Good morning fans of Wabash Tennis,

I apologize for the delay in writing, but as you may know we are knee deep in our season.  We began practice on January 14th and before we knew it, February 4th was here and our first match. My plan is to write weekly to keep everyone updated with our results from the previous week and weekend.  I am going to be somewhat of a color commentator; try to give everyohe a little insight into how the matches went from my perspective.  You can obviously go to our website and see the results and maybe get an idea, but hopefully my thoughts will relay how we played.

Wednesday, February 4, 2009 - Match vs. Franklin College

Every year Franklin is generous enough to come to the Collett Tennis Center to play us in the first match of the season.  Did not know what to expect out of Franklin.  I knew the had basically the same team as last year and ours was quite different.  I told the guys that we have beaten Franklin 3 straight times, but we had to be ready.  I could tell that some of the younger guys were nervous playing in their first collegiate match and on top of that, we were playing our first dual in the renovated tennis center, so it was important for us to get a win. 

Franklin came ready to play, we had some new combinations in doubles and they made sure to give us a good fight.  We won all three positions, but they were extremely close.  I was definitely a little nervous watching them play.  But the guys stepped up and finished the doubles well.  Especially at #2 where we were down pretty much the entire match.  Ryan and Ricky came through and fought.  We don't chant "Wabash Always Fights" for nothing.  When the singles started I could tell that the guys were relieved to be up 3-0.  They took the courts and ran through Franklin without much difficulty. 

Finished with a strong 9-0 win.  An excellent start to the season. 

Saturday, February 7, 2009 - match vs. Augustana College

As soon as we finished with Franklin, I told the guys that Saturday morning was going to be a big match.  Augustana has always had good teams and they were going to come ready to play.  We are currently ranked in the region and they were looking for the opportunity to get a win over a ranked program.  They also have a great young coach and I knew that they would have them physically and mentally prepared to compete.

The quality of the tennis in this match was very high.  I could not believe that both teams were playing as well as they were this early in the season.  Every doubles match was tight and in the end, Augie was up 2-1.  Jay and Peter finished with an impressive 8-6 win.  Ryan and Ricky played well but lost 8-5 and Sean and Evan lost a tough one at #3, 9-7.  We had our chances in both 2 and 3, but Augie kept applying pressure and we couldn't get over the hump.

I told the guys when we huddled up before singles that I was very impressed with their play and we are only down 2-1, go out and compete.  I also took some pressure off by stating that this was not a conference match, so the importance of the win was not that big.  It seemed to ease them a little.  Things seemed to roll from there.  Jay and Ryan got off to a good start and before I knew it they had both won their first sets.  Freshman Zach Lowry was playing a great lefty and had some trouble adjusting to his style of play.  Jay wins first, evening the match at 2-2.  Then as Zach loses a tough second set, Ryan Waldon splits sets at #2.  We are down 3-2 with #4 and #5 going on.  I immediately move to Ryan's court.  That thirs set was a battle, but somehow I knew that Ryan's toughness would get him through and it did.  As he won, with a thundering roar of "COME ON!", Ricky won his first set at #5 and Peter lost his first set at #4.  The match was now at 3-3.  Ricky felt confident, but started the second set slow and lost it.  Peter regained his confidence and won the second set.  We put Ian on at #6 excited to see how it was going to end.  Peter stepped up and won the third set putting us up 4-3.  Ricky was cruising up 5-1 in the third and victory was near.  Ian had a very difficult match as his opponent decided not to miss any forehands.  Ricky let a couple of games get away from him, but pulled in out 6-3 in third, clinching the victory for us.  Ian kept fighting but in the end lost.  Did not phase him, he knew that his team had won.

Saturday, February 7, 2009 - match vs. Adrain College

Adrian has a new coach that I think can get that program moving in the right direction.  She played DI tennis and knows the game.  If she can get the recruits, they can get better.  I was somewhat worried going into this match.  We just had an outstanding win and I was also sitting 2 of my starters.  It did not affect our team, we went out and took care of business in high fashion.  Swept them 9-0.  Nice to start the season 3-0. 

We have an extremely difficult weekend ahead as we go to Kenyon.  Kenyon is currently #8 in the nation.  We will have to come ready to play.  We will also be playing the University of Chicago while there.  They are in the top 20 in the nation as well.

Keep checking in to see how we are doing and I will keep posting.  Take care everyone.

Wabash Tennis Always Fights,

Coach