Welcome back again.  Since my last post we've played 3 matches against ranked teams and I'll start off with a quick recap of each.  On Thursday we took down Cal Lutheran 7-2.  Two years ago conditions were crazy for that match with near gale force winds, but this year it was perfect tennis weather at a brand new facility.  We swept the doubles followed by the 3-6 spots in the lineup having straight set wins to clinch match.  Friday was the always intense match against Redlands.  The team came out flat and payed for it right away getting swept in the doubles.  Being down 3-0 we knew a battle was about to begin in the singles.  Kevin took down his opponent quickly to send the match score to 3-1, but Nick's opponent came out firing to send the score back to 4-1.  At just about the same time, Will and I won our singles matches to bring it back to 4-3, leaving Rick and Karol on court.  Both were involved in extremely close and well fought 3 set matches. Rick was able to pull out his match, however the match ended with a 5-4 loss as Karol lost after putting up a great fight.  Although the match ended with a loss, we were proud of the fight we put up in singles after the hole we dug ourselves into with the doubles.

My apologies for the lateness again, time has been at a premium since getting out to LA.  We arrived on Saturday after departing my house at around 3:45 in the morning.  We wasted no time getting acclimated to the outdoors and went out for a light hit Saturday afternoon.  On arrival it was cool and cloudy which did little for team moral, and Sunday was forecast to be rainy.  Thankfully, the rain held off and we were able to get a solid hit in.  On Monday, we played local junior players from Bret's club in a duel match format.  The wind was crazy causing some frustration and a variety of funny accidental double bounces and whiffs.  I am pleased to announce that for the 2nd straight year we held off the juniors from Mountaingate.

Welcome back again, between work and tennis this week has flown by.  We made our final trip of the year to Pittsfield on Friday and had a productive practice of drilling with a doubles set at the end.  Our games continue to sharpen up as we near our season opener and on court intensity and focus have begun to increase dramatically.  We were treated to some unbelievable weather this weekend which allowed us to practice outdoors both days.  Frustration was rampant when we first hit the courts as many of us had forgotten what is was like to play with the outdoor elements.  It didn't take long to get readjusted and everyone enjoyed the 50's and blue sky.  Between Saturday and Sunday the change in comfort level with the outdoor environment was even more apparent.  We started off practice with some competitive doubles sets and finished things off with a set of singles.

Our schedule for the week includes lots of matchplay.  We'll be playing singles and doubles sets almost every day and there is no doubt in our minds that we will be ready for the high level of competition that awaits us in California and Georgia.  On Friday afternoon the team will travel to my house in New York where we will feast Friday evening, spend the night, and then take off for our 6:30am flight out of JFK.  Everyone is excited to get up at around 3:30am, especially Bret who likes to remind us that in junior tournaments he never won a match if it started before 9am.  Two years ago we had a travel nightmare, getting stuck in Albany and then Chicago, so we're hoping for a smooth travel day this year.

Saturday night was the annual Men's-Women's Tennis Team Mixer.  We were thrilled to be in the company of the defending national champions and had a great time.  The theme for the event was Wimbledon, though most on the Men's team "forgot" to dress the part. Ben Kelley and Kevin being the noted exceptions to this.  I'll post a few pictures from the event below (thanks to Grace for the great camera work).  A few members from both teams were absent due to crazy amounts of work from upcoming midterms.






Some of the Women's Team (Left to right: Lucy's Sister, Lucy, Taylor, Nikki, Grace, Annie, and Cary in front)  

   Great day of outdoor tennis

My apologies for not having a post up yesterday.  I wrote my entry at around 2am last night, just to have it erased when I accidentally hit the wrong button.  It was devastating.

With just two weeks to go before Spring break the team is getting extremely focused on refining our skills and getting more point play and sets in.  On Friday the majority of the team took advantage of warmer weather to get outside for a run and some hill sprints.  Saturday afternoon we traveled to the Pittsfield tennis center once again to get sets in on the better courts.  After returning from Pittsfield we went bowling as a team.  A variety of interesting styles were shown ranging from Ben chucking the ball as fast as possible down the lane to the finesse and spin of Kenny Taubenslag.  Dicken also showed a certain 'comfort' on the lanes, barely breaking 60 in a hotly contested matchup.

Midterms are the next two weeks followed by our departure for LA.  Coming off the hard work and exams makes the shift into spring break even better.  For the second year in a row we have the luxury of staying in some awesome houses around LA rather than staying in hotels.  This is thanks to several team members families as well as some generous families from the tennis club where Bret grew up playing.  Our first match will be against the historically strong Gustavus.  My freshman year we lost to the Gusties 5-4 in the quarterfinals of NCAA's, so it's a great opportunity to avenge the loss and tally the first win of our spring campaign.

We have one more trip to Pittsfield on Friday and then the hockey rink courts should be ready.  We may also try to hit outside on Saturday or Sunday with a balmy mid-40's forecast for the weekend.  That's about it for this week, I'll leave you with a picture I found a few weeks ago scrolling through the Williams Tennis archives.  It shows Josh Lefkowitz clinching the national title in 2002 and was given the caption "SIMPLY TOO MUCH HEART".  I have a hard time not being inspired to play after seeing it.

 

Link to the rest of the 2002 nationals gallery:
http://www.williams.edu/athletics/photos.php?album=302&sport=24&year=2003

Hello and thanks again for visiting my blog.  The team had an extremely productive week of practice.  Focus has begun to switch from getting back into the season by just hitting a lot of balls to more focused drilling.  We spent most of our time in the field house running through circuit drills, with each court highlighting a different aspect of play.  To round out our on court time with the team, we've also begun to have individual hits with Coach Donn to work on targeted aspects of our games.  In addition to our on court training, we've made sure to get cardio workouts, lifts, and squash court agility runs in.  A 5-mile run was planned for Friday, but was derailed by bad weather which forced us inside to bike and cross train with some basketball.  

Yesterday afternoon the team traveled to Pittsfield, MA which has the closest real indoor tennis facility.  Though it was a 40 minute drive from campus it was our first chance to get some singles sets in on a nice hard court surface.  It felt great to get a real sense of timing on the ball and by playing sets we were able to expose, and then work on correcting, weaknesses in our games.  Once our main indoor facility, the hockey rink, is ready the Pittsfield trips will stop.  The hockey rink courts play extremely well, however, they won't be ready for at least another two weeks given the hockey team's victory over Bowdoin this weekend.  Though we were disappointed not to have the courts ready sooner, it was nice to see the hockey team move on through the NESCAC playoffs.

Rather than give any match previews at this early stage, I figured I would give a quick intro to our captains and then share a few pictures.  There are three senior co-captains this year: Rick "The Diesel" Devlin, Bret "The Handsome Bachelor" Thacher, and Karol "Furmberg" Furmaga.  Rick is noted for his ability to swing as hard as possible at every ball while making almost no errors. Bret, for his great hands and craftiness on the doubles court and Karol for taking a nearly vertical swing on his backhand and turning it into a short cross court winner.


Team huddle before last years season opener against Point Loma
 



Gary's novel service motion has been missed