Here is today's update after a wonderful day of tennis. The weather stayed clear, but our thankfully decisive hosts who have run a great event so far made the early call to start indoors in Salem, OR.
The day began with Lauren getting a wake up call as she was entered into the singles draw to replace a sick player. She fought well in her first college match but fell to an experienced Lisa Harunaga from LC. Zoe played brilliant tennis to go up 3-0 on PLU's Ali Burnside before falling in straight sets. Her game has come so far and has plenty of potential to keep going. Charlotte had a tough match and after coming out strong, split sets with Whitworth's Janelle Talbot who took the match tie break for the third. Playing outdoors at Willamette, Amanda fought bravely but couldn't overcome a very tough Erica Bosman from Whitworth. Also outside was the heartbreak of the day as Emily owned last year's #1 player from George Fox for half a set before losing the first, she then re-asserted herself to dominate the second only to lose a close match tie break. Each match was a terrific display of the progress we've already made in this young season and I am thrilled to coach each of these players.
Our only singles player to split matches was an impressive Kate K-P, who won her first round riding a much improved first serve and her signature penetrating groundgame. She then battled #8 seed Mya Towne from Whitworth losing 6-2,6-2 with both sets being very competitive and terrific to watch as two speedy baseliners battled it out mixing consistency with opportunistic offense.
Two themes of the day were 1. Whitworth and 2. Match tie breaks. Hadley won her first match indoors then outside dropped her first set 4-6 to Whitworth's Katie Staudinger before storming through the second set only to find herself down 7-3 then 8-5 in the mtb before stringing together 5 beautiful points full of patience, confidence and terrific finishes to win 10-8. Alyssa Roberg shook off a nervous start to cruise 6-2,6-0 in round one and then she moved on to the round of 16 with a 6-2,6-3 win. Div was similar in her efficiency winning 6-0, 6-2 then 6-4, 6-0.
Doubles were awesome with Dena and Lauren hanging through most of a proset before getting edged by UPS's top team. There is a lot of good tennis ahead for both of these freshmen. Charlotte and Kate teamed up against a Willamette team and had trouble finding consistency, but showed that they too could be a formidable duo dropping their match 7-9.
The teams of Alyssa/Div and Hadley/Emily both cruised past Pacific teams to earn places in the round of 16 tomorrow.
Sunday's play will begin with singles round of 16 indoors in Salem at 8:30 with the quarters to follow and then two rounds of doubles in the afternoon.
The effort, teamwork and enjoyment was amazing today and we're looking to stay strong tomorrow.
John
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Coaching Philosophy
To me, being a college student is about opportunity and growth. As a coach, I consider myself lucky to spend 4 years providing opportunity while nurturing growth. We use common goals, hard work, open communication, respect and accountability as means to building meaningful relationships and improving each player’s skill set on and off the court. This means embodying championship virtues to inspire athletic, academic and personal growth that not only happens while you are at Whitman, but becomes a part of who you are throughout life.