Portland part 2

Feb 222011
 

On President’s day we wrapped up our swing through the Portland area with a 1pm match against Willamette (indoors). After playing a double header on Sunday in extremely cold weather and spending many hours in a bus the team was a bit stiff. However after a good warm-up the Whitties were ready for battle.

In an earlier post I mentioned the effects of graduating 7 seniors. Graduating that many good players could decimate at team. We were lucky to mitigate that effect by having strong player development and a talented freshman class (Andrew La Cava, Steven Roston, Will Husky and Atanas Atanasov). Something positive, however, has happened with the player graduation — the current team has found its own voice. It appears that this year’s team is about energy and passion. Honestly this might be the most vocal and energetic team I have coached. From top to bottom, from those playing to those watching, this team is absolutely committed to each other. I think playing the energized and vocal George Fox team Sunday awoke that voice. Continue reading »

Wrapping up ITA’s

Sep 282010
 

After rain moved the tournament indoors on Saturday it was a treat to be able to play the semi-finals outdoors. The only bad thing about having the last day of the tournament on Monday is there weren’t many tennis spectators around to watch! Since I had sent several players home Sunday with Coach Matt Solomon there were only a handful of Willamette and Whitman players around to watch the matches.

We were fortunate to have three of the four semi-finalist in the singles. Teammates, and doubles partners, Andrew La Cava (#16 seed) and Conor Holton-Burke (#6 seed) duked it while Chris Bailey (#9 seed) faced off against Willamette’s Cody Ferguson (#8 seed).

Day two of ITA

Sep 272010
 

I know the title says day two of the ITA but we are actually starting day three. Rain swept through the Willamette Valley yesterday pushing the tournament back a few hours and a change of venue to nearby indoor courts. Was a very long day we didn’t get back to the hotel until 11pm last night.

All I can say about yesterday’s tennis is wow. I felt like we had the top players in the conference coming at us all day long. In fact the day reminded me of one very long (11 hour) dual match. In the first round of matches we were lucky to have Whitman players on 5 out of 6 courts. One of the most entertaining matches of the day was freshman Andrew La Cava vs senior Etienne Moshevich. It was unfortunate these two teammates had to play against each other. Andrew ended up getting the better of his teammate 7-6 (11-9), 6-3. Besides the high level of play it was wonderful seeing how the competed against each other. Even though this was an important match they played it like true brothers — complimenting each other, replaying points, and truly being supportive of each other. Etienne is such a blessing to have on the team. Besides being a warrior on the court he is supportive of his team and a true leader. Continue reading »

Beautiful Weather and a nice win

Mar 072010
 

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.

Spring is the air!

Mar 152009
 

It is spring break for the Fighting Squirrels! Classes are done for two weeks and the players get to take a break from the books and focus on tennis. This year we are doing something a bit unique and playing our away conference matches during the first week of break and the second week we are heading to Hilton Head, SC to play some of the top NCAA III teams in the nation.

Yesterday we had a home match against short-handed Lewis and Clark College. Unfortunately for the Pioneers they were missing a player and had to default #6 singles and #3 doubles. Highlight of the day was the return of junior Nadeem Kassam to the line-up. Nadeem has been out for a month with a shoulder injury and Friday the 13th marked his return to competition. I know for most people Friday the 13th is considered a day of bad luck. However for us it marked the glorious return of Nadeem to our line-up. Against LC, Nadeem had the opportunity to play one of the top players in the conference (Vincent Groot). In fact Groot only has one NCAA III loss all year — that being a three set loss to PLU’s outstanding #1 player. Nadeem not only played beautiful tennis but he played with an incredible sense of passion. Being out the past month has made Nadeem hungry to play again. Against LC, Nadeem was unstoppable winning 6-2, 6-3.

Kudos to the rest of the team who shook off a hard week of school and were able to close out the LC 9-0 without dropping a set.

Whitman 9 LC 0

Earlier today we took on a determined Willamette squad. Willamette is a talented squad and has players in various positions that can play with any team in the conference. They have also been rock solid in doubles.

Even though I knew this would be a close match I decided to mix and match the line-up. I know I have mentioned this before but we are fortunate to have an incredibly deep and talented line-up. This is great not only in practices (which are a joy to watch and run) but in matches we have a horde of hungry guys chomping at the bit to play.

We started off with high energy doubles. At #3 Nadeem and Chris picked up where they left off on Friday winning 8-0. In the last two matches Nadeem and Chris have won two matches 8-0! In the world of men’s doubles that is no easy feat! At #2 Justin and Dan were down an early break 2-4 but rallied to win 8-6. At #1 doubles Christoph and Quin played their best (and smartest) doubles of the year winning 8-5.

At #1 singles Chris Bailey played aggressive, strong tennis defeating Willamette’s Cody Ferguson 6-1, 6-2. Even though Chris had a convincing win it was a pleasure to watch Ferguson play. Cody is a new transfer to the Willamette program and he showed why he is one of the top players in the conference.

One of the more entertaining sets of the day was at #2 where Dan Wilson won a very competitive 1st set 7-6 (8-6). I have to hand it to Dan, he has an amazing court presence. No matter the situation he works incredibly hard and always has a positive aura. About the only way I can tell that Dan is in a tight match is how hard he hits the ball. The closer the situation the bigger he hits. Dan ended up winning 7-6, 6-2.

The most competitive match of the day was Jake at #3. Last week Jake didn’t have the greatest court composure and it cost him against Linfield. One of Jake’s goals for this match (and our trip) is to improve upon his attitude on court. Today Jake was a brilliant leader for our team. After losing the 1st set 3-6 he continued to work hard but more importantly his aura was positive. Not only did he shake off the great play of his opponent but he showed great leadership supporting all his teammates. In the end Jake posted a solid 3-6, 6-3 6-1 victory. This is one of those matches that made me proud to be a coach. It is so gratifying to see the maturity and growth of players. Today Jake was a true team leader.

At #4 Adriel felt he didn’t play his best. However its hard to find fault in a 6-0, 6-0 victory! At #5 Jasper played a very talented and experienced Willamette player. In fact last year this player played #2 — infront of Willamette’s current #1, #2 and #3 players! Jasper was able to cruise to a 7-6, 6-2 victory. At #6 Christoph won 6-3, 6-4. I’ve been working with Christoph the past week on some changes to his game and it was nice to see him utilize some new tools.

Great start to our break the past couple days. Two matches and two 9-0 victories. More importantly we are playing with a renewed sense of purpose!

Whitman 9 Willamette 0