Whitman pair moves into National Semifinals

Hello all,

Today at the USTA/ITA small college national championships in Mobile, Alabama; Courtney and Alyssa entered the quarterfinals as the #2 seed and came through with a strong performance and a great win to move on the the semis!

A good account of the match is provided on the Whitman webpage, but really I can't say enough how solid this duo is getting.  They continue to use their natural chemistry and individual skills well, but today as we did yesterday there were just no holes in their game.  They each started points well serving and returning - and this was no small task as Mikayla Becich of Carleton has a cannon for a serve both she and partner Bridget Doyle have great returns.  Once points were started, the ability to defend from anywhere on the court while taking the initiative at the net was outstanding.  From day one of college tennis, Courtney has been one of the best players I've seen in D3 tennis at transitioning on the court and using variety at the net, but she has shown improved power and today displayed it with several strong finishes.  Alyssa, never lacking in the power department, is routinely picking up half volleys off her shoes and making great first volleys to set up the final shots.  This consistent ability of both players to play any role on the court made them formidable today and gives us great confidence heading into what will undoubtedly be a tough battle with a Washington and Lee team in tomorrows 1pm (CST) semifinal matchup.

If we win, we play the final alongside our men's team at 5pm, if not, then we'll play for third at 4pm.  So get ready for a busy day of tennis and check our twitter @coachhein for updates during the matches!

Thanks for those of you who have kept in touch via email/text/facebook etc. and also to our men's team and families for helping us warmup, tweet, cheering us on! Thanks Boys!

-John

Moving on in Mobile

Today was play in day for the Northwest  and Southwest regional winners.  Not showing any nerves, Courtney came out solid going up 3-0, then 4-1 in her singles match against a senior transfer from University of Mary Hardin Baylor.  Courtney was using the court really well and countering her opponents big hard groundstrokes with a beautiful all court game.  After several really long well played deuce games, it was tied at 4-4 and her opponent stepped up to pull out the first.  Always very responsive to adversity, Courtney gave it her all in the second jumping out 3-0 again.  Then, with a fall where she was unable to perform her normal practice and fitness routines, the grinding of the long points took its toll and a very good opponent seized the opportunity.  This would have been a very easy match to go away in as she was not feeling well and her opponent was heating up, but every point she fought hard and played so well.  This was two great players going at it and aside from the score going the wrong way, I feel so good about Courtney's play, her tennis and her place as one of the top singles players in our region and all of D3.

Undaunted by a short turnaround between singles and doubles and buoyed by the energy of Alyssa, Courtney came back to play brilliant doubles.  She was so solid on serve and was a force at the net.  Wait, so was Alyssa as she served great and finished strong.  It was truly a team effort in beating a really good team from Trinity.  One of the best things about this match was the subtle adjustments that they made as a team.  They've had terrific chemistry from day one as a doubles team and now they are really putting things together and maintaining terrific energy and confidence while executing quality doubles.

As soon as we finished, we had time to find a puppy to play with while we watched James and Andrew win their play in match on the men's side (also vs Trinity).  I guess we were too much in sync with the guys as Colton lost his singles play in in what looked like a really close and well played match.

We play tomorrow at 3pm Central (1pm PST) vs Doyle and Bechich from Carleton College.

Preview of Fall Nationals

Well tennis fans, tomorrow will be an exciting and interesting day.  Whitman is no stranger to the play in match at the small college nationals in Mobile, AL.

Now 4 of the past 5 seasons, we've had either the singles or doubles winner from our ITA regional competing here and Alyssa and Courtney had a solid tournament last year so feel really comfortable and excited.  Plus, with our October 4- day break, we were able to fly yesterday with our men's team (James and Andrew play doubles and Colton plays singles) without missing extra classes.  In fact, it has been great to see our players balance the preparation for the national tournament, the fun of being together in the South while getting schoolwork done for the days we'll miss the rest of the week.

I'll do my best to tweet results @coachhein as we start this special tournament. Courtney plays singles at 10 am Central and then doubles will follow.  GO WHITMAN!

-John

Double WoW! Maddy and Jenna come through at Fall Tournament

Because the Fall USTA/ITA Regional championships are such an incredible event that the team puts a lot of effort into preparing for and competing in, we'll use the tournament to link up our final two weeks of team play for the fall.

We love our families and the atmosphere of tennis by Ankeny field

Please check out the pdf of Jenna and Maddy who were co-Whitties of the week.  The whole team really came through to prepare well, compete hard and have lots of fun supporting each other on our home courts. Jenna and Maddy did stand out according to their teammates and so they received our Whittie of the Week at a team dinner last Friday.

Post doubles final handshake

I must also mention that the team openly acknowledged the outstanding performances of both Morgan and Courtney.  First, in getting to the point of playing each other in singles AND doubles! and then in having good matches where they both left it all on the court.  Congrats to the Lawless twins.

Emily and John assessing the matches

Maddy comes through with some encouragement from Jenna

And last but absolutely far from least, I must say that I did not allow the team to vote for Emily, though her coaching debut could not have gone better.  She was a calming and focusing influence to so many players, all while running the Bratton tournament desk.  Awesome job Em.

Thanks to Greg Lehman and Sandy Seaman for photos, I have a ton of awesome ones to post and on my to do list is get them up on flickr soon!

Cheers,
John