Weekend Recap

Over the weekend we were able to win two matches in Tacoma (8-1 vs UPS and 7-2 vs PLU) but mother nature got the better of our Whitworth match forcing us to reschedule after spring break.

I must say logistically last weekend presented some challenges. All week I had been keeping an eye on the condition of Snoqualmie Pass (the I90 pass through the Cascade Mountain Range into Seattle). During the early part of the week the pass was closed but as the week progressed the road conditions improved. Additionally since Spring Break is around the corner (starts this Friday) some of the guys had a lot of academic pressures and couldn’t make the trip. Because of this we ended up taking nine players to the Tacoma matches and Coach Jake was going to bring the remaining three players to Whitworth for our Saturday match. Since we were playing three matches in 24 hours this would allow us to rotate players helping ensure everyone would remain fresh during the long weekend. (more…)

By |March 7th, 2011|2010-2011 Season, Competition, Pacific Lutheran, Puget Sound|0 Comments
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USTA Campus Showdown = Alumni Showdown

Recently the USTA/ITA started a new program called the Campus Showdown. These events are one-day, open tennis events held on college campuses. I figured hosting a campus showdown would be a great way for some of the guys to play extra matches. I didn’t figure on the alumni getting wind of the event and coming out to play! Saturday’s Whitman Campus Showdown will feature 8 Whitman alumni, 6 current team members and 2 PNW junior players. So really this is a Whitman tennis alumni showdown! (more…)

By |February 4th, 2011|2010-2011 Season, Alumni|1 Comment
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Senior Day!!!!

Yesterday we honored our seven seniors before our home match against Pacific. To say these seniors have had an impact on Whitman and the tennis program is an understatement. They have set the bar incredibly high for any sports team at Whitman. These seven seniors have never lost a regular season conference team match (60+ and counting), have qualified for three straight NCAA III appearances, won two conference titles, been an ITA All-Academic team for three straight years and have a team GPA around a 3.5!
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By |April 3rd, 2010|2009 season, Pacific|0 Comments
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Squirrels knock off #17 Pomona

Great win today for the Fighting Squirrels! We went into todays match ranked #26 and knocked off #17 ranked Pomona Pitzer Sagehens 6-3. Unfortunately its late and I don’t have time for a complete match write-up.
We played PP at the UC Santa Cruz West courts. Doubles started off pretty even. At #2 Quin and Christoph went up two breaks but at #3 Jeffrey and Jake were down two breaks 0-4. About midway through the doubles it appeared that the match would come down to Matt and ET at #1. Quin and Christoph were able to close out their match 8-4. On the heals of that #2 doubles victory, Matt and ET broke (4 great returns in a row) and held to win 8-5. At #3 Jeffrey and Jake dug themselves out of a monster hole and leveled the match at 6-6. At 6-6, with PP serving we had at least two break points to take the lead. Unfortunately we were unable to convert either of the break opportunities. At 6-7 Jeffrey was serving and had a very long game. At one point Jeffrey nailed a half-volley winner to stave off a match point. However in the end PP broke salvaging a point in doubles.
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By |March 21st, 2010|2009 season, Pomona|0 Comments
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Sole possession of first place

Yesterday we once again split into two squads. My team traveled to McMinnville to take on Linfield and coach Ann’s group traveled to Newberg to play George Fox.
I was looking forwards to the Linfield match because they were off to their best start in school history and, like us, were undefeated in NWC play. This was a pretty big match in the conference..the winner takes over 1st place in the standings and takes a big step towards claiming the conference championship.
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By |March 16th, 2010|2009 season, George Fox, Linfield, University of Portland|0 Comments
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Split squad yields two victories

One of the benefits of a deep roster is the ability to split the squad into two parts. Yesterday half of the guys traveled with me to take on Willamette while the other half went with Coach Ann to play Lewis and Clark College.
Fortunately for my group the weather was great and we were able to play Willamette on their outdoor courts (often we run into rain and have to travel to indoor courts). Against Willamette we knew we were in for a good match — we defeated them 7-2 on our home courts just seven days ago. In that match the top three singles all went three sets.
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By |March 15th, 2010|2009 season, Alumni, Lewis & Clark, Willamette|0 Comments
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Another sweep as we start spring break

Yesterday we followed up our sweep of PLU with a 9-0 victory over a pesky UPS team. Because of our rough upcoming schedule we rested a few players. Was fun to watch guys that normally don’t play show their stuff.

Conor Holton-Burke got the call at #1 and defeated fellow Coloradoan Mike Cutter 6-2, 6-0. Sam Sadeghi continues to play very solid tennis winning at #2 6-2, 6-1. We had some hiccups at #3 and #4 as both Jake and Quin lost the 2nd sets before winning in match breakers. Jake reports his match was full of ups and downs. Quin was down a match point in his 3rd set break before ripping off straight 3 points. At #5 and #6 Adriel and David won dropping a combined 4 games.

Following the match we loaded into 2 vans and headed out for the start of our spring break road trip! For the first couple days of the break we are dividing into two teams and playing matches in the Portland area. Coach Ann has a group playing against Lewis and Clark College today and my group is playing Willamette. Tomorrow Coach Ann’s group is playing George Fox and my group takes on undefeated Linfield.

Whitman 9 UPS 0

Link to the official write up

By |March 14th, 2010|2009 season, Puget Sound|0 Comments
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Sweep PLU!

I must admit I was worried going into our match with PLU. Don’t get me wrong I always look forward to playing PLU because historically they produce some wonderful matches. Yesterday I worried about how the guys would play after a very tough academic week. The week before spring break (Whitman has a two-week break) is always one of the toughest weeks of the year. This year seemed worse than most: almost everyone on the team was staying up late studying, working on papers and/or preparing for tests. I doubt that anyone on the team had a good night’s sleep all week and I was worried how everyone would respond to the intense academic week.
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By |March 13th, 2010|2009 season, Pacific Lutheran|0 Comments
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Wrapping up the weekend

Finished out our weekend home stand with a 9-0 victory over Lewis Clark College. LC is down a bit this year so most of the matches were lopsided. For this match I tried to use as many different players as possible. Always nice to get a chance to play at home!
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By |March 8th, 2010|2009 season, Lewis & Clark|0 Comments
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Beautiful Weather and a nice win

Just wrapped up a 7-2 victory over Willamette on our home courts. Had another great crowd and glorious weather as we took on undefeated Willamette. Coming into today both teams were undefeated in NWC play with Willamette at 6-0 and Whitman 3-0. Willamette was also on a bit of a hot streak coming into today’s match having just defeated PLU 6-3, whereas three weeks ago we squeaked by PLU 5-4.
In todays match we started off very strong in doubles. Great energy, high level of play and took command of all three matches right off the bat. Had to make an adjustment at #3 doubles because of an illness so Jeffrey Tolman and Jake Cappel got the call. They played great together cruising to an 8-0 victory. Number two doubles wasn’t very behind as Quin and Christoph won 8-2. Matt and ET continued to play well together winning 8-3 at #1 doubles.
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By |March 7th, 2010|2009 season, Willamette|1 Comment
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