Nathan Brendle v. Mazin Hakim

By Matt Miller
Bethany Christian Tennis

ELKHART — A couple Wednesdays ago, our Bruin season quietly concluded on a dark, damp evening. We were nice and warm inside, and the court was certainly not quiet. But it's taken me two weeks to write about anything because, well, disappointment takes some time to work its way through me.

Nathan Brendle was the last Bruin alive this season, as he had eased through his Sectional match and advanced to the Individual Sectional. Because of the way that other results in the Sectional fell, Nathan only had one match to play to become the Individual Sectional champion. That match was against Elkhart Memorial's Mazin Hakim.

Throughout the season, Nathan and Hakim had similar scores against their common opponents. Hakim had gotten on a roll during the tournament season, helping lead the Memorial Chargers to their first Team Sectional championship before they bowed out to the Fairfield Falcons. Nathan was also on a roll, having won 21 (!) straight matches.

As the rain sprinkled the Concord courts, we agreed to move the match indoors. And the match got off to a brilliant start for Nathan. He broke Mazin's serve in the first game and then held his own to get a 2-0 lead. He continued to build and took a stellar first set, 6-1. In that set, Nathan made only 4 errors total, while Hakim made many more. It was Hakim who seemed to be showing his nerves, and Nathan was playing calmly and in control.

The second set started out with the same. Nathan built a 4-1 lead, without ever getting his serve broken. The lead was somewhat deceiving in the second set, as it was only 1 break of serve separating the two players. However, at 4-1 Nathan had several chances to break again and pull ahead 5-1. Unfortunately, he couldn't connect with any of these chances, and the long hold proved to be a turning point for Hakim.

Changing strategies, Hakim began to go for less and rally more. Consequently, Nathan found it hard to win points. He was tempted to go for more than he could hit, and as the match tightened up, so did Nate's nerves. He still played solid tennis, and the match was outstanding from that point on... but Nathan couldn't dominate like he had in the early part of the match.

The match went back and forth from this point on, but after losing a close second set, Nathan could never pull back into the lead as he had trouble breaking Hakim. Though Nathan managed to tie the third set at 5-5 by finally breaking Hakim, Hakim played a huge game at 5-5 to break Nathan. The season ended in the next game, as Nathan's forehand return sailed wide, and Hakim advanced in a thrilling third set victory.

There was much to be proud of in this match and in the season, but it is always difficult to watch a season end. I really get tired of how much it hurts, how many questions it leaves, etc.

But one thing is never questioned, as the Bruin guys rolled out onto the court to talk to Nathan after the loss... we know how much these guys care for each other, how much they wanted this for Nate, how invested they have been in the season.

Great season for Nathan, as he ends at 21-2 individually. Great season for the Bruins, as we "over-achieved" at 13-7 as a team. Great season for all! 

The End Is Not The End

By Matt Miller
Bethany Christian Tennis

I absolutely detest writing these final match reports. In fact, if you look back through the seasons, you'll see that there are many years where I don't even bother reporting on the final match. We invest so much of ourselves trying to get to a place of success, and whenever we fall short, whether its at Sectional, Regional, or even the State finals, there is the pain of knowing that this team, as it is formed right now, will no longer be together.

So, here's the final match report, although it pains me to write it...

We came into the match against Jimtown knowing that we were the underdogs. To win would be an upset. They were 12-4 on the season. We were 13-6. They were conference champions. They had beaten us earlier in the season. They had 7 seniors comprising their varsity. We were going to have to battle.

But in this role, we were confident. We knew that we had a chance. There were several positions from our 3-2 loss that were close losses, and we had hope that we could turn them around.

To be honest, the match didn't get off to a good start for us. All of the positions, including Nathan Brendle who had only lost one match all year, were trailing at the beginning. All except for Ike Lehman, who took a lead at #3 singles. And the match was really tight. Calls were close and tempers were high.

One thing I have to praise today was the mental strength of our team. Despite the early deficits, despite the close line calls, despite having to call a line judge and having one called against us, we never really looked rattled. Nervous, yes. Rattled or mental intimidated, never.

First to rally through his match was Nathan at #1 singles. Down 4-3, he relaxed, stayed more patient and made fewer errors. He had been concerned about the team as a whole (as a good leader is) and had not been completely tuned into his match. He had looked a little tight (as happens at Sectional) and had been pushing a bit through his forehands. But when he got that focus and stroke going, he dominated his match. He was able to win 9 of the last 10 games for his win at #1 singles, guaranteeing that no matter what happened to us as a team, his season would not be over.

After a tight first set, #2 doubles got it turned around to start the second set. Quickly getting a 3-0 lead behind aggressive net play from Joel and excellent forehands from Hans, their bread and butter all season, they extended the lead to 4-1 and had several chances to get it to 5-1 or 5-2. Unfortunately, it what became a little bit of a Bruin pattern for the night, they couldn't convert the chances to extend the lead. Jimtown's confidence turned around and they picked up their play, combined with some help from the net cord, and on Hans' serve we faced match points. First, we had two chances to close to 5-5, but didn't get those to go our way. Then Joel hit a spectacular volley to deny Jimtown's first match point. But we couldn't deny the second, and the Jimmies had a point on us. Hans and Joel fought very hard in the second set, but much like our first match of the season against Northridge, we couldn't seem to convert the big points.

At #1 doubles, Himal and Parth knew they'd be fighting an uphill battle most of the night. They were facing the NSC Conference Champions in seniors Brett Aller and Cole Peterson. They were facing players who had both seen time at #1 singles in their careers. And Parth and Himal responded by playing their best tennis of the season. I've never seen Parth and Himal's returns be as crisp as they were tonight, or seen them play as much of an attacking net game. They kept the first set close, trailing only 2-3 after the first set of games. But, again following the patterns of the year, they couldn't keep up the play and lost the first set. Then they kept the second set close, until the end where the Jimmies pulled away. I was very proud of their play today, their hope and faith, but the loss put us down 2-1.

Abe Thorne had switched to #2 singles five matches from the end of this season. The switch had seemed to work against him, as he had been playing with a lot of confidence at #3 singles, and had been riding a 13 match winning streak there. The switch to #2 singles had then provided a 3 match losing streak, which he only broke in the last match of the Wabash Invite last Saturday. Going into this Sectional match, I was very nervous. He would be playing a senior with a lot of confidence, as Jake Ward had won the NSC Conference Championship at #2 singles on Monday night.

And in the first set, my fears seemed to be well founded. Abe couldn't get his feet moving, couldn't attack, couldn't get his serve going. He fell behind 5-2 and looked to be headed to a short match. In truth, any hopes we might have in the match hung on either him or #2 doubles, and both had started out down. Not helping matters were what seemed to be very close or very questionable calls against Abe at crucial points in the match. With it being Sectional, Abe didn't want to risk the calls being the difference in the match, and he didn't want to be worrying about whether they were right or wrong. So he called for a line judge, then lost the next point to lose the first set.

But the second set was a completely different story. Abe broke serve to begin the set, then held quickly with big serves for a 2-0 lead. Then it was 3-0, 4-0, 5-0, then 6-0 to send it to a third set. Throughout the second, Ward had been frustrated and hitting a lot of errors. In between sets I told Abe that this wouldn't continue, that he'd have to win the third with good tennis. He began the third with a great game. We've been working on Abe's rally shots and feet and they looked impeccable to begin the third set. Soon it was 4-0 in the second! Ward settled down at this point too, and he and Abe split the next 2 games. Fortunately for the Bruins, that was enough to give Abe a 6-2 third set win!

Which meant that the team match came down to what happened in the third set of Ike Lehman and Dan Gongwer's #3 singles match. Ike, despite his big lead in the first set, had to survive a super tight tiebreak in which he fought off one set point to win 9-7 in the breaker. In the second set, it had continued to be close, but Ike couldn't pull out the final points needed to close out the match.

So to a third set, where in the Sectional, it's usually the player who is more aggressive and energetic about imposing their style on the game wins. Ike fought through the first game, having several points to get off to a 1-0 lead, but instead fell in deuce. He then fought back to take the 2nd game and tie it at 1-1. But Gongwer was playing impressive tennis, the best I've seen him play in our limited matches against them the past two years. In fact, his level was probably better than when he played against Nate at #1 singles last year in the Sectional. Ike continued to battle, falling down 3-1 but then bringing it back to 3-2. Soon, he began to battle cramps in his calf as well. With the score 3-2, Gongwer played two excellent aggressive games. This put him up 5-2 on serve with a chance to win it for the Jimmies.

But boy, did Ike ever dig in to battle. First Gongwer, took a lead in the game, giving himself 4 different chances to close out the match. But each time, Ike was able to find a way to win the point. At deuce multiple times, Ike finally gave himself a chance to pull a game back when he crushed an overhead. Unfortunately, at the same time, he cramped and fell down on the court. Gongwer returned the overhead, but from laying on the ground Ike was able to see the ball fall out. Ike recovered from his cramp, then won the next point to pull back to 5-3.

But that was as close as it would get. On Ike's serve in the next game, he had a chance to make it 5-4, but couldn't convert. Then in the deuce, Gongwer dropped balls short in front of Ike that he just couldn't get up to in order to keep the match alive. Throwing himself at the last short ball, Ike's lunge floated long and Jimtown won.

Heartbroken is a good word to describe the end. As I've said in seasons before, you form a bond with each team in a special way. At the end, you know that this group will never be the same again. But it's not the end. It's never the end. You've got tons of love to remember. You've got a Bear warmup shirt :-) You've got your swag :-)

And Nathan gets to keep playing. So, really, it's not the end yet for Bruin Tennis 2012.

I'm proud of the team, and you'll have to check out the other post that I'll make today for more on that.

Let's always continue to win at love.

Scores
#1S - Nathan Brendle - 6-4, 6-1 - Austin Ward (12)
#2S - Abe Thorne - 3-6, 6-0, 6-2 - Jake Ward (12)
#3S - Ike Lehman - 7-6 (7), 3-6, 3-6 - Dan Gongwer (12)
#1D - Himal King/Parth Patel - 2-6, 3-6 - Brett Aller (12)/Cole Peterson (12)
#2D - Joel Gerig/Hans Miller - 2-6, 4-6 - Michael Hobbs (12)/Augie Farwig (12)

The Regular Season's End

By Matt Miller
Bethany Christian Tennis

HOWE, Ind. — The last Monday of the regular season, we traditionally host the Cadets of The Howe School. This year, we were planning on the same. But in the morning, things got turned around and we were headed to Howe for the first time to play. We'd been warned of horrible courts with gaping cracks, with weeds growing as high as your knees. But, nonetheless, we headed out to our last regular season match.

When we arrived, we were pleasantly surprised. The courts were beautiful! And there were 6, which meant that the match might move even faster than we'd originally expected. And certainly, as the matches started, it looked like they'd move quickly.

At #1 singles, #3 singles, and #1 doubles, the Bruins were breezing through the first sets without losing points (for the most part). Sol and Justin simply had too good of groundstrokes for their opponents, and Landon and Wade were taking care of their opponents from the net. At #2 singles, Tristan lost the first game but recovered to win the next 2. And #2 doubles were up 4-1. It looked like a good, quick win for us.

And the success, continued right on through the match for #1, #3, and #1 doubles. Without losing a game, those 3 positions were done in about 40 minutes. Their opponents were gracious in defeat, with a great deal of laughing and volunteering to play again going on. But in very little time, we had sealed the varsity win, #13 on the season for us.

But two varsity matches were still going. Tristan, looking half asleep, had lost the first set 6-4. And #2 doubles, Neel Bhagat and Ethan Lapp, were ahead in the second set after winning the first. Tristan's opponent was causing him all sorts of trouble. He was hitting the ball back every single time and just waiting for Tristan to make an error. At times, he would hit beautiful lobs over Tristan's head as Tristan tried to attack the net. Like often happens when we play this type of opponent, Tristan was getting frustrated. So like the beginning of the season, we talked about the necessity of letting bad shots go and instead getting excited about good ones. Trailing 2-5 in the second set, Tristan began little fist pumps. No shouts of joy, no screamed "C'mon," just a little energy. His feet began to pick up, his shots began to gain pace and placement, and suddenly he was playing great and his opponent could not stay in the match. Tristan won 10 of the next 11 games to close out a third set win.

Unfortunately it was not that easy for the #2 doubles team. They got very nervous and pushed the ball all the way through their second set tiebreak. In the third set, they were still nervous, but were playing well enough to stay close in the set. Trailing 4-3, I let them know that the key to winning tight matches is to continue to stay loose and aggressive. So hit through the ball. That is what they did, and in the next 3 games they only lost 4 points total. That gave them a close third set win, and the team a 5-0 victory.

In JV, Noah Hochstetler and Jack Erlacher both took home 8-0 victories. Roberto Ramos also captured a singles victory in his first singles match of the season. Paul Krabill got his first win of the year as he took on a chattering doubles combo from Howe with senior Wade Troyer. This gave Paul one more win in his freshman year than Wade got :-) We had a delicious meal, and then headed home, with the JV and the regular season complete.

Scores
Varsity
#1S - Sol Brenneman - 6-0, 6-0
#2S - Tristan Clark - 4-6, 7-5, 6-2
#3S - Justin Zehr - 6-0, 6-0
#1D - Wade Troyer/Landon Weldy - 6-0, 6-0
#2D - Neel Bhagat/Ethan Lapp - 6-2, 6-7 (5), 6-4

JV
#1SJV - Noah Hochstetler - 8-0
#2SJV - Jack Erlacher - 8-0
#3SJV - Roberto Ramos - 8-6
#1DJV - Delan Schrock/Jacob Rudy-Froese - 1-8
#2DJV - Wade Troyer/Paul Krabill - 8-4

Boys Tennis vs. Howe (9/24/12)

PROJECT 440: RECAP THIS GAME!

Varsity
GOSHEN — Bethany 5, Howe 0
Sol Brenneman won 6-0, 6-0. Tristan Clark won 4-6, 7-5, 6-2. Justin Zehr won 6-0, 6-0. Wade Troyer/Landon Weldy won 6-0, 6-0. Neel Bhagat/Ethan Lapp won 6-2, 6-7(5), 6-4.

JV: Bethany 4, Howe 1. Bethany winners — Noah Hochstetler, Jack Erlacher, Roberto Ramos, Paul Krabill. 

Bethany/Jimtown Opens Tennis Sectional

The draw for the Goshen sectional of the IHSAA boys tennis tournament was made this afternoon at Goshen High School. Bethany will play Jimtown Wednesday afternoon in the first round. Semifinals, on Thursday, will see NorthWood playing the Bethany/Jimtown winner and Goshen playing Fairfield. The final is Friday.

Admission is free. The team tournament is single-elimination. Any #1 singles player who is undefeated in the tourney when his team is eliminated advances into the individual tourney; the same holds for #1 doubles. We'll deal with those if/when they become relevant.

The team schedule is below.

Champions

By Matt Miller
Bethany Christian Tennis 

It was cold, windy and threatening rain all throughout the tournament this morning and afternoon. It was a tournament that we were not favored to win. Entering the tourney, Wabash had only lost one dual match all season, and the same was true of Taylor.

But for all the outside circumstances, we were ready. We knew this was a chance for us to practice, to play in circumstances that would be a lot like our sectional this coming week. We knew that we had practiced well and hard throughout the week leading up to this match. We knew that we had to focus and battle.

In the first match, we played Taylor. Turns out, we got a little bit of a break. Their regular #1 singles player, Nathan Gotshall, had to attend his sister's wedding. This forced Taylor into some lineup changes, but they were certainly a formidable team nonetheless. Nathan Brendle would faceoff against an undefeated #2 singles player, sophomore Jack Lipchik. Though he didn't know it at the time, Lipchik would go on to win his next two matches at the tournament, so he was definitely a talented opponent.

Taylor then split up their #1 doubles team to play #2 and #3 singles. These players had both played singles before, with Logan Barnes who was playing #2 slated to play singles during the Sectional and Regional series. At #3 singles was Drew Hansen, who had played #1 singles 2 years ago.

But we were ready to perform. Nathan played absolutely beautiful tennis. Playing long points with Lipchik, he worked him all around the court and breezed to an unbelievable 6-1, 6-0 victory. At #2 Abe couldn't seem to find the answers to Logan Barnes touch and placement. But at #3 singles, Ike attacked and counter-attacked with precision against Hansen. After a close first set, he piled it on in the 2nd set to pull away for our second win.

At #2 doubles, Joel and Hans eased to a victory over 2 players normally slated for the Taylor JV. At #1 doubles, Himal and Parth got off to a great start to the day. They attacked, stayed patient and played well under pressure. Despite cold and windy conditions, they came from behind in each set to get a two set victory.

The early round victory against Taylor set up a big match in the second round against Wabash. They had also won their first round, and so it looked like perhaps this match would decide 1st place for the tournament. I was really proud of the way we were ready to play, no matter the conditions or opponents.

In our second round, players went out onto the courts as their opponents were ready. Because there were only 7 courts in use in the first round, only #1 and #2 singles were ready quickly, while we waited on Wabash and Eastern first rounds #3 singles and doubles matches to finish. So Nathan and Abe got a quick start on the match.

And Abe got a quick finish. Playing junior Edward Dillard, a player who was 13-1 on the season, Abe couldn't get anything going. He tried to play with depth, and couldn't win a game. He tried to play with pace, and couldn't win a game. He tried to attack, and couldn't win a game. Dillard was great, playing with precision control.

Meanwhile, #1 singles was a great match as well. Apache senior David Driscoll had worked tirelessly during the off-season, and was a much improved player. Sporting a record of 12-2 on the year, he played out long points with Nathan and was in no mood to give away easy errors. This became especially true as the wind kicked up in the second set. While Nate had been aggressively taking points in the first, the wind seemed to make him more tentative. With Nate leading 4-1 in the second, Driscoll took 3 very consistent games to tie the score. Nate was able to hold serve, but couldn't get the break to win. Holding again, he became more aggressive, and built himself a love-40 lead in Driscoll's last service game. Two points later, the second round was tied 1-1.

And the doubles matches were just starting, but not in a way that looked good for us. It was clear that both matches would be close matches. While #1 doubles took a 3-2 lead, #2 doubles fell down 5-2 in the first set. Suddenly, #1 doubles couldn't find their volleys and they were trailing 5-4. In the course of the next 10 minutes, we found ourselves down a set at both positions.

Meanwhile, Ike got started in his #3 singles match. Looking for his second win of the day, he quickly took a 4-1 lead and looked like he would cruise to victory. That meant we needed to make a comeback at one of the doubles positions.

How about both of them? Early in second set, it looked like both teams had found their games. At #2 doubles, Joel and Hans actually began to dominate. Looking like the much better team, they began to attack the net and put away balls left and right. Adding to their good play was the frustration of the Wabash team. As the wind picked up more and more, the Apache team seemed to be more and more disrupted. Joel and Hans took all that momentum and wrapped up the second set, 6-2.

#1 doubles continued to play well in spurts, but the consistency wasn't there to take the lead in the set. While Joel and Hans entered the super tiebreak to decide their match, Himal and Parth were down 5-2.

In the tiebreak, Joel and Hans started out strong. They won the first 3 points, then took a 4-2 lead into the switch of sides. They quickly built that lead again, going up 7-3, then 8-4 at the next switch. The whole tiebreak was more of the same from the second set. They were simply the more aggressive team. They were finishing points and staying confident. With the lead at 9-4, they faltered for 2 points, but they were able to finish it with a Joel overhead. That gave our team the dramatic 2-1 lead.

Looking over at Ike's match, he had gone from 4-1 up in the first set to 4-1 up in the second set. He was easing through his match and getting little resistance. Soon we had our third point, while #1 doubles wrapped up their match. They made it interesting, as they took 2 games to pull within 5-4. Unfortunately, they couldn't pull it out. But the Bruins were 2-0 in the tourney, with wins over the best two teams in the tournament.

Soon, we learned that Taylor had defeated Eastern. That meant that no matter what happened in the last round, we would win the tournament. We had two wins already, and the best that Taylor or Wabash could do would be two wins. The first tiebreaker was head-to-head, and head-to-head, we beaten both teams. We were champions, but the only way it would be truly satisfying would be if we could pull out the last game. Then we'd feel like champions. It wouldn't be simple, we'd need to always focus...

While #1 and #2 doubles and Ike were finishing up their matches, Abe got started with our final match with Eastern. And it was a quick start. In the wind and growing sunshine, Abe took little time getting through his match. Before any of the final 3 Wabash matches were done, Abe got us a victory in the Eastern match.

As soon as Abe cleared off his court, Nate took his place. And in about the same small amount of time, Nate was coming off the court with his 20th win of the season. His opponent, Connor Young, tried to meet Nate's attacking style and hit several amazing shots for winners. But Young couldn't continue to win points with as much risk as was needed. Nate got an easy win, and the team was up 2-0 with only one more win needed.

After their exciting matches against Wabash, our final three positions went into the final matches very confident. The opponents that we had beaten from Wabash had defeated the Eastern players from the same positions, so we were pretty sure of victory. After all, we only needed one more position to win the match.

And Joel and Hans got up 3-0 in their first set, and it looked to be easy. Then they lost 6 straight games to lose the first set. And Ike, who had beaten Wabash 6-1, 6-1, didn't even get a game in the first set until he was down 5-0. He couldn't find the court with attacking balls and was a bit slow with his feet. His frustration level was growing as well.

And many of the team's were as well, as #1 doubles also lost their first set. To win the match we needed to get these matches to super tiebreaks, and win them.

Of course, to our credit on this day, we did. All three positions made second set comebacks and played their best tennis of the day. #1 doubles played especially well in attacking a #1 doubles team that was undefeated on the day. #2 doubles had to go to a tiebreak in the second set, but again they played their best under pressure. Ike stormed through his second set, and entered his tiebreak third set with a lot of confidence.

In fact, it was Ike who clinched the final match for us. After attacking through the second set, he went right into the tiebreak and took a 5-1 lead. Soon he was up 9-3 with 6 match points. It took him two to finish the match, but he pounded away the final overhead.

We went from cheering for Ike's tiebreak to cheering for Joel and Hans. Again, they attacked the net well under pressure and took a big lead in the final set tiebreak. In the end, they sealed their second tiebreak win of the day.

That gave us the 4-0 lead in the final match, and we went to watch Himal and Parth in their third set tiebreak. Despite playing one of their best matches of the season, Himal and Parth couldn't keep up the error free play in the final set.

But it was an awesome day for the Bruins! A trophy and lots of pictures were in store for us. Hopefully that was practice for Sectional week as well.






Bethany 4, Taylor 1
Nathan Brendle def. Jack Lipchik 6-1, 6-0. Abe Thorne lost to Logan Barnes 2-6, 3-6. Ike Lehman def. Drew Hansen 7-5, 6-1. Himal King/Parth Patel def. Austin Douglas/Casey Glick 7-6(5), 6-3. Joel Gerig/Hans Miller def. Chris Cheeser/Camden Kindler 6-2, 6-2.


Bethany 4, Eastern 1

Nathan Brendle def. Connor Young 6-0, 6-1. Abe Thorne def. Logan Colwell 6-1, 6-0. Ike Lehman def. Austin Chase 1-6, 6-1, (10-4). Himal King/Parth Patel lost to Joel Coffman/Josh Evenson 3-6, 6-2, (6-10).  Joel Gerig/Hans Miller def. Robbie Walling/Zach Walke 3-6, 7-6(4), (10-6).

Bethany 3, Wabash 2
Nathan Brendle def. David Driscoll 6-1, 7-5. Abe Thorne lost to Edward Dillard 0-6, 0-6. Ike Lehman def. JD Boone 6-1, 6-1. Himal King/Parth Patel lost to Stephen Elits/Jack Stein 4-6, 4-6. Joel Gerig/Hans Miller def. Breyton Nealis/Kody Fuller 2-6, 6-2, (10-6).

Boys Tennis vs. Fairfield

GOSHEN — Fairfield 3, Bethany 2
Nathan Brendle def. Jordan Hochstetler 6-4, 6-1. Ike Lehman lost to Austin Christner 6-2, 6-1. Abe Thorne def. Landon Knepp 4-6, 6-0, 6-1. Himal King/Parth Patel lost to Dillon Lockwood/Taylor Yoder 6-3, 6-1. Wade Troyer/Hans Miller lost to Marcus Rodes/Adam Yoder 6-4, 6-1.

JV: Fairfield 7, Bethany 1.
Bethany winner — Sol Brenneman. Fairfield winners — Matt Yoder, Samuel Clayton, Joseph Line, Nathan Azzarito/Line, Andrew Hoover/Landyn Nunemaker, Connor Hochstetler/Aaron Miller, Azzarito/Yoder.

Tournament 1: 2 Champs, 3rd as Team

By Matt Miller
Bethany Christian Tennis 

MERRILLVILLE, Ind. — 1, 2, 3.

In our 1st tourney of the season, we had 2 champions and finished 3rd as a team!

It was really an excellent day for the varsity. Right from the beginning, it seemed that we were ready to play good tennis. A nervous time for me, our draw turned out really well for every team except #1 doubles. I always kind of dread playing the best teams in the first round, I'd rather see us get warmed up a little bit. Only #1 doubles drew one of the best in the first round, and everyone else drew opponents I thought we could do well against.

I didn't expect the scores and performances that we got, however.

Nathan drew Highland, Ike drew Lowell, and Abe drew Wawasee, all teams that had losing records but we didn't know much about. As the singles and doubles were at different sites, and the singles started first, I decided to watch the beginning of these matches. I quickly realized that they were going to be okay in the first round. In the 10 minutes that I watched, Nathan was up 5-0, Ike 3-0 and Abe 3-0 as well. Feeling at ease with these matches, I headed over to the doubles.

I got there in time to see Joel and Hans open up with a great match. Playing Merrillville, they took the first set 6-0 and got up 1-0 in the second. #1 doubles, meanwhile, was struggling against the same Triton team they had faced earlier in the season. Serving relatively well, they were only down 3-2. But then some mistakes and some big plays from the Trojans closed the set at 6-2. 

As the first round matches continued, I was encouraged. Generally, in a three-match tournament like this, you're going to play well at times and you are not going to play well at times. We started out at most positions playing relatively well, winning relatively easily, but nobody had maxed out their potential in the first round. Ideally, you want to build as the day goes on, and that looked like a possibility for us on this day. 

Still, we had few close matches in the first round. So the second round held more intrigue, especially at #1 singles, #2 singles and #2 doubles. From my pre-tournament scouting (which was pretty intensive) I had each of those positions playing the best at their positions in the second round. Nathan would face off with Centerville's Eric Josephson, a talented baseliner that he had beaten in two very close sets in 2011. Ike would face Centerville's Jason Thompson, an all-court counterpuncher whose game reminds me of Fairfield's Austin Christner or Angola's Cameron Hall, both players Ike has struggled with. At #2 doubles, we faced a 13-1 Portage team who did something rarely seen at #2 doubles - they attacked the net.

Watching singles first, Nathan got off to a brilliant start. After splitting the first 2 games, Nate reeled off 5 straight games to win the first set 6-1! He was playing the smartest tennis that I've seen him play all year, working his groundstrokes to perfection and staying very patient. Josephson had very few losses on the season, only losing to state-ranked teams for the most part.  But Nate was just better.

Not so much for Ike. His opponent had all the right answers. Ike played a very consistent style and Thompson attacked. Ike attacked and Thompson passed him. Like a great counterpuncher, he had every answer. Ike really couldn't get close, which was too bad.

What was really too bad was that unexpectedly, Abe was having his struggle of the afternoon in this second round as well. Playing Triton's #3 Jared Fisher, who he had beaten 6-2, 6-0 during the regular season, he trailed 5-4 in the first set. Abe had been struggling in his recent matches because he was playing "#3 singles style" instead of "Abe style." After receiving my pep talk, he won 2 games in a row and looked like he was going to roll up the set. But of course it wouldn't be that simple, and a tiebreak ensued. But Abe got it rolling in the tiebreak. Two big forehands gave him the set. 

So I headed back to the doubles, only to find that #1 doubles was 2 points from winning their 2nd round match already. They had played Lowell, and apparently had played quite well. #2 doubles, as predicted, was in a dogfight of a match. Up 3-0 in the first set, they had surrendered 6 straight games to Portage. That's the problem with coaches running back and forth, you've got no one to help stem the runs. They were holding a 3-2 lead in the second when I arrived, and it looked like they were playing the better tennis. They continued to trade games until 5-4. But Portage had an answer. Like the veteran doubles team they were, they played aggressively at the end of the second set. That enabled the Portage duo to take the last three games. 

I got word that Abe was in a 3rd set, so I zoomed back over to the singles to find them all sitting under our tent eating lunch. So I joined. Abe had won the second set, so he and Nate would both be playing in the finals of their flights. Ike and #2 doubles would be playing for 3rd while #1 doubles would be playing for 4th.

I got word that the doubles had begun again, so back over to watch Joel and Hans. They were playing against Darren Harrell and Jake Oldham, the Triton team that they had beaten 6-4, 7-6 in our September 1 match-up. Today, they were much more aggressive and assertive, playing with more authority and pop. By the time I left to head back to the singles, it looked like they had 3rd place wrapped up.

At the singles, things had started out well for both Abe and Nate. They both had 3-0 leads when I got back. Ike was in a super close match, that would continue the rest of the afternoon that way. Abe was smashing deep balls, very different from his dinking 2nd match. He was also really using his serve well.

And Nathan, well... Nathan was the talk of the tournament. He was simply dominating all day long and his final against Merrillville's Nygel Jackson was no different. I can't tell you or really describe how incredible he played. He looked as dominant as Leonard Matthews had looked last year. He took the first set 6-0, making that the 13th 6-0 set he's had this season (in 15 matches). He was unbelievable and by the end of the day, he was a champion!

But #1 doubles was struggling, so back over there I went. Down 1-5 in the first set, the advice was simple: "Play solid doubles." And so they did. And as they attacked the net, hit solid balls and kept their serves in, they won 6 straight games to take the set. So with that done, I went back to the singles site.

There I found Abe in a 3rd set tiebreak and Ike as well. Doing some quick calculating in my head, I realized that if these two and #1 doubles could win, we could finish in a tie for first place. So, Ike's match was close and drew my attention and before I knew it, Abe was finishing and shaking hands. We couldn't tell if he won or not, because he just sat down on the court. Asking his opponent, we found out that Abe too was a champion on the day. His beautiful deep, attacking, powerful game had won the #3 singles bracket - usually reserved for the "dinkers."

So now we needed Ike and #1 doubles to have a chance. Ike had fallen down 8-4 in his 10 point tiebreak. But 4 straight aggressive points tied it up. Then he hit a ball out to give his Highland opponent a match point. But he denied the match point with an overhead. Then Highland got another chance at 10-9 to end it. But Ike fought back for the tie. At 10-10, Ike came to the net and had an overhead to putaway in order to give himself a match point. But the overhead clipped the tape. On the next point, Highland's Jeff Michner hit a great corner ball, and Ike fell 12-10 in the super tiebreak.

He had played so hard and really seemed to deserve the win. It was hard to see him lose in that match. We also knew that we couldn't challenge for 1st, which was kind of a bummer. Back over then to #1 doubles, where we now found them down 2-5 again. They won 2 games in a row, but soon found themselves in a third set super tiebreak as well.

This tiebreak went back and forth the whole way. Finally, at 9-8, the Bruins had a match point. Unfortunately, a double fault prevented them from getting their chance. Again, back and forth they went until 12-11, where again we had the serve, but this time to deny Highland the match. But it was another double fault, and we fell to 6th place.

For as great of a day as it was, those were 2 hard matches to end the day on. As it turned out, Centerville won a consolation bracket match at #3 singles that would have denied us the tie for the win anyways.

But honestly, I was so proud of the team. They all did a great job. And the best feeling is that I think we're rounding our team into its best play as the season goes on. We've still got room to grow this year, so hopefully, we'll peak just in time for the Sectional this year.

And for now, we'll take the wonderful 3rd place that eluded us last year. Last year we had our first flight champion in Blake Shetler, and this year we got 2. Maybe next year we'll get 3 and win our first tournament championship!
Team scores — Centerville 41, Portage 40, Bethany 36, Highland 24, Triton 24, Merrillville 20, Lowell 16, Wawasee 11.
Bethany players — #1 singles: Nathan Brendle def. Aaron McFarland (Highland) 6-0, 6-1; def. Eric Josephson (Centerville) 6-1, 6-2; def. Nygel Jackson (Merrillville) 6-0, 6-3. #2 singles: Ike Lehman def. Delmer Fleming (Lowell) 6-0, 6-2; lost to Jacob Thompson (Centerville) 1-6, 1-6; lost to Jeff Michner (Highland) 7-6(6), 2-6, (10-12). #3 singles: Abe Thorne def. Doug Hepner (Wawasee) 6-0, 6-0; def. Jared Fisher (Triton) 7-6 (5), 6-3; def. Zach Smith (Portage) 6-3, 4-6, (10-7). #1 doubles: Himal King/Parth Patel lost to Jeff Ross/Pete Kauffman (Triton) 2-6, 1-6; def. Jayson Savich/Jared Hopkins (Lowell) 6-1, 6-1; lost to Tyler Porter/Ben Wood (Highland) 7-5, 4-6, (11-13). #2 doubles: Joel Gerig/Hans Miller def. Micah Burgstahler/Jacob Swierc (Merrillville) 6-0, 6-1; lost to Chris Klink/CJ Haupt (Portage) 3-6, 5-7; def. Darren Harrell/Jake Oldham (Triton) 6-3, 6-1.

JV Tennis at Fremont Invitational

PROJECT 440: RECAP THIS GAME!
FREMONT, Ind. — Bethany 4th in Fremont Invitational
Team rankings — DeKalb, Angola, Leo, Bethany, Fremont, Snider.
Individual results — #1 singles: Sol Brenneman 2-1; #2 singles: Tristan Clark 2-1; #3 singles: Landon Weldy 1-2; #1 doubles: Justin Zehr/Ethan Lapp 1-2; #2 doubles: Neel Bhagat/Jack Erlacher 2-1.

The Beauty of a Team

By Matt Miller
Bethany Christian Tennis

ELKHART — 2-2.

But we had the momentum.

Nathan had completed his important match, beating the a very well rounded competitor in Nick Burton in two sets. #1 doubles had fought brilliantly, getting close in the second set, but hadn't been able to prolong their best play. Ike had played a 2 hour match and only gotten through 2 sets, but was final undone by the consistent depth of sophomore Eric Burton. But Abe had rallied through some mental lulls in his match to pull out the second point for the Bruins.

And Joel and Hans... well, after trailing 4-3 in their second set, they turned the tide with double attacking tennis. While they had often been aggressive with one at the baseline, one at the net, in the second set they began to both come to the net. The smaggressive play in the pressure situation worked, forcing the Blazers to tighten up a bit and giving the Bruins some energy. At one point, Hans at the net was able to drill the volley at the Blazer net player. A smart, aggressive, and correct play. Three game wins gave us the second set, and it was onto the third.

A third set for the match.

A third set to decide the team match as well.

But Hans and Joel didn't know that, they just knew that they needed to stay aggressive. The rest of the team began gathering round to watch the final match play out. In the first game, the Blazers served really well and took a 1-0 lead. But Hans served really well in the next game, and then we aggressively returned to take the 2-1 lead. Frustration was growing for the Blazers, but the match stayed tight, 3-2 at the next changeover. We went up 4-2 after Hans next service game, but couldn't pull away and changed over again at 4-3.

It was Joel's serve. The Central coach had warned Joel about foot faults, and went over to watch the line. I reminded Joel that not foot faulting would actually help his serve. And help the serve it did. Joel had his best service game that I can remember, putting real power and authority into his serves. Hans missed a volley though, and Joel missed a baseline shot and the game went to 15-40. It looked as if a 4-4 tie was coming. And Joel missed his first serve, giving the Blazers a shot at the game on a second serve.

But Joel pounded a second serve unexpectedly into the forehand corner of the service box. Break point saved. Then another big serve caused a Central error. Back to deuce. Then two more great serves followed by return errors and we were within one game of the set, match, and team win. The team excitedly watched each following point, giving out encouragement and watching the awesomeness unfold. Hans pounded a return. Love-15 for the Bruins. Joel returned down the line and the Central volley squirted wide. Love-30 for the Bruins. A double fault. Triple match point for the Bruins. Joel's next return tipped the tape and bounced wide. But Hans' next return dropped deep in the court forcing a forehand error, and the #2 doubles had sealed a tight 3-2 win for our team.

And the beautiful thing was the whole team was there to watch. They flooded out onto the court to give Hans and Joel hugs and congratulations. Nathan ran around pumping his fists with the excitement. Everybody was smiling. It was a good night to be part of the Bruins team.

Nights like this are why I still love to coach. The wonder of a group of oh-so-different guys coming together around a common goal and celebrating joyously together. We've suffered together too, whether through workouts, or close losses, or fatigue. Now, tonight we got to experience the other side of it. It reminds me of the way that church is supposed to work. Sharing the suffering, sharing the joy, being one, joined in Christ. The tennis team became a beautiful picture of that oneness tonight, and that's something we hope to remember.

Notes & Stats

• The JV won tonight 5-4. The top 5 positions all won their matches which were decently close. The JV has been improving so much throughout the course of this season. They are now 5-8 on the season but have won 4 of their last 5.
• Tonight saw Josh Weaver's coaching debut for the Bruins as well. Josh just joined the team for practice on Monday, and tonight was his first match. He got to see quite a match.
• Sol leads the JV now with 9 victories. Nathan is leading the varsity with 12.
• I'm so excited for the tournaments this weekend. Is that a note that I should include?

Bethany 3, Elkhart Central 2
Nathan Brendle def. Nick Burton 7-6(1), 6-1. Ike Lehman lost to Eric Burton 4-6, 2-6. Abe Thorne def. Jake Mullins 7-6(5), 6-4. Himal King/Parth Patel lost to Riley Futterknecht/Alex Moon 2-6, 2-6. Joel Gerig/Hans Miller def. Mikey Namisnak/Will Riblet 5-7, 6-4, 6-3.

JV: Bethany 5, Central 4
Sol Brenneman def. Curtis Hill 6-4. Tristan Clark def. Alex Boyer 6-4. Neel Bhagat def. Christian Lankford 6-4. Jack Erlacher lost to Boyer 0-6. Paul Krabill lost to Lankford 0-6. Wade Troyer/Landon Weldy def. Matt Morrison/Scott Hanberg 6-2. Justin Zehr/Ethan Lapp def. Riley Norris/Josh Santos 6-0. Roberto Ramos/Noah Hochstetler lost to Morrison/Hanberg 1-6. Jacob Rudy-Froese/Delan Schrock lost to Norris/Santos 2-6.

Old and New

By Matt Miller
Bethany Christian Tennis

FORT WAYNE — In a match against new opponents, we battled some old challenges tonight. In a long drive to a new match, we topped off the night with a victorious return to an old favorite restaurant. And though we took some new directions to get the victory, we continued our "old" winning ways, running our winning streak to six matches.

In an attempt to actually play our allotted 22 matches this season, we scheduled the Blackhawk Christian Braves as they were one of the few teams around who had an opening on their schedule and were willing to play another match. By this time in the season, most teams are focused on their conference races and upcoming tournaments. So we made the hour and a half drive down to Kreager Park in Fort Wayne.

After a quick warmup, some old patterns held true. For the 8th straight match in a row, Nathan Brendle won a 6-0 set. This is absolutely incredible, for those of you who don't follow a lot of tennis. And while there have been weaker opponents in this stretch, it has also included traditional rivals like Fremont, Jimtown, Triton, and NorthWood. Nathan is having an outstanding season. I love to see him play relaxed and so, so well.

In new news, our lover of the close match, Ike Lehman, seemed to decide that he'd take the short route in this one. He got up 5-0, confidently attacking the match. With too much of a lead for his liking, he became tentative and stopped attacking, allowing Hoover to find his stroke and tighten up the match at 5-4. After a long game to take the first set, Ike loosened up and hit out and finished off the match rather quickly.

In #1 doubles, the old team would have trouble facing the serve of our opponents and then get nervous on our own serve. In this match, we confidently held our own serve while seeking to find ways to get that break of our opponents. In the first set, Parth and Himal couldn't find the break. But they performed well under pressure, taking a close tiebreak on a double fault by the Braves. Growing in confidence with the set under their belt, the Bruin team took two breaks of serve in the second set, attacking returns and poaching at the net on them. The second set breezed by faster and another win was added to their victory column.

While #1 doubles grew in aggression as the match proceeded, #2 doubles did a bit of the opposite. In the first set, they cruised to a 6-1 win, rarely losing points on serve and actually doing a lot of watching the Braves make mistakes. In the second set, the Braves stopped making mistakes and we weren't sure how to finish off the points. But we were enough better than the other, younger team to win the close second set.

And then their was Abe's match, which hearkened back to his very first match playing #3 singles, when he went into a third set tiebreak with Concord. Tonight, Abe went the distance again, all the way to a third set tiebreak as his teammates anxiously awaited our departure to the Magic Wand. His opponent tonight, Chase Ramsey, was a brilliant combination of a pusher and a passer. Ramsey literally pushed the ball like a volley on every groundstroke until Abe took the net, then he would switch tactics and fire a passing shot low over the net. All night, Abe had to wait patiently for the right approach shot, then make a good finishing shot. Ramsey had great anticipation and speed, which made the whole adventure much more difficult.

The third set went back and forth and when Abe took a 4-3 lead, I thought he'd finish off the match. Then it got tied, then Abe went up 5-4 and I thought it was over, but no. Then a 6-5 lead, but no finish. In the end, Abe actually dominated the tiebreak. He had the right shots at the right times. And that is an excellent new pattern for this varsity. We seem to be coming through with the right shots in the right times.

The JV finally got an easy win tonight. Some of the matches were close, but for the most part, we took care of business. Sol is playing excellent as of late and pushing for a varsity spot in reality. He cleaned up his 8th JV win of the season, and will be moving up very high on the JV all-time win list if he keeps up his pace. Tristan Clark has gotten so much better the last few weeks, especially as he concentrates on his footwork. Really, the more our team is doing that the more we look like we're ready to play varsity next year. I was also really proud of the way that Justin finished off a close match, a match where he trailed 5-4 before reeling off the last 4 games with, again, aggressive tennis.

We ended this night with the Magic Wand. Nothing like a Magic Burger with the creepy clowns to make a team happy. Good job Bruins!
 
Bethany 5, Blackhawk 0
Nathan Brendle def. Jake Fiedler 6-0, 6-1. Ike Lehman def. Jeremy Hoover 6-4, 6-1. Abe Thorne def. Chase Ramsey 2-6, 6-2, 7-6(4). Himal King/Parth Patel def. Ben Bailey/Conler Brandenberger 7-6(5), 6-2. Joel Gerig/Hans Miller def. Jared Fiedler/Triston Mills 6-1, 7-5.

JV: Bethany 5, Blackhawk 0
Sol Brenneman def. Nick Berry 8-0. Tristan Clark def. Ryan Overbeck 8-2. Justin Zehr def. Adam Smith 8-5. Wade Troyer/Landon Weldy def. Adam Smith/Ross Norton 8-2. Neel Bhagat/Ethan Lapp def. Bailey Brouwer/Joseph Angelo 8-4.

Beating the Rains

By Matt Miller
Bethany Christian Tennis

NAPPANEE, Ind. — On a night where few other teams in the state were playing, whether because of weather or because they'd rather be watching teenagers attempt to give each other concussions legally (also known as football), it didn't look like we'd get our scheduled match in either.

All through the warmup, all through introductions, and all through the first couple of games, a steady mist of rain fell across the NorthWood tennis courts. And in the mist, we weren't playing so well. At #1 singles, Nate lost the first game out of the shoot. At #2, Ike went down 2-0. At #3, Abe found himself trailing early in the set. Both doubles faced deficits. It looked like we were either going to get beat by the rain or by NorthWood, or both.

Finally, the courts got too slick to play and we took a five minute break. Players milled about the courts, talked to their opponents, pawed at the ground with their feet until the rain stopped and the thumbs up came to compete again.

And compete we did.

Quickly, the singles matches turned around. Ike found a groundstroke that we've been wanting to see all season. Playing #2 singles in a match that was reminiscent of Wes Klassen, Ike plastered the ball around the court after the break. After being down 2-0, Ike won 12 straight games to cruise to a 6-2, 6-0 victory.

Nathan Brendle actually beat Ike off the court, also with a 6-0 second set in hand. After being at 4-3 in his first set, Nate reeled off 8 straight games to close 6-3, 6-0. He really worked himself into an unbeatable rhythm after the close start, and junior Mitchell Keiser had few answers.

While a more nerve-wracking match, Abe Thorne provided the Bruins third and clinching point as he too found an attacking rhythm. Abe was able to attack the net repeatedly in his match against a fellow Abe (NorthWood's senior Abe Robinson). Abe Thorne's volleys were so on in this match, they were the difference between the close first set and the comfortable second.

In doubles, Hans and Joel again faced stiff competition. Like the Jimtown match earlier this year, they were just behind a bit in their aggressiveness and ability to play "on the front foot." They were facing a bit of identity crisis too, as everything that they were trying to do the Panther team was doing just a little bit better. But the sets were close, and Hans and Joel were hanging right in the teeth of the match.

Meanwhile, Parth and Himal were enjoying some of their best play on the season. In the first set, one break of serve was all that separated them from the #1 doubles tandem of Jayson Linhart and Brennan Angle. In the second set, Parth and Himal were actually able to get a lead with smaggressive tennis and really well placed groundstrokes and volleys. Also, particularly impressive tonight was their serving, as less and less points were being given away by double faults.

But as the doubles wound towards the end of the second sets, the rains came down for real. For the varsity, it was disappointing, but ultimately we had secured the 3 points necessary for the win.

For the JV, more time would have been nice to try to rally from the deficit we were in. Despite playing well, the JV had lost 4 matches and only won 1. The main difference in these matches, as it is in many of our JV defeats, was the ability to hit with power and hit against power. It all starts with our feet, which I wrote a couple of weeks ago, but we also have to practice it as much as possible. We don't have the most powerful players in the world (aside from a couple varsity guys) so it is hard to practice playing against pace. But it gives us something to look forward to in the offseason!

Next year, we'll need to be ready again, because we've got a winning streak going right now over NorthWood that I'd love to continue to defend!

Bethany 3, NorthWood 0 (rain-shortened)
Nathan Brendle def. Mitchell Keiser 6-3, 6-0. Ike Lehman def. Quinn Stillson 6-2, 6-0. Abe Thorne def. Abe Robinson 7-5, 6-2.
Unfinished matches — Himal King/Parth Patel trailed Brennan Angle/Jayson Linhart 3-6, 3-4. Joel Gerig/Hans Miller trailed Devyn Maugel/Caleb Yoder 4-6, 3-5.

JV: NorthWood 4, Bethany 1
Sol Brenneman def. Austin Sanders 8-4. Tristan Clark lost to Luke Stump 6-8. Ethan Lapp lost to Cooper Clark 2-8. Wade Troyer/Landon Weldy lost to Ryan Menzie/Evan Nix 4-8. Justin Zehr/Neel Bhagat lost to Nick Myers/Brock Beehler 0-8.

Unfinished matches — Weldy led Spencer Abel 1-0. Justin Zehr tied Nate Nunemaker 0-0. Noah Hochstetler/Roberto Ramos trailed Austin Conrad/Riley Smith 1-4. Jacob Rudy-Froese/Jack Erlacher trailed Michael Gongwer/Sean Linhart 0-3. Delan Schrock/Paul Krabill tied Zach Snider/Jarrett Skaggs 1-1.

Opposites

By Matt Miller
Bethany Christian Tennis

TOPEKA, Ind. — Earlier this season, I noted that we would get close to good competition, but in the pressure moments we just couldn't maintain our edge and aggression, and we'd lose out on the big points. As the season progresses, I think we're starting to play the opposite.

First of all, the bad news. As an overall team, we definitely didn't play our best tennis in this match. Unlike Saturday against Triton, we did get off to good starts. But we didn't maintain that level of play. We lost aggression, got tight and nervous, didn't swing through the ball or play with consistent confidence. There were certainly times when we looked sluggish and very off our game.

But the good news: we were tuned in during the pressure points. Westview's coach even noted after the match that we had been able to consistently perform well on the big points. And I think that's an honest reflection of what happened in each match.

Take Nathan's match as an example. His opponent, Kohle Christner, had several shots that could give Nathan fits. He had a high-kicking first serve, a very low rally shot and good control. These shots kept him in almost every point with Nathan. But a good example of winning the big point came in the last game of the match. After a long rally, with Nate holding a 40-30 advantage, Kohle hit a low backhand stretching Nathan out to the side. Nate moved quickly over and whipped a "smaggressive" forehand cross-court, with a lot of pace and spin but a safe placement. The ball dove down just inside the baseline leaving Christner speechless. He thought he had the point won but we performed "smaggressively" to take the game.

Other matches proceeded the same way. Abe Thorne had close points and long rallies but managed to come away with an easy looking scoreline and a comfortable match. #1 doubles of Himal and Parth started out slowly but really picked up steam in an admirable dismantling of the young Warriors. I really liked how Himal and Parth became more aggressive with their doubles as the match went on, as it allowed them to put away the victory with an easy second set.

And then there was Ike's match at #2 singles and the #2 doubles match. In #2 doubles, we started out about even in the first set. Westview's young players didn't hit the ball hard, but they were so competitive. They really went after every ball and did a great job putting away opportunities, so we had to remember to be the aggressive team. In the first set, I went over and told Joel and Hans to really putaway the set, get it out of reach, and they did, taking it 6-2.

I hoped the momentum would continue. But too many errors and tentative play ruled the beginning of the next set. After taking a 2-1 lead, the errors kept mounting and Joel and Hans began to become more and more unsure of every movement. They didn't attack with speed and split-steps, and soon their tight play and the smart play of their opponents sent the match to a third set.

In the third set, the tightness continued, but little by little they broke out of it. Joel really got up on top of the net to put some balls away on big points, and I think that changed the tone of the match. We got our aggression back on the points we had to win.

As did Ike. After pushing around with freshman Andrew Yoder, who is going to be an excellent player, mark my words, Ike found himself in a second straight match with a third set. In the third set however, Ike really began to find his aggressive swing. Instead of pushing the ball, he was hitting it, and the change in pace caused problems for the freshman. Ike was able to take a 5-1 lead in the set and close 6-3.

So it was a 5-0 victory for the varsity because we responded to the big points well. For the JV, it was never that close. Sol Brenneman busted through his opponent in 15 minutes. Wade and Tristan and Landon were all right behind with big victories. The JV keeps improving, and have taken leaps and bounds in the last two weeks after starting slow at the JV Invitational. Including the last round there, they've won their last three matches and their play is really steadily improving.

Can't wait to play the next one, hopefully it will be time to play our best and win the big points. That's what we're building toward.

Notes & Stats

• Nathan has one 6 straight matches that have included at least one "6-0" set. That's fairly incredible.
• Nathan also leads our team in victories, with 9 on the season. He finished with 14 victories last year.
• Since our lineup switch that moved Abe and Ike into singles, every position on the varsity has a winning record.
• After last night's three-set match, Ike Lehman now leads the varsity in three-set matches played this year as well as tiebreaks played this year. I guess Ike enjoys the tight matches.
• Abe Thorne has won six straight matches at #3 singles.
• Sol Brenneman leads the JV with 6 wins this season, while Justin Zehr is second with 5.
• Sol Brenneman's match tonight was so fast that when he had forgotten to change the scorecard, I thought he was still warming up. Then he changed it to 7-0 and won the next game.
• Westview had no seniors on the team we played last night. I guess we'll look forward to seeing each of these guys again next year!

Bethany 5, Westview 0
Nathan Brendle def. Kohle Christner 6-2, 6-0. Ike Lehman def. Andrew Yoder 6-4, 2-6, 6-3. Abe Thorne def. Hunter Christner 6-1, 6-3. Himal King/Parth Patel def. Stephen Gierek/Asher Gingerich 6-4, 6-1. Joel Gerig/Hans Miller def. Zack Schrock/Taylor Eash 6-2, 3-6, 6-4.


JV: Bethany 4, Westview 1
Sol Brenneman won 8-0. Landon Weldy won 8-3. Jacob Rudy-Froese lost 4-8. Wade Troyer/Tristan Clark won 8-0. Justin Zehr/Ethan Lapp won 8-5.

Meeting This Challenge

By Matt Miller
Bethany Christian Tennis

GOSHEN — From the beginning of the season, this is a match that I've looked to as a good measurement of how we're doing this season. Triton returned four players with significant varsity experience, as well as a JV that defeated us pretty soundly last year. We also returned four, but only two of those had even won their matches against Triton last year. This match looked to tell us whether this season was headed in the right direction, or, well, not.

The varsity match didn't start out too well. Nathan lost his first game (slow feet), then Abe lost his first game (slow feet), then Hans and Joel, then Parth and Himal and finally Ike lost his first as well. It was not a good start, and it all stemmed from slow feet (not tennis movements). I was actually really mad, because at practice all week my one point of emphasis has been our movement ... but it was early so I tried to relax.

And a couple of matches helped me relax. Once Nathan and Abe found a rhythm, they became really difficult to beat. Many things about their games looked good. Abe's serve really seemed to have a good feel to it. Nathan's forehands looked on the ball. Abe continued to volley well and play a strategy that put him in the best position to win. Both of them opened up big leads in the first set, then continued to coast through the second. We had two wins where we played well, and the match didn't even get tight.

But we had a loss like that too. The #1 doubles match pitted Himal and Parth against a tough challenge. They were definitely going to have to raise their games if they wanted to keep pace with Trojan seniors Jeff Ross and Pete Kauffman. But they did a good job. In each set they brought energy, and in the second set, they stepped up and met the challenge. Holding serves, they kept the match really close and were playing right along with a great doubles pair. But then Ross and Kauffman played two unbelievable games to open up the set, and Parth and Himal couldn't get it back. Still, the serves and the movement looked up to the challenge today.

With those two matches done, we needed one more for the varsity win. Both #2 doubles and Ike at #2 singles had won tight first sets, Ike actually winning a tiebreak. But it was #2 doubles who provided the next chance at drama. Leading 5-4, Hans and Joel had an opportunity to end the match with one match point against Triton's serve. They lost the point as a lob floated just out of both of their reaches. Then they went down 6-5 before bringing it back to a tiebreak.

In the tiebreak, Joel and Hans were able to a 5-3 lead. They did a great job continuing to attack and relax throughout the tiebreak, with a couple of points ending on overheads and volleys. With Hans serving at 6-5, Joel was able to poke a volley just out of the reach of the Trojans. The ball went into the net and we had won.

Meanwhile, Ike fell way down in his match. The second set started with Ike losing the first 5 games. Soon we were in a third set. But Ike has learned, one way to meet a challenge is with strategy. Going back to an earlier strategy, Ike found his placement once again and attacked with placement and pace. Instead of just pounding balls down the middle, he worked the points. Soon, Howdeshell, the Triton junior, began to make mistakes. Ike kept up the pressure, and closed out a three-hour, three-set win with a 6-3 final set.

The varsity met the challenge. A good team, playing well, taking us into pressure situations. In those situations, we picked up our game and faced those challenges.

Notes & Stats
Notes, stats, and JV report coming soon!

Bethany 4, Triton 1
Nathan Brendle def. Lucas Shafer 6-1, 6-0. Ike Lehman def. Dean Howdeshell 7-6(5), 1-6, 6-3. Abe Thorne def. Jared Fisher 6-2, 6-1. Himal King/Parth Patel lost to Jeff Ross/Pete Kauffman 2-6, 2-6. Joel Gerig/Hans Miller def. Darren Harrell 6-4, 7-6(5).

JV: Bethany 6, Triton 2
Sol Brenneman def. Gavin Eads 8-1. Tristan Clark def. Dalton Bailey 8-1. Ethan Lapp def. Eads 6-0. Delan Schrock lost to Bailey 1-6. Wade Troyer/Landon Weldy lost to Alex Eib/Austin Sellers 4-8. Justin Zehr/Neel Bhagat def. Spencer Glingle/Seth Glingle 8-2. Noah Hochstetler/Roberto Ramos def. Austin Wagers/Quinn Hulbert 8-4. Jacob Rudy-Froese/Jack Erlacher def. Eib/Sellers 6-0.

Boys tennis at Prairie Heights

BRUSHY PRAIRIE, Ind. — Bethany 5, Prairie Heights 0
Nathan Brendle def. Tyler Johnson 6-0, 6-0. Ike Lehman def. Cory Hollifield 6-0, 6-0. Abe Thorne def. Nick Bennett 6-1, 6-0. Himal King/Wade Troyer def. Braxton Elliot/Nick Durnell 6-1, 6-4. Joel Gerig/Hans Miller won by default.

What's the Same

By Matt Miller
Bethany Christian Tennis

LAKEVILLE, Ind. — Tonight, we had a fairly easy victory over a young, inexperienced LaVille squad. Many would say that you can't take very much from a match like this, but I'd challenge that.

The mistakes that cost you the few points that you lost in an easy match tonight will be the same mistakes that cost you in an intense, under-pressure match.

Maybe you mentally lost focus. Maybe you hit a few approach shots long. Maybe you were pushing your second serve. Maybe you hit a forehand down the line into the net. Maybe you double-faulted a whole game away. Maybe you framed some returns.

All of these were errors that we made tonight. And they are the very things that are our weaknesses, no matter who we are playing. The thing to learn from a match like tonight is where to work.

In watching the match tonight, I've got specifics in mind for every player, from Nate down through the lineup to Hans. I hope you do too. I hope you're ready to go to work, because we've still got a ways to go in this season, and it still will be very special.

Notes & Stats

• Nathan lost the first point of his match, then he won all the rest. That's right, you read that correctly. He won 48 straight points.This is the least games that a Bruin team has surrendered as a team since I've been coaching.
• LaVille's varsity included at least 5 players who are in their first year of tennis. This is also only their second match. That's a good definition of inexperienced.
• Nathan has now won 2 matches in a row with 6-0, 6-0 scorelines. He also took a set from Fremont at 6-0. Over the last 3 matches, his total games score is an astounding 36-1.
• Ike Lehman finally didn't have a tiebreak!
• Both #1 and #2 doubles won their first sets 6-0 and then lost the first game of the second set. There is a tendency to lose focus after winning the first set for all tennis players. That will be something to continue to work on.
• There was no JV contest tonight.

Bethany 5, LaVille 0
Nathan Brendle def. Brandon Haisley 6-0, 6-0. Ike Lehman def. Matt Dickson 6-0, 6-0. Abe Thorne def. Dennis Feitz 6-0, 6-0. Himal King/Parth Patel def. Chris Nocodemus/Adam Baker 6-0, 6-1. Joel Gerig/Hans Miller def. Eric Eggerbrecht 6-0, 6-1.

Matt Miller is head boys tennis coach and author of the Bethany Christian Tennis blog. His recaps are reprinted by permission. 

The Difference

By Matt Miller
Bethany Christian Tennis

BAUGO TWP., Ind. — The Jimtown JV Invitational is an excellent tourney for our JV players. It truly gives the feel of what a varsity match is like: evenly matched players in a 2-out-of-3 set format. It also gives some experience in these Saturday matches, where it is hot and the days are long and you get tired. And when I arrived, the team looked tired.

But within that tiredness, the team learned a secret. The secret makes all the difference.

When I arrived, Sol Brenneman and Landon Weldy were Bethany's only players still on the court in the second round versus Jimtown. Both looked to be playing inferior opponents, but Sol was in a tiebreak and Landon was down big in the second set. It didn't take too long to figure out what was wrong.

The attitude was completely negative, and so was the movement. Those things are often related, but more on that later. Sol was playing against a singles player who rarely hit the ball hard, and yet, here was Sol out of position and reaching for shots. Landon was playing against a similar player, and yet he was having trouble keeping the ball in the court. Running at a straight line to the net after his returns, Landon either missed or made the volley, thus deciding the point.

But there was very little energy, either from the team or from the remaining players on the court.

And attitude and movement matter so much in tennis.

Just ask Nate from the Concord match. Down 0-5, he changed two things, his feet to hustle more and his attitude to get excited from his big shots and let the bad ones go. He won four straight games and the third set.

Or ask Abe, who got destroyed by a patient pusher at Columbia City and then turned around and did the destroying himself against a patient pusher against Fremont.

Or Joel and Hans, who turned their Jimtown match around on Saturday simply by deciding to be more aggressive.

The difference between a solid varsity player and a JV player is simple. It's rarely their strokes, their serves or their volleys. it's usually their minds and their feet. Good players know that these are connected, and they stay positive in attitude by moving their feet during the point.

If there was ever evidence of that, it was the third round match of this invitational. Sol went back and forth with Concord's in the first set, but then in the second he was coached to aggressively attack the ball with HIS FEET. The result? 6-1 in the second vs. 7-5 in the first.

Tristan had the same thing going: after a great first set, he tired and lost concentration in the second. One simple piece of advice for the super tiebreak — move your feet like a varsity player. The result? A 10-7 tiebreak win!

And I think that was the difference, the secret that we've got to get through our heads.

Move aggressively to the ball, get pumped about good shots, let the bad ones go.

Now, we have to start practicing this way. Now we have to start getting better.

NorthWood 4, Bethany 1
Sol Brenneman won 6-1, 6-1. Landon Weldy lost 0-6, 1-6. Tristan Clark lost 3-6, 3-6. Justin Zehr/Neel Bhagat lost 1-6, 0-6. Jack Erlacher/Ethan Lapp lost 1-6, 0-6.

Jimtown 5, Bethany 0
Sol Brenneman lost 6-0, 4-6, (9-11). Tristan Clark lost 2-6, 0-6. Landon Weldy lost 4-6, 3-6. Justin Zehr/Neel Bhagat lost 0-6, 2-6. Jack Erlacher/Ethan Lapp lost 6-7, 2-6.

Bethany 4, Concord 1
Sol Brenneman won 7-5, 6-1. Tristan Clark won 6-3, 1-6, (10-7). Justin Zehr won 6-3, 6-3. Wade Troyer/Landon Weldy lost 6-3, 6-7(5), (4-10). Neel Bhagat/Ethan Lapp won 6-4, 2-6, (10-7).

Matt Miller is head boys tennis coach and author of the Bethany Christian Tennis blog. His recaps are reprinted with permission.

Why We Practice

By Matt Miller
Bethany Christian Tennis

GOSHEN — I wish we could all start the tennis season as better players than every team we play. In 2010, when we lost to only two different teams on our schedule, we had the luxury of knowing that in almost every match, our players were simply better. Ben Mast was the better #1, Seth Krabill was a better #2, and Nathan Brendle was the better #3, etc, etc. It was comforting and relaxing in many ways... but most seasons aren't like that.

Most seasons, we start out somewhere in the middle. Some teams are better than us, some teams return more talent, some teams return less but have worked very hard, some teams are having down years. And we're usually somewhere in there.

Most seasons are decided by who really gets better during the season. Who makes adjustments. Who is playing their best, most confident tennis at the end of the season. Who figures out strategies to win with what they have. Who makes the most of their team support. Who can stay focused.

The Jimtown match is a perfect example of that.

Jimtown had 8 different players play a varsity match against us last year. All 8 return. We return only 4 of our players that played last year (Nate, Abe, Ike, and Parth). At the beginning of the season, it certainly seems like Jimtown is in a good position to defeat us this year, and make a good run in the postseason.

But can we get better during our season? Can we harness our mental abilities and focus? Can we put in the time and be ready?

We seem to be moving that direction.

In this match, Nathan Brendle easily won the #1 singles match. It was the first match to come off the courts, and obviously, throughout his career, Nathan has put in the time to be a dominant singles player. This win moves his record on the season to 5-1. I was especially impressed by his continuing elevation of his mental approach to the game and his improving patience.

In every other match, we played great and yet it became obvious where we need to improve. #1 doubles ran into a great team tonight, a team that has played several seasons of varsity and were one of the better teams in the area last year. Despite their disadvantage in experience, Himal King and Parth Patel hung right in every game, often because of their ability to play smart at the net. These guys will have to continue to develop that strength, and add to their rallying from the baseline ability in further practices.

Joel Gerig and Hans Miller had not faced an opponent like the Jimmies yet this year, a team that can hit the ball hard and will attempt to be the aggressor on every point. In the first set, Hans and Joel looked a little overwhelmed and timid. As the set wore on, they got the right attitude, but their movement continued to be a bit timid. The right attitude is harder to teach than the right strokes, so now we'll start on those strokes in practice. But their attitude alone brought them close, a 4-6, 5-7 loss isn't too bad.

Abe Thorne sealed a second win for the Bruins, once again going the distance on a Saturday morning match, and playing three close sets. He must really like playing in the weekend sun. His match was tight, as he took on senior Dan Gongwer, who played #1 singles at the end of last season. It was a really interesting tactical match, as Abe won the first set by keeping the ball deep, and then Gongwer took the second by forcing the points to be played closer to net. But in the third and decisive set, Abe displayed the mental composure that he's been working on, and also threw in some new wrinkles to give Gongwer different looks. It was a close set, with Gongwer actually taking a 5-4 lead and having three match points. Abe was able to save them all, one with a gasp inducing backhand volley that landed just barely in the corner. After the 5-5 tie, Abe began to play very confidently. Increasingly Abe's variety is important for the end of his season. It allowed him success today.

But the point that clinched the match for the Jimmies had already been won. Jimtown got their third victory at #2 singles, where Ike Lehman lost to Jake Ward. In the first set, Ike struggled with consistency against Ward's power. However, at the end of the set, he figured out how to be consistent and to battle. This consistency is key to Ike's game. He cannot be the one to make the final error, obviously, and is finding new ways to be in control of the point. In the second set, Ike held his serve beautifully with his consistency. However, the match got to a tiebreak and Ward stopped making errors. He calmed down, kept the ball in the court, and Ike didn't have an answer.

But that's why we practice, so that next time the match changes, next time we're tight, next time it is a 3-2 match, we'll have the answer.

Notes & Stats

• This is the second 5 match winning streak that we've had snapped by a 3-2 scoreline this year. We also had a 5 match winning streak against Goshen.
• 3-2 matches make for memories, one way or the other. If I was scripting a perfect season, we'd have lots of 3-2 matches, won and lost to make for better drama. Last season, we had nine 3-2 matches. We won 6 of those. This year we've already had four 3-2 matches, however we've lost 3 of those. We'll pick it up as we gain experience, and hopefully turn a couple more of these matches around.
• For as much as Nathan wins, tonight's match was his first 6-0, 6-0 victory! He had 5 different 6-0, 6-1 victories, but surprisingly had never had a double bagel.
• While Abe denied some match points, Ike had two points to level his match at one set apiece. Unfortunately, Ward was able to save these.
• Also in Ike's match, just like the Columbia City match, Ike went down big in the tiebreak. Trailing 6-1 he reeled off 4 straight points to draw within 1. He couldn't get the next one to tie up the tiebreak.
• Staying with Ike again, this is his third straight match with a tiebreak. Yea, he is truly that close.

Jimtown 3, Bethany 2
Nathan Brendle def. Austin Ward 6-0, 6-0. Ike Lehman lost to Jake Ward 2-6, 6-7(5). Abe Thorne def. Dan Gongwer 6-4, 5-7, 7-5. Himal King/Parth Patel lost to Brett Aller/Cole Peterson 2-6, 2-6. Joel Gerig/Hans Miller lost to Michael Hobbs/Augie Farwig 4-6, 5-7.

Matt Miller is head boys tennis coach and editor of the Bethany Christian Tennis blog. His recaps are reprinted here by permission.

The Right Direction

By Matt Miller
Bethany Christian Tennis

GOSHEN — On Tuesday, our varsity played an excellent tight match to turn things around in the season. Thursday night, we concentrated on heading in the right direction. Playing our style, with confidence, and continuing to stay focused no matter the score or match situation.

The most obvious match to see this improvement was Abe Thorne's. After losing on Tuesday to a very consistent, non-hard hitting player, Abe dedicated himself to focusing on his mental game and his smaggressive play. Today, matched up against a freshman playing in much the same style, Abe stroked his way to an easy first set with volleys and well placed topspin balls. In the second set, he faced some adversity as he got down early, 1-2. But riding his early smart ball, he began to angle off the volleys and control his serve, and recovered to not lose another game.

That was Abe's first victory on the season, and another Bruin picked up their first as well. Ike Lehman grabbed his first victory in a very well-played, patient match against fellow senior Glen McClain. Ike used a consistent first serve to exploit McClain's weaker backhand, but the second set tightened up as Ike had trouble breaking McClain's serve. However, Ike came through with clutch service games of his own, sending the match into a tiebreak. In the tiebreak, tied at 3, Ike came up with the shot of the night. With McClain at the net, Ike was sent far into his forehand corner. On a dead sprint, he whipped a sliced forehand with a wrist flick that just barely cleared the top of the net. McClain couldn't handle the low ball, and Ike took a 4-3 lead. Growing in confidence in these tight situations, he went on to pound an overhead at match point for a two-set win.

Also grabbing two-set wins were #1 singles, Nathan Brendle, and #2 doubles, Hans Miller and Joel Gerig. They both played similar matches in that, at any point, their opponents would hit amazing shots, but these three just played consistently better. And the #2 doubles victory sealed the match for the Bruins.

#1 doubles played on, but they couldn't quite pull out the victory. Little mistakes in crucial times still seem to bother this team, something we'll iron out as the season goes on. It was a great match.

In the JV, the top positions cruised. #1 and #2 singles and doubles all had easy victories, giving Landon, Tristan and Neel their first victories of the season. The story of the day at all these positions was that we were just more consistent, something that hasn't been able to be said all year to this point. Another step in the right direction!

Notes & Stats

• Nate now has the most varsity victories with 4, Hans also has a winning record at 3- 1. But every player who has played a varsity match this season now has 1 victory (at least).
• Sol Brenneman, Justin Zehr, and Wade Troyer lead into the JV with 2 wins each.
• Nate continued the trend of long matches at Fremont, short ones here at Bethany. What an effort from him tonight, he thoroughly controlled his match.
• The JV match came down to the last team on the court, Delan Schrock and Jacob Rudy-Froese. After losing the first 5 games, they mounted a short comeback and won the next game to go to 1-5, then had a game point to go to 2-5. But they couldn't keep it up, and we lost JV 4-5.
• We won the JV 5-4 last year in a similar circumstance. Neel Bhagat and Luke Schrock won the very last match to seal it for us.
• Tonight was the first time we sang "Sarasponda" on our courts after a win this season. We were shocked to find out that the freshman had never learned this song in choir!
• Our new jerseys came yesterday and we tried them out tonight. Looks like good luck! Check out all their majesty:
  

Bethany 4, Fremont 1
Nathan Brendle def. Tyler Jenkins 6-0, 6-1. Ike Lehman def. Glen McClain 6-2, 7-6(5). Abe Thorne def. Logan Miller 6-0, 6-2. Himal King/Parth Patel lost to Brandon Miller/Tanner Frye 6-7(4), 4-6. Joel Gerig/Hans Miller def. Mason Kolberg/Drew Sullivan 6-2, 6-0.

JV: Fremont 5, Bethany 4
Sol Brenneman def. Mitchel Long 6-1. Tristan Clark def. Kyle Boekhout 6-0. Ethan Lapp lost to Brandan Arnos 3-6. Jack Erlacher lost to Jeremy Seiler 3-6. Paul Krabill lost to Derek Fischer 0-6. Wade Troyer/Landon Weldy def. Fischer/Jordan Sanderson 6-0. Justin Zehr/Neel Bhagat def. Hunter Jump/Connor McHann 6-2. Roberto Ramos/Noah Hochstetler lost to Long/Boekhout 2-6. Delan Schrock/Jacob Rudy-Froese lost to Sanderson/Seiler 1-6.

Matt Miller is head boys tennis coach and author of the Bethany Christian Tennis blog. His recaps are reprinted here by permission.

Changing the Pattern

By Matt Miller
Bethany Christian Tennis

COLUMBIA CITY, Ind. — The last two matches of the 2012 season saw the Bruins drop 3-2 decisions, close matches that could have been turned around by one individual's or one doubles team's ability to pull out a couple more big points, stay cool in nervous situations, or simply perform at a high level throughout the match instead of having lulls.

The last two matches with Columbia City have seen us drop excruciating 3-2 decisions, close matches that could have been turned around by those very same big pressure performances.

Our unfortunate pattern has been to feel the pressure, tighten up, and lose those tight matches. But now, we're changing those patterns.

This match saw us play some of our best tennis in pressure situations, pulling out the three crucial matches with three excellent performances.

Joel Gerig and Hans Miller got the first point for the Bruins. As #2 doubles was the one spot that the Eagles had taken from Concord, I was a little nervous about this match. Hans and Joel put me at ease early. They really played great tennis, but what impressed me most was the way in which they won. They won by staying on the attack the entire match. They took advantage of good positioning, finished balls at the net, and played solid from the baseline. Their match was the quickest of all five, as they picked up momentum throughout.

Another position that got off to a great start was #1 doubles. We hadn't won any team points at #1 doubles yet this year, a pattern which needed to be changed. In the beginning of this match, it was obvious that Himal was hunting for that win. Soon, Parth joined him. I wish I had counted the number of net points that this team put away during the match. I'm sure the count would reach be above 50. It was remarkable. The first set breezed by as they won 6-2.

In the second set, the match stayed tight. It seemed that we were rallying more from the baseline and having trouble keeping the ball in the court. Still, the Eagles were struggling with errors of their own. The set stayed tight, but Himal and Parth pulled ahead at the end to grab a 5-4 lead. They couldn't finish, then grabbed a 6-5 lead. They couldn't finish, so it went to a tiebreak. In the tiebreak, they denied one set point before having a match point on Parth's serve. Unfortunately, they couldn't convert and soon lost the set, heading to a third.

At this point, the pattern of the match was set. We would either hit winners or make errors and the Eagles were playing defensive tennis. We were making slightly more errors than winners in the beginning of the set, and the Eagles grabbed a 4-2 lead. But then, we changed the pattern. We moved quicker at the net, we hit more first serves in, we finished with sharp angles right at the Eagle net players. Soon, it was 4-3, then 4-4, then with two relatively easy games, we'd won 6-4. It was a smooth, almost nerveless end of the match.

As it turned out, this match sealed the clinching point, because of what happened in Nathan Brendle's match just before.

For two years, Nathan has faced off against classmate Derek Hinen of Columbia City. In 2010, we lost 3-2 with the final, decisive match being Nate's loss to Hinen. Last year, we lost 3-2 as well, with the final match being Nate's three-set loss to Hinen. This year, Nathan was determined to change that pattern.

But it looked like it might come down to him again. With the other matches ending, Nathan had played a superb first set, sealing it at a comfortable 6-3. In the second set, he built a lead of 4-1, but soon Hinen was really finding his game. Hinen is so quick and athletic that he can track down just about any ball. Last year, his style led him to within one match of the individual state finals. In this match, he really found his form in the middle of the second set. Nathan took a 5-3 lead, but Hinen held tight to close it to 5-4. But with continued patience, Nathan continued to work each point. In the past, Nathan would get to impatient, overswing, and give away free points. In this match, he changed that mental pattern and became stronger as the point went on. The result: a two-set win in a big, big match!

The other two matches saw us play some good tennis and learn a lot as well, especially about playing consistent players who play without a lot of pace on their shots. Abe Thorne at #3 singles looked like he was cruising to a victory as he took a 5-1 lead in the first set, but then he couldn't seem to find his groove again as senior Drew Benedict barely missed another shot. Abe lost 11 of the last 14 games, struggling to stay positive against the human backboard that Benedict became.

The story was similar for Ike Lehman. He attacked his way to a set lead, then took a 5-2 lead in the second. But the tactics then changed, and Ike struggled against fatigue and tightness to finish overheads and points at the net. Errors piled up, as did frustration. Ike lost the second set in a tiebreak, and then in the third set just seemed to run out of gas. It was a gutsy effort, but one that didn't ultimately succeed.

That was too bad. It would have been good to have a Bruin sweep on this day. But we're beginning to change patterns to our favor, so let's hope this trend continues.

Notes & Stats

• Another changing pattern: In our last two matches, we've watched a team member win a third set after the team match has already been decided as a loss. In this match, we watched Columbia City win a third set after they'd already lost the match.
• This marked the first varsity win of the season for two juniors: Joel Gerig and Parth Patel. Nice job, guys!
• Like Abe, Ike unfortunately lost 11 of his last 13 games. This is another pattern that we will change.
• Another interesting stat to keep would have been how many times Parth and Himal hit their opponents at the net. Keep your guard up when these guys are at net!

There was no JV match.


Bethany 3, Columbia City 2
Nathan Brendle def. Derek Hinen 6-3, 6-4. Ike Lehman lost to Niko Rongos 7-5, 6-7 (5), 1-6. Abe Thorne lost to Drew Benedict 5-7, 3-6. Himal King/Parth Patel def. Mason Coverstone/Blake Fearnow 6-2, 6-7(7), 6-4. Joel Gerig/Hans Miller def. Daniel Woll/Austin Paul 6-4, 6-2.

Matt Miller is head boys tennis coach. His recaps are reprinted here by permission.