Whitman Women's Tennis

Everything is bigger in Texas...even contributions to the Team

2012-01-30T22:58:00.000-08:00

This week Courtney was nominated and voted for by her teammates as the Whittie of The Week, check out her award here and tell her congrats if you see her.

What a first week in Walla Walla!

2012-01-23T09:38:00.000-08:00

No, it's not the first week of the year; but it IS the first week of:
-school
-practice
-snow (and maybe the last as it is melting as I type)

Lot's went on this week as everyone got back. Many of us wrapped up an amazing Winter Youth camp while Erin endured a 10 day training and is now Wilderness First Responder certified! Lizzy took her senior written exams for Psychology (fingers crossed, though I'm sure she did great). Everyone got to return to campus and friends and the daily routine of training together. It's a lot of excitement to start, but on top of that, the Northwest was hit with a big storm and Walla Walla got some snow!

Our first Spring 2012 Whittie of the Week is Kate. Voted to have contributed the most to the team by her teammates, I'd say KKP was making up for lost time while studying the civil war in Gettysburg this fall, but really, this is what she brings every day with tremendous effort and enthusiasm. You can read more here.

We finished off this exciting week with a super fun trip to the Ice Chalet downtown and had team skating and dinner; check the flickr page as I am uploading photos right now.

Welcome back everyone, its going to be a great season of Whitman Tennis!

John

Remembering Dr. George Ball

2012-01-03T11:14:00.000-08:00

Dear Whitman Tennis Community,

If you have not yet heard, our dear friend, teacher and inspirational supporter Dr. Ball passed away January 1st. In my time at Whitman, I'm not sure I encountered anyone else who so embodied what makes this community so great. The words that come to mind when remembering George, and those that I hear and read when corresponding about him, are compassion, inspiration, support, kindness and other adjectives that only begin to tell of his bottomless well of compassion.

His impact on our team has been great, though some of our younger players may not have had the chance to talk with him, only to see him riding his bike up to the courts to watch a match and even practices. They didn't all know that every semester Dr. Ball would make a special trip to my office to inquire about the team, check up on our ability to compete and also on our character, and finally to provide loving encouragement for the upcoming season.

I'll very much miss this meeting in the coming weeks as we prepare for our spring campaign and even more so the helmet clad rider on his blue cruiser making his way through the campus where he taught, mentored and stimulated greatness for so many years.

Personally, I have been reluctant about social media, but reading posts from students online is a good reminder that Facebook and Googleplus can be wonderful ways to stay connected. Our team has a page at http://www.facebook.com/WhitmanWomensTennis

We will all certainly miss you George and know that you are in a good place.

~Coach John

Quickstart Tennis Workshop

2011-12-05T18:22:00.001-08:00

Happy December Everyone!

Here at Whitman we have two weeks of class between the week off for Thanksgiving and final exams for the Fall Semester. For most students this is a stressful time full of papers, exams, projects and hopefully a little bit of sleep in there. It goes against my nature as a coach to be in the offseason during an important time like this because I like to be involved and supportive of my players so not knowing day by day how they're doing and how their on court off season training is going is super tough for me.

Fortunately, I am blessed to have a team (and campus) of AMAZING students who not only have athletic and academic ability, but also a ton of compassion and community involvement. So, during the fall, we visit schools to provide free tennis lessons (with help from the guys team and club team this year!), we offer low cost clinics after school and we will host a fundraising camp January 9-13th in partnership with the City of Walla Walla Parks and Recreation. All of these activities provide the team with ways to give back to Walla Walla as well as enjoy tennis and pass it along to the next generation of players. But, if you ask the team, most of them just love working with kids and have a great time.

So, on Saturday, I hosted a USTA Quickstart Tennis Workshop. About half the team volunteered half of their Saturday to learn and improve their coaching skills, it was great fun and thanks to the USTA and Tracie who was an outstanding teacher. You can check out some pictures of us in the Bratton Tennis Center for the workshop. The link is here.

Thanksgiving Break

2011-11-18T17:21:00.001-08:00

As this week winds down and players leave Walla Walla for Thanksgiving break, we got together with the men's team at the Whitman Alumni House to enjoy each other's company and also a ton of food. We did a potluck with the guys and it was a lot of fun. Coach Jeff stepped up (with some help) to again provide photos, which you can view here.

Thanks Jeff!

Enjoy the holiday and hopefully time with family and friends.

Happy Thanksgiving from Walla Walla

Fall Rankings Out. Whitties In.

2011-11-07T10:02:00.000-08:00

The ITA has released Fall Rankings. In DIII these are the most difficult to gauge nationally because many teams (including us) have only played the Fall Regional USTA/ITA, and with the Scholar/Athlete model of DIII, many players are abroad in the fall and don't play (including our own Kate Kunkel-Patterson - not abroad, but studying the Civil War in Gettysburg, PA for the fall).

What we have done, is had a great showing at both the regional and national USTA/ITA tournaments, gaining a #3 singles ranking for Alyssa in the West region. In my time at Whitman, this is the highest singles ranking anyone has achieved so far and to get it Alyssa had to beat a player who went to the NCAA National Tournament last spring.

Another first in my tenure at Whitman is to have three players ranked in the top 20 in the West region! Joining Alyssa are first year Whitties Morgan Lawless at #12 had a great Fall Regional coming in unseeded before working her way through seeded players to the semis.

Courtney Lawless had a tremendous first tournament as well, taking the #1 seed to three sets in the quarterfinals of singles to earn a #19 spot in the West.

But...she wasn't done yet as she joined with Alyssa to uphold their #1 seed, win the Regional, travel to Alabama and go 2-2 at the national tournament to finish 6th and earn the #2 ranking in the West Region to start the year, again the highest doubles ranking in my four years at Whitman (and proabably since the 1980's when Whitman Hall of Famer Lynn Greer led the team to NCAA and NAIA nationals).

Alabama Recap - Whitties finish 6th at Nationals

2011-10-16T16:49:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone,
So, I thought I'd been diligent out in Mobile at the USTA/ITA small college National Championships, but thanks to my Mom who has never been a huge tennis fan but has ALWAYS been amazingly supportive, I realize that the last post I sent was after the play in day, so here is a synopsis of the event. Some pictures are on Jeff's flickr site here.

Winning the doubles play in was huge because it meant both players (Courtney and Alyssa) would play three matches and compete all week for the top 8 spots. This was combined with Whitman Sophomore Andrew LaCava winning a huge play in over the #4 player in the country so we had Whitman tennis morning and afternoon each day. As a coach I want this event to be both a great learning experience that will motivate the players to not only work on their own games, but so they can return home knowing what it takes to beat the best in the country and sharing it with the team.

The first round we had a pretty good draw as 4 teams are seeded and being unseeded we would have to play one of them. We got the #4 seed from Chicago. Two tremendous singles players, both seniors who had played with different partners in previous years. One was the anchor of a two time NCAA championship doubles team so we knew they would be good. However after losing some very long close games to get down in the first set then dropping it 0-6, Courtney and Alyssa stuck with their gameplan, stepped up the intensity and battled to 4-4 before losing a crucial game and then going down 6-0, 6-4. Using match tie breaks to decide the third, it was hard because we were so close to moving into the semis and the fight with our team was definitely there, but there is a reason that they were seeded as they stepped up at the right times and got some crucial points in a great second set.

After a break, we hit the courts again for a late afternoon tussle with University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. This team again had a very experienced senior who is a great doubles player but they came out flat and we ran away with the first set 6-1 playing decent tennis. Unfortunately, decent doesn't really cut it at nationals and UWW got energized and squeked out a break to start the second set, then held with by far their best service game of the day and they took the momentum from there to not let us back into the set. At 0-4, we fought and both Alyssa and Courtney made some good shots and started playing better as a team, but Whitewater was too much and took the set 6-0. So, into the match tie break, I felt good because of how we played the last two games and we got up 2-0 with terrific doubles. Then, a few mistakes had us down 2-4. Suddenly confident again, Whitewater stretched the lead to 2-7. Two solid points kept them from running away with it and it was 4-7 when they stepped up again to earn 5 match points 4-9. Usually NOT a good place to be in tennis, many players will resign themselves to the inevitable loss. I guess ShoPo and Claw have never met those people because after playing very well but being down 4-9 they stepped up even more and it was 5-9, then 6-9. Whitewater couldn't finish as we got stronger and stronger to 7-9, the momentum was clearly on our side to 8-9, then a side change at 9-9 and the feeling was all Whitman. Still, you have to earn it and a great return point followed by a strong serve and volley by Courtney and the improbable had happened, 7 straight points for and 11-9 win! I truly felt for the UWW team, but am so happy that Courtney and Alyssa never gave up and played each point as hard as they could and it paid off!

The final day of the tournament was a battle between the two West region teams, #2 seed from Claremont Mudd Scripps and our WhitWomen looking for an upset. This was a completely different match than any other, as it had the level of play of the Chicago match with both teams hitting great shots and winning points rather than making errors, but it also had a funky feel to it (which I didn't mention the UWW match was full of strange energy). The match was great at times and through spurts it kind of sputtered along but in between CMS did a terrific job doing what they do really well which is rely on great shotmaking and taking advantage of opportunities. I think if we had played more consistent 'good doubles' we could have definitely won this one, but that is easier said than done and while we'd like it back, the score was 6-2,6-2 CMS. Again, great fight from both Alyssa and Courtney as they demonstrated throughout the fall season.

As a team, they are right there with the top teams RIGHT NOW, but they also have a lot of room to grow and so coming off of this experience I look forward to them sharing with their teammates not only what the national level is like, but the confidence that Whitman tennis is on the map and can compete at a very high level. I also give them a ton of credit for how they worked together, supported each other and Andrew as he also claimed 6th in singles (though with an insanely tough draw, playing the 1,2,4 and 5 seeds going 2-2 and winning more games than anyone off the #1 player despite heat exhaustion in the second set when he was up a break).

So, what a way to start the season, we'll go into off season mode now and everyone will take to the courts, the weight room, the library and rest as needed and I'll just get more and more excited for the coming spring.

This weekend is family weekend at Whitman, so if you plan on being here let me know as I'd love to see you. Again, congrats to Alyssa and Courtney on a great nationals and the whole team on a truly outstanding fall campaign.

Best regards,
John

Play in day at the National USTA/ITA Tournament

2011-10-12T15:03:00.000-07:00

Hello from Mobile, Al. As the rest of the field from DIII, DII, NAIA and JuCo arrives to register, warm up and get ready for the tournament tomorrow, the Northwest and Southwest regional winners play off for the final spots in the draw of 8 for singles and doubles.

This is certainly better than all of the Texas teams coming to the PNW every other year and the Northwest teams going to Texas for the regional, but it is a long way for both players to travel and potentially go home. Fortunately, this year it was all Whitman and Trinity so both schools sent men's and women's singles and doubles champs. The day started on the men's side with Whitman Sophomore Andrew LaCava knocking off the #4 player in the country 6-36-1. Cava was awesome and beat a very good very experienced player, what a match by both guys who had both played in this situation before. On the court next to them Alyssa battled Trinity first year McKenzie Knoop. Both players displayed some amazing tennis but honestly it wasn't the cleanest match and McKenzie was a bit tougher at the right times beating Alyssa 6-2, 6-3. I'm excited to see how she does in the main draw as she's a very good young player.

In doubles, the same pair took to the court again with their partners Courtney for us and Stephanie Williamson for TU. After a dominating first game by Trinity, we fought to go up 2-1 and carried the momentum to 5-1 before a gutsy game found us up a set. The format here in doubles is 10 pt tie break for the third so we wanted to keep it going but they stepped up their game to go up a break 4-2 in the second. We held and broke back for 4-4, then held again for a 5-4 lead. Trying to break for the match we got down 0-30 before rolling off 4 straight points for the win. The last one was the longest point of the match with both teams executing great shots before we finally got the point and the win. Tons of credit to Trinity as it was gratifying to see some really good tennis from both sides.

Tomorrow, Courtney and Alyssa play at 1pm CST against the #4 seed from University of Chicago.

More to come from Mobile....
Coach John

Bama Bound Whitties

2011-10-10T16:02:00.000-07:00

Hello folks, I’m writing from the Denver Airport on a layover as we journey to Alabama for the USTA/ITA Small College nationals. Each day at the tournament I’ll try to provide twitter updates and recaps. It should be doable with no more than one singles match and two doubles matches per day, but with the Whitman guys competing and enjoying the atmosphere of national competition, I do sometimes get caught up in things and certainly have trouble tweeting without any help from the team.

Here are some links to follow the tournament, on Wednesday at 10am Alyssa plays McKenzie Knoop from Trinity University (TX) for a spot in the final 8. After the two rest, they will take the court again with their doubles partners –enter Courtney Lawless - for the doubles play in which is scheduled at noon but will most likely start a bit later. All times Central.

Whitman Webpage
ITA Webpage

Whitman Wins Singles and Doubles Titles at USTA/ITA Regionals

2011-10-04T12:53:00.000-07:00

Hello all,

It was an amazing trip to Salem, OR this weekend. First, I was impressed with the teams preparation, not just on court, but off in getting ahead on schoolwork, taking and preparing for exams and writing papers. So, needless to say the drive over had some sleepy Whitties.

Fortunately, a visit with alums Divneet Kaur and Hadley DeBree and some amazing food in Portland perked us up and after soon after getting to Salem, it was off to bed for early Saturday matches. Saturday, the forecasted rain held off and we played almost two rounds of singles all outdoors with first round wins from Alyssa, Courtney, Morgan, Emily, and Olivia in the match of the round for us as she split sets and got down in the match tie break before battling back to an 11-9 win, but I guess I've already written about that....so on to day 2.

Sunday the courts were wet and we hoped to get outside but it just never happened, so we had everyone at one club in the morning with great round of 16 perfomances by Alyssa beating a talented first year player from UPS 6-0,6-0, Morgan downing Willamette's #2 player and 8th seed Sabrina Guiterrez 6-2,6-4 and Courtney handling Kaila Nip from Linfield, the first year who beat Emily in round 2 6-0,6-0. Alyssa and Morgan continued their path to a semifinal showdown with wins over Shannon Palmer from Willamette (#6 seed) and unseeded but tough Caroline Brigham from Linfield. Courtney, however ran into defending finalist and former champion Abby Olbrich from Linfield who was seeded #1. This proved to be one of the best matches of the day with Abby bringing amazing intensity from the start, jumping out to a one set lead. Courtney, stayed composed and made the adjustments she needed to to win the second set 6-3, but Abby won the big points and close games in the third to take the match. Everyone who watched knows that there will be a ton of great tennis from our tough Texan.

And....those people didn't have to wait long because the doubles began with C Law and Alyssa rolling to the finals with 8-1 and 8-3 wins over quality teams from LC and Willamette, what a showing from the first year and her junior parter! Our other main draw team of Emily and Morgan faced the #2 seeds from Linfield and the doubles was very good, but some big plays from Linfield had them down a break 0-3. From then, Morgan held and it was on serve (maybe trading a break) to 4-8 which showed that Em and Morgan can play with anyone in the conference (which I knew from practice, but is great to see in a match).

Meanwhile, on the other side of town, the consolation doubles began and ended with back to back to back to back 8 game prosets. First year Whitties Erin and Maddy fired up their intensity and aggressive doubles to roll into the semis where they played great quality but lacked the consistency to beat a good team from George Fox. All in all, not only was it a wonderful learning experience for these two, but they can absolutely play at this level and if its even possible to be more positive and fired up than they are every day, I think we'll see that in the upcoming months! Our final doubles tandem was the reunion of last years #3 team of Lizzy and Hannah. Whoa, they were good last year, but with the same communication and improved movement, shots and confidence, they absolutely stormed through the consolation bracket, fighting hard when their opponents played well and taking it to them when they didn't. I love seeing Whitman out there late in the day battling for championships and it is even more gratifying when you see that all the hard work these players put into growing their games pays off, congrats to Lizzy and Hannah!

Ok, Monday. Day 3...Semis...finals...championships. In a first for me as a coach, on the final day I did no coaching in the morning as the team watched from the balcony above and Morgan and Alyssa played a very high level of tennis against each other. Weathering a very strong start from her first year teammate, Alyssa managed to get to 3-3 in the first and then settled in from there to win the match 6-3,6-0, which was really all Alyssa because Morgan may have let up a tiny bit, but her tennis was very good to the end, I was so proud of both of them. Alyssa then moved on to a final showdown with Linfield's Abby Olbrich. In a battle of the 1 and 2 seeds, this time it was Alyssa whose fitness and consistency were absolutely fabulous. The ballstriking and court coverage by both players was unreal and it seemed as if almost every game was very close, and certainly every point was a contest of will, strategy and skill. Alyssa was tremendous at playing her game the entire time and it paid off in a 6-2,6-4 win and a trip to Mobile, Alabama to represent the Northwest at the USTA/ITA Small College Nationals! She'll also gain her first singles all-American status to go with last years doubles honor.

Speaking of doubles, the day wasn't done as Courtney was hungry for more tennis and she and Alyssa again played Abby Olbrich, this time with partner Caroline Brigham. It was a really good match, I actually can't describe it too well except to say that all 4 players executed very well and while there were some nervous shots at times, whichever of the 4 players hit it, bounced right back with great tennis. The team play of our #1 seeded team at the end of each set came through as they earned a 7-6 (2), 6-4 win. The chemistry between them was great and they communicated and moved very well. So well, that they will keep moving on to Mobile where they will compete at nationals.

I'll post more details on next weeks event, but for now, its a day of rest and then back to practice both with our new All-Americans as well as the rest of the team who did a fabulous job playing, supporting, and getting to know each other even better. This is truly a special group and seeing the new players personalities on the road for the first time is always a highlight for me and this group was unreal with how much they cared for each other, respected each other and enjoyed each others company right from the start.

Thanks to Katie Oost and Hadley DeBree for acting as assistant coaches for the weekend, you were both amazing. Also to Div, the Rolstons, Jen, Liz Bates and the Robergs for cheering, running errands and making this a fun family weekend for all!

Sorry to you alums who I missed in Walla Walla, let's all keep in touch about future events!

My very best to you all,

John "Proud of each Amazing Student Athlete" Hein

Day 1 Recap From the USTA/ITA Regional

2011-10-02T00:04:00.000-07:00

Today's big fall tournament got off to a great start for our team with strong performances in singles and doubles. Alyssa led the way in singles winning two matches to go through to the round of 16. Joining her there are Courtney and Morgan. Tomorrow at 830, Courtney plays Linfield first year Kaila Nip who took out Emily in the the second round while Morgan goes against Sabrina Gutierrez of Willamette. Soon after will be Alyssa against the winner of Kiana Nip and UPS first year Kira Kearsley.

Other Whitties to make it through the first round were of course Emily and Olivia in thrilling fashion, winning a close first set where she stayed super composed, then after dropping a second set and going down 6-9 in the super tie break for the third came back to win 11-9 for her first win at a Fall USTA/ITA tournament! Hannah was nearly as fortunate after jumping to a one set lead over George Fox's Shaina Inn before splitting and losing an extremely tough and well played super tie break 8-10. Then, HP took care of business in the first round of consolation while Lizzy and Hadley fell in first round matches and bounced back for big wins in the consolation bracket playing 8 game pro sets.

In doubles, first years Erin and Maddy had amazing energy and played really good tennis but a few very close shots and points had their Whitworth opponents out to a quick 4-0 lead. From there, each game was hard fought with both teams earning points rather than making unforced errors, but some great shotmaking by Whitworth and a couple missed opportunities found us down 0-7. Not to be deterred, Erin served big, down match point hitting a huge ace on a second serve, then holding and breaking for 2-7 before Whitworth finished it 8-2. There is a lot of game in these two and I can't wait to see them continue developing because they are both great players and do so much with their maturity and leadership already.

More first year leadership was found in Courtney and Morgan who each teamed up with upperclassmen(women?) for two rounds of dominating doubles to put both teams in the quarterfinals. Again, they do it on and off court as they know how to compete and have fun and it is wonderful for me to be on the road and see even more of their personalities and poise.

We were at two sites, so I did not watch Hannah and Lizzys doubles but Coach Hadley reported they had a great streak of high level play but early and late spells knocked them out in the first round, though I love seeing that their level is as high or higher as a team than it was at any time last year, which is so exciting.

More tomorrow if I'm not too tired; and I'm loving the families/alums and supporters who are here with us, this is starting off to be a wonderful tournament and we hope to continue it tomorrow.

John

Fall USTA/ITA Regional Starts Tomorrow for Whit Women

2011-09-30T08:45:00.000-07:00

Well, we're off today for Salem, OR and the Fall USTA/ITA Regional Championship tournament.

This is a singles and doubles tournament with all of our conference schools competing. I love it as a way to showcase the hard work we've done over the summer and in the fall as well as seeing how we stack up with the conference both in terms of our returners improvement and our new players making their mark on college tennis.

We'll be competing with 8 singles players: Alyssa, Courtney and Morgan Lawless, Emily, Hadley, Olivia, Hannah and Lizzy. First years Maddy Webster and Erin Minuth will debut in doubles.

Alyssa is the #2 seed in singles and teams up with #5 seed Courtney as the #1 seeded doubles team in the draw. Em and Morgan go in as the #6 seed in Doubles and Lizzy and Hannah renew their successful partnership from last spring.

It should be a super fun event with some families and alums in attendance, if you're near Salem, we will play at Willamette and Salem Swim and Tennis if it is dry and the indoor backup is the Courthouse Tennis club.

I'll send as many twitter updates as I can manage (maybe with some help).

More to come as the competition begins!

John

Another Senior Voted Whittie of the Week

2011-09-27T18:53:00.000-07:00

The first couple weeks of fall practice are amazingly exciting and hectic. New players are adjusting to college life and college tennis (and in our case, they are all doing a tremendous job on court and seem to be loving Whitman), returners are honing their games knowing that the Fall USTA/ITA regionals are coming up and that midterms are around the corner and everyone is pushing themselves and the team to be the best physically, mentally and technically that we can be.

It doesn't really matter what time of year it is because week in and week out Emily contributes in so many ways. Off court, she is always leading, having fun and doing things like driving to Friday practice or volunteering her Saturday to help shuttle players for the men's ITA. She's always great on court too, but this week she did an outstanding job staying really focused in singles and doubles, bringing hers and everyone else's level up. Great work as the Whittie of the Week Em!

Whittie of the Week - Lizzy

2011-09-13T15:13:00.000-07:00

Check out this weeks Whittie of the Week. Our weekly award for the Whitman player who has made outstanding team contributions during the week. Nominees are put forth and the team votes on this, and our first week of fall practice we had stellar performances by so many players and and there is great camaraderie, support and leadership on this team so it was super tough to get down to even a few nominees, but Lizzy had a terrific week to nab the first award of the fall, great job Liz!

So much going on at Whitman

2011-09-07T14:10:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the blog hiatus, but we're back in school, back at practice and so I'll move away from my usual style and give you some bullet points on all that's happening with Whitman Tennis

- School has begun! While summer weather continues and Whitties enjoy being outside, they are also back to work in the classroom. So many players on the team have exciting things to report from the classroom. It was terrific to see returners come back and welcome 5 new first years and see their families in Walla Walla.

- Fall practice has begun! It's so much fun to see everyone back on campus, but better yet, we hit the courts this week for our first practices. There is certainly a lot of work to be done, but I couldn't be more thrilled with both the level of play from everyone for the first couple days and even more for the effort and enthusiasm to be together as a team and work hard to improve our tennis.

- In what is becoming a fall tradition, we went berry picking with the men's team. This is a terrific way to get off campus, see the amazing landscape changes and beauty that are a highlight of living here and just spend time getting to know each other and reconnect after the summer. Some highlights were the hospitality of Biology Professor Delbert Hutchison, Kathleen and the whole family who welcomed us to their home/horse ranch along the Walla Walla river outside Milton-Freewater in Oregon. Another was Coach Jeff's cooking. He has become a dutch oven master and this time prepared chicken and veggie pad thai over the fire in dutch ovens for two whole tennis teams and it was delicious, thanks Jeff! While dinner was cooking, everyone walked up and down the river to find the ripest blackberries to take home, but there were plenty there to do some dutch oven cobblers to finish off the evening eating and hanging out around the fire. Jeff took a ton of pictures that you can view on this link

- I also started a facebook page for the team, and while I'm learning very slowly, I've been able to post some updates and photos for different things there, it is at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Whitman-Womens-Tennis/155654211167580

Two AMAZING Tennis Opportunities this Summer

2011-06-09T00:13:00.000-07:00

I've had the links to these camps up on my blog for some time, but if you read these as emails only, then please click on http://www.missionarytennis.blogspot.com/ and follow the camp links to find out more about two really exciting camps we're offering this year.

The first is an ELITE JUNIOR CAMP, which is aimed at preparing junior players for their big mid summer tournaments as well as providing Whitman prospects an opportunity to train with Coach Jeff and I using our amazing tennis facilities here at Whitman. This one is coming right up, so if you know any interested players, please have them contact me right away to get them signed up before time runs out.

The second is an inaugural fundraiser for Whitman Men's and Women's tennis, but I think it is going to be an absolute treat for everyone involved. It is an adult tennis and wine camp. The idea to spend a few days in Walla Walla on court with myself, Jeff Northam, and super coach Greg Patton from Boise State and US National team fame followed by daily wine events, tastings and catered meals is going to be a blast. You can contact me if you're interested, or Jeff as instructed on the info sheet.

PLEASE, pass this onto friends and family as we very much want to make both camps huge successes so that we can continue to develop them and offer them each year as our successful and storied programs continue to grow and develop.

I hope you are having a wonderful start to your summer,

John
heinj@whitman.edu
(509) 527-5262 ofc
(509) 301-8502 cell

Elise named 2011 Mignon Borleske Winner as top Student Athlete

2011-05-12T08:01:00.000-07:00

-photo link here-

Hi everyone,

While our season was still going I didn't want to start looking back because we were focused on the tasks at hand, but now that we are done and finals are starting, I think I should share a few things about Elise as her Whitman tennis career comes to a close. One of our programs most successful players ever, Elise won over 110 matches on her way to 4 first team All-NWC awards, twice being named an ITA/NCAA doubles All-American, once a singles All-American, a 5 time NWC student athlete of the week, several time Whittie of the Week as voted by her teammates as well as being voted NWC Sportswoman of the year for women's tennis as a senior.

This on court success, combined with everything she has done for the team, the campus, and our community has earned her this year's Mignon Borleske award. At Whitman, the Mignon Borleske and Borleske awards are given to the senior student athlete who exemplifies the ideal student athlete at Whitman. This means success in competition, leadership, scholarship and contributions to their community.

Along with Elise's tennis, she has grown into a mature and well rounded leader who sets an outstanding example for her teammates, encourages them with passion and understanding and mentors them is a way that is both compassionate and holds them accountable. It has been a wonderful process to see these attributes develop in Elise over the past few years. She's always had a huge heart, an immense amount of passion for Whitman tennis and a love of fun that is contagious; and each year she became more comfortable using these talents to help create a team environment that I am so proud to be a part of. This year, our team returned 4 players from last year and each one of them absolutely was instrumental in raising our level of communication, teamwork, and competitiveness and Elise was so often at the forefront of these things.

Away from the team she has been involved in more things at Whitman than I can usually remember. I use her as an example with recruits of what is possible in DIII tennis, though I am always careful to tell them that very few people can pull off so much activity while maintaining and improving their academics and tennis. Elise has been involved in the student newspaper, radio, club ultimate frisbee, outdoor program leadership, volunteering and working as a coach, taking extra courses almost every semester, doing summer academic research and professional presentations and when she took a fall off to travel, instead of studying abroad she took a leave of absence to volunteer at an orphanage in Mexico.

The competition was tough, as so many Whitties are just flat out amazing people and this year was no exception with her fellow nominees all being incredibly deserving with their athletic scholastic and leadership qualities, but having won this award gives me a chance to share just how special Elise is to our program, how much we will miss her as we wish her the best upon graduation and how her legacy will no doubt carry our team forward for years to come.

Thanks Twitch.
John

Walla Walla Youth Tennis Connections

2011-05-05T16:31:00.000-07:00

Hello all, so we're done with our season and it has been a blast. One of the great things I enjoy during the summer is coaching local kids in our City of Walla Walla Parks and Rec programs and two of my tennis students, Alyssa & Alexis Stremcha, entered a national video contest by Dairy Queen to win one of 6 Mini Coopers. Of the thousands of videos that were entered, they made the TOP 24!!!!!!! Between now & the next week and a half, the final 6 winners will be determined by America’s vote. All voting is done via FaceBook. I am asking that everyone who has a FaceBook account to please go & vote for my students to win a car! Please post it to your FaceBook account & tell all your friends. The more people who know, the more votes they get! The more votes they get, the higher chance of winning a car! PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE vote today, these are great kids and this is a super cute video! Thanks!
Coach John

How To Vote:

1. Log in to www.dairyqueen.com.

2. Scroll to “Vote For The Best Mini Treatment Video”.

3. Click “Go”.

4. Scroll down page to “Mini Blizzard Celebration” by Ross Stremcha.

5. Click “Vote”.

6. Login to Facebook. (You must have a FaceBook account to vote)

7. Click “Allow” on ‘Request For Permission’.

How To Post To Your Wall:

1. Check box to ‘Share On Your Wall’ & then type the following directions on ‘Post To Your Wall’. This is important because it clearly tells your friends what to do so they can vote successfully.

*Directions: To vote, click on the video title. It will take you to the video page. Click the red box “Vote For This Video”. Write “please vote” in the comment box. Click ‘add comment’. Copy & paste the * directions in the ‘Post To Your Wall’ box.

2. Click “Publish”.

3. Thanks for voting!!!!!!

THE OJAI

2011-05-01T17:00:00.000-07:00

This past week we finished the team portion of our season, but we weren't finished yet as we entered our two sophomores Alyssa and Kate into the historic Ojai Tournament in Southern California. It is a HUGE tourney with great history in its 111th year! Ojai was also named USTA tennis town USA as the finals of all draws are played at Libbey Park, a public facility that each year hosts this amazing event. Draws include the Pac-10 championships, Independent Colleges, DIII men, Junior colleges, juniors, and the CIF high school championships. There used to be a DIII women's draw but for several years we've competed in the Independent singles with DII and NAIA schools. You can read about the Ojai and find links to all the draws on their site at http://ojaitourney.org/

Alyssa's mom and cousin came down and so we had a small cheering section as ShoPo breezed through her first round against Cal Lu's Jordan Leckness. Kate started strong on serve with UCSC's #2 player, senior Taylor Mannix, but at 2-3 was broken and never really recovered with Taylor taking 9 straight games to win 6-0,6-2. The tennis was close and Kate showed she has all the tools to compete at a very high level and this match and this weekend should really help her in getting her match play to the next level.

Soon after her match, Alyssa went on for her second round against Natalie McNall, the 16 seed and one of the top players at Azusa Pacific University, currently the #6 team in the nation in NAIA. Natalie is also #31 nationally in her division. Alyssa came out well but couldn't quite hold serve, then Natalie took it to her for a couple games to go up 2 breaks 4-0. The 4th game was much better on Natalie's serve, then Alyssa held and was up I believe 15-30, maybe 15-40 when she hit a forehand and then turned her ankle. In her two years, I have seen her tough out minor injuries, but this was a bad sprain so she retired from singles and we pulled them out of doubles.

Luckily, nothing was broken and despite hobbling around on crutches, not playing doubles and having a fair bit of pain and swelling (sausage toes on the plane home), Alyssa and Kate had a great couple of days taking in the great tennis from the Men's DIII draw where Andrew and Conor competed as well as watching some Pac 10 singles at Libbey Park. The atmosphere of this tournament is special, the level of play is high and I know that these two will bring back a wealth of excitement and experience as they lead our team as upperclassmen.

For now, its really nice to be back home in Walla Walla, I hope you're all enjoying your Spring out there.

John

What a way to spend a day!

2011-04-26T01:17:00.000-07:00

Happy belated Easter to all who celebrate it. We had a special treat for the team this year, and while many of the players spent time with family, friends or just enjoyed a day to be outside or do schoolwork; we were invited a few days ago by the men's team to join them for a rafting trip.

This was rare indeed as Grant and Lottie from Minam Raft Rentals provided us with all the gear and joined us on a day long, 39 mile float of the Wallowa and Grande Ronde Rivers. 4 guys from the men's team, 3 of our team, myself, men's assistant Jake Cappel and head coach Jeff Northam got up early and drove up into the Blue Mountains for a day on the water.

We had 3 rafts and Grant took an inflatable Kayak, there were lots of fun (but not too intense - class 2 I think) rapids and the scenery was amazing. We saw more bald eagles than people and Lizzy spotted a brown bear that she, Olivia and Hannah all saw on the shore. With tons of amazing scenery and great company it was such a fun day.

Again, thanks so much to Jeff and especially Grant and Lottie, you can check out their webpage at http://www.minamraftrentals.com/ to get an idea of where we were and better yet, to plan a trip for yourself. I can't wait to go back.

Jeff took some great photos that you can view on his flickr page at http://www.flickr.com/photos/77626588@N00/sets/72157626572098508/, while I took a few shots as well http://www.flickr.com/photos/tennislove/sets/72157626447681619/

~John

NWC Tournament wrapup

2011-04-17T23:06:00.000-07:00

Well, its been a day now, and I've reflected a lot upon our tournament semifinal vs. Linfield which ended in a 5-2 loss to end our dual match season. Overall, I'm really happy with how we played, the effort, support and intensity were all there and we certainly didn't give the match away so I give a ton of credit to a very tough Linfield team for taking it.

The match began on Whitworth's 3 outdoor courts with doubles and mid way through we got rained on and moved indoors into the bubble that covers the other 3 courts they have. After several years of the tournament being in Yakima, the transition to having it on campus was very smooth thanks to great efforts by our hosts in Spokane and even though we were not at one of our own campuses, the match had a great atmosphere to it. In the doubles, Elise and Alyssa came out on fire, efficiently going up 5-0 or 6-0, then holding on as Linfield made a run to win 8-4. This was key because after close games to start, a combination of solid play from very experienced 2 and 3 Wildcat teams and some nerves from us led to two losses so #1 really kept us in it.

This year, we have had tremendous contributions from everyone in singles so we knew it would be a tight match and it lived up to that expectation with Kate and Elise winning their first sets while Alyssa fought a seesaw match at #1 where she went up 5-4, down 6-5 and played brilliantly to get into a tie break only to go down 0-5. True to form, she reeled off several big points to knot it at 6-6 before it slipped away 8-6. Kate's opponent found her game at #3 and as they split, Elise won her match to tie the score at 2-2. From their the tennis was close and hardfought with Kate going up a break 3-2 in the third before losing 6-3. Alyssa was again super close in her set before going down 7-6, 6-4, so now we were facing our last chances with Emily, Lizzy and Hannah on court all needing to win. HP got us going with another solid showing at 6, winning the first set 6-2. Emily lost her first by the same score, but after the first couple of games had worked out what she needed to do and the second set promised to be a matter of how consistently she would execute her shots (and she was looking good). Unfortunately, it never got that far as Lizzy faced senior Sarah Click who was incredibly fired up and came out serving huge and really attacking very well. By the time Lizzy got her bearings on Sarah's serve, the match was very far along and a quick Linfield win sealed things and halted Emily and Hannah's matches.

Today, Linfield went on to upset (slightly, their earlier match was 5-4) the #1 seeded Pirates from Whitworth, so as well as we played, we ran into the hot team early. I am so proud, however, of our efforts. Throughout the season we faced many challenges and I can say with complete conviction that the ability of this group of young women to respond, stay positive and enjoy each moment was as incredible as I've experienced since my playing days on an amazing National Championship team at UC Santa Cruz.

It was inspiring to have a great atmosphere and the cheering and support of all the families, friends and fans who supported us was unbelievable, so thanks to everyone who cheered, emailed and called to wish us well.

I also want to give a very special thanks to Coach Jeff Northam and the Whitman Men's tennis team as they prepare for a trip to NCAA regionals after winning their tourney at home today; not every team is fortunate enough to share courts with such a special team. From the day I set foot on campus at Whitman, Jeff and these young men have been gracious, polite and open to us and there is a feeling that the two teams are not only supporting each other but also pushing one another to be our best. The Squirrels give us a great example of how to do things and we certainly appreciate their presence in making Whitman a wonderful place to play tennis.

Good luck to Whitman and Linfield in representing the NWC at the NCAA's!

Coach John

Whit Women head to Spokane for Conference Tournament

2011-04-14T09:18:00.000-07:00

Hello all,

We're headed up to Spokane where Whitworth hosts the four team NWC championship for the automatic qualifying bid to the NCAA tournament. We play in the second semifinal of the day on Saturday vs. Linfield.

Here is the schedule:

Sat 10am : #1 Whitworth vs. #4 Willamette
Sat 2pm: #3Whitman vs. #2 Linfield

I won't be blogging as the conference will have live stats thanks to our hosts up at Whitworth, so check out the webpage at http://www.whitworth.edu/Athletics/Teams/TennisWomen/Releases/2011/NWCTourn.htm

The team is really looking forward to the opportunity to compete with the only two teams who defeated us this year as well as another who we had an exciting 5-4 match with. If you are in Spokane and planning to come, please let me know as we always appreciate your support!

ALSO: I can't forget to mention last week's Whittie of the week, Kate! Wolvie was ferocious in locking down two three set singles wins last weekend, but more than that, she set the tone with her work on the court and in the classroom last week and the team rewarded her for it.

MORE REWARDS: Elise was AGAIN named NWC student athlete of the week! Congrats to Twitch who just couldn't let fellow Whitman senior Etienne Moshevich (an amazing player and huge leader on our men's team) get all the glory as he scored back to back honors a few weeks ago. Both student athletes are representing Whitman so well as they lead their teams to the post season.

Amazing Finish to the Regular Season

2011-04-10T09:49:00.000-07:00

Wow, what a terrific final weekend to our conference schedule. We needed one win to clinch the third seed and a spot in the conference tournament, so results were important, but we always talk about focusing on the process and I am so happy with how well this team has bought in, committed, and gotten stronger all year long. It definitely paid off this weekend, with three great matches in two days to send us into conference knowing we're playing great tennis, but also that we've already accomplished so much this season.

After being sent off with awesome road care packages from our buddy swim team (thanks WC Swimming!) we drove to the Seattle/Tacoma area on Thursday afternoon, stopping for a wonderful meal in Yakima at Kate's house. Thanks so much for fueling us up and sharing the warmth of your home Annie!

Friday morning, we hit the courts at Robinswood Tennis Center where coach Jason Chapman has worked to build a very good community college team at Bellevue CC. We wanted to get matches for everyone so we weren't at our strongest in terms of lineup, but we sent out a great team and Bellevue was super solid as they took it to us in some spots, but in most matches there were battles. Some notable ones were two and three doubles as well as Olivia at 6 singles who was down 1-5, lost the first 5-7 then had to stop the match so we could be on time for our PLU match. Hadley split sets at #5 losing a marathon 10-7 match tie break and I can't tell you how much her game is coming together. No doubt the match of the day was at #1 singles where a very athletic and complete player in Anissa Bryant Swift went toe to toe with our three time all-American Elise. Twitch dug deep to win the first set in a tiebreak, played amazing but lost in the second set as Anissa blended big offense with amazing defense before Elise took the match in a match tie break, it was really fun tennis all around with Maggie and Leah playing outside and the rest spread out inside.

Twitch had a great weekend in singles and doubles to lead us

So, we were definitely warmed up when we hit the outdoor courts at PLU for the first time in my tenure at Whitman. With the same 1/2 doubles of Elise/Emily and Lizzy/Hannah and then Kate and Oliva at 3, we got the sweep 8-4, 8-2, and 8-4. Up 3-0, Emily cruised 6-1,6-1 to extend the lead. Maggie was down a set at #5 and composed herself to really fight out a good second set, losing it 5-7, but it was important for her to be able to rally and reset herself after the first set got away which was great to see. After a strong first set, Lizzy had a strange stomach pain which limited her movement and she lost in three. Kate was down a set at #2 and Elise at #1 and Hadley at #6 were both up a set so we were in a good position to clinch but PLU looked like they were gaining some momentum. As the points and games at #1 got longer, Hadley rallied for a second set tiebreak to win at #6 6-3, 7-6 (4) to clinch the match; then Elise followed and finally Kate battled out the second set and the match tie break for a well fought and well deserved 7-2 win. Leah and Olivia also played prosets and both players showed great confidence in their shots, working the points well and using their weapons smartly to both win. We had a great day in tennis and the team deserves all the credit, but we were definitely aided by the support and healthy tasty snacks provided by Liz Bates, thanks!

With the #3 seed clinched and Alyssa still sitting out all weekend to make up individual match dates from the Fall National ITA tournament and the upcoming Ojai tournament, we knew that we could cruise into the conference tournament, or we could stick to our habits and really focus on the final match against a dangerous young PLU team who knocked off a shorthanded Willamette recently.

I can't say how happy I am with this final performance. As a program grows you need to see the benefits of your hard work and belief in the team process. Yesterday, that happened as we got out to a strong start in doubles winning at #1 with Elise and Em and #2 with Lizzy and Hannah. #3 was a winnable match, but an experienced UPS team played the more solid and aggressive tennis to salvage an important point and keep the match close going into singles where they are much deeper than they were last year.

Kate was a two time three set hero this weekend

As Elise efficiently got us up 3-1, they showed their depth winning at 3, 4 and 6 over Emily, Lizzy and Maggie in straight sets. Em and Liz both struggled a bit after big doubles wins, but Maggie in a rematch of one of her first matches at #6 definitely played better tennis, but so did her opponent. What was key to me was that all three players fought all the way through, keeping the match intensity and belief high. This would have been an absolute easy time for us to fold, down 4-3 with the two matches on being Kate who lost the first 1-6 at #2 to Jenna Gerdsen and Hannah who lost a close first set 5-7 to Ada Yu at #5. Both players kept their heads, played their tennis and enjoyed terrific support from their teammates. You could feel the momentum as first HP hit a screaming backhand return winner to take the second set 6-4 and was up early in the third when Kate won her second 6-4. Kate was on serve 0-1, 1-2 etc all the way to 3-4 when Hannah closed out her match 6-4 in the third in a game with probably a dozen deuces full of match points and points for 5-5. Kate had just held for 4-4 so without time to celebrate Hannah's great win, all eyes moved to court 2 where the match would be decided. Kate was just looking stronger and stronger as the match went on and she secured the break to go up 5-4 serving for the match where she won with one of the most convincing holds of the day from any court. Sandwiched between KKP and HP, Had and Leah were able to get in valuable exhibition matches.

What a day, what a weekend, what a regular season. I honestly can't imagine being more proud of what this group has done. We certainly have room to improve, but both the quality of tennis and amazing team effort shows how much we've learned from the very challenging season we've had.

When I have a schedule for the NWC tournament this weekend at Whitworth, I'll send it out, but for now I'm going to enjoy the success of a wonderful season so far.

All our best,
Coach John and Whitman Women's Tennis

Couldn't help myself, a must share.

2011-04-07T13:52:00.000-07:00

I don't want to flood your inbox, but as I'm constantly reminded by coaching mentors, this job is about people and the relationships built on the team, so I cant' help sharing two things:

1. This weeks Whittie of the Week voted on by the team is a tie between first year's Olivia and Hadley, congrats! Read about them here.

2. This link to a recent school newspaper article on a day in the life of a student athlete may not be representative of everyone on the team, but between Twitch's perspective on life and her senior choice of crazy spandex for her last home match, it fully represents the individuality and fun that we strive to cultivate on this team.

http://whitmanpioneer.com/sports/2011/04/07/day-in-the-life-women%E2%80%99s-tennis-senior/

Ok, off to the Westside for matches this weekend at Bellevue, PLU and UPS!
~John

Not just fun for the kids

2011-04-06T09:38:00.000-07:00

Just a quick note to plug a few great fundraisers that Whitman is doing to support our athletic programs:

First Annual Tennis and Wine Camp, with Coach Jeff, Greg Patton from Boise State, and myself. This should be a terrific combination of food, wine, fun and of course great tennis, with proceeds benefiting Whitman Women's and Men's Tennis. Click here for info.

Second Annual W Club Golf Tournament at the Wine Valley Golf Club in Walla Walla. If you're a W Club member you know about this already. I was out of town for last years event, but look forward to hitting the links to support WC athletics this year. Click here to download the brochure or here for registration and tournamnet info.

If you can't make the Golf tournament, but love visiting Walla Walla and golfing while you enjoy time with Whitman students, the beautiful country, food and wine that we offer, you can email me to buy a raffle ticket through Women's tennis. They are $10 and the top prize is a Walla Walla weekend at a great house and free rounds at all the local courses including the Wine Valley Course (YES, graduation weekend is ok!). Any tickets I sell benefit Women's tennis directly so send me an email (heinj@whitman.edu) and I'll get you in the raffle!

What better ways to support such dedicated student-athletes than by enjoying all the W2 has to offer.

Best wishes always,
-Coach John

Close loss at Whitworth

2011-04-05T00:33:00.000-07:00

Sorry it took a while to get this out, but after a busy weekend it was nice to have a day off back in Walla Walla.

After a great finish to the home season vs Pacific we trekked up to Spokane for a match with conference leader Whitworth. The final score ended the same as in Walla Walla with a 6-3 Whitworth win, but we had definite progress in several areas. In doubles, Elise and Alyssa got down early and fought well to get back on serve before dropping a close 8-6 proset. At 2, Em and Kate came out a bit tight going down 0-5 before making a good match out of it but losing 8-2. Three doubles kept us in it with Hannah and Lizzy stepping up for an 8-5 win. We also got in an exhibition proset with Hadley and Olivia playing.

Elise started us off strong with a straight set win at #2 and Kate ran into a tough opponent at #3 losing in straight sets. Down 3-2, Emily came on and fired up the Whitman supporters with a huge effort to win 7-6, 6-4 with the first set tiebreak being a tightly contested 8-6. Speaking of close tiebreaks, Alyssa won the first set with an 8-6 tiebreak win for herself. At this point Lizzy had started completely on fire up 3-0 in the first set and we were looking great. The #1 match was terrific tennis and each point and game was long and well played and both players showed that their tennis keeps getting better and better. I feel great about where Alyssa is at even though she lost in 3. The same goes for Lizzy who after her hot start cooled off going down in two sets, still she is making definite improvements in her game and her hard work in practice will keep paying off.

Speaking of improvements, I was so happy to get in exhibition singles for Maggie and Leah. Both played tough experienced college players and improved from previous exhibitions on the scoreboard as well as with some of the things they've worked on.

The last match of the day was Hannah at 6 and it was a very good match as she lost 6-4, 7-5. I'm really proud of the way HP stayed focused after the match was decided and its great to see her playing really solid singles to go with her intense doubles.

It's tough to lose a close match when we've worked hard to prepare, but I'm super proud of the effort and love where we're at as a team. This is not only a super fun and hard working team, but I've found them to be incredibly resilient and always ready for the next challenge.

It's a short week as we have a doubleheader in Bellevue and Tacoma on Friday and then our final NWC match with UPS on Saturday. If you're in the Sea/Tac area and plan on coming, let me know as we'd love to see you at the matches.

Take care all!
John

Whitman Women Complete Season Sweep of Pacific

2011-04-02T23:27:00.000-07:00

Hello Whitman Supporters,

Today was senior day in Walla Walla with Elise (our lone senior/woman in charge) Otto's final home match. Elise has been tremendous for us and I can't say enough great things about her as a player, leader and a person.

Pacific's record in conference is not great, but both times we've seen them it hasn't shown. They are a tough team led by two juniors who play wonderful tennis and compete really well as evidenced a few weeks ago when we escaped Forest Grove with a 5-4 win. Today we were at home and definitely ready as we got out to a 2-1 lead after doubles. Em and Kate led the way at #2 with an 8-4 win and at #3 Lizzy and Hannah went back and forth losing 5-8 while at #1, Elise and Alyssa avenged a 6-8 loss by coming back from 0-3 to win 8 straight games to put us ahead. At the same time as doubles, Maggie got an efficient 8-0 exhibition singles win as she continues to steadily improve.

Singles started strong at 1 and 2, Elise getting the first set 6-4 and Alyssa 6-3. Kate and Em each lost their first set 6-1 and then both quickly split putting us in great spots on all 4 courts. Emily was off with a great 1-6, 6-2, 6-2 win and Alyssa extended the lead to 4-1 with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Cat Goya (again avenging an early season loss). After a strong second set, Kate looked good to start the third before her opponent got on a roll to win 6-1, 3-6, 6-2, so as Lizzy and Hannah came on at 5 and 6, we needed one more point. Elise was still battling in a long second set which went to a tiebreak that Megan Yoshimoto won 8-6 minutes before Hannah iced the match with a solid 6-2, 6-1 win. The final two matches were so different. As Elise and Megan traded long baseline rallies using spin and angles, Lizzy and Stephanie Velligas just pounded away at each other with aggressive shots. Momentum played a larger part in the #6 match with Lizzy winning 0-6, 7-6 (4), 10-5!

Nearly 4 hours after the close of doubles, having squeezed every last minute of home court time she could from the match, Elise stepped up her hitting and tactics in the third to claim her final home win 6-4, 6-7(6), 6-3. What a performance.

Tonight we're in Spokane enjoying the Otto family hospitality and getting ready for a showdown with conference leader Whitworth tomorrow at noon.

All our best,
John

Huge Congrats to Elise, NWC Player of the Week!

2011-03-31T11:38:00.000-07:00

While the team trip to California was awesome, it was so wonderful to have Elise step up for some big singles and doubles wins and to get recognized for it by the Northwest Conference. You can read about her award and the upcoming weekend with her last career home match this Saturday on the official team site here.

Final Spring Break Wrap Up

2011-03-29T12:38:00.000-07:00

Big apologies for the delay, but the trip has me so excited about the team that we jumped straight back into our work and I neglected to update the blog.

Many have asked me upon returning to Walla Walla, "How was Spring Break?" and I haven't had one answer. It was one of the most fun trips I've had and personally I enjoyed so much spending time with the team and also some of our great families and friends who came to watch (and sometimes just hang out when it was raining). On court, I was really very proud of the team, but I also felt we could have done better at certain things in each match. It's hard to ask more of these student athletes who already work so hard, but in the end I came to realize that we have such a special team which has been incredibly resilient so my take home message is:

SPRING BREAK WAS AWESOME! WE HAD FUN WHILE COMPETING HARD AND LEARNING A TON ABOUT OUR TENNIS AND OURSELVES.

I won't go into too much detail on the matches, but after a great response to rainy weather and a tough Salisbury team, we played pretty well with #15 Chapman and then went out to Redlands where we really had poor days at #2 and #3 doubles and lost a heartbreaker at #1 to go down 3-0. Not to be dissuaded, our singles effort was incredible with Alyssa battling at #1 against a player who has been to nationals before losing a tight 10-8 match tie break. Elise stepped up again to beat a talented first year player at #2. Emily, Kate and Lizzy all fought hard but lost in straight sets and at #6 Hannah competed incredibly well and took her match in a 10-7 match breaker.

After a wonderful dinner with the Otto family (thanks guys!), we hit the courts at Claremont for our final match on Saturday. Honestly, I felt our effort was great in singles and doubles. We had chances at 1 and 3 dubs and Emily and Kate at 2 played really well but were out served and returned. What was really cool was playing a #4 doubles with Leah and Hadley dropping an 8-6 decision where both of them moved as a team and played off each others shots better than I've seen all year. Even cooler was #5 where Olivia and Maggie lost 8-4 but I would love to have a count of how many times Olivia made huge poaches and Maggie covered great shots both at the net and baseline.

In singles, our effort again was great, but it is tough at the end of a trip down 3-0 in the match to 'get up' for the final round of singles. Well, we brought great intensity, but CMS stayed composed and they have a solid lineup with one of the best players in the country at #1. Elise and Lizzy played really competitive matches and the points up and down were very inspiring, but in the end it was CMS winning the match 9-0 but I was proud to see the team feel good about our effort on this match and through the week.

Competing with three nationally ranked teams in three days taught us a lot and as I said, back on campus, I'm looking at the sun coming out, getting fired up for today's practice and our upcoming matches and just thinking how lucky I am to do this 'job' with such an amazing group of players.

I can't end this post without thanking those of you who came out to support us in California, it was so much fun to share our tennis and off court time with you and you being there for us is huge.

Off to the courts!
John

Spring Break continues with 7-2 loss to #15 Chapman

2011-03-25T01:09:00.000-07:00

Today we were in Orange, CA to play the Panthers from Chapman. As usual, you can check out the results as written up by our SID Dave Holden at http://www.whitman.edu/content/womens-tennis

The match really started with a strange turn as what seemed like a sore wrist for Kate looked to possibly be more serious than we thought yesterday so to play it safe she sat the match out, hopefully, she's in there tomorrow, but not only was it a terrific opportunity to take on the #2 team in the West but this was prime time experience for Leah in doubles and Maggie in singles.

We were able to get 4 doubles in with Elise and Alyssa scoring a really good win at #1 8-5. More than just the win, their ability to adjust to teams styles and stay with their gameplan is getting more consistent so I was really proud of them, and the fact that they got the result against a great team made it even better. Leah joined Emily at #2 and they had nice chemistry together but were a bit overwhelmed as we were at #3 with Hannah and Lizzy and #4 with Maggie and Hadley. Still, while we have a lot of room to grow in doubles, I really like what I'm seeing from everyone and am excited to get back out on the courts tomorrow.

Down 2-1 going into singles, Alyssa fought well in the first set at 1 but then against a very experienced senior who has done quite well nationally the second set went by quickly and we were down 3-1. At #3, Emily's score was one of those that is very misleading because she lost 6-0,6-2, but almost every game went to deuce, which I think shows how in it she was, but also shows that her opponent really deserved the win because she came up with big points time and time again. Lizzy at #4 and Hannah at #5 both dropped their matches in straight sets where, again, many points and games looked great, but the consistency of that level just wasn't what their opponents brought. For Maggie at #6, it was similar, but I really saw a breakthrough in that some of the things that Maggie has been working on were so good in this match, but against a really good shotmaker with excellent spins and placement she'll learn both what she's done well and can continue to improve.

The singles match of the day again involved Elise (#25 in the West singles) vs Kelly Fox (#11 in the West) and Elise carried her doubles into singles with a strong first set 6-0 where she forced her fellow senior into many errors and came up with some beautiful attacking plays and strong defense. I don't think Twitch dropped off much in the second, but Kelly definitely stepped up and the score took a complete turn 6-0 the other way. Elise wasn't worried as she knew she played well and she dug in with several strong holds of serve and a couple big breaks, one that was especially hard fought to get up 4-3. After a Chapman hold Elise broke again to serve for the match and played a beautiful game full of big first serves to win the third 6-4 and score us our second point.

Hadley and Leah played exhibition sets and Had came out knowing exactly what to work on and Leah really demonstrated a much more complete baseline game so even though they both lost, this will be great experience as we move forward.

Spring Break continues tomorrow at Redlands against the #28 national and #6 west Bulldogs at 2pm.

Getting things going in SoCal vs Salisbury

2011-03-22T11:22:00.000-07:00

Hello all, you can read about the match at http://www.whitman.edu/content/womens-tennis, but a big part of this trip so far has been just getting on court. We travel on spring break for many reasons; fun, bonding, go somewhere sunny and warm while Walla Walla transitions into Spring, and mostly for great non conference matches. Lots of teams come to California so the tennis is great, but with some crazy weather we've had trouble getting court time. Our first day's practice was cancelled because of rain, and then our 10am Salisbury match was moved to 6pm (but we did get a warm up in the morning), so when we finally hit the first ball, everyone was really ready to play.

This was important as we came out solid in doubles with Emily and Kate bolting to a 6-1 lead at 2 and Lizzy and Hannah at 3 going back and forth but staying up a game to 8-7 before going into a tie break at 8-8. Salisbury started to bring their level up, but this whole match was streaky for us and the breaker was not the kind of streak we hoped for and it went quickly to the SeaGulls 7-1. Meanwhile at 1, we started playing well but down a break 1-3 when composure, strategy and great shotmaking all came together for ShoPo and Twitch in winning 7 straight games to put us up 2-1 after doubles with an 8-3 win over a solid team.

Again, in singles, composure was key as Hannah, Lizzy, Elise and Alyssa all got out to first set wins while Emily dropped a close set 6-4 and Kate got down early and battled but lost her first set. Alyssa and Lizzy built on their first sets and both played really well with great focus to win in straight sets and put the team score to 4-1 for Whitman. Kate was having long points and games, but couldn't solve the only senior on the SU lineup and lost in straight sets to make it 4-2. Kate's game has grown so much but this match was a great lesson on doing the little things consistently well and I know she'll learn a lot from it.

Now, the real intensity of the match was taking place because even with a 4-1 lead, up a set in 2 matches and with Emily getting on top in her second set 6-2 to go to a third set, the Salisbury men were playing next to us against NWC Willamette and SU won all 3 dubs but Willamette stormed back in singles to tie it at 4-4 with the deciding match in a third set (credit to Willamette's guys and coach Toby Krauel, but they did end up losing in a third set 7-6(5)). So, we felt the urgency to close it out.

Elise after playing beautifully in the first and taking advantage of many forced and some unforced errors was down a break 3-5 in the second when she reasserted herself, dug in to break twice and hold to serve 6-5. It was a really intense match with great sportsmanship from both players as SU broke to get it to a second set tiebreak. Meanwhile, Emily is up early in the third and on the end court Hannah has been absolutely fighting a mental battle against a very fired up SU player who was playing with a crazy amount of emotion on every point. After having chances to get us the doubles sweep and then I think having a match point or two at 6-5, this one also went to a breaker at the same time as Elise. Our SquirrelMissionaryOnion team spread out to support these two and Hannah being a bit flustered went down 0-3. To her absolute credit and for me, what made her the Whittie of the match (among many tremendous performances) was that she got back to playing her tennis and was the more composed player from here on out and it paid off in a 7-4 tiebreak win to take the second set, the match and seal the team match for Whitman. Go HP!

Almost at the same time, Elise won a 9-7 tiebreak that I didn't get to watch being down on HP's court and minutes later, Em rolled to a 6-0 third set to seal the 7-2 win. SU only had 7 players traveling from Maryland so Leah was able to play an exhibition set and the support she, Olivia, Maggie and Hadley gave throughout the match was key to our success.

We're off for two days now, its a bit chilly here but the sun is out today and this team just has so much fun that we're really excited to spend more time together and to get some practice in. We'll hit the match courts again at 2pm Thursday at Chapman in Orange, CA then it's 2pm Friday at Redlands and 11am Saturday at CMS.

It was wonderful to see Johanna Palkowitz and the Webster's, thanks for braving the rain to come out and see us and also thanks to Pomona Pitzer and Claremont Mudd Scripps for graciously letting us use their courts.

Coach

Spring Break in California

2011-03-19T23:27:00.000-07:00

Hi all,
I wanted to send a quick update/test as I think these posts have not been getting out to the email list.
We also have our next match scheduled for 10am Monday vs. Salisbury University from Maryland. We're set to play at Pomona-Pitzer Colleges on the Rogers Courts on 1st street between College and Mills Avenues.
The weather is not looking great for us though, so we're hoping for clearing so we can get the match on without too much delay, I'll use twitter to update throughout the day on Monday.
John

Here is a link to download a pdf of the Pomona Campus map

A great Start to Spring Break in Portland

2011-03-15T13:34:00.000-07:00

Hello out there,

First, I'd like to quickly say that I was just informed that those of you who receive these blog posts as emails have not been getting them the past month. I'm sorry for that and am working to figure out what is going on as it looks like the settings are right.

Ok, now to tennis. In a bit of a whirlwind, the team finished up classes for our two week spring break and immediately hit our home courts for a NWC match with PLU. Led by first year Leah Newell, the Lutes had a lot of fight in this 6-3 Whitman victory. This year with so much youth, I'm looking to get as many matches for everyone as I can and in this one Leah teamed with Lizzy to notch a win a 3rd doubles where they really started to move and play as a team. In singles, Maggie stepped up to #5 and scored a solid straight set win and at #6 Hadley played tough while still working on her shots and footwork that she logged some extra hours on in practice this week, it was great to see.

After the match, Katie was off like a shot to pick up burritos and we hit the road for Portland. By the way, good Mexican food was a MUST on my list when first came to Walla Walla on my job interview. The drive to Portland was good and with a 3pm Saturday match against Pacific we had plenty of time to sleep in and enjoy the wonderful hospitality of Leah's family for brunch, thanks Kris, Mike and Nathan!

The Pacific match was definitely the most epic part of our weekend. With spirits high being on break and traveling together, we arrived early to hit as we'd never played on their new courts (3 are outside and 3 are outside and covered, but the sides are open so lighting is different depending on how sunny it is). We got adjusted and were ready to go when the weather cleared so we started outdoors with doubles, though the first ball wasn't hit until after 3:30 so we'd already been there a while. Up in 2 and 3 and down a break but gaining momentum at 1, the rain started falling. With Pacific serving a couple of solid first serves as the rain picked up we were down 0-30 moving to the covered courts. Elise and Alyssa really stepped up and fought to get the break back before being broken again against a team playing really well at the net as well as defending from the baseline. Fortunately, 2 and 3 won with Hannah back in the lineup at 3 so we were up 2-1. Still, it was an eerie feeling going into singles. Emily and Elise jumped out to easy first set wins while Alyssa was in a battle at #1. With many distractions both players elevated their tennis, but it was Cat Goya from Pacific who found a way in each set to pull out a win while Elise rolled to a 6-0, 6-0 win at #2. So, the match was 3-2 Whitman and Em had been up a set and two breaks serving for it, when the Pacific player who can be very dangerous found her A game. Emily didn't play poorly but now close games were going the other way and she lost the set in a breaker. The third set was super close as both players looked for an edge with it finally going to Pacific 6-4 to tie the match at 3-3. Now, with Kate up a set at #4 and Lizzy up a set at #5 with Olivia warming up at 6, things looked good. Kate managed a straight set win in the cold of the evening and Olivia played close but was down a set and 5-1, or 5-0 maybe. Meanwhile, Lizzy had dropped the second and was quickly down 3-0 in the third so we needed a hero to step up. For a while it looked like we might get two as Olivia found her shots and started to scratch out some momentum to get it to 2-5 and Lizzy re-focused and rolled back to 3-3. After dropping a game where her opponent played well, Lizzy got right back to it to win three straight and clinch the match. Olivia smiled and relaxed, hit some more winners to get to 5-5, but then lost a couple of close games to lost 6-3,7-5. I'd like to say it was a great performance, but really it was more a testament to the resiliency and fight that this team has up and down the lineup. Some people played well, others struggled but we still found a way against a dangerous team, it was tough to witness, but coming out the other side, I couldn't be more proud of each one of these young women as they handled adversity beautifully with effort and sportsmanship.

This is the kind of match you want to learn from and build on, and luckily we had the chance to do just that the next day against George Fox. With Hannah resting and Leah back at 3 dubs, we scored one of our more fun and consistent doubles sweeps and it felt like Whitman tennis again. This carried over into singles where again I had a chance to get some more match experience for our young players and because Leah and Lizzy finished quickly at 3 doubles with solid play together, we started with Maggie at #5 and Hadley at #6. While Maggie lost her match, she learned a lot that I know she'll carry into the rest of the season. Hadley's match was one of the highlights of the weekend for me. Not only did she get her first college win, but the things she did well against PLU were super consistent and she dominated the first set 6-1. A great effort by her GF counterpart had her working hard to close out the second and she did it with more quality play and movement shot after shot, I'm so excited for Hadley! At #1-4, we also had great performances from all and I was really proud of how everyone played tactically, using their strengths and finding plays that worked. Overall the score was 8-1 and the way we played was focused and fun like we strive for each day.

The culmination of our trip was a neutral site match indoors in Vancouver, WA (just north of Portland) against the Cowgirls from Hardin-Simmons who came out from Abiliene, TX for a spring break trip in the Northwest. This is a good team (#11 in the West, while we are #8) and I was happy to play them during our break when we are focused on tennis and had been playing matches every day. This preparation proved valuable as we got out to a strong start in all three doubles with Elise and Alyssa getting a break to go up 6-3 against the #8 team in the West before closing it out with a break and hold to win 8-6 in a strong comeback after dropping the Pacific match. At 2 Em and Kate played with great confidence and won 8-3, while Hannah and Lizzy stepped up to win 8-5 at #3.

In singles, #1 pitted the West's #4 ranked player Lisa Mertz, a very solid and experienced player against #12 Alyssa. After some ups and downs in the first set, ShoPo tightened things up and came away with a big straight set win 4,2. Twitch continued her steady blend of offense and defense at #2 and really stepped up her serving to win 2,2. Emily waited for a court while Kate won 2,3 even though throughout the match, her opponent seemed to get more and more comfortable and was playing better and better. Hannah was at #6 and seeing her in singles and doubles was a great sight as she competed her way to a 2,1 win. Lizzy had the closest match with a 7-5 seesaw affair in the first set followed by dropping the second 6-2 where she got a bit frustrated before calming down for the match tie break which was probably the best tennis by both players with Lizzy edging it out 10-8 by hitting big shots and staying really focused. Em being last on had the tough task of staying focused and intense as the end of a long weekend was upon us, but she handled that well and played some great tennis, but just ran into a really good player at 3 who played a very nice match to win 3,1. Still, Emily was in nearly every game and I'm really pleased with how much her shots have grown as well as her ability to compete at a much higher level than she's been asked to in the past two seasons. Olivia got an exhibition singles with her Mom watching and there were signs of what she can do, but still she is getting great experience that I know will help her continue to grow as a player. She brings such enthusiasm to the team and we'll continue to see great things from her I know.

That's a lot of tennis to recap, and we're just getting set for more, but first the team has some time off before heading to California for our Spring Break matches against Salisbury, Chapman, Redlands and Claremont.

In the thick of things

2011-03-11T08:34:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone,

It's a busy time for tennis teams and we're no different, as the ladies finish their classes for our two week Spring Break, we immediately hit the courts out by Ankeny today at 2pm, followed by a series of matches the next three days in Portland. Dave Holden has written up a preview: http://www.whitman.edu/whitman/index.cfm?objectid=9CEB63E1-DAAD-542B-B4990D6474B648D9

Then, after some well deserved time off, we reconvene our break in Southern California in a week for some non-conference DIII matches with Salisbury, Chapman (#13 in nation), Redlands (#29 in nation) and Claremont (#28 in nation).

This week Alyssa was honored as the NWC student athlete of the week for women's tennis, which you can read about at http://www.whitman.edu/whitman/index.cfm?objectid=985B7D3C-B8C3-57FE-0D0459B59C70458E Congrats Show Pony!

Hope to see you at some matches!

Whittie of the Week

2011-03-09T14:36:00.000-08:00

Hi folks,

For the past couple of seasons we have done a weekly team vote on which Whittie has contributed the most to the team that week. We come up with nominees and the team votes and the winner is our WoW for that week. Our men's team does a kind of similar thing called the yellow jersey, and Coach Northam puts it out on his blog and I like to steal..excuse me, borrow ideas from Jeff (who is a great friend and wonderful colleague and mentor) so I'll be posting future WoW awards on the blog. The first one you can see is last week and it was Lizzy so check out the link on the blog.

If you're just getting these posts as emails, the web address is:
http://www.missionarytennis.blogspot.com/

Lizzy and Leah playing #3 dubs vs. UPS

~Coach

Wrapping up Family and Alumni Weekend

2011-03-07T12:50:00.000-08:00

To all of you who made it to our matches and events this past weekend, thank you so much for your support and sharing time with our team. This annual event really came up fast this year because the conference schedule (and our awesome two week spring break) left us without a full home weekend in April, which is what I shoot for in organizing this.

Leah and Mike Siegel...We also celebrated Leah's Birthday this week!

So, at the start of March, with a great set of matches on tap and a team that has really committed so much to the process of being a top DIII team, we welcomed family, friends and fans to Walla Walla.

Divneet Kaur Class of 2010

Friday, after a short week of practice, we took on UPS in the Bratton Tennis Center. The support from the fans was great and right from the start of doubles, we brought a terrific composure and excitement to our play. We had three doubles on with Elise and Alyssa putting together one of their cleanest performances of the season at #1 winning 8-0 quickly. At #2, UPS had a pair of tough freshmen who we'll continue to see good things from for 4 years, but once Em and Kate got rolling, they didn't look back in winning 8-3. Emily has been one of our best doubles players for two seasons now and more and more, we're seeing not just teamwork, but also Kate really taking charge with her improved shots and this was a case where they both got going at the same time. At #3, Hannah was still rehabbing her ankle and Leah stepped in with Lizzy and they came out really strong going up a break 5-2. At that point, UPS really stepped up and while we had chances, they stormed back for an 8-6 win. Meanwhile, Olivia was getting some great exhibition singles in, dropping an 8-4 proset that our talented Jan start will no doubt learn from.

Singles was great as we swept the 1-3 matches with Emily blending offense and defense beautifully and Elise and Alyssa demonstrating the hard work they've put in to elevate their games. I was super proud of Kate at #4 for gutting out a first set in a tiebreak and then continuing her solid play to win in straight sets. Lizzy fought back from down a set to win in a match tie break, again showing great composure and athleticism and while Hadley played the same player Olivia played in an exhibition, Maggie got her first shot at a top six singles match. The 6-2,6-2 score gives credit to a smart match from UPS first year Marissa Friedman, but seeing Maggie handle the occasion and keep consistent focus throughout the match was really special.

It wasn't mid April, but it is Walla Walla, so after overnight showers dampened the courts, the sun came out and let us play outside. With Ankeny field and the library right at the heart of campus with our courts, it is an active place and our fans and students combined with the rematch of last years NWC tournament final made for a great atmosphere for a big match with Whitworth.

As with UPS, Alyssa and Elise played really solid doubles, winning 8-3. Unfortunately, I think Kate felt some of the growing pains of having improved so much so fast as she and Em were so close to starting the match off with a break. Actually had any of the first few games gone our way, they were playing well enough to win, but Whitworth really played a steady match and rolled to an 8-1 win. At #3 doubles, HP was back and showed a lot of heart and with limited mobility, she and Lizzy battled to a 4-8 defeat so we entered singles down 2-1. Meanwhile, Leah and Olivia lost 8-4 in an exhibition at #4 where they played the kind of doubles I think they need to, which will benefit them both a ton in the long run.

Just like Friday evening, it was Show Pony racing out to grab us some momentum. I'm not sure she lost a point in the first 3 games against one of the better #2 players in the conference. After being up 3-0 she found out why Ally Marshall is so good and had to battle to take the first 6-4 but tightened things up in the second to win 6-4,6-1. Next to her, Emily's doubles struggles carried over just enough into singles where Erica Bosman presented a great challenge as she has been playing very well at #2 and #3 this year for Whitworth. Em fought hard, but her tennis wasn't flowing like it has been recently as she lost in straight sets. Elise also lost in straight sets at #1, but the 6-3,6-3 score doesn't tell you what kind of a battle was going on. These are two of the best players in the conference and in my mind two of the best sportswomen as well. It was special to see the fans continually respond to the high level of tennis, sportsmanship and effort provided by these two seniors.

Whitworth is a deep team and both Lizzy and Maggie as well as Olivia and Hadley found that they are right in these matches and they all came to me after with eager attitudes about what they can do to learn from these matches, which combined with the 100% effort I saw, makes me so happy as a coach.

Allright, you've read this far so I'll give you a little background on #4 singles. Both Kate and Katie Staudinger of Whitworth are from Yakima, WA. That they ended up playing each other in this match was really exciting for Kate because they both are fierce competitors who make me wonder what is in the water in Yakima that breeds such amazing athletes. The first set absolutely lived up to expectation with Kate clawing her way to serve 5-4 only to have Katie battle to 5-5. The seesaw continued and Kate went up a break 6-5. Serving for the set a second time, Kate was incredibly confident and not only served it out but continued her strong play in the second set to win 7-5, 6-0! This concluded a terrific weekend of singles for Kate and had us right in the match, but if you've read Dave Holden's article (thanks Dave!) or have done a little math, you'll know that the defending conference champs left Walla Walla with a well deserved 6-3 win.

Family and Alumni Dinner

Meanwhile, the Missionaries headed to a wonderful dinner with several families, some superstar alums and some great Whitman tennis supporters. The atmsosphere was fun and excited about all the great things this young team has accomplished so far and the promise of what lies ahead for us as we look towards spring break in a week with both conference and non-conference matches lined up in Portland and then down in Southern California.

Stay tuned for more from this awesome group and thanks to everyone who supported us this weekend.

John

Family and Alumni Weekend Starts tomorrow at Whitman!

2011-03-03T15:46:00.000-08:00

Wow, the season is flying and with a 2-1 conference record we welcome all families, alums and supporters to Walla Walla for the weekend. Here is the basic itinerary:

Friday 3/4 - 4pm in the Bratton Tennis Center: Whitman vs. University of Puget Sound
Whitman looks to work towards earning a place in the NWC tournament against an improved UPS squad.

Saturday 3/5 - 1pm match outdoors if dry, in Bratton if wet: Whitman Vs. Whitworth
A rematch of last years conference final and the current #8 in the west region Whitties vs the #7 Pirates

Saturday following the match (6:30/7pm estimated food time): Dinner in the Glover Alston Center across the street from Bratton, veggie and meat eaters alike, come enjoy a meal with the team and celebrate a great group of student athletes after these matches.

Sunday 3/6 - 9am to 2pm; Bratton Courts are reserved for Family and Alums, sign up for Family and Alum doubles at dinner on Saturday or just hit with Coach John.

Tough loss at Linfield

2011-02-28T10:50:00.000-08:00

Dear Whitman Faithful,

Now in my third year at Whitman, we have squared off against Linfield 7 times, and while this match ended up with the widest margin of victory for either team, I think we're again neck and neck with each other in the NWC, but we were edged out by a good team yesterday.

Alyssa Serving vs. LCSC

With no less intensity, but a different feel than any of the previous times we've played, each team came out all business and all 3 doubles were close from the first ball. After going up 5-4 at #2, they ran off a great stretch of play to take the early lead despite Emily and Kate staying at a high level. Down early at #1 in a rematch of the Fall ITA final, Elise and Alyssa stepped up their tennis to pull ahead. Meanwhile, down 7-6 at #3, a key point in the match where we had to break to stay in it brought out the best in Hannah and Lizzy; as they took command with a great blend of offense and defense, Hannah went back for a ball at 15-30 and rolled her ankle. Lizzy got the next one back and we won the point, but after a medical timeout to assess and tape her sprain, Hannah was super tough and not only continued but put away an overhead to secure the break. Linfield quickly broke back and held for the 9-7 win as Elise and Alyssa secured a point with some great doubles winning 8-6 against a very good team at #1.

Elise has been playing terrific tennis, but at #1 Abby Olbrich came out very steady and strong in the first set. Twitch dug in in set 2 and was serving at 4-4 when Abby got a break and hold to take the match. About half way though that, Alyssa was already off at #2 blanking Linfield's new transfer 0 and 0. What was really impressive was that ShoPo displayed tremendous consistent focus and a tactical maturity that has me really excited about her game.

3,4,5 were all huge battles with Linfield edging us in each one. Emily just couldn't quite get the upper hand at #3 but fought into a tie break which her opponent really stepped up in. The second set was also incredibly close and well played by both players to the final ball. Em is also finding that plays which used to come and go are now consistently a part of her arsenal. Kate came out firing going up a set and 4-1. To her credit she didn't let up, though I think she'll learn from the comeback that was waged against her as she lost in a hard fought third set. #5 was an interesting match with Lizzy winning the first and then falling in three. At #6 Hadley Scherer took the ball against an experienced Sarah Watanabe. The first set went quickly as Hadley looked to find her way into the match, which she did much better in the second using her improved serve and great focus to push the Linfield senior who eventually won 6-0, 6-2. Maggie scored us an impressive exhibition winning one set 6-3 over junior Kiana Nip. Maggie was very composed as she used her placement really well and controlled many of the backcourt rallies.

It was a tough loss, but this team is so positive and has so many bright spots that it truly was an enjoyable battle. It was great to travel and continue to enjoy being around each other and it was wonderful to have Arlene Roberg and the Leah's family supporting us. Thanks so much for your help and support and for the great brunch Kris and Mike!

We look forward to our next matches which come this weekend as we host UPS at 4pm on Friday and defending NWC champ Whitworth at 1pm on Saturday. This is our family and alumni weekend which I have some events planned, so please send me an email if you plan on being here as we'd love to spend some time with you.

Cheers,
John
(509) 301-8502

Whitman on the road at Lewis and Clark

2011-02-27T00:06:00.000-08:00

Hi all,

Today we played the first of two weekend matches in Western Oregon, notching a 7-2 win over the host Pioneers of Lewis and Clark. Seeing Whitney DeBree of the Pios made us miss her sister Hadley who graduated from Whitman last Spring all the more. It's a good thing next weekend is Alumni/Family weekend as Had will be coming to see us in Walla Walla.

Both teams played well and it was a great match with contributions from everyone. It is also amazing to be in Portland getting to know Leah's family. Thanks for the wonderful support and an amazing pre-match brunch.

We're at it again tomorrow with a match at Linfield at 10am.

Best,
Coach Hein

Welcome to the Northwest Conference Lizzy Schiller...Whitman tops Willamette 5-4

2011-02-20T16:52:00.000-08:00

We've just wrapped up an amazing weekend of tennis here at Whitman which included a wonderful match against LCSC (read here) and about the most exciting start to the conference season we could have had (read here), you can always also check scores on www.itatennis.com under "Awards and Rankings" and click on recent results and look for Whitman team results or DIII women.

I can't possibly go through the details of the weekend without writing a book, so I'll say thanks to the LCSC Warriors, for being just that, true warriors who battled and fought as we played 4 doubles and 10 singles matches, giving all of our players a chance to play. We saw great tennis and great effort from all.

Then, today vs. Willamette we pulled out a 5-4 victory in the most exciting way. Up 2-1 after doubles (and winning a gritty 8-6 proset at #4, Emily set the tone with a terrific first set win, Elise followed and was able to win in straight sets to put us up 3-1. Unfortunately after a tooth and nail battle in the first, Kate fell in 2 sets to a talented Willamette freshman. So, at 3-2, Alyssa fell in two tough sets and Emily played some inspired tennis but lost 6-4 in the third. The match was up to our depth and at 6 singles, Hannah was a boss. She played like a senior never getting rattled and cruising in two sets. Lizzy had a terrific first set then some adjustments by her opponent and a momentum shift had her in a third set.

A third set for a match tied 4-4 is thrilling as everyone watches and cheer for their team after almost every point. Sometimes it is about fitness or heart or tennis, but today all three came into play as both players saved their best for last and after an early change of breaks, held into a tiebreak at 6-6.

In her first NWC match, Lizzy banged out some of her best points and had the crowd roaring going up 4-0, then cruising to a 7-2 win to win the match for Whitman. It was a great individual effort and a wonderful team display.

Then, the team stayed after this marathon to treat local kids to free tennis and prizes for our campus kids day. Thanks to all the kids, Whitman Students, family members and Walla Wallan's who watched and supported us, it was wonderful both days. Special thanks to my twitter helper for keeping those who couldn't be here updated.

-Coach Hein

Campus Kids Day this Sunday Feb 20th!

2011-02-14T15:12:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone,
If you're local I hope you can come watch some great tennis this weekend as our first home matches are

Sat at 1pm vs Lewis-Clark State College (ID), the #16 ranked NAIA team in the nation.
Sun at 9am vs Willamette, kick off our NWC season with our first USTA/ITA Campus Kids Day with free food, fun activities, and lots of great tennis to watch and play, click here to see the pdf file with more information.

Go Whitman!

How to get into medical school...by Divneet Kaur

2011-02-07T21:27:00.000-08:00

Step 1: Decide to become a Doctor
Step 2: Attend Whitman and show up to first tennis practice with no racket
Step 3: Major in Religion
Step 4: Choose a medical school and continually shake your fist and yell at it to let you in from the team bus as it goes by.

Div Driving a Backhand at Conference

Step 5: Win over 100 matches, including several wearing bright colored plastic sunglasses (she swore they were the best to keep the sun out, so we went with it).
Step 6: Get accepted to your top choice Med school.

easy...right?

Congratulations Dr. Div! We're so proud and excited that you'll be attending OHSU in Portland next year. I'm sure I missed some steps that involved a lot of studying, rocking the MCATs, working post grad for Americorps in the Health field in Oregon, and some other important stuff, but I think those were the key steps, especially #4 which you were relentless at.

First match of the year

2011-01-24T18:18:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone and welcome to a new dual match season of Whitman Women's tennis. Some of you may have seen the twitter updates or followed the scores online through our website as we traveled to Cheney, WA yesterday for the opening match of the season with the DI Eagles.

To be honest, I wasn't totally sure what to expect from my own team, much less EWU, so all in all I was very pleased with how we played even though we were swept 7-0 on the scoreboard. We had 3 players in their first dual match (Hannah, Leah and Maggie) and three more players stepping out for their first college match (Hadley, Lizzy and Olivia). So, while we were very excited going in, there were a lot of unknowns.

I must say that while we could have played better tennis, the focus, effort, and enjoyment of competing hard and supporting each other were all terrific. Take absolutely nothing from Coach Silha and the Eastern Squad, they are very good up and down the lineup and every time we got even the tiniest bit of momentum going, they turned it back around, so it is always fun to play such focused determined opponents even when the score is lopsided.

We played four doubles matches and on all 4 courts we got down a quick 3-0 before playing fairly evenly at 1-3, and making the points and games more competitive at 4. Notable to the action was Kate and Em both holding in the middle of the proset showing their ability to control points from the start as well as scrap them out. At three, Hannah and Leah were setting each other up in a competitive match that forced the EWU team to elevate their game to win. Four dubs was definitely a learning opportunity, but I have very clear images of Hadley putting the ball away and Lizzy finding her spots with her potent groundstrokes.

Singles had some very lopsided scores with Emily and Kate both playing very high level tennis, but neither one consistently enough to trouble their opponents. Elise started off toe to toe in the first set Alyssa displayed both the development of her game and strength.

5 and 6 were wonderful surprises as Lizzy really was able to dictate a lot of points and stay very poised in long rallies against an opponent who had and used a terrific variety of shots. Hannah was down a set and break before she dialed in her game and used her great feel and punishing shots to battle to a 0-6,3-6 score. We may have seen a tiny glimpse of the future of Whitman tennis in that second set. The day rounded out in two 8 game pro-set exhibitions with both Maggie and Olivia falling 8-0. It's a tough ask for these young players, but while they both would have like to have pushed the score a bit more, I am so proud of the way they carried themselves and worked to the final ball; it will be lots of fun to see what the future holds for each of them.

Overall, it was a big ask by me to step into this match after just a short week of school after the winter break, but we saw great indications of where we are and where we can be with some hard work.

Scholar, athlete....how about both

2011-01-20T09:43:00.000-08:00

Paola Vizcaino Suarez, from Metepec, Mexico, amassed a ton of on court recognition while playing for coach Heidi Tate from 2000-2004 (she missed her junior year while studying in France on a High Academic Achievement Scholarship). I remember being an assistant coach at UC Santa Cruz and hearing about this Whitman player who was tearing up the Northwest. Among other honors, Paola was a three time first team All conference selection, the Whitman Senior Athlete of the Year (Mignon Borleske Award), and was voted NWC player of the year in two of her three playing seasons.

I won't even delve into the depths of Paola's academic achievements, which include earning Academic All-District honors and co-founding the student group on campus, Alliance for Workplace Justice. Click here for more of her academic achievements at Whitman.

It is her work at Whitman in this field with Associate Professor of Politics Paul Apostolidis which recently culminated in a book on immigrant labor, "Breaks in the Chain: What Immigrant Workers Can Teach America about Democracy" which was published in August 2010. You can read about the book here and if you're wondering if Paola has rested on her laurels since graduating from Whitman, the answer is no.

After obtaining a master's in Tourism Planning and Management at the University of Alicante in southeastern Spain, Paola is now enjoying married life in Spain as she expands her tourism consulting business and learns the official language of Galicia (I think this will make 4 languages for Paola!). Thanks to Paola for sharing and catching up on what she's been doing, it is so fun for me to learn more about our program's history and I hope you enjoy hearing about it as well because I hope to share more stories as I get to know more alums.

Wine Camp Dates Announced

2011-01-07T16:24:00.000-08:00

I'm happy to announce a new fundraiser for Whitman Tennis. I wish I could take credit for the idea because it is a terrific one, but men's coach Jeff Northam along with noon hour lefty extraordinaire Tom Sawatzki and the help of living coaching legend Greg Patton, are the team that deserve the credit.

I've put a link on the blog with our camp flyer, so if you know tennis and wine enthusiasts (or are one yourself!), then this first annual camp promises to be super fun on and off the court. There will be tennis, wine tasting, great food...I'm so excited for it.

Giving Thanks

2010-11-23T22:20:00.000-08:00

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL!

While Walla Walla sits in a gentle blanket of snow this week, our Whitman students have the week off and most have returned to their homes or left campus with friends for the week.

Before leaving, however, men's Coach Jeff Northam came up with the terrific idea to get everyone together and enjoy great food and company. Jeff stepped up big time with a smoked turkey, two beef briskets, and so much locally caught and smoked steelhead that everyone feasted. With a bevy of sides and desserts to go along with the main courses, everyone had great food and enjoyed the fireside couches of the Whitman alumni house for our feast.

You can check out photos on our team flickr page here.

I want to wish all the best to everyone out there in the extended Whitman tennis family, may you enjoy time with each other and travel safely.

John

Fall ITA Rankings: Two Whitties in the top 20

2010-11-15T13:21:00.000-08:00

If you don't check the ITA webpage as religiously as I do, then you won't know that these rankings actually came out a couple of weeks ago, but the 'off season' feels very busy and full of excitement this year at Whitman. Part of that excitement stems from the strong showing we had at the top of our lineup in the Fall USTA/ITA regional and national championships.

By making the semi's in singles, Alyssa is currently ranked 12th in the West region, and a strong quarterfinal showing in a deep Northwest field puts Elise at #18 in the West.

While as a doubles team, Elise and Alyssa placed in the top 8 at nationals, there were no national individual rankings because it is near impossible to compare everyone around the nation based on a single tournament. Still, our duo has moved up 2 spots from their end of season finish last year from #6 to #4 in the West and gained terrific experience with some of the top teams in the nation in Alabama.

Congrats to Twitch and Sho'Po for a great fall, I am so happy with the work that every single person on the team has put in, this fall season I had more requests than ever for individual work outside of practice, which keeps me on court with my team where I love to be.

Coach

Final Post on the USTA/ITA Small College Nationals

2010-10-17T13:26:00.000-07:00

Wow, what a great event to be a part of. As I've recently written, Elise and Alyssa played an incredibly gutsy match to get into the main draw and earn three doubles matches against many of the top DIII teams in the country. You can check the ITA website for all the scores and info but a quick recap had us up against the back to back NCAA Doubles champs from U of Chicago. On paper,this was our best match because in losing 6-2,6-2 we got more games than any other DIII team this week as they rolled to the championship. While we learned a ton and give them full credit (they are an outstanding doubles team and carry themselves very well), there were times we could have executed better or had a little bit more energy. The consolation semis was against the 4th seeded Washington and Lee team and after taking 2-0 leads in both sets, they stepped up to get us 6-2,6-3. This match was much more competitive than the score indicates with lots of outstanding points and games, overall it was super fun doubles with great play and intensity. The 7th/8th match pitted us against the Gusties from Gustavus Adolphus College and they were the only women's team I observed in any of the draws (DII, DIII, JuCo, NAIA) that consistently got both players to the net. This tested our defense and provided some strategic breakthoughs for Twich and ShoPo who came off the court feeling good about how they played and how close the match actually was, but even better about where their tennis is going.

The whole week was super fun and for some of our travel adventures and a terrific recap of the best match I saw all week and one of the best DIII doubles matches I've ever seen, check out our Men's team recap at Coach Jeff Northam's blog . As Jeff says, it is rare that we get to travel together or watch each other play, but the community at Whitman is so strong and our teams truly enjoy spending time together so it was an incredible experience for us to spend time with Coach Jeff, Conor and Andrew (and we learned a few things about great doubles).

Personally, it was also nice to see three of the DIII programs in Mobile represented by coaches who attended my alma mater, UC Santa Cruz. I can never say enough how wonderful DIII tennis is when programs are run by terrific coaches like Jeff and my coach Bob Hansen. Thanks Bob for helping me and creating such a terrific culture of tennis and life.

So, alas, we are now in our off season, but before leaving for Alabama I had some terrific individual meetings and while we'll all enjoy some time to focus on the other aspects of college life, I suspect that much of the team will be hard at work to come out strong in the Spring!

My best to all,
John

Oh yes, Alyssa Elise and I flew out of New Orleans so we had a small amount of time to explore the crescent city and cap an incredible week with even more fun.

Nationals Loss to Defending NCAA Champs

2010-10-14T18:12:00.000-07:00

After winning yesterday's play in match in thrilling fashion, today Elise and Alyssa took on the daunting task of playing the 2 time defending NCAA doubles champs from U of Chicago. They are a great tandem and while we had some promising tennis overall and did some things well, they were just too much today. It is definitely a learning experience and we have a short turnaround to apply those lessons with a consolation match tomorrow afternoon.

We're enjoying great weather, warm but not too humid and some awesome tennis here in the south.

John

First match in Alabama sends Elise and Alyssa to the main draw

2010-10-13T19:06:00.000-07:00

Hello from Mobile, Alabama.

There are some very excited Whitties here in the south as we fought through a very tough UT Tyler doubles team today in the Northwest/Southwest play in match at the Small College Nationals. The format for doubles here is two out of three sets with a super tie break (to 10) for the third.

UTT came out blazing with big returns and volleys to break us right off the bat and then held to go up 2-0. From there Elise served a great game and we held for 1-2 and they held for 1-3. The next game found us down a break and 0-40. I'm not sure I know quite what happened besides ShoPo and Twitch just stepped up, they fought back and held for 2-3, then ran off 4 straight games for the first set 6-3.

The momentum continued in the second, going up 2-0, but swung back to put us down 2-3. from there we traded games to 3-4 and went down 3-5. After bringing it back to 4-5 our Texas opponents finished the set strong 6-4 to send the match to a 10 point tie break for the right to play 3 more matches this week in Mobile.

As was the theme of the match, momentum continued with UTT going up 3-0, then Alyssa answered with a screaming winner and suddenly the momentum was back to us. Switching at 2-4 it felt like we had it going and we got a lead and held on for the 10-8 win.

Tomorrow at 3pm (CST, 1pm Whitman time), we take on the back to back defending national NCAA champs from University of Chicago and we can't wait!

Articles are on the Whitman site, and our men's team played some terrific tennis which you should read about there, the doubles was right after us and was inspiring to see that level with only 2 breaks of serve the entire match (3 tie breaks!!!).

More tomorrow from Mobile...

Off to Alabama Tomorrow for Small College Nationals

2010-10-11T15:11:00.000-07:00

It is a quiet weekend here at Whitman as the campus is on our 4-day fall break. The long weekend gives students a chance to rest, study, do some traveling and activities etc. Some of the team has gone home or to visit friends, others have done outdoor program trips or are staying on campus.

Two of those Whitties on campus are Elise and Alyssa, who as Northwest Regional USTA/ITA champions head to Mobile, Alabama tomorrow for the Small College National Championships.

We travel on Tuesday and play Wednesday at noon central time (10amPST) in a play in match against a duo from University of Texas, Tyler. The winner advances to play on Thursday and Friday.

I'll keep you all updated and am so thrilled that these two have earned the honor to play in Alabama!
John

Finishing touches on the Regional USTA/ITA Tournament

2010-09-28T23:29:00.000-07:00

Wow, what a tremendous weekend in Walla Walla. Our beautiful campus was the showcase of a very busy Whitman weekend with an alumni reunion, home soccer and volleyball, an instant play festival, and I'm sure many other activities. Along with that, our tournament attracted all 9 NWC teams and filled draws of 64 singles and 32 doubles with players on waiting lists to get in.

The weather cooperated and with the generosity of Anne Thomas and the Walla Walla Country Club, we had 8 awesome outdoor courts and our 4 indoor courts hopping with great tennis, which I'll continue to describe here.

I've already recounted the exploits of much of the team and I'm excited to add that Charlotte in her junior year continues her steady progression as a player and a leader on this team. After a first round loss she moved into the consolation in singles and eventually lost to Willamette's #3 player who won the consolation. Her high level of play and great teamwork carried into the doubles consolation where she teamed with 1st year Leah Siegel of Portland, OR to roll through the consolation doubles and take home the title. Each match they worked better and better as a team and upset some teams that I'm sure will be solid contributors to the lineups of our conference opponents. The best part was through their sniffles (both had colds), they focused all the way to earn huge smiles and hugs from their teammates at the end.

Our other Portland first year, Maggie Eismeier (of Portland, ME), had a tough first round match and recovered to get some great college experience in the back draw, nearly knocking off a solid player from LC. What the scoreboard doesn't show is that Maggie has recently re-worked much of her game and is adjusting to new technique beautifully and now she has an idea of the level of college competition so I know she's ready to keep growing her game and will be a force to be reckoned with in the very near future.

Hannah Palkowitz is not from any city called Portland, but rather, hails from San Diego, CA. Hannah and Amanda had some streaks in doubles and she showed her abilities but also her need to tighten things up a bit. Also, for not having played a lot of singles in high school and coming off of a hamstring injury this summer, her singles game is going to be as good or better than her doubles.

While Dena's 28-26 tie break and our doubles consolation wins were two of the most memorable events of the weekend, it was our top two players who provided some of the best tennis and surely the most excitement and energy to the center of campus.

Elise held to her seed up to the quarterfinals where the first set with finalist and defending champion Abby Olbrich was outstanding. After Abby snuck out the first, she got a lead in the second and held on, but Elise showed that her outstanding form at the end of last season in singles is not far off and that she can play with any player she'll face. Alyssa also held to her seed, but just barely. After falling behind 0-2 in the first set to top seed Natalia Agarycheva of Willamette, Show Pony ran off a string of games to take the set 6-2 in prancing style. As Natalia heated up in the second she got an early lead and stayed ahead to take it 6-3, and at this point, with all respect to the other semifinal match between two outstanding and talented players, the big hitting, wonderful hustle and ability of both to compete made this the highest quality match of the tournament for me - though I am biased since I coach Alyssa. Down 3-5 in the third, Alyssa held easily and fought hard to break for 5-5. Another hold had her a game from the finals, but Natalia, who possesses one of the biggest serves in D3 tennis, came up huge with only one missed first serve and huge groundies to back it up to force a deciding tiebreak. Unfortunately for Alyssa, who maintained a high level through the tie break, Natalia came up with a couple key shots and ShoPo's somehow found the top of the tape to send the #1 seed to the final with a 7-4 tiebreak win.

So, with some much needed time to rest while Abby and Natalia fought out the singles final, ShoPo and Twitch readied themselves to face Abby and her high school doubles partner and new college doubles partner Sarah Click. While we had the #1 seeding and had beaten Abby and multiple time doubles all-American Sallie Katter

So, the regional ended in sunshine and victory, but more importantly, it was a great event for our players and fans to enjoy the hard work they've put in and set their sights on how we must keep improving this year in a conference with amazing parity.

Thanks to all who attended and cheered and especially to all the families who came and supported as well as helped out with making the tournament run smoothly. An extra huge thanks goes to Katie who worked tirelessly to keep things moving, keep our athletes fed and also to coach all at the same time and to the Norsworthy's for running the tournament desk at Walla Walla Country Club, we couldn't have had so much great tennis without you.

From sunny Walla Walla,

John

Days 1 and 2 of the Fall USTA/ITA Regional at Whitman

2010-09-26T20:36:00.000-07:00

Hello,

I will endeavor to catch you up a bit as the tournament is still taking place and will provide more details after tomorrow. We've had beautiful weather in the low 80's and high 70's not to mention some gorgeous sunsets...and sunrises which could give you some idea of how amazing these student athletes are playing all day long, supporting each other and many of them find some time for schoolwork during breaks and at the end of the day.

I'll start with our returners, in singles Emily had a solid first round win which I didn't see as we were indoors and outdoors, and then she fell to #3 seed Rachel Burns and is getting a taste for how her game is growing and matching up with some of the top players in the conference. Kate has also shown tremendous growth. Many of you will remember her marathon three set victory of Sarah Watanabe of Linfield at conference last fall. The first round provided a rematch and Kate's dilligent work showed as she played inspired tennis to win in straight sets this time. She then took on Pacific's all-conference junior Megan Yoshimoto and pushed her to the limit in the first set losing a tie break 10-8. Megan stepped up a bit in the second and Kate still played some great tennis, though did not sustain it losing 2-6. In doubles, Sabertooth and Wolverine, as they are known around here, had a huge second round win over the seeded team from Lewis and Clark. Casey Schein of LC was battling an illness that took her out of the singles earlier but it didn't show as tremendous tennis was played with our claw and fang Whitties winning 9-7. In the Quarters it was again Megan Yoshimoto of Pacific, this time with her doubles partner Cat Goya as the #2 seed who Em and Kate were right with to 4-5 before dropping 3 straight games to lose 8-4. It was a great showing from last year's #3 team.

Amanda had a solid first round win and ran into fellow Idaho native and Linfield first year Caroline Brigham, losing in straight sets with a great quality of tennis but just a few too many errors, but it is wonderful to see Amanda out on the courts again every day finding her old form and now reaching new heights with her game.
In doubles, Amanda teamed up with first year Hannah Palkowitz and I was unfortunate to not see much of their tennis, but they lost, won in the consolation and the lost 6-8 in the consolation quarterfinals. More on Hannah and our other first year's next time...

Finally for today, the event of the tournament in my mind happened in the first round. After a building season last year with some great doubles wins, Dena has worked so hard on her overall game and her singles and in the first round she jumped on her opponent from Pacific 6-1 in the first. All credit to Traci Mo from Pacific for cutting down her errors and lifting her focus to take the second set 6-3. We were playing match tie breaks (tie break to 10) in lieu of the third set and Dena got down 3-0, then looked really good going ahead and battling back and forth to 6-6. In an exciting match, it would end 10-8, or maybe even get to 13-11 or 14-12 for another changeover. NOT on this good day friends. These two competitors would not give an inch and earned and fought off match point after match point after match point. After 8, yes 8 changeovers in the super tiebreak, on the I don't know how manyth match point, Dena's iron focus and amazing willpower was rewarded with a 28-26 match tie break win. I've never seen that in all my years of tennis and may not again. It was thrilling and nerve racking and amazing but before the tie break, Dena, who as I said is pushing to make a run at the lineup this year, told me she wanted to stay in the main draw, not go into the consolation. Well it was certainly well earned and I am still amazed by both her tremendous tennis but also her superb effort.

I'll post again once we're finished, but Charlotte and Leah are still in the doubles consolation and Elise and Alyssa are in the doubles final while Alyssa has played her way into the singles semifinal, all tomorrow at our outdoor courts.

Have a great start to your week and check online via the athletics webpage for updates.

Best,
John

USTA/ITA Regional Championships in 2 days!

2010-09-23T14:06:00.000-07:00

The tournament is almost here, I can't wait. The team has done great work and this tournament is one more step in our journey this year. Welcome to those of you on your way into town and for everyone else, the link below will update you and links on the right will also have draws and results.

News and result links

The photo here is of Katie and Elise after winning in 2008; as you can see, Whitties even have fun after flying all the way from Walla Walla to New Orleans on the way to Alabama for Nationals.

PS A very happy birthday to Zoe!!!!!

Fall USTA/ITA Tournament Coming Up!

2010-09-19T14:57:00.000-07:00

Hello out there,

In less than a week on this Saturday (9/25) we host the annual USTA/ITA regional championships. This is a wonderful singles and doubles event that includes players from all nine of our Northwest Conference teams. It gives us a well timed tangible goal for our fall practices and I love the chance for new players to show their stuff as well as for returners to demonstrate the growth in their games. As a bonus, the tournament winners receive ITA All-American status and travel to the National DIII tournament.

Our first two weeks of practice and fitness have been outstanding. This group is balanced with 2 seniors, 3 juniors, 3 sophomores and 3 first year's and it has been inspiring to see them work with the efficiency of a well-oiled machine. First year's Maggie Eismeier (Portland,ME), Hannah Palkowitz (San Diego, CA) and Leah Siegel (Portland, OR) are adjusting rapidly to college life and college tennis and I'm excited to introduce them to their first college competition. And I can't deny the small pleasure I get in Hannah being the filling of a Bi-coastal Portland sandwich.

If you are planning on being here this weekend, keep in touch with me as we'll have a team dinner with family and friends on Friday in the late afternoon/early evening and I'm also planning a meal on campus Sunday evening for everyone.

I'll post more updates this week as the seeding and draws get posted.

Best,
John

Berry Picking with the Men's Team

2010-09-05T21:17:00.000-07:00

Apologies to those who follow Coach Northam's men's blog but we've got more pictures from our Friday activity.

To those who haven't heard, after the first week of classes, the men's and women's tennis teams headed out to the banks of the Walla Walla river at the base of the Blue Mountains where Biology Professor (and 2010 Convocation speaker) Delbert Hutchinson and his wife Kathleen hosted an afternoon of berry picking and hanging out by the fire.

We enjoyed the wonderful outdoors, the teams got to spend some time together off court and Hutch and Jeff (with Katie's help) made some mean Blackberry cobbler in dutch ovens in the fire.

It was a ton of fun, thanks so much to the Hutchinson's for their hospitality and to Jeff for the idea.

Check out photos here.

-Coach Hein

Player feature: Charlotte Scott

2010-07-23T15:16:00.000-07:00

Name: Charlotte Scott
Real Name: Squeaks
Year: Junior (2011)
Hometown: Seattle, WA
High School: The Bush School
Major: Spanish
Academic Interests: First became seriously interested in Spanish after a high school trip to Guatemala and decided to choose it as a major after reading Julio Cortázar’s "La noche boca arriba". She is also planning on getting a minor in Anthropology and wants to travel abroad next year, although where is unknown.
Family: daughter of Jim Scott and Linda Chalker-Scott, sister of Jack

Life before Whitman: Born in Buffalo, NY with a bagel and sponge candy in hand. Having grown up in Seattle and with both her parents each earning 3 degrees from Oregon State where Charlotte went to tennis camp every summer, she opted instead for Whitman. As a 4 year varsity letter winner at the Bush school, Charlotte was a three time team league champion and was the Emerald City league and district doubles champion with her doubles partner before falling the the State 1A/B doubles finals.

Life as a Whittie: Always a solid force in doubles, Charlotte has contributed in singles as well with some notable non-conference wins playing in the 7 and 8 spots against Claremont and Chapman. A wonderful ambassador for Whitman tennis, this dual language, multifaceted, versatile player is a huge asset on and off the court. Her heart is as big as her huge serve and if there is a chance to be there for her friends and team, you'll find Squeaks.

Hadley is famous!

2010-06-28T23:40:00.000-07:00

Ok, sort of. There is an article on the Whitman webpage about our new desert biological field station and look who's sporting their Whitman Tennis hat in the photo. Nice work Had putting your smarts to good environmental use.

For the ecology minded out there (check this out Linda C-S!), they are doing a project on cheatgrass, an important desert invader.

Here is the link or go to http://www.whitman.edu/content/news/fieldstation

Women's tennis gives back to Walla Walla youth

2010-06-21T23:08:00.001-07:00

I've posted on this before as it is a project I'm extremely proud of. Yes, it's our team's tennis in schools program where the ladies volunteer their time, energy and expertise with the racket to introduce tennis to local schoolchildren. You can read the PNW tennis times with an article and photo of Emily teaching on page 11 right here.

This year, the men's team has expressed interest in joining us and we'll continue to use the equipment funded by the USTA and start branching out to a second school in Walla Walla. While just providing the lessons and developing hand eye coordination skills while spreading knowledge of the game is enough reward in itself, last week during the first week of Walla Walla Parks and Rec tennis camps, Jeff Northam and I were excited to have a few kids enrolled who were first introduced to tennis at Sharpstein Elementary last year with our team!

Whitman Player Features: Alyssa Roberg

2010-06-09T22:21:00.000-07:00

Ok, so putting together some in depth player bios has been on my to do list all season, so now that summer is here, I'll get started and share them with you all. Here goes with Whitman's 2009-2010 freshman female most outstanding performer:

Name: Alyssa Roberg
Real Name: Show Pony
Year: Sophomore (2013)
Hometown: Scotts Valley, CA
High School: Santa Cruz High School
Major: Undecided
Academic Interests: Environmental Studies (Sociology) and Psychology, and Education
Family: daughter of Arlene and Roy Roberg

Life before Whitman: found her way from the beaches and misty coastal mountains of Santa Cruz onto a tennis court by age 7, was playing tournaments by 10…four time singles champion in the Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League...led her team to SCCAL league championship as a senior…competed in the CCS singles tournament four times… ranked in the top 40 USTA Norcal 18’s

Life as a Whittie: Playing mostly #1 singles and #1 doubles, earned a ranking of #5 doubles and #20 singles in the West Region, alternate for NCAA Individual Nationals, first team All Northwest Conference, Most Outstanding Freshman Female Athlete, tiebreak tournament champion, team leader, rambunctious dancer, a laugh you hear across Ankeny (and more likely notice the absence of laughter as she catches her breath)

Adult Wine and Tennis Camp at Whitman July 22-25

2010-06-02T00:19:00.000-07:00

Hello and happy summer (or almost summer) to all!

As the season and school year have both finished up, the team has earned several accolades which I'll share in future postings, but for now I'd like to spread the word about an amazing idea that is coming to life this summer... an adult tennis and wine camp in Walla Walla! Jeff Northam has been talking about this and if you or anyone you know loves wine, food, and of course tennis, you should check this out. I feel lucky to be involved with a tremendous coaching staff that includes one of the best college coaches alive in Greg Patton from Boise State, Pat Dreeves from Spokane who was an amazing college coach at Linfield and Eastern Washington before striking out as one of the premier private coaches in the Northwest with our own superstar Elise Otto on his list of successful students. And yes, Jeff and I will be there too!

Any profits will go to the Men's and Women's teams at Whitman, but really I'm extremely excited to spend time on court with these coaches and our "campers" as well as getting to know some of the finer points of life in Walla Walla (food and wine) a little bit better.

Information on the camp can be found online by clicking here or feel free to contact me with inquiries, and spread the word as summer is fast approaching!

Cheers!

John
heinj@whitman.edu

NCAA Nationals Selections Announced...Whitman on the bubble

2010-05-12T18:50:00.000-07:00

Well, as tomorrow marks the first day of final exams and our men's team competing at Regionals in Claremont, CA, we enjoyed a beautiful spring day with the news that our top doubles duo of Elise and Alyssa has been named the first alternate for the West Region in the selections for individual nationals May 28-30 in Fredericksburg, VA (see the NCAA website for information).

I'm really proud of this honor and excited about practicing with these two as they take on court study breaks. There are a lot of very good teams in our conference and the West region is strong in doubles, so to have the opportunity to prepare for nationals is outstanding.

-John

Fall ITA at Whitman so Plan Ahead

2010-04-28T14:05:00.001-07:00

Just a quick note about next fall, we are hosting the Fall Regional ITA tournament Sep 25-27. If you're like Alyssa and ready to swing into action, I'd suggest looking early for lodging. During this beautiful time of year any weekend in Walla Walla will be busy, but it is a reunion weekend at Whitman, which will make the feel on campus that much more exciting, but the competition for rooms that much more intense.

Long term planners, get your calendars out, I hope to see you on campus as we look to start next season off strong.

John

Big Omission from my last message

2010-04-18T13:12:00.001-07:00

Wow,
In writing up the tennis events of the weekend I neglected to mention the amazing W Club event that we had. Our athletic booster club joined forces with Whitman Alum John Adkinson and his wife Maureen to have a post tournament BBQ at their wonderful home in Yakima. Both teams, parents, alums and supporters enjoyed great hospitality and so I have to send this follow up to thank Cathy, John, Maureen, and Dean for putting this on.

Go Whitman!
Coach

Second at NWC Tournament, Lot's of First's

2010-04-18T12:26:00.000-07:00

FIRST, the good news.

We finished our 2009-2010 season on a great note at the Yakima Tennis Club playing in the final match against Whitworth while our men's team was right next to us taking FIRST in their draw and advancing to the NCAA national tournament. We had our FIRST win over Linfield since 01-02 in the semi's, we earned two FIRST team All NWC players in Alyssa Roberg and Elise Otto (go Show Pony and Twitch!) and I was voted to my FIRST NWC Coach of the year award, which is a truly humbling honor that is a reflection of the wonderful students that I am fortunate enough to coach.

Now, to the second. In windy conditions that took us a little longer to adjust to than Whitworth, we went down early in #2 doubles and played from a game behind for most of the match at 3. To their credit, our seniors showed their mettle and played the type of doubles that would have won them the match, unfortunately, they were already down 6-1, and ended up losing 8-3. Next, Wolverine and Sabertooth (Kate and Em) could not quite claw and bite their way back into the proset, falling 8-5. Going down 3-0 would have been an absolute disaster and as all of the players and fans descended on the stadium court for the conclusion of 1 doubles, Show Pony and Twitch had just earned a break and then responded to the pressure and crowd by playing their best games of the match to score an 8-5 win. Alyssa was prancing even after spraining her ankle in the Pacific match and she made some huge serves, smart groundstrokes and poaches so big you would think she was over 6 feet tall with all the court she covered. As a team, they had talked about the need to own the net with the windy conditions and Elise's volley game had fans wowing and Whitworth wondering as we pulled the match score to 1-2.

In singles, we had 5 courts at the main part of the Yakima tennis club and a contingent led by assistant coach extraordinaire Katie went to the upper courts a few hundred yards away and completely out of site for the #6 match. At the lower courts, Div put the finishing touches on a stellar Whitman career avenging her only conference losses of the season in straight sets with a smart blend of offense and defensive tennis. I need to do some final counting, but Div has over 130 wins (singles and doubles) over 4 years and might be the winningest Whittie Woman that we have on record (a summer project for me to find out).

Emily was next to her and while her doubles struggles carried through her first set she showed wonderful composure and nearly fought back in the second. Emily had a tremendous sophomore season and is not showing any signs of leveling off as she gets better and better, proving that she is a force in singles and doubles in our lineup.

Hadley and Elise played side by side and the score does not do justice to Hadley's efforts. She will be the first to admit that she can play better, but her opponent deserves the credit as her consistent topspin was a perfect game for yesterday's windy conditions. Like Div, Hadley has accomplished so much in 4 years and I am so proud to call myself her coach, she is such an amazing player, student and person so look for great things from her post-graduation.

With the score overall 4-2, Elise knew we needed every point and was pumped up to be able to provide that spark. What was most gratifying to me, however, was that at the start of the season Twitch and I talked about her goals for the season and without going into the secret details, she absolutely stuck with her plan for the season and it paid off with a conference tournament where she went 3-0 in doubles and 3-0 in singles, doing it all the way she wanted to, which is a testament to her persistence, work ethic and ability.

At 4-3 overall, word had come down from above that Kate lost the first but was super close in the second. Alyssa fought back from a 0-3 first set to be up 6-5, when fellow first team all NWC selection Rachel Burns found a way to fight into the tiebreak and battle out a hardfought 7-5 win. Needing two 3 set comebacks from two freshman, we absolutely were in it as Kate went to a second set tiebreak knowing that her fitness in a 3rd would be an advantage. I didn't see the tiebreak, but Katie told me how well Kate fought and how much of a battle it was. Unfortunately for us, another 7-5 tie break went to the Conference Champions and we halted Alyssa's second set as Whitworth took the match 5-3 and earned the Automatic qualification (AQ) to the NCAA DIII national tournament next month.

This has truly been an amazing season, not only were we talented, hard working and fun, but we showed a level of team spirit, determination and sportsmanship that continually inspired me as a coach and teacher.

In Yakima this weekend we were so lucky to have our men's team there, they are a huge force as fans and role models as they cheer and compete with intensity and integrity, congrats to Jeff and his guys for winning the tournament and advancing to the NCAA's! We also had such amazing parents; the Kaur's, Rolston's, Rosemary Otto, Mark DeBree, and the Kunkel's were amazing fans and support and kept us fed and happy the whole time. An extra special thank you goes out to Annie Kunkel who Friday night fed BOTH Whitman teams and all the parents and our amazing staff that was at the tournament. It was a feast and also a feat that I don't quite understand, but somehow Annie pulled it off and made it look easy. Being the tournament hosts, we had great fans with Alums including Alex and staff with Dave Holden (our amazing SID), Brooke Kennedy, who did the best job of any trainer I've witnessed at a big tournament like this and she did it all by herself, Dean Snider our AD, and Brett Axelrod, Whitman Alum and Soccer assistant coach who worked tirelessly all weekend to keep the facilities tip top and also got a ton of video and photos that I can't wait to see and share.

And to all those who couldn't attend, but sent your wishes, it meant a lot as we concluded our most successful season since 2002 with the promise of only moving forward in the future.

My next posts will be less frequent but I will keep you up to date with photos, end of season accolades and any other news from the courts and classrooms in Walla Walla.

Thanks for reading and following us!
John

Pacific and Linfield down, one more to go

2010-04-16T23:15:00.000-07:00

Hello from Yakima Washington. Today was the first day of the Conference tournament to decide who goes to the NCAA tournament. I don't want the team to think I'm staying up too late as they should be getting to sleep NOW, so I'll write this and then get some rest myself.

We started the day with a first round match against Pacific. I always talk about how talented and spirited this boxer team is and they gave us a terrific match, but we followed a doubles sweep including an 8-6 win at 3 and a tiebreak at 1 (down 5-7!) to a 5-0 victory when the other matches were pulled. Singles was very tough because as Div rolled, everyone else battled and when Elise clinched it, we were just gaining real momentum with Charlotte having won the first and Kate up a set with Hadley and Emily in tight matches.

After having lunch and a quick rest, we turned around to face Linfield and the opposite of our last match happened. This time after being up at every spot, they stormed back to take 2 and 3 and a huge effort from Alyssa and Elise at 1 against a great team kept us in it. Again, Div was a star, finishing in straight sets to even the match. Alyssa got down a set and went up 4-1 before Abby from Linfield dug in and fought out a win. Now down 3-2 in matches, we needed some huge performances and Emily Rolston was the Whittie to provide the spark, while everyone battled, she took Div's court and was flipping the scorecards faster than anyone else and came off with a convincing win to tie it 3-3. With Elise up a set and a break and Kate and Hadley each down a set, we needed some third set magic. Hadley stepped up to force a third and fought like a champion, but fell 4-6. Meanwhile Elise lost her break, but broke again in a LONG 5-4 game to knot things at 4. With a wonderful crowd roaring, Kate tightened her game up and took the second set. Unfortunately, her opponent started cramping, which can be an advantage, but can also distract lots of players. Not KKP, who stuck to her plan and worked incredibly hard through the third, to stay focused was an absolute rock. As a coach I want our team to be known for our fitness and toughness and to win the deciding match with fitness was so special.

So, my first coaching win against Linfield (as a head coach, that is) and it was sweet as it sets us up for a lunch date with Whitworth for the trip to nationals tomorrow. We play at noon side by side with our men's team who valiantly held off a talented and experienced PLU team.

GO WHITMAN!
John

Finishing Strong

2010-04-11T17:10:00.000-07:00

Hello Whitman Sportsfans,

As the close to our regular season we drew two exciting home matches for our Family/Alumni weekend and Seniors final home matches. Before I get into the tennis I would love to acknowledge the love and support of this extended family that this weekend included not only the team and our wonderful campus community but many of you who traveled to Walla Walla.

Yesterday we defeated Lewis and Clark (OR) by a count of 6-3 with the entire DeBree family watching their daughters battle it out in doubles (Hadley and Div getting the W)and only an injury to top Pio Amalia Nilsson kept them apart in singles. But the DeBree's weren't alone with many of our team being cheered on by parents, siblings and fellow Whitties (thanks SAAC for bribing so many students to the courts with Otter Pops).

After the match, we adjourned across the street to Baker Faculty Center, a wonderful old house on campus used for events and receptions. There we enjoyed hanging out, refueling and celebrating the great (and extremely crazy and funny) years of Hadley and Div. One of the hardest jobs I've had this year has been trying not to think of them being gone. It is amazing how attached you get to players and these two, in Zoe's words, have been the heart and soul of this team.

The most fitting way to honor them, besides having a great time and showering them with gifts, was to come out today and earn third place in what has become a much deeper and stronger conference than even a year ago. Standing in our way were the Bearcats of Willamette. Again, anchored by our seniors, we got a 2-1 lead after doubles and again Div was focused from the start to notch her 129th win for Whitman with a 6-0.6-0 victory. Elise followed with a great 2 and 2 win to put us up 4-1. Alyssa, playing the Northwest's top singles player, showed that she belongs right at the top as well playing some beautiful tennis in a losing effort that closed the gap to 4-2. It was fitting that the match was decided by Hadley as she pulled out a straight set win.

Kate was off quickly to extend the lead and Emily gave the fans a final thrill with a 10-7 match tiebreak win. This is the time of year when you want to be playing your best and this weekend was fun and we improved our team score over both of these tough opponents.

As the 3 seed at conference, this Friday in Yakima, WA we will play #6 Pacific at 8am, with the winner to play Linfield in the semi's in the afternoon. There is a W Club event Saturday evening at the conclusion of the tournament which should be a lot of fun as they've done tailgates at basketball and soccer and now its Tennis time!

Hope to see you in Yakima,

John

Another nailbiter in McMinnville

2010-04-04T17:45:00.001-07:00

Well folks, Happy Easter (and KKP Bday) to all who celebrate it. If you were following Zoe's twitter updates, you know the excitement and drama we went through yesterday must have rivaled that of the NCAA DI final four basketball.

We suffered a narrow 5-4 defeat (scores) at the hands of a hot Linfield team. On Friday, while we played a very solid match to beat a spirited and talented Pacific team 9-0, Linfield swept doubles and went on to beat the defending conference champion Whitworth who were previously undefeated in conference play this year.

That made our doubles play all the more satisfying, going up 2-1. At #1, we got down a break and in her final home match of an illustrious career, Linfield Senior Sallie Katter served huge and partner Abby Olbrich was solid all over the court to hang on for an 8-5 win over Elise and Alyssa who never quite found their rhythm as a team. At #2 dubs, we absolutely created our own rhythm with seniors Div and Hadley playing with unrelenting focus and fun to win 8-2. The closest match then became #3, where Emily and Kate hung tough and worked their way to an 8-6 victory to put us up 2-1.

The momentum was quickly regained by Linfield on their 3 indoor courts as their top two players played very smart and clean tennis. Abby Olbrich at 1 switched from offense to defense at all the right times and it was not a good day for Alyssa to be a little off in a 6-4,6-2 loss. As in doubles, a ton of credit goes to Sallie Katter for playing great tennis at #2 against Elise. It wasn't a great day for either of our top two, but in those spots everyone is so good that we know we have to bring our best every time and being a little off will quickly be exploited as it was yesterday.

At #3, Hadley played brilliant tennis, which is the norm for her, but she was just not consistent enough to come out on top and she lost by scores of 6-3,6-4 in a closely contested two set match.

So, from up 2-1 feeling great, we send out Div, Em and Kate needing a sweep in the final three. An even bigger hole was dug as Kate pulled out a long first set 6-4, but Emily and Div each dropped their first sets, so we needed some 3 set efforts.

As in doubles, Div was the first to do her part as she recovered from a quick 0-3 hole in the first set to come back to 4-6 and carry that momentum into the second, winning it 6-3 and showing why she is such a tough player to play against. Just as Div gained the momentum and was really feeling it for the split, Emily was now down 3-5 in the second. With the match on her racket and her back against the wall, she found an extra level of focus and fought off at least one amazing match point where she had to hit multiple overheads and finish with a drop volley. That kind of composure pulled her to 4-5 back on serve as Div went for some water before the third. As was so frustrating all day, Emily again went down, this time 0-40, and again she fought back 3 match (team and individual) points to get the game to deuce. Somehow, wildcat Sarah Watanabe found a way to lock down two points and the win for Linfield leaving us disappointed in McMinnville.

Then, with incredible fortitude, Div was able to control her match tie break 10-4 and Kate repeated her first set for a 6-4, 6-4 victory to pull us back to 4-5. It was a great match to be at and I give Linfield a lot of credit because if they play like that, we (and any other team) will need to really step up to get them at the conference tournament in Yakima in two weeks.

This weekend is our final match weekend and also our Family and Alumni weekend where we will play Lewis and Clark on 2pm on Saturday and Willamette at 9am on Sunday. The weekend will also include a dinner Saturday, so please contact me if you are coming so I know who will be here as we look to lock down 3rd place in conference and honor our seniors as well as enjoy each others company around some great tennis.

Thanks for reading,
John

Change of plans...same result

2010-04-02T23:24:00.000-07:00

Today we drove to the Portland area to play Pacific. I was so excited to see their new tennis facility, which includes 3 covered courts which normally withstand a rainy day, but today was not a typical rainy day. There were drizzles, intense rain and wind, hail, and bright warm sunshine. The end result was we pushed the match to 7pm at Green Meadows Club in Vancouver, WA, just across the state line.

Our team responded to the change beautifully, coming out with a strong doubles sweep including 8-0 at #1 doubles. First off in singles was Elise with a very strong win at #2 followed almost simultaneously by Kate then Hadley. Emily pulled through next, but it was 1 and 4 that were most interesting as Alyssa had gone three sets in her win the first time we played Pacific, while Div fought out a 7-6, 7-6 win. Again, each prevailed, but this time Alyssa displayed her tremendous ability to focus and down 2-4 in the first broke back to go up 5-4 and then pull the set out 7-5. The second set she jumped out to a 3-0 lead and rolled through to a 6-2 win. 4 singles was another great match, but Div pulled away in each set to get a very impressive 6-3,6-3 win.

It is so nice to see measured progress as a coach.

Tomorrow we travel to McMinnville to take on Linfield who today was the first team in two years to notch a conference win over Whitworth so we'll certainly have our hands full.

Until tomorrow...
John

Tremendous match vs Whitworth

2010-03-28T19:22:00.001-07:00

Good evening out there.

I'm going to write this post right away as the feelings from today's 7-2 loss to Whitworth are fresh.

First, we came out with very solid doubles, playing huge at 2 and 4, unfortunately, Dena and Charlotte's win didn't count on the scoreboard. 3 was a battle and 1 was a funny match with a ton of breaks and way too many crosscourt rallies. Alyssa and Elise worked well to earn opportunities but in the end dropped a close 8-6 decision.

Down 2-1 was daunting against a very deep Whitworth team, and Dena and Charlotte went indoors for the 7 and 8 matches which is hard for our team because we want to play and improve, but they all want to support the counting matches so much.

Outside, Elise stormed out to a 2 set win to even the match at 2-2 playing a really smart match against a very tough player. Hadley and Div were both in battles and each lost in straight sets, but they both displayed the composure and belief that truly made each match come down to a point here or there.

At 1, Alyssa's match was funny as she started strong up 2-1 and then got a bit off while her opponent played nearly flawless defensive tennis to go up a set and 5-0. At this point Show Pony rolled off 5 straight games before losing two absolute battles. She learned a lot from this one and her shots and health were a pleasure to see after missing time on spring break with illness.

Whenever Emily and Katie Staudinger get on court it is a war. I don't always like to describe matches as wars because it sounds negative, but these two just bring out the best in each other and play tennis that is exciting to watch and super intense but very positive. Last time Em came out on top and this time she had great momentum in the second set at 4-4 up 15-30 on Katie's serve when we had to move inside where Katie had a big hold and then played a good game to break for the match.

Kate also had to move in with momentum down a set but up 3-0. She pulled out the second, but came up short in a match tie break.

All credit goes to Whitworth for playing a brilliant match, but my team's performance today was superb and is such a wonderful reminder of how great college tennis is, so thanks team!

Also, I have to thank all the great fans who came out and made the trip. Thanks for the snacks Annie, the cheering from everyone, what a fun atmosphere to be a part of.

I can't wait to practice and play next weekend, but tomorrow we'll have a much deserved rest.

Best regards,
John

Back home and back in the swing of things

2010-03-27T18:04:00.001-07:00

After a great trip on spring break it is so nice to be back at Whitman. Walla Walla welcomed us with a beautiful spring day and we played George Fox in a doubleheader. Fox was a bit shorthanded with only 5 players, but we were still able to get everyone matches in a 9-0 and an 8-1 win.

Both teams fought hard and it was fun tennis to be a part of. At this point in the season I am so lucky to coach such a great group of players and their team effort was not surprising to me, though I'm grateful for it every day. What was a pleasant surprise was the amount of fans we had today. Maybe it was the beautiful weather, maybe it was the tennis, but it being the last weekend of break and the dorms being closed it was a quiet day on campus, but it seemed that the people who were here found their way to the courts to cheer us on.

An extra big thanks to the Moore's for supporting us with cookies, cheering and dandelion jewelry.

Tomorrow at 1pm Whitworth comes to town for a big conference match that we're very excited to play so I hope just as many and more people can make it out to enjoy some exciting tennis at Whitman!

John

Road Trip Recap

2010-03-26T19:10:00.000-07:00

Without going into too much detail since I wasn't able to give daily updates during the last part of our road trip, let me say that we had an outstanding spring break.

It was apparent in the fall and has carried through the season that this team is a very special group in their ability to simultaneously play wonderful tennis and have an incredible amount of fun.

We traveled from the central coast where we had two matches and enjoyed some wonderful hospitality at the Roberg's and great road support from Zoe and Kate's family, Elise's parents and everyone else who supported us (thanks Mike).

After driving south we had the opportunity to test ourselves against Bowdoin College, the number 16 team in the country. Thanks to Azusa Pacific for hosting us as our seniors Divneet and Hadley played a terrific match at 2 doubles to get us on the board. In singles, we showed that we can hang with top teams and Bowdoin showed why they are one of those teams, as they found ways up and down the lineup to get victories in a singles sweep.

After a day off by the coast, we took on the #17 team in the country in Redlands. The Bulldogs are very tough in doubles with the #1 and #9 teams in the region. Elise and Alyssa fought well to notch a win, Hadley and Div battled well against a great team and at 3 doubles, Kate and Emily were tantalizingly close to putting us up 2-1. Despite our efforts, we went into singles down and played really close at 1,2,3 and 6 with our competitors at 4 and 5 playing very clean matches.

These are such great matches in our development to learn from and we've got chances right away to see how we can apply those lessons with George Fox twice tomorrow and Whitworth on Sunday at home. Come on out if you're in town!

Coach

Split in Santa Cruz

2010-03-21T00:47:00.000-07:00

We've started the match portion of Spring Break 2010 with a doubleheader at UCSC. This morning we continued our winning ways with a very solid 9-0 shutout of Whittier College. This was a good match in which I think the experience of playing in such a deep conference proved to be valuable for us. As well as getting the sweep 1-6 and 1-3 doubles, Charlotte got an exhibition win at #7 while Dena stepped up to earn her first top 6 singles point in a Whitman uniform with a smart and efficient 6-2,6-1 win.

In doubles, we had to mix it up a bit as our Show Pony Alyssa who was so excited to play in her hometown came down with a terrible respiratory infection that fortunately is clearing up but sidelined her for the day. So Div and Had stepped up to #1 and Charlotte joined Elise for a big win at #2 with Em and Kate continuing their solid partnership at #3.

Any team misses losing one of their top players, and Alyssa is currently ranked #19 in the West region and she and Elise team up as the #13 doubles team. On top of that she has a special energy and attitude that is so positive and infectious that facing a very tough UCSC team in the afternoon was a daunting task indeed.

This leads to the reason I am absolutely thrilled with our performance today. We lost 7-2 to UCSC, but we played some wonderful doubles on every court and in a situation where we were not at full strength, I didn't hear or feel any kind of pessimism or regret from our performance. It was an outstanding display of teamwork, heart and courage which is why I can say that the Slugs won this match today rather than us losing it.

On the bright side of the scoresheet, it is a treat to be stocked with such talent at the top, Elise who is no stranger to court #1 and top regional and national opponents played her best match of the season defeating a hard hitting freshman who is ranked #9 in the West in a match tiebreak. Today was also a great day for Hadley, who demonstrated the type of tennis that has earned her 3 all-conference awards in her great Whitman career.

We are off tomorrow, hitting and enjoying being together on the road and supporting our men's team as they battle top D3 teams Cal Lutheran and UCSC before driving south for Tuesday matches with Bowdoin and LaVerne followed by Redlands on Thursday.

I loved seeing so many Whitman fans and friends at an away match, I hope you all enjoyed what I thought was a great display of tennis today.

John

Spring Break Matches Begin Tomorrow

2010-03-19T21:48:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

After several days of time off, wonderful travel and a terrific experience at the BNP Paribas tournament in Indian Wells, we are up in Northern California to play Whittier College and UC Santa Cruz. UCSC is where I played and did my assistant coaching, so the homecoming is so much fun for me and the team is enjoying being on the road together, practicing and enjoying wonderful hospitality from the Chalker's and the Roberg's.

The Whittier match is at 9am on the West courts.

Santa Cruz is at 3:30 on the East courts.

If you're not in Santa Cruz, check for twitter updates and another posting after tomorrow!

John

Spring Break 2010!

2010-03-13T00:39:00.001-08:00

California here we come. On the coattails of back to back NWC victories vs. PLU and UPS, we are ready for some non conference matches in California.

While we've had wonderful semester of sunny skies and warm outdoor matches in Walla Walla, my family in Ca keeps telling me how much it is raining. Well, our fingers are crossed for good weather because we know we can bring great tennis!

Toady was a tremendous opportunity to play meaningful matches where I was able to make some lineup substitutions in order to rest our horses (or ponies, kangerotto's and lemurs) while getting a chance to see people step up in the lineup and face the pressure of counting matches. This was terrific for Dena and Charlotte who each got to play both singles and doubles. They had a good day of doubles but it was marked by lulls of inconsistent play. It is a testament to their big point execution and wonderful heart that they made it to two tiebreaks, but as aggressive as they were, we still could now notch a win.

Against both PLU and UPS we played a combination of consistent and aggressive doubles which was gratifying to see but even better to watch their smiles as the hard work in practice showed through.

There are so many singles matches to describe, so I'll just say that Elise and Alyssa took care of business at #1 with Elise playing very smart and Alyssa just catching fire as she was first off. Hadley's #2 match vs. PLU was very interesting, her opponent played extremely well, but even when she found the rignt gameplan, it was difficult to consistently execute it. Div put on a clinic today with wonderful ball striking and great recognition of what it would take to win points. Emily played a solid match vs PLU but form the middle of the first set to 5-0 in the second I was SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO impressed and even though she let it slip a bit we were treated to shades of Emily playing how Emily should play. Kate was also a stalwart today, not only increasing he aggressive net play in doubles, but also being very tough from the backcourt with some very successful forays into the net.

All in all, it was a great day. Wonderful to have Mr. Div, Evan and Dena's brother Joe, and especially the Scotts there to watch and cheer us on, and the snacks in Yakima on the way over were Perfect, thanks Annie!

Talk to you all soon,

John

Double Header Friday in Tacoma

2010-03-10T22:00:00.000-08:00

This week is the last week of school before Spring Break. We're starting our break off with 2 conference matches back to back this Friday in Tacoma, WA vs PLU and UPS, then the team has a few days off before traveling to California for training and several exciting matches.

Friday, we play at 2pm vs PLU, which could be outdoors at PLU, but the current forecast would put us indoors at UPS (I'll send a twitter update when we know which for sure). Then at 7pm we are at UPS playing UPS.

If you are in the Seattle/Tacoma area I hope you'll be able to come and cheer us on.

-John

Another Great Team Effort

2010-03-06T23:15:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone.

We finished up our weekend on the road in Oregon today with a 6-3 win over Willamette. We've been playing really good doubles but the quality of the conference has kept almost every proset close. Today we didn't have the best day at 2, and 3 again fought through a tiebreak, but the real story was at 1, where Elise and Alyssa were down 3-6 to the team that took out Div and Alyssa in the semi's of the fall tournament. To be fair, it was close each game to 3-6, but they made the subtle adjustments to gain steam and roll to an 8-6 win. Going up 2-1 was huge after having to fight back yesterday.

At Willamette, the courts are on 2 levels, 3 up a few feet from the other 3. We got on top using straight set wins on the top courts by Div at 4, Kate at 6 and then Elise at 2 to clinch the match. Alyssa showed she can play with the best in the conference by taking the first set and battling right to the end of the third with Natalia Agarycheva who has a HUGE game for D3. It just wasn't Emily's day at 5, but she almost pulled out the second and would have carried a lot of energy into the third. Speaking of energy in the third, after splitting and with the match decided shortly after starting the third, Hadley kicked her movement and her game into another gear, taking out Katie Huber 6-1 to finish the Whitman victory.

We also got a very strong, yet slightly inconsistent performance at 4 doubles from Dena and Charlotte, an exciting team that is putting the pieces together but lost in a tiebreak today. Dena came back strong to pull out an 8-5 exhibition win at #7 and her confidence seems to grow daily.

Regardless of results, the team played with great effort and enjoyment of the game both days and the trip would not have been so wonderful without the support of the Ly's and Kaur's, with the latter helping us achieve our goal of eating Indian food in Portland (actually Elise's goal, but a good one). A big thanks goes out to them.

I must also acknowledge Zoe for her multitasking during the match. With an ailing back keeping her off the court, she was charting doubles, cheering for everyone AND using my phone to provide match updates for you via twitter on the blogsite. Thanks ZZ.

One more week til spring break! Our Whitties will hit the books and get ready for one more NWC day and our trip down to California to play Santa Cruz, Whittier, Bowdoin, LaVerne and Redlands!

Best wishes to all,

John

Every class chips in for 5-4 road win

2010-03-06T00:49:00.000-08:00

Good evening. Wow, many predicted that the Northwest Conference would be tight this year with so many teams getting better and deeper. Today, we had our 3rd 5-4 match of the season and this time we came out on top!

After another day of really well played doubles, our new lineup yielded a result that was not indicative of how well we played. As with Linfield, all 3 were close to the end, with the quickest match being an 8-6 LC win over Emily and Div at 2. The others went to tie breaks and at 1, Elise and Alyssa played outstanding tennis and came back from 2-6 to 6 all in the breaker before falling. Meanwhile at 3, Hadley and Kate found their game in the tiebreak to salvage a point going into singles.

The top matche showcased amazing tennis with Alyssa fighting hard but losing to NWC 2 time player of the year Amalia Nilsson. Hadley was bested by her younger sister at 3, with Whitney playing very solid tennis. With Junior Elise Otto winning in straight sets at 2, we were down 4-2 and needed all 3 matches on court. Sophomore Emily Rolston had a great day playing with incredible focus and energy to win in 3 sets. She was followed by Senior Divneet Kaur who was down 2-5 and calmed herself to come back and win the first in a breaker. The second set she jumped out to a 4-1 lead and then found herself down 5-6 and had a huge hold to force another breaker. Down 2 set points again she stepped up and pulled out a 9-7 tiebreak. Almost in unison, 1st year missionary Kate Kunkel-Patterson rounded out our 4 wins by 4 classes with a straight set win at 6 for the dramatic 5-4 comeback.

Tomorrow we are at Willamette at 11am.

-Coach Hein

Whitman Women Battle Bravely

2010-02-28T18:13:00.000-08:00

But, we did come out on the short end of a 5-4 decision today, which having a team of scholars I'm sure we will learn from.

The match began with played pretty solid doubles, but we just could not grab the momentum and lost 6-8 at 1 and 3. Then, in danger of going down 3-0 in the match, Hadley and Alyssa prevailed in a close tiebreak at 2.

With this momentum, Alyssa got us our only straight set win of the day over All-American Abby Olbrich at #1. Her maturity in this match against an extremely tough competitor was outstanding. Speaking of maturity, after dropping the second set, Div came out strong to win 6-3 in the 3rd to put us up 3-2. Elise and Hadley dropped their first sets but Hadley came back strong before losing a 3rd set 6-1 that was much closer than the score. Elise and Sallie Katter had an absolute battle, Sallie taking the first set tiebreak 7-5 and then she got up 2 breaks in the second before Elise earned one back, eventually losing in a very high quality match from both players.

So, we needed the final two matches and at #5 Linfield's Kiana Nip played very well to beat Em in straight sets. At 6, with the match decided, Kate's rythym went up and down but she ultimately focused and played great tennis at the end to win a match tie break 10-8.

It was wonderful to be outside on our home courts with friends and family watching and cheering and while we didn't manage the result, we played with passion and are excited to head to Portland next weekend for two more great matchups.

Our Woman of the Match was Alyssa, not just for winning both, but also for her outstanding attitude and ability to withstand hot streaks from her opponents in both singles and doubles.

Best regards,
John

Great win over Pacific

2010-02-27T21:10:00.000-08:00

This weekend started with a gorgeous day of tennis on the Whitman campus.

We came out strong at 1 and 4 doubles winning 8-3 and 8-1 with Dena and Kate leading the way at 4. The crowd was great and it was so enjoyable seeing us pull out some close matches and retain wonderful composure up and down the lineup.

As a huge fan of ice hockey where they have 3 stars and soccer that has a man of the match, Katie and I have been awarding the Woman of the match each time and today Elise led the way both with her play and her support of her teammates, especially during Alyssa's match tie break. Today, we had to break our new tradition and award two Woman of the match awards because Dena was the best player during doubles with solid shotmaking, aggressive play and most of all incredible teamwork and focus from start to finish. She then kept herself glued courtside supporting everyone, especially Divneet during her hardfought two setter.

Tomorrow, we go right back to work with another big conference match at home, this time at 10am vs Linfield. If you are nearby, I hope to see you there as today's crowd was so wonderful.

-Coach Hein

Weekend Match Preview

2010-02-26T09:50:00.000-08:00

This weekend at Whitman, we take on two great NWC rivals. On Saturday at noon we play Pacific, the team we beat for 3rd place last season. And then on Sunday, Linfield, who edged us for 2nd comes to town at 10am. I'll update the blog through the weekend as these exciting matches take place.
-Coach

A long recap for a long and well fought match

2010-02-21T20:29:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone,

Where to start? Today we were in Spokane for an absolutely huge test both for the progression of our program and for this years team that includes two wonderful seniors who are working super hard to make the future of Whitman tennis now.

If you're unfamiliar with the history, after Linfield clawed their way to 7 straight NWC titles, last season the entire conference got deeper, and Whitworth has a tremendous group of young players that gave them the depth to go undefeated in conference play last year. We lost to them 1-8 in Spokane and in a tight 3-6 match in Walla Walla.

Fast forward to today at 10am, we come out enthusiastic but very composed in doubles, going down a break early at 1 and 2 and playing solid at 3. Then, as happens so often in college matches, momentum came into play. While Hadley and Alyssa picked up more and more energy with spirited aggresive play at 2, Elise and Div stayed true to their gameplan and gained the upper hand through consistent execution and great teamwork. In the end, a super close #3 match slipped away 6-8 and we held our composure big time to win #1 8-4 and #2 8-5.

With energy and momentum on our side it did not take long to notch our third point of the day. Alyssa is capable of playing some amazing tennis and while I've been incredibly impressed with her improved strength and decision making, it was lights out power tennis in the first set as she blitzed a very good Alli Marshall 6-0. To Marshall's credit, the second set was much better, but very quickly we had a 3-1 lead as Alyssa won 6-0,6-2.

The #1 singles was a much different story, with the first two points ending in perfectly built points ended in clean winners, one by Elise, one by Rachel Burns of Whitworth. The two traded holds to 4-4 when Rachel finally broke and held to take the first. From there, Elise played tough and had moments of brilliance, but I'm sure she would not allow me to say that she played her best tennis. On the other hand, all credit to Rachel for completely stepping up and not letting Elise back in the match.

So, up 3-2 with Hadley winning a close first 7-5 and Div and Emily starting, we felt good, but knew that Whitworth's depth was lurking. Down 4-1 in the second, Hadley broke back and played such wonderful tennis but could not close the door at 5-4 and lost a tough tie break to send it to a third. Meanwhile, Div fought very hard, but had trouble establishing the right rhythm and went down bravely in straight sets. Kate followed with a straight set loss in a match she could have won but will teach her where her game needs to improve.

During all of this, Emily pulled off a huge first set tiebreak against Whitworth's Katie Stauginger, a super tough player who had never lost a NWC singles match. Staudinger lived up to her record by taking the second set. Before I describe the third, let me say that this #5 battle was so well played with hard hitting, lots of winners and tons of emotion, it could have been mistaken for a 1 or 2 match.

So, Emily and Hadley enter the third sets and Whitworth has taken a 4-3 lead so we need both of these. Hadley goes up 2-0, Em goes down 0-2. A few tough games later Em is down 2-3 and Had is up 3-2. Then, while Hadley battles point after point to 5-5, the cheers from yellow clad teammates turn to roars as Emily hits huge shot after huge shot, building points and finishing with incredible confidence to take the third set 6-3 and knot the match at 4-4 as Hadley's third set is at 5-5. The 5-5 game is super close with both players having chances and Whitworth's Mya Towne stepping up to go ahead 6-5. Finally, after an almost 4 hour singles match, Hadley sends a ball long and Whitworth wins 5-4.

Since you've made it this far, I have to say that while it was too cold to play outside to start the match, we did get in 2 doubles and 3 singles exhibitions outside, with Dena winning both singles and doubles with Charlotte and Lauren and Zoe also getting great matches in against this deep Whitworth team.

While upset to not pull off the upset today, our team can be proud of how our doubles is developing and also that we know up and down the lineup we have a shot to win at every spot. Our energy, compassion, support and sportsmanship were all tested today and all I can say is both how happy I am to be a part of this team and how much I look forward to learning from this match and moving on to next weeks home matches vs. Pacific and Linfield.

It was absolutely crucial to have the support of the Rolston's and Otto's there and we had no worries about being physically ready after a wonderful night's sleep and breakfast with the Otto's. Thanks so much!

Whew! This had to be a long post for such a long match, but if you see a Whittie, give her a hug because she deserves it.

-Coach Hein

Showdown in Spokane

2010-02-19T08:37:00.000-08:00

Hello Whitman tennis fans.

If you're looking for the best tennis that the Northwest Conference has to offer, you should be in Spokane on Sunday at 10am as we do battle with defending conference champion Whitworth. Last year after they handled us 8-1 in Spokane we battled to a 3-6 defeat in Walla Walla including 4 three set matches.

Both teams have similar personnel returning, with each team graduating our #3 singles player and both getting some dynamic freshman. Even with Alyssa, Kate, Lauren and Dena bolstering our lineup, the steady improvement and workrate of the upperclassmen gives me great confidence up and down the lineup. People constantly ask how the team is doing and how our season looks and I must say that we have done the work and are prepared physically, mentally and emotionally. In that frame of mind, there is incredible excitement on the team to get up for this match and play our best.

If you don't want to take my word for it, look to the improved score against LCSC last weekend or the fact that as a team we do periodic fitness testing and the teams averages for both our speed and agility tests were cut by .24 and .28 seconds respectively and almost everyone improved their endurance on the beep test.

Whitworth is a scary team to play because they can win at every spot, but the preparation is there, we are incredibly excited to compete and look forward to this early measurement of where we are as a team against the top ranked team in our conference.

Go Whitman!
-Coach Hein

Happy Valentine's Day from WC Tennis

2010-02-14T10:22:00.000-08:00

It turns out that Mother Nature was everyone's valentine in Walla Walla this year. Yesterday we were treated to a sunny,warm February day and played back to back matches on our outdoor courts in the middle of campus.

In the first match, the team displayed our depth and poise in knocking off PLU 9-0. What was most impressive to me was the focus and composure throughout the match from everyone wearing a Whitman uniform.

In the afternoon match, we played LCSC, a very talented team from Lewiston, ID. LCSC brought plenty of players and everyone was able to get a match in. The level of play on each doubles court was high, and at #1 and #2, we fell 8-4 and 8-2 as LCSC stepped up at all the right moments, but we felt like the scores could have easily been flipped. In the #3 and #4 doubles both Kate/Charlotte and Dena/Lauren jumped ahead and held on to win 8-5 and 8-6 with great teamwork and communication.

In singles, we had a rough time at 4-8 on the scoresheet, but battled all the way enjoying the high level of tennis. The #3 match was close throughout two sets and went to a match break, which Div won with tremendous point building and strong finishing. The match of the day was a baseline slugfest at #1 with Alyssa hitting her stride in the first set against a very smart and talented player to win 6-4. The second was also tight and down 2-3 with her opponent serving, Alyssa battled through the longest game of the match with incredible long points and more deuces than I could count before earning the break through some inspired shotmaking. That game took its toll as she was broken right back. At 3-4, with both teams cheering under the lights, Alyssa re-focused and steadily fought through the final 3 games to win 6-4.

The overall score of 3-6 was an improvement from last year and a great learning experience and to be this proud of not only how well we played but also of our team unity this early on in the season is amazing.

It was an emotional day for all Whitties, and everyone supported each other tremendously well.

Enjoy your valentines day and the three day weekend if you have it.

-Coach Hein

Great start to the Season

2010-02-12T21:48:00.000-08:00

We had a wonderful start to our season tonight. After a long wait in which the team did a terrific job working hard and coming together as a group, we came off the court with a 9-0 win over University of Puget Sound. Often in tennis you hear that the match was closer than the score indicates. In this case that was both true and untrue. The teams were closer as UPS played very good tennis up and down the lineup with better depth than last season, but our players all stepped up to earn each match.

Upperclassmen Elise and Div led the way at #1 doubles beating a seasoned team of Sam Taylor and Maddie Holtz 8-2. Emily and Kate at #3 followed by the same score and Hadley and Alyssa at #2 finished very strong with an 8-3 win.

In singles, Elise was again the first off, followed closely by Div. This was great tennis and very good match management from both Whitties as they fought through many close games and each stepped up at the right times. Hadley followed suit and built more and more momentum as the match went on. Kate K-P stepped up in her first college singles match and fought well to earn her first victory, as did Lauren in the exhibition match.

The real treat was from our sophomores, with Charlotte demonstrating the poise and improvement she's shown in practice with a straight set win. And finally, there was Emily. After playing an outstanding doubles match, she ran into a very tough UPS player in Ada Yu. Em bounced back after dropping serve to end the first set 5-7 to storm through the second 6-2 and go up 5-2 in the third. At this point everyone was watching and you wouldn't have known that the match was already decided or that this was #4 because both players saved their best tennis for last and after two very hard fought games to 5-4, the match was on Emily's racket. She did not disappoint and hit huge serves and big groundstrokes to hold and take the match 6-4 in the third.

It was so much fun to have Annie Kunkel, the Rolstons, Alum Alex Robinson and the rest of the Whitman fans supporting us and we're fired up for tomorrows double header with PLU at 11am followed by LCSC.

Here are today's match scores
Doubles:
#1 Elise Otto and Divneet Kaur (WC) def. Sam Taylor and Madison Holtz (UPS) 8-2
#2 Hadley DeBree and Alyssa Roberg (WC) def. Ada Yu and Maddie Thiesse (UPS) 8-3
#3 Emily Rolston and Kate Kunkel-Patterson (WC) def. Katie Hurley and Ashley Dombrow (UPS) 8-2

Singles
#1 Otto def Taylor 6-0,6-1
#2 DeBree def Holtz 6-1,6-0
#3 Kaur def Thiesse 6-0,6-1
#4 Rolston def Yu 5-7, 6-2,6-4
#5 Kunkel-Patterson def Devin Fields 6-2,6-0
#6 Charlotte Scott def Dombrow 6-0,6-2
#7 (exhibition) Lauren Olson def Hurley 8-4

Ready Set GO!

2010-02-08T23:58:00.000-08:00

Hello all,

After a very productive training period, the Whitman Women are ready to start the season this weekend. The team has worked very hard to be match ready and we start right away with Northwest Conference foes University or Puget Sound and Pacific Lutheran University this Friday and Saturday. It is a big weekend for Whitman athletics as Winter and Spring sports overlap and we'll do our part to bring excitement to campus in the form of great tennis. Following Saturday's conference match vs. PLU we take on Lewis-Clark State College (ID). LCSC ended last season ranked #20 nationally in NAIA.

If you are in Walla Walla, please join us for some great tennis to kick off the season. Here is the weekend's schedule.

Fri 5pm Whitman vs. UPS
Sat 11am Whitman vs. PLU
Sat 3:30pm Whitman vs. LCSC

Whitman Women Support Men in Huge Match

2010-02-01T00:07:00.000-08:00

This past weekend was a treat for me to have my former coach and team on campus to play our men's team. Whitman gave the defending national champion Slugs a great match. Watching you wouldn't have known it was an 8-1 Santa Cruz win with the level of play, how close the matches were and the intensity of the players. I was so proud of how intensely both teams played this early season match.

We did our part by cheering our men to the final ball as the Bratton Tennis Center was rocking with positive support for the men's team. As if we weren't eager enough to start the season, the competitive juices are now flowing and we're ready for our turn on court in two weeks when we start the season with UPS at home on 2/12 at 5pm and a double header on 2/13 against PLU and Lewis Clark State College (ID).

GO WHITMAN!

Campus Showdown Results

2010-01-24T14:44:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, we hosted our first 1 day campus showdown, an event sponsored by the USTA and ITA meant to provide competition for our college players, exposure to college for high school/junior players and strengthen ties between the college and community.

Having participants from both the Whitman varsity and club tennis teams along with players from Lewis and Clark State College (ID), local women's open level players, and junior players from Washington, Oregon and Idaho it was a great event.

The one set format with compass draws (everyone plays an equal number of matches) was outstanding and there was some wonderful tennis with Abby Farrell besting Whitman alum and current assistant coach Katie Oost in a tiebreak for the singles final.

In doubles, Whitman duo Elise Otto and Divneet Kaur got a scare in the semi's going down 3-0 to the local women's duo of Laura Cummings and Susan Anfinson before recovering to win 6-4. In the final, Elise and Div broke at 2-2 and never looked back to win 6-2, taking the title against a great high school doubles team from Kennewick, WA. Ali Welch and Demie Warner are the two time Washington 3A doubles state champions and they played some great tennis all day long.

Full singles results can be seen at http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AnHvUcRNTH_FdG44RUQ2d1hubW9wZlhnWTFtVTFwRGc&hl=en

Doubles results are at http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AnHvUcRNTH_FdFN1bFlYMndiWWYtaGdZQmJnOXJCWVE&hl=en

Thanks to everyone for coming out to play and for those who watched. We are now even more geared up to start our season at home Feb 12th vs UPS and Feb 13th vs PLU and then LCSC.

Best wishes,
John, Katie and the Whitman Tennis Team

Sunshine, Tennis, Fitness and Fun

2010-01-19T21:53:00.000-08:00

Welcome to 2010!

We have been treated to two days of brilliant outdoor tennis, I was going to take photos, but we were enjoying practice so much I couldn't even let myself grab a camera.

Our start to the year began before school with 5 players volunteering a week of their break to teach tennis to 42 local youth players in our annual Winter Tennis Camp. It was so much fun for all and such a joy to see great players be great teachers of the game.

Practicing in the sun has me as excited as ever and many of the women will compete this Saturday in a one day USTA/ITA campus showdown, a tournament at Whitman to bring together both Whitman campus members and outside players to play on campus.

Today was also a big assessment day, with fitness testing right out of the gate. I know we'll continue to get faster, but our fall strength has paid off with the team averages for sit ups and push ups going up from last year at this time.

We are speedy as well with Whitman records being recorded by Elise Otto in the beep test (a crazy soccer endurance test, Elise got a 14.5), Kate K-P in the overhead medicine ball throw at 267 inches, and Alyssa Roberg in our agility test at 26.87 seconds. Still, no one dethroned recent graduate and assistant coach Katie Oost in the 20 meter sprint with her average time of 3.50 seconds last Spring.

Keep in touch and now that we've started I'll be updating the blog much more frequently.

Best,
John

Campus Showdown Jan 23rd!

2010-01-02T09:42:00.000-08:00

Happy new year!

We are kicking off the new year at Whitman with the following event on Jan 23rd. If you are unfamiliar with the showdown concept, the usta website is great

http://www.usta.com/USTA/Global/PlayerDevelopment/CollegeTennis/Information/538403_Campus_Match_Play.aspx

and it is a wonderful chance to get some matches in a draw with junior and college players. Please pass this on to anyone who might be interested and you can contact me if you have questions or want to enter.

USTA/ITA One Day Campus Showdown at Whitman College

Date: Jan 23rd 2010

Women’s Open Singles and Doubles Tournament

Start time: Singles at 9am, doubles to follow

Tournament Director: John Hein

Entry Fees: $10 for singles; $5 for each doubles partner ($15 per player for both)

Entry fees payable to: “Whitman Women’s Tennis”

Contact John Hein at 509 527-5262 or heinj@whitman.edu to enter

Match format: 1 set to 5 games with tie-break at 5-5.

Compass draws for singles and doubles.

Fall 2010 Tournament

2009-12-28T10:43:00.000-08:00

The ITA has selected us to host the Fall 2010 Regional ITA tournament. Our men have done a terrific job hosting this event on campus and this year the women are taking a turn at bringing in the best players from the Northwest Conference to compete in singles and doubles.

We have had great success during my two years as head coach in this tournament, this year with 3 of the final 16 singles players, one quarter finalist and a doubles semifinalist. In 2008 we swept singles and doubles to gain All-American status and compete at the national small college championships in Mobile, Alabama.

It will be exciting and fun to have the tournament on our courts, I can't wait!
Coach Hein

Whitman Recieves Community Tennis Grant

2009-11-09T09:40:00.000-08:00

In an endeavor to both give back to our community in a way that shares the game we all love, our team has scheduled our first round of Quickstart tennis at Sharpstein Elementary school. By using modified (Quickstart) tennis equipment we can introduce the game to entire classes of children. Doing it during school PE time ensures that no child, regardless of background, misses out on this opportunity to not only learn the sport of a lifetime but also to interact with the wonderful and talented group of student athletes we have on our team.

The program at Sharpstein provides each second grade class four 45 minute sessions and will take place between Nov 30th and Dec 11th, 2009.

Quickstart tennis, uses shorter rackets, lighter, bigger balls, and a small court that can be set up with a portable net and court markers in any gym, multipurpose room or playground.

To purchase this equipment for the use of ALL schools in the Walla Walla area, the USTA has awarded Whitman a grant of $700. As a follow up to this great community service, both Men's and Women's tennis at Whitman will continue to work with the City of Walla Walla and other local tennis partners to provide more instructional and competitive opportunities for our local youth.

The immediate follow up is our annual Women's Tennis Winter after school fundraising camp running this January 11-15th (email womenstennis@whitman.edu for info). Last years camp was a hit and we hope to have even more fun after introducing the game to EVERY second grade student at Sharpstein.

Stay tuned for photos and updates on the great work these young women are doing both on and off court and have a wonderful start to your holiday season with Thanksgiving right around the corner.

Best regards,
Coach Hein and the Whitman Women's tennis team

More than meets the eye - Elise Otto and Flow Inflation

2009-10-12T12:22:00.000-07:00

This post is to recognize another academic achievement by a Whitman tennis player. You may know Elise Otto for becoming the first singles All-American at Whitman since 1988, for being a two time all NWC selection, for being named Whitman's most outstanding performer as a sophomore. But to those of us in Walla Walla, Twitchy is so much more than a tennis player.

I could list the multiple activities and accomplishments she has off the court, but I'd like to draw your attention to the fact that after a summer doing field and lab research this year, Elise is presenting that research at the annual Geological Society of America this weekend in Portland, OR. Her work involved going out into the summer heat in Eastern Washignton to collect samples which then had to be taken back to the lab for chemical analysis followed by statistics. She really got to know microsoft excel this summer and here is her abstract which you can find at
http://gsa.confex.com/gsa/2009AM/finalprogram/abstract_165041.htm

Great work Elise!

Final Fall ITA wrapup

2009-10-06T14:38:00.000-07:00

With only one match to recap, I'll start there and move to the important stuff after.

Our doubles semi was a great test against two extremely talented Willamette players and after trading leads and breaks early, we were up 4-3 before a turn in momentum saw us trailing 6-4. At this point, Div and Alyssa held there composure and played a tremendous game to break serve. We came out firing on Div's service game going up 40-15 and from that point on the level of tennis from both teams was very good, but Willamette definitely stepped up to earn the break and hold to finish the match 8-5. As a coach you always want to see the opposition earn a victory, which is what we made them do. At the same time, this early in the season I was sooooooooooo impressed with the potential of these two players in doubles. From last year, I knew that Div has a great all around game and is a force at the net, but this weekend she showed more variety than I saw all last year proving that even players who are already great and experienced can put a smile on their coaches face with their ability to improve. Alyssa has been working on her doubles very hard and in this match she displayed every tool a great doubles player needs and I can't wait to see her use them all consistently.

The big news from the weekend is that in all my years of tennis as a player and coach I have never had so much fun with a team. I'm glad we have been doing so much core strengthening, otherwise we might have a training room full of players with strained abdomens from laughing so hard for so long.

I must also thank again everyone who supported us so well at the tournament and through your distance support. When student athletes work so hard it means a lot for them to know people care about their efforts, so thank from all of us!

Best wishes for a wonderful fall,

John

Day 2 at the Fall ITA

2009-10-04T23:20:00.000-07:00

Hello again,

With the consolation canceled due to rain, we began the day with three singles players and two teams left. Everyone played with tremendous effort and skill. Our two seniors both dropped competitive two set matches to seeded players. Hadley was right with Shannon Palmer from Willamette showing her improved movement and ability to build points. After dropping a lopsided first set to #2 seeded Sallie Katter from Linfield, Div remained calm and dug in for a second set battle that saw her up a break before being broken back late and losing a well played tiebreak.

Also in the round of 16, Alyssa took on one of the toughest unseeded players, Alli Marshall who played #2 for defending conference champion Whitworth last year. In a match that showcased Alyssa's terrific offensive baseline game she came away victorious, setting up a clash with top seeded Rachel Burns of Whitworth. Like Hadley and Div, Alyssa battled well and dominated in spells but overall Rachel proved too tough with her steady game and amazing court coverage winning in two close sets.

In doubles, Hadley and Emily suffered from a slow start and a hot Linfield team losing 8-2 in the quarters, though towards the end of the match they displayed their individual and team improvements. Alyssa and Div shook off a slow start themselves to put away a feisty Willamette team setting up a quarterfinal clash with last years finalists and #2 seeded Cat Goya and Megan Yoshimoto of Pacific. I'm not sure I've ever seen such a combination of great doubles and unbridled laughter from 4 players on the court at the same time. In the true spirit of enjoying the game and competition, both teams fought hard to gain the net and pressure the other. It was great to see Div and Alyssa play both good offense and defense as a team as they pulled ahead and won 8-5. This match mimicked the trip we have had so far with great tennis balanced by some of the most fun I've had with any of the tennis teams I've ever been involved with. I only wish I had a good enough command of the English language to explain how fun this team is.

Monday's singles semifinals and finals will be played at Linfield College followed by Div and Alyssa vs. Willamette's top team in the semi's with the finals to follow.

Thanks to the Rolstons, Kaurs, Olsons and Ly's for cheering us on so far and also to those of you who have called/texted or emailed us, the team appreciates all your support.

Best,
Coach

Saturday Update from the Fall ITA

2009-10-03T22:15:00.001-07:00

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

Wilson/Fall ITA Regional Draws Released - click here for draws; link should work from blog if not directly from email

2009-10-01T08:38:00.000-07:00

Whitman is bringing a full contingent of 10 players to the Fall regional championships.

The 64 draw of singles has 8 Whitties playing 2 out of 3 sets with a match tie break for the 3rd up to the semifinals. First year Whittie Alyssa Roberg was awarded the #5 seed and Hadley, Div, Emily, Amanda, Charlotte, Kate and Zoe will also compete in singles, which has an opt in first round consolation draw.

The 32 draw of doubles includes 4 Whittie teams playing 8 game pro-sets. The team of Div and Alyssa was grouped in the 5-8 seeds, while Em and Had look to build on their terrific play and chemistry from last season. Charlotte and Amanda will battle a talented Willamette team in the first round while first year teammates Dena and Lauren take on the top team from UPS. Unfortunately, there is no consolation draw for doubles planned.

The tournament host in Linfield College, but it has been decided that Saturday's play will begin at 8am in Salem, OR using indoor courts at both Courthouse and Salem Swim and Tennis and outdoor courts at Willamette (if dry). Hopefully, Sunday and Monday are dry and the tournament will conclude in McMinnville at Linfield and the nearby Cowls St. courts.

We are staying in Salem and I'll send another update when match times come my way as well as posting twitter score updates on the blog during the tournament (a wonderful idea that I must credit Whitman Coach Jeff N. with).

-John

Follow the Leader

2009-09-28T17:14:00.000-07:00

Hello Whitman Tennis enthusiasts!

It has been a gorgeous weekend of wonderful tennis on campus here at Whitman with the men's team hosting their Wilson/ITA Fall regional tournament. Ours is hosted by Linfield with Salem as the indoor backup site in case of rain and starts this Saturday running through Monday.

Our men's team did a wonderful job setting the tone for fall tennis here with some amazing stories that you can read about at http://whitmantennis.blogspot.com. Matt Solomon returned from a semester at Boise State to win his 3rd straight singles title beating Whittie freshman and doubles partner Jeff Tolman in the finals.

With the men being so dominant and following last season's singles and doubles wins from our team, the expectations could be high, but all I see at practice is pure excitement for tennis. We have a terrific group of individuals who are really coming together as a team so I know we will play hard and have a ton of fun next week.

As soon as the draws and seedings come out, I'll keep you updated.

Best wishes from sunny Walla Walla,

John

A new season of WC Tennis

2009-09-08T21:12:00.000-07:00

Fall has arrived in Walla Walla and today we hit the courts for our first team practice. It is excruciating as a coach waiting for everyone to get settled with classes before kicking off team practice. The good news is that the team comes in fairly fit and excited and we have a few weeks to prepare for the Fall ITA tournament at Linfield Oct 3rd-5th where we will defend our singles and doubles titles without either player who won those.

One of those players, doubles All-American, Katie Oost has hopped the fence and is now enjoying the power of being our assistant coach. Elise Otto, as a junior, is spending the fall abroad as so many Whitties do.

Our incoming class includes two Californians, Alyssa Roberg from Santa Cruz and Danielle Broida from Santa Barbara. Both players bring a lot of talent and excitement to the team.

From Wisconsin, we have Dena Wessel, whose footspeed and ability to punish short balls will be as much of an asset as her amazing personality (and spf 70 sunblock).

Finally, we have two Washingtonians (is that right?); Lauren Olson from Seattle and Kate Kunkel Patterson from Yakima. Each has a sibling who plays a sport at Whitman (Kate is the 3rd K-P to play for the women's team at Whitman!). Each is both athletic and mentally tough and I can't wait to see more tennis from them after they had successful high school campaigns.

Hopefully, we'll get around to getting some bio's of everyone up on the team website soon.

Best regards from sunny Walla Walla,
Coach Hein

Going Green at the Bratton Tennis Center

2009-08-10T12:28:00.001-07:00

It is so cool to see Whitman continuing to strive towards environmental stewardship. We have already been recognized for our use of wind power from turbines in the hills surrounding Walla Walla and now our very own indoor courts are home to a huge array of solar panels!