'd love to see you at the matches!
Sincerely,
Coach John
