This past weekend we played our first match of the 2016 season at Eastern Washington University in Cheney.  Our first two weeks of practice have been outstanding, but as great as our practice mentality is, there is no substitute for dual match play.  The Eagles were very sharp in their 6th match of the season and in the shorter D1 format (no ad scoring, doubles to 6 games), they came out strong sweeping the 3 doubles and taking the 4th in an exhibition.  I like what we can do in doubles as the skills and competitive fire were there, just a few too many mistakes in our first set of the season.

The team supporting Lori and Lil J in their #4 doubles match

Singles was a totally different story up and down.  At #1, playing the same player she lost to 6-0,6-0 last year Jenna played an incredibly composed and competitive match losing 4-6,3-6.  Next to her, the improvement in our team was also tangible as Mary played a 5th year senior who played #1 the last time we saw her and beat Courtney 6-2,6-1.  Mary's first set was rough but she got it going in the second set finally going down 6-0,6-4, but not before showcasing her baseline skills and determination. 

#3 was the match of the day with Cello having a slow start, then coming back to make the first set close before stepping it up a notch in the second set.  This was where you could feel the first year's on the court start to feed off each other and really fight together and the spark today came from Cello's heart during the match, but also her commitment to having great habits in practice that are paying off.  With the overall match decided, the third set was a match tie break and getting down big, Cello again fought back to make it close before the final score of 7-6,2-6,10-8.

#4 and #5 were really good matches that despite both being straight set losses, show the mental toughness, fight and ability to grow on our team.  Jana at 4 was rock solid from the start, using her weapons and blending offense and defense brilliantly.  So steady and so tough, even when her opponent found another gear, JKM was in every game fighting for every ball.  She came this fall with some of the best variety on the team and seeing her integrate even more options into match play has us thrilled to see what is next from her.  In the same way, Lindsey has been working to expand her game and it showed more on court than on the scoreboard in a 6-2,6-2 match.  It is incredible to see the physical maturity of her game as her work in the weightroom showed in having some incredible extended rallies with a counterpuncher who likes the points to go as long as possible.

Allie played #6 Saturday and coming off limited practice I knew she was striking the ball well, but wasn't sure what to expect as she competed.  Well, she picked up where she left off in 2015, managing herself and using her offense and defense intelligently.  She also served great against a big hitter and lost a tough 7-5,6-4 match that could have gone either way.  We got a couple exhibitions with Hanna playing a proset that Eastern won 8-3, though after a slow start, Hanna got comfortable continues to grow with each singles opportunity.  Lori got a one set match and it is awesome to see her transition to college life in the states.  She is more comfortable and has worked really hard in the gym so her power and shotmaking was incredible in a 6-3 loss.

Overall, this match was an opportunity to beat a D1 team and we could feel the intensity of that, but mostly it was an incredible testament to the leadership of Jenna, Allie and Tree for bringing the underclassmen along and showcasing their skills and support.

For her leadership in everything we do, Jenna was voted Whittie of the Week this week by the team and for her courage and great play on court, Cello was named by the coaches as the Whittie of the match.  Thanks to Maddy and Tom for awesome work prepping the team and on court.  We can't wait to get back to work at practice and look forward to a nice home stretch.

Our next matches are this Sunday at 9am vs Lewis Clark State College (ID) and then at 5pm vs University of Idaho.  We'll get the livestreams in Bratton up and running and will make a better effort to tweet out scores (I thought they were going out, but in the end my phone must have swallowed them all - sorry).

If you haven't seen this teams energy, togetherness and tennis, you're in for a treat!

Bye until Sunday,
John