Thursday, March 31, 2011
Huge Congrats to Elise, NWC Player of the Week!
While the team trip to California was awesome, it was so wonderful to have Elise step up for some big singles and doubles wins and to get recognized for it by the Northwest Conference. You can read about her award and the upcoming weekend with her last career home match this Saturday on the official team site here.
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Final Spring Break Wrap Up
Big apologies for the delay, but the trip has me so excited about the team that we jumped straight back into our work and I neglected to update the blog.
Many have asked me upon returning to Walla Walla, "How was Spring Break?" and I haven't had one answer. It was one of the most fun trips I've had and personally I enjoyed so much spending time with the team and also some of our great families and friends who came to watch (and sometimes just hang out when it was raining). On court, I was really very proud of the team, but I also felt we could have done better at certain things in each match. It's hard to ask more of these student athletes who already work so hard, but in the end I came to realize that we have such a special team which has been incredibly resilient so my take home message is:
SPRING BREAK WAS AWESOME! WE HAD FUN WHILE COMPETING HARD AND LEARNING A TON ABOUT OUR TENNIS AND OURSELVES.
I won't go into too much detail on the matches, but after a great response to rainy weather and a tough Salisbury team, we played pretty well with #15 Chapman and then went out to Redlands where we really had poor days at #2 and #3 doubles and lost a heartbreaker at #1 to go down 3-0. Not to be dissuaded, our singles effort was incredible with Alyssa battling at #1 against a player who has been to nationals before losing a tight 10-8 match tie break. Elise stepped up again to beat a talented first year player at #2. Emily, Kate and Lizzy all fought hard but lost in straight sets and at #6 Hannah competed incredibly well and took her match in a 10-7 match breaker.
After a wonderful dinner with the Otto family (thanks guys!), we hit the courts at Claremont for our final match on Saturday. Honestly, I felt our effort was great in singles and doubles. We had chances at 1 and 3 dubs and Emily and Kate at 2 played really well but were out served and returned. What was really cool was playing a #4 doubles with Leah and Hadley dropping an 8-6 decision where both of them moved as a team and played off each others shots better than I've seen all year. Even cooler was #5 where Olivia and Maggie lost 8-4 but I would love to have a count of how many times Olivia made huge poaches and Maggie covered great shots both at the net and baseline.
In singles, our effort again was great, but it is tough at the end of a trip down 3-0 in the match to 'get up' for the final round of singles. Well, we brought great intensity, but CMS stayed composed and they have a solid lineup with one of the best players in the country at #1. Elise and Lizzy played really competitive matches and the points up and down were very inspiring, but in the end it was CMS winning the match 9-0 but I was proud to see the team feel good about our effort on this match and through the week.
Competing with three nationally ranked teams in three days taught us a lot and as I said, back on campus, I'm looking at the sun coming out, getting fired up for today's practice and our upcoming matches and just thinking how lucky I am to do this 'job' with such an amazing group of players.
I can't end this post without thanking those of you who came out to support us in California, it was so much fun to share our tennis and off court time with you and you being there for us is huge.
Off to the courts!
John
Many have asked me upon returning to Walla Walla, "How was Spring Break?" and I haven't had one answer. It was one of the most fun trips I've had and personally I enjoyed so much spending time with the team and also some of our great families and friends who came to watch (and sometimes just hang out when it was raining). On court, I was really very proud of the team, but I also felt we could have done better at certain things in each match. It's hard to ask more of these student athletes who already work so hard, but in the end I came to realize that we have such a special team which has been incredibly resilient so my take home message is:
SPRING BREAK WAS AWESOME! WE HAD FUN WHILE COMPETING HARD AND LEARNING A TON ABOUT OUR TENNIS AND OURSELVES.
I won't go into too much detail on the matches, but after a great response to rainy weather and a tough Salisbury team, we played pretty well with #15 Chapman and then went out to Redlands where we really had poor days at #2 and #3 doubles and lost a heartbreaker at #1 to go down 3-0. Not to be dissuaded, our singles effort was incredible with Alyssa battling at #1 against a player who has been to nationals before losing a tight 10-8 match tie break. Elise stepped up again to beat a talented first year player at #2. Emily, Kate and Lizzy all fought hard but lost in straight sets and at #6 Hannah competed incredibly well and took her match in a 10-7 match breaker.
In singles, our effort again was great, but it is tough at the end of a trip down 3-0 in the match to 'get up' for the final round of singles. Well, we brought great intensity, but CMS stayed composed and they have a solid lineup with one of the best players in the country at #1. Elise and Lizzy played really competitive matches and the points up and down were very inspiring, but in the end it was CMS winning the match 9-0 but I was proud to see the team feel good about our effort on this match and through the week.
Competing with three nationally ranked teams in three days taught us a lot and as I said, back on campus, I'm looking at the sun coming out, getting fired up for today's practice and our upcoming matches and just thinking how lucky I am to do this 'job' with such an amazing group of players.
I can't end this post without thanking those of you who came out to support us in California, it was so much fun to share our tennis and off court time with you and you being there for us is huge.
Off to the courts!
John
Friday, March 25, 2011
Spring Break continues with 7-2 loss to #15 Chapman
Today we were in Orange, CA to play the Panthers from Chapman. As usual, you can check out the results as written up by our SID Dave Holden at http://www.whitman.edu/content/womens-tennis
The match really started with a strange turn as what seemed like a sore wrist for Kate looked to possibly be more serious than we thought yesterday so to play it safe she sat the match out, hopefully, she's in there tomorrow, but not only was it a terrific opportunity to take on the #2 team in the West but this was prime time experience for Leah in doubles and Maggie in singles.
We were able to get 4 doubles in with Elise and Alyssa scoring a really good win at #1 8-5. More than just the win, their ability to adjust to teams styles and stay with their gameplan is getting more consistent so I was really proud of them, and the fact that they got the result against a great team made it even better. Leah joined Emily at #2 and they had nice chemistry together but were a bit overwhelmed as we were at #3 with Hannah and Lizzy and #4 with Maggie and Hadley. Still, while we have a lot of room to grow in doubles, I really like what I'm seeing from everyone and am excited to get back out on the courts tomorrow.
Down 2-1 going into singles, Alyssa fought well in the first set at 1 but then against a very experienced senior who has done quite well nationally the second set went by quickly and we were down 3-1. At #3, Emily's score was one of those that is very misleading because she lost 6-0,6-2, but almost every game went to deuce, which I think shows how in it she was, but also shows that her opponent really deserved the win because she came up with big points time and time again. Lizzy at #4 and Hannah at #5 both dropped their matches in straight sets where, again, many points and games looked great, but the consistency of that level just wasn't what their opponents brought. For Maggie at #6, it was similar, but I really saw a breakthrough in that some of the things that Maggie has been working on were so good in this match, but against a really good shotmaker with excellent spins and placement she'll learn both what she's done well and can continue to improve.
The singles match of the day again involved Elise (#25 in the West singles) vs Kelly Fox (#11 in the West) and Elise carried her doubles into singles with a strong first set 6-0 where she forced her fellow senior into many errors and came up with some beautiful attacking plays and strong defense. I don't think Twitch dropped off much in the second, but Kelly definitely stepped up and the score took a complete turn 6-0 the other way. Elise wasn't worried as she knew she played well and she dug in with several strong holds of serve and a couple big breaks, one that was especially hard fought to get up 4-3. After a Chapman hold Elise broke again to serve for the match and played a beautiful game full of big first serves to win the third 6-4 and score us our second point.
Hadley and Leah played exhibition sets and Had came out knowing exactly what to work on and Leah really demonstrated a much more complete baseline game so even though they both lost, this will be great experience as we move forward.
Spring Break continues tomorrow at Redlands against the #28 national and #6 west Bulldogs at 2pm.
The match really started with a strange turn as what seemed like a sore wrist for Kate looked to possibly be more serious than we thought yesterday so to play it safe she sat the match out, hopefully, she's in there tomorrow, but not only was it a terrific opportunity to take on the #2 team in the West but this was prime time experience for Leah in doubles and Maggie in singles.
We were able to get 4 doubles in with Elise and Alyssa scoring a really good win at #1 8-5. More than just the win, their ability to adjust to teams styles and stay with their gameplan is getting more consistent so I was really proud of them, and the fact that they got the result against a great team made it even better. Leah joined Emily at #2 and they had nice chemistry together but were a bit overwhelmed as we were at #3 with Hannah and Lizzy and #4 with Maggie and Hadley. Still, while we have a lot of room to grow in doubles, I really like what I'm seeing from everyone and am excited to get back out on the courts tomorrow.
Down 2-1 going into singles, Alyssa fought well in the first set at 1 but then against a very experienced senior who has done quite well nationally the second set went by quickly and we were down 3-1. At #3, Emily's score was one of those that is very misleading because she lost 6-0,6-2, but almost every game went to deuce, which I think shows how in it she was, but also shows that her opponent really deserved the win because she came up with big points time and time again. Lizzy at #4 and Hannah at #5 both dropped their matches in straight sets where, again, many points and games looked great, but the consistency of that level just wasn't what their opponents brought. For Maggie at #6, it was similar, but I really saw a breakthrough in that some of the things that Maggie has been working on were so good in this match, but against a really good shotmaker with excellent spins and placement she'll learn both what she's done well and can continue to improve.
The singles match of the day again involved Elise (#25 in the West singles) vs Kelly Fox (#11 in the West) and Elise carried her doubles into singles with a strong first set 6-0 where she forced her fellow senior into many errors and came up with some beautiful attacking plays and strong defense. I don't think Twitch dropped off much in the second, but Kelly definitely stepped up and the score took a complete turn 6-0 the other way. Elise wasn't worried as she knew she played well and she dug in with several strong holds of serve and a couple big breaks, one that was especially hard fought to get up 4-3. After a Chapman hold Elise broke again to serve for the match and played a beautiful game full of big first serves to win the third 6-4 and score us our second point.
Hadley and Leah played exhibition sets and Had came out knowing exactly what to work on and Leah really demonstrated a much more complete baseline game so even though they both lost, this will be great experience as we move forward.
Spring Break continues tomorrow at Redlands against the #28 national and #6 west Bulldogs at 2pm.
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Getting things going in SoCal vs Salisbury
Hello all, you can read about the match at http://www.whitman.edu/content/womens-tennis, but a big part of this trip so far has been just getting on court. We travel on spring break for many reasons; fun, bonding, go somewhere sunny and warm while Walla Walla transitions into Spring, and mostly for great non conference matches. Lots of teams come to California so the tennis is great, but with some crazy weather we've had trouble getting court time. Our first day's practice was cancelled because of rain, and then our 10am Salisbury match was moved to 6pm (but we did get a warm up in the morning), so when we finally hit the first ball, everyone was really ready to play.
This was important as we came out solid in doubles with Emily and Kate bolting to a 6-1 lead at 2 and Lizzy and Hannah at 3 going back and forth but staying up a game to 8-7 before going into a tie break at 8-8. Salisbury started to bring their level up, but this whole match was streaky for us and the breaker was not the kind of streak we hoped for and it went quickly to the SeaGulls 7-1. Meanwhile at 1, we started playing well but down a break 1-3 when composure, strategy and great shotmaking all came together for ShoPo and Twitch in winning 7 straight games to put us up 2-1 after doubles with an 8-3 win over a solid team.
Again, in singles, composure was key as Hannah, Lizzy, Elise and Alyssa all got out to first set wins while Emily dropped a close set 6-4 and Kate got down early and battled but lost her first set. Alyssa and Lizzy built on their first sets and both played really well with great focus to win in straight sets and put the team score to 4-1 for Whitman. Kate was having long points and games, but couldn't solve the only senior on the SU lineup and lost in straight sets to make it 4-2. Kate's game has grown so much but this match was a great lesson on doing the little things consistently well and I know she'll learn a lot from it.
Now, the real intensity of the match was taking place because even with a 4-1 lead, up a set in 2 matches and with Emily getting on top in her second set 6-2 to go to a third set, the Salisbury men were playing next to us against NWC Willamette and SU won all 3 dubs but Willamette stormed back in singles to tie it at 4-4 with the deciding match in a third set (credit to Willamette's guys and coach Toby Krauel, but they did end up losing in a third set 7-6(5)). So, we felt the urgency to close it out.
Elise after playing beautifully in the first and taking advantage of many forced and some unforced errors was down a break 3-5 in the second when she reasserted herself, dug in to break twice and hold to serve 6-5. It was a really intense match with great sportsmanship from both players as SU broke to get it to a second set tiebreak. Meanwhile, Emily is up early in the third and on the end court Hannah has been absolutely fighting a mental battle against a very fired up SU player who was playing with a crazy amount of emotion on every point. After having chances to get us the doubles sweep and then I think having a match point or two at 6-5, this one also went to a breaker at the same time as Elise. Our SquirrelMissionaryOnion team spread out to support these two and Hannah being a bit flustered went down 0-3. To her absolute credit and for me, what made her the Whittie of the match (among many tremendous performances) was that she got back to playing her tennis and was the more composed player from here on out and it paid off in a 7-4 tiebreak win to take the second set, the match and seal the team match for Whitman. Go HP!
Almost at the same time, Elise won a 9-7 tiebreak that I didn't get to watch being down on HP's court and minutes later, Em rolled to a 6-0 third set to seal the 7-2 win. SU only had 7 players traveling from Maryland so Leah was able to play an exhibition set and the support she, Olivia, Maggie and Hadley gave throughout the match was key to our success.
We're off for two days now, its a bit chilly here but the sun is out today and this team just has so much fun that we're really excited to spend more time together and to get some practice in. We'll hit the match courts again at 2pm Thursday at Chapman in Orange, CA then it's 2pm Friday at Redlands and 11am Saturday at CMS.
It was wonderful to see Johanna Palkowitz and the Webster's, thanks for braving the rain to come out and see us and also thanks to Pomona Pitzer and Claremont Mudd Scripps for graciously letting us use their courts.
Coach
This was important as we came out solid in doubles with Emily and Kate bolting to a 6-1 lead at 2 and Lizzy and Hannah at 3 going back and forth but staying up a game to 8-7 before going into a tie break at 8-8. Salisbury started to bring their level up, but this whole match was streaky for us and the breaker was not the kind of streak we hoped for and it went quickly to the SeaGulls 7-1. Meanwhile at 1, we started playing well but down a break 1-3 when composure, strategy and great shotmaking all came together for ShoPo and Twitch in winning 7 straight games to put us up 2-1 after doubles with an 8-3 win over a solid team.
Again, in singles, composure was key as Hannah, Lizzy, Elise and Alyssa all got out to first set wins while Emily dropped a close set 6-4 and Kate got down early and battled but lost her first set. Alyssa and Lizzy built on their first sets and both played really well with great focus to win in straight sets and put the team score to 4-1 for Whitman. Kate was having long points and games, but couldn't solve the only senior on the SU lineup and lost in straight sets to make it 4-2. Kate's game has grown so much but this match was a great lesson on doing the little things consistently well and I know she'll learn a lot from it.
Now, the real intensity of the match was taking place because even with a 4-1 lead, up a set in 2 matches and with Emily getting on top in her second set 6-2 to go to a third set, the Salisbury men were playing next to us against NWC Willamette and SU won all 3 dubs but Willamette stormed back in singles to tie it at 4-4 with the deciding match in a third set (credit to Willamette's guys and coach Toby Krauel, but they did end up losing in a third set 7-6(5)). So, we felt the urgency to close it out.
Elise after playing beautifully in the first and taking advantage of many forced and some unforced errors was down a break 3-5 in the second when she reasserted herself, dug in to break twice and hold to serve 6-5. It was a really intense match with great sportsmanship from both players as SU broke to get it to a second set tiebreak. Meanwhile, Emily is up early in the third and on the end court Hannah has been absolutely fighting a mental battle against a very fired up SU player who was playing with a crazy amount of emotion on every point. After having chances to get us the doubles sweep and then I think having a match point or two at 6-5, this one also went to a breaker at the same time as Elise. Our SquirrelMissionaryOnion team spread out to support these two and Hannah being a bit flustered went down 0-3. To her absolute credit and for me, what made her the Whittie of the match (among many tremendous performances) was that she got back to playing her tennis and was the more composed player from here on out and it paid off in a 7-4 tiebreak win to take the second set, the match and seal the team match for Whitman. Go HP!
Almost at the same time, Elise won a 9-7 tiebreak that I didn't get to watch being down on HP's court and minutes later, Em rolled to a 6-0 third set to seal the 7-2 win. SU only had 7 players traveling from Maryland so Leah was able to play an exhibition set and the support she, Olivia, Maggie and Hadley gave throughout the match was key to our success.
We're off for two days now, its a bit chilly here but the sun is out today and this team just has so much fun that we're really excited to spend more time together and to get some practice in. We'll hit the match courts again at 2pm Thursday at Chapman in Orange, CA then it's 2pm Friday at Redlands and 11am Saturday at CMS.
It was wonderful to see Johanna Palkowitz and the Webster's, thanks for braving the rain to come out and see us and also thanks to Pomona Pitzer and Claremont Mudd Scripps for graciously letting us use their courts.
Coach
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