Unfortunately we drew the #2 seeds and red hot Washington University team in the 1st round. I believe this team went undefeated in the NCAA team tournament and in the preceding days had defeated the #1 doubles teams from national champions Williams, 3rd place Amherst and Kenyon teams. The Bear duo has not only had an incredible week but an incredible season.

The match started off pretty even but the Wash U managed to break mid-way through the first set and served out the set to take the opening set 6-3. However in the 2nd set Andrew and Colton really found their game and started playing incredibly doubles. I mean really really hot doubles. In the 2nd set they completely dominated play winning 6-0!

The 3rd set started off with both teams holding serve at love. But the experienced Wash U team picked up their intensity and broke twice to take a commanding 4-1 lead. At this point the Whitman guys totally dug in — no slouching, no sloppy play or negative energy. As it started to approach midnight the Whitties roared back winning 4 straight games to take a 5-4 lead (Wash U serving). We played a great return game and forced the Bear server to deuce twice but never earned a break point.

Both teams hold sending the match to a 3rd set breaker. And what a breaker it was! Twice in that breaker we gained a mini-break only to have the Wash U team come back with a huge return. At 5-5 with Wash U was serving..Andrew gets into the point and on the 3rd shot hits a short lob and yells out “short” to communicate with Colton that he hit a weak ball. The Wash U player nets the floating ball and claims a hindrance which the umpire upholds. So now instead of serving for the match at 6-5 in the tiebreak we are down 5-6. The reversal of events is  devastating for Andrew and Colton. They were so excited to have earned a match point (serving) but instead they found themselves down a match point. In the next point we push a volley wide giving an amazing match to the Washington University team. Really an wonderfully played match that was full of momentum twists and turns. Hats off to the Bears duo they played great and really upped their level of play when their backs were against the wall. Great guys, great program and great coach!

Colton’s 10am match was pushed back to 12:30. Colton had a tall order of playing NCW’s #1 player Robert Kjellberg. Kjellberg is the #6 seed but started the year off as the #2 player in the nation.

Going into the match I thought moving to the fast indoor courts would benefit Colton. I was hoping his typical penetrating groundstrokes would be even more effective on the quicker courts. However it was Kjellberg who used the quicker courts to his advantage. The #1 from NCW served incredibly well – in fact at the start of match he made 10 out of 12 huge first serves earning quick holds.

On the flip side Colton didn’t play his best tennis and made a rash of uncharacteristic errors. Several games he got into trouble by making 3-4 unforced errors while trying to unleash big forehands. Part this was certainly due to the fact that Kjellberg was playing well and making so few mistakes – Colton literally had to create something to win a point.

Colton certainly battled hard and put up a good fight but in the end he lost 6-1, 6-2. This tournament was a great experience for him and it has add fuel to his fire to return next year

Later tonight Colton and Andrew play the #2 seeds in doubles.

This morning we were lucky to hit outside for a bit before the rains came down. The weather today has really messed with the final day of the team tournament — all the matches have been moved indoor courts all across town.

Looks like more rain tomorrow so all the singles and doubles matches will be scattered around town and we won’t know matches times until later tonight. However we do know that we have very tough matches tomorrow. In singles Colton plays the #6 seed (#1 player from NC Wesleyan). In doubles Andrew/Colton drew the #2 seeds (#1 team from Wash U). We are all very excited to be playing some of the best players/teams in the nation.

As usual I will be providing twitter updates at @northam. Here are links to the draws:

Singles

Doubles

This year to add a bit of adventure to the float we took three inflatable kayaks (ie “duckies” or “IKs”) that the guys took turns using. Was awesome to see the guys get their “sea legs” in the kayaks and start going after the bigger rapids as the trip progressed. Also was very entertaining to see them trying to tip each other over in the kayaks. More than one person took a swim in the mountain river!

Pictures probably tell the story the best so click the link below to open a slide show (well over 100 pictures) from the adventure.

Colton buried in the water

Joining Malesovas on the First Team is teammate and main doubles partner Andrew La Cava who earned First team honors for the third straight season. Three Missionaries: Sam Sadeghi, Steven Roston and Andy Riggs all earned Second Team accolades.

Playing at No. 1 singles the entire season, Malesovas becomes the ninth Whitman player to win the POY honor.  Malesovas racked up a 6-1 record in conference, winning a key match in the Missionaries NWC Championship finals victory against George Fox 6-2, 6-1. The No. 10 ranked player in the nation, consistently facing the top competition, finished with a 9-8 record that included two close losses to players ranked in the top 20 and a three-set defeat to 3rd-ranked Adam Putterman of Washington University. Playing at every doubles position in the lineup, Malesovas tallied an 18-4 record, taking the court with seven different partners during the season, going 12-0 in conference. Malesovas was named the NWC Student Athlete of the Week in March after going 5-1 in 3 matches.

Playing at the No. 3 singles spot for most of the season, Sadeghi posted a 9-1 conference and 13-8 overall record in making his first collegiate postseason all-conference team. The senior from Glendale, California got hot late in the season winning his last 7 matches, all but one in straight sets, and recording the winning point in the Whits’ conference finals victory over George Fox. Matched with three different partners, Sadeghi posted a 9-3 conference record in doubles and was named the NWC Student Athlete of the Week in April after a 4-0 week.

In his first season with the Missionaries after transferring, Riggs provided valuable versatility, playing at just about every spot in the singles lineup while going 17-4 and 11-0 in conference. On the doubles side, the junior from Auburn, California posted an 11-1 record in the NWC with a variety of teammates. In April, Riggs received the NWC weekly honor for going 5-0 in three road matches, played in less than 36 hours.

Posting a 12-0 conference singles record, Roston, like Sadeghi made his first collegiate all-conference team. Like many of the Missionaries, the junior from San Carlos, California was asked to play at many different spots in the lineup, including at No. 1 against Linfield in February where he won, helping him earn the NWC Student-Athlete of the Week. Roston’s overall singles record of 17-4 included a victory against Pacific in the NWC semifinals. He also recorded a 10-1 conference doubles mark, two of the wins occurring in the conference championships.

With the conference title under their belt, the Missionaries received an automatic bid to the NCAA tourney and will learn their destination the first week of May.

In singles we got a quick win at #1 where Colton played exceptional tennis winning 6-2, 6-0. Hats off to the sophomore Texan — on back-to-back days he played 2 of the best #1′s in the conference and only surrendered 4 games!

One of the best things about the weekend was Andrew being able to step onto the singles court. Its been over a month since he has played singles and its great news for us that he is able to compete again. Andrew ran into a very determined and hot Fox player Chris Lilley. Chris, by the way, has had a great freshman campaign and hasn’t lost a D3 singles match all year. Andrew was down 5-7, 2-1 when the team match was determined.

At #3 Andy got off to a slow start as was tied at 2-2 before he ran off 9 of the last 10 games. Andy was up 6-2, 5-1 (match point) when the team match was called.

#4 congratulations to Sam for clinching the match! Normally Sam is the one that has the long(er) matches. Against George Fox he was going for balls, ripping his forehand and keeping the points short. Was such an incredible moment to watch the senior clinch the match with a 6-3, 6-4 victory.

Steven was able to get on court after Colton’s match (we were playing on 4 courts) and was up 5-0 when the match was called. Let me say that Steven was playing brilliant tennis and was hitting winners from all spots of the court.

Now we wait a few weeks to see where the NCAA committee sends us for the NCAA national tournament.

Big congratulations to  Coach Hein and the women’s team who cruised through an undefeated conference season and dominated NWC tournament!

Scores

In singles Steven was the first off with a 6-1, 6-2 at #4 and Andy quickly followed with a 6-4, 6-0 victory at #2. At #1 Colton was up 6-1, 4-2 and at #3 Sam was up 6-4, 4-3 when the team match was finished.

Finals are at noon today vs George Fox.