Tremendous match vs Whitworth

Good evening out there.

I'm going to write this post right away as the feelings from today's 7-2 loss to Whitworth are fresh.

First, we came out with very solid doubles, playing huge at 2 and 4, unfortunately, Dena and Charlotte's win didn't count on the scoreboard. 3 was a battle and 1 was a funny match with a ton of breaks and way too many crosscourt rallies. Alyssa and Elise worked well to earn opportunities but in the end dropped a close 8-6 decision.

Down 2-1 was daunting against a very deep Whitworth team, and Dena and Charlotte went indoors for the 7 and 8 matches which is hard for our team because we want to play and improve, but they all want to support the counting matches so much.

Outside, Elise stormed out to a 2 set win to even the match at 2-2 playing a really smart match against a very tough player. Hadley and Div were both in battles and each lost in straight sets, but they both displayed the composure and belief that truly made each match come down to a point here or there.

At 1, Alyssa's match was funny as she started strong up 2-1 and then got a bit off while her opponent played nearly flawless defensive tennis to go up a set and 5-0. At this point Show Pony rolled off 5 straight games before losing two absolute battles. She learned a lot from this one and her shots and health were a pleasure to see after missing time on spring break with illness.

Whenever Emily and Katie Staudinger get on court it is a war. I don't always like to describe matches as wars because it sounds negative, but these two just bring out the best in each other and play tennis that is exciting to watch and super intense but very positive. Last time Em came out on top and this time she had great momentum in the second set at 4-4 up 15-30 on Katie's serve when we had to move inside where Katie had a big hold and then played a good game to break for the match.

Kate also had to move in with momentum down a set but up 3-0. She pulled out the second, but came up short in a match tie break.

All credit goes to Whitworth for playing a brilliant match, but my team's performance today was superb and is such a wonderful reminder of how great college tennis is, so thanks team!

Also, I have to thank all the great fans who came out and made the trip. Thanks for the snacks Annie, the cheering from everyone, what a fun atmosphere to be a part of.

I can't wait to practice and play next weekend, but tomorrow we'll have a much deserved rest.

Best regards,
John

Back home and back in the swing of things

After a great trip on spring break it is so nice to be back at Whitman. Walla Walla welcomed us with a beautiful spring day and we played George Fox in a doubleheader. Fox was a bit shorthanded with only 5 players, but we were still able to get everyone matches in a 9-0 and an 8-1 win.

Both teams fought hard and it was fun tennis to be a part of. At this point in the season I am so lucky to coach such a great group of players and their team effort was not surprising to me, though I'm grateful for it every day. What was a pleasant surprise was the amount of fans we had today. Maybe it was the beautiful weather, maybe it was the tennis, but it being the last weekend of break and the dorms being closed it was a quiet day on campus, but it seemed that the people who were here found their way to the courts to cheer us on.

An extra big thanks to the Moore's for supporting us with cookies, cheering and dandelion jewelry.

Tomorrow at 1pm Whitworth comes to town for a big conference match that we're very excited to play so I hope just as many and more people can make it out to enjoy some exciting tennis at Whitman!

John

Road Trip Recap

Without going into too much detail since I wasn't able to give daily updates during the last part of our road trip, let me say that we had an outstanding spring break.

It was apparent in the fall and has carried through the season that this team is a very special group in their ability to simultaneously play wonderful tennis and have an incredible amount of fun.

We traveled from the central coast where we had two matches and enjoyed some wonderful hospitality at the Roberg's and great road support from Zoe and Kate's family, Elise's parents and everyone else who supported us (thanks Mike).

After driving south we had the opportunity to test ourselves against Bowdoin College, the number 16 team in the country. Thanks to Azusa Pacific for hosting us as our seniors Divneet and Hadley played a terrific match at 2 doubles to get us on the board. In singles, we showed that we can hang with top teams and Bowdoin showed why they are one of those teams, as they found ways up and down the lineup to get victories in a singles sweep.

After a day off by the coast, we took on the #17 team in the country in Redlands. The Bulldogs are very tough in doubles with the #1 and #9 teams in the region. Elise and Alyssa fought well to notch a win, Hadley and Div battled well against a great team and at 3 doubles, Kate and Emily were tantalizingly close to putting us up 2-1. Despite our efforts, we went into singles down and played really close at 1,2,3 and 6 with our competitors at 4 and 5 playing very clean matches.

These are such great matches in our development to learn from and we've got chances right away to see how we can apply those lessons with George Fox twice tomorrow and Whitworth on Sunday at home. Come on out if you're in town!

Coach

Split in Santa Cruz

We've started the match portion of Spring Break 2010 with a doubleheader at UCSC. This morning we continued our winning ways with a very solid 9-0 shutout of Whittier College. This was a good match in which I think the experience of playing in such a deep conference proved to be valuable for us. As well as getting the sweep 1-6 and 1-3 doubles, Charlotte got an exhibition win at #7 while Dena stepped up to earn her first top 6 singles point in a Whitman uniform with a smart and efficient 6-2,6-1 win.

In doubles, we had to mix it up a bit as our Show Pony Alyssa who was so excited to play in her hometown came down with a terrible respiratory infection that fortunately is clearing up but sidelined her for the day. So Div and Had stepped up to #1 and Charlotte joined Elise for a big win at #2 with Em and Kate continuing their solid partnership at #3.

Any team misses losing one of their top players, and Alyssa is currently ranked #19 in the West region and she and Elise team up as the #13 doubles team. On top of that she has a special energy and attitude that is so positive and infectious that facing a very tough UCSC team in the afternoon was a daunting task indeed.

This leads to the reason I am absolutely thrilled with our performance today. We lost 7-2 to UCSC, but we played some wonderful doubles on every court and in a situation where we were not at full strength, I didn't hear or feel any kind of pessimism or regret from our performance. It was an outstanding display of teamwork, heart and courage which is why I can say that the Slugs won this match today rather than us losing it.

On the bright side of the scoresheet, it is a treat to be stocked with such talent at the top, Elise who is no stranger to court #1 and top regional and national opponents played her best match of the season defeating a hard hitting freshman who is ranked #9 in the West in a match tiebreak. Today was also a great day for Hadley, who demonstrated the type of tennis that has earned her 3 all-conference awards in her great Whitman career.

We are off tomorrow, hitting and enjoying being together on the road and supporting our men's team as they battle top D3 teams Cal Lutheran and UCSC before driving south for Tuesday matches with Bowdoin and LaVerne followed by Redlands on Thursday.

I loved seeing so many Whitman fans and friends at an away match, I hope you all enjoyed what I thought was a great display of tennis today.

John