First, I'm sorry for the lack of a recap of the Whitman Winter Classic Feb 27-Mar 1. It was a phenomenal event with 8 dual matches on campus in 3 days. We welcomed our friends from Whittier and UT Tyler, both coming in with preseason ITA national rankings of #38 and #39 respectively. I think its a great thing that the ITA has gone to ranking 40 teams nationally. It really showcases the depth and talent of DIII tennis. Speaking of depth, it was the Northwest Conference who really stepped up that weekend, going a combined 6-0 versus Tyler and Whittier. On the strength of those wins, both Lewis and Clark and Linfield have moved into the top 40 while we remain at #29, poised for an exciting spring break.
My first thank you goes to Dean Snider and Gregg Petcoff in our athletic department. Dean has been working tirelessly to move Whitman to a true student athlete model where our players are supported well in their athletics along with the tremendous classroom support they get at Whitman. This makes for an enhanced education and truly special experience, I know as hard as I worked at college tennis it would have been wonderful to have some of the support Whitman is now providing. I mention Gregg because as our sports communication director, he makes sure scores are posted, articles up, helps me with the live stream (though we are still working some things out, I think it worked well) and many other things to highlight and share what our team is doing. Also, on a weekend with matches morning to night, John Eckel, Nathan Fry and our training staff did an amazing job keeping everyone on the court playing, thanks guys!
It would be hard to have an amazing weekend of tennis without fans. To the Dobrin's, Gilbert's, Sigouin's, Alice, Mark and Sandy, all the students, faculty, staff, alums and friends in the Walla Walla community who make Whitman one of the most fun, exciting and positive venues for tennis in all of DIII, we can't thank you enough.
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Okay, moving on as we are near the weekend, which means one thing - more matches! After a well deserved weekend off, practices have been great gearing up for this weekends conference matches and next weeks big spring break trip to California! I'll provide the schedule here as I'll make an effort to post lots of photos, maybe some video and probably match by match postings this week.
We have a great schedule with UPS and PLU visiting Friday and Saturday followed by matches vs 4 nationally ranked teams on break. If you're in Southern California and haven't let me know already, I'd love to hear if you'll be at the matches, they should be terrific tennis!
Friday 6pm at home (note the time change) - University of Puget Sound - probably outdoors so no livestream
Saturday 1pm at home - Pacific Lutheran University - forecast is for rain so maybe indoors which would have livestream.
Monday 10am at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Bizantz Tennis Center - #6 Bowdoin
Wednesday 1pm at the Claremont Club - #17 La Verne
Thursday 10am at University High School, Irvine, CA - #30 Vassar
*after the Vassar match the team will host a BBQ for all families, friends, and fans so please contact me to RSVP
Friday 3pm at #22 Redlands
We hope to see you in CA, or have you follow us on our webpage, twitter, or facebook.
Coach John
heinj@whitman.edu
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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.