7th Place Finish at Conference

This past weekend we competed in our conference tournament to end the season. We were the #4 seed from our half of the conference and so had to play the #1 from the other half in the first round. That happened to be Denison. We competed very well in doubles with Ben Godlove and Ben Turchin losing an 8-6 decision at #1 doubles and Joe Leffler and Sam Towne dropping their match at #3 by the same score. We ended up dropping the match 0-5.

We came back Sunday morning to play in the backdraw against Wittenberg. We didn’t play them in the regular season so I was looking forward to having a shot at them. Leffler and Towne got us off to a great start demolishing their opponents at #3 while Peder Davis and Eliot Heaton lost a close one at #2. Turchin and Godlove turned their level up a notch in the middle of their set to closeout the doubles with us having a 2-1 lead. Turch finished off his opponent first to give us a 3-1 team lead. They caught us with wins at #3 and #4 before Ben Godlove finished his opponent off with an amazing down the line backhand on match point to put us in the lead 4-3. Witt took the #6 spot and #5 split and came down to a single set for the match. We took the lead but the Wittenberg player played a gutsy match coming back to give us a heart breaking defeat with a 6-4 win in the 3^rd to beat us 5-4.

The growth of our team became apparent at this point in that instead of allowing this defeat to tear us down, the guys became more determined that we would not lose the final match of our season. It ended up that we were to play Wooster and that really excited our guys since we had lost to them 3-6 in the regular season without two of our starters. We started play outside and quickly established our dominance in doubles. Godlove and Turchin were the first to come off the court with a win soon followed by Leffler and Towne. Rain began to fall and with Davis and Heaton leading 7-4 we had to move the match indoors. We quickly finished off the next game with Eliot serving indoors to go up 3-0. Unfortunately Eliot had to retire after the first set of his match at #3, but we were well in control of Sam’s match at #4 and Ben Godlove’s at #1. Sam closed his out first with a definitive 6-0 score in the 2^nd set and fittingly Ben Godlove got to clinch the match with his win in his final collegiate match. This earned us a 7^th place finish in the conference.

I also want to congratulate alums John '61 and Carl '94 Erikson for winning another USTA National Championship in April. They have now won 5 gold balls!!!

“You have to want to win and expect that you are going to win. Top players have that edge. Even if they’re down a few games, they know they’re going to toughen up and come up with what it takes to win.”

- Martina Navratilova

Tournament Time!

Conference tournament time!! Our men’s team is excitedly working toward the conference tournament this weekend. We are finally healthy again and anticipate playing our full lineup. The guys are excited about the opportunities that are there for us. We will play Denison (the #1 seed from the NCAC west) in the first round on Saturday afternoon. Two matches will play on Sunday with opponents and times to be determined.

We’re going to miss our two seniors and hope to send them off with a bang. Ben Godlove and Sergio Sanchez have both contributed over the last 3 years and are going to be hard to replace, each in his own way.

“What is, is. Live with it. Learn from it.”

- Brad Gilbert

Spring Break

SPRING BREAK!!!

We depart for Orlando on Friday evening. We are breaking the drive up into two days so the guys will have a lot of bonding time.

We are going to Orlando instead of Hilton Head this year because we have the opportunity to play more matches. We are going to play 5 matches while in Florida. Our first opponent is Cornell College from Iowa. We play them on Sunday afternoon. We play 3 team from Minnesota on this trip. Saint Mary’s, Hamline, and St. Thomas are all members of the same conference. We played St. Thomas last year and are looking forward to a rematch. Our other match is against Division 1 Stetson University. This should be a good experience for our guys as we are playing at Stetson under the lights.

This series of matches will be great for us as we get our injured players back into the lineup and prepare for conference matches.

"One thing cycling taught me was that if you can achieve something without a struggle it's not going to be satisfying."

-- Greg Lemond

Happy Saint Paddy's Day

We have had an eventful time since my last post. The team had a great time with family and faculty friends during our parents' weekend, but had rough results in the two matches that day. We are dealing with some injuries right now and bounced back from those losses with an excellent 9-0 win. The guys have stepped up to the challenge of "playing up" while others are injured and we are getting better every day.

In the process of getting better, I have the team ask themselves 2 questions every day. What have I done to get better today? What have I done to help a teammate get better today? These two questions drive our preparation.

We are getting ready for our final match before spring break and it is going well. The guys are breaking through barriers that at one point were out of reach and the injured are beginning to practice some again. Midterms are next week so we have no matches and will take at least one day off during the week and do some light practices because the trip to Orlando is full of matches. I'll preview our spring break matches next week.

"All progress requires change. But not all change is progress."

- John Wooden

Parents' Weekend Is Here!!

Tomorrow our team has the opportunity to play in front of the largest group of parents we usually get at any single match. We have a number of parents who are coming in this weekend to supplement the normal attendance of the Lefflers (thank you for coming to all our home and some road matches too)! We begin with Hope at 8:30 and then play Grove City with a scheduled start time of 3:30. Between the matches the team is going to have a lunch with the parents and a number of faculty that have accepted invitations to join us.

"It's like an orchestra with many different instruments working to make one grand piece of music. Each player plays his own way, but only if it conforms to the larger objective."

-Lou Lamoriello

Adversity

We had a good win versus Heidelberg last night. Doubles set the tone with 8-1, 8-5, and 8-0 victories. Now we have to prepare for Ohio Wesleyan tomorrow (Saturday). The guys know we need to come out guns blazing in that one and I think we are ready.

Dealing with adversity and also dealing with success are two huge things you get out of competing in athletics. Can you bring yourself into focus when everyone in the crowd is rooting for you to fail? Can you, maybe accept is the wrong word, but deal with, and take as a positive challenge a coach’s decision not to start or play you? How do you continue to be relaxed when you know the score is tied and you are leading in the deciding match?

We work on these things as a team and by no means are they easy. Our group of young men have grown and matured greatly over the last two years. They have learned to accept challenges as positive experiences and not as obstacles. One of the greatest parts of my job is seeing this growth and helping to facilitate it. The young men who come and play tennis here at Oberlin WILL be successful in the fields they choose because they do embrace the challenges put before them and use those to propel them.

“Whether it’s playing or coaching, socially or professionally, there have to be some tough days to make you a better person.”

-Digger Phelps

Matches Have Started

The first match of the Spring season is in the books and we came out on the short end of a 7-2 decision. Senior captain Ben Godlove played well, getting wins in both singles and doubles. He and first-year Ben Turchin won a tough 9-7 victory after being down 5-7. It was an excellent gut-check for a team playing their first match together. The 7-2 team score is a little deceiving as well. We lost two 3-set singles matches and two of the other singles were close as well. Here is a link to the scores from the match.

We are better coming out of this match than we were going in to it. Practice last night had an even higher intensity than before because the guys see what we could accomplish and they want it.

We travel to Crawfordsville, IN this weekend to play Wabash and Elmhurst. This will be another good test for us as it is the first overnight trip of the year as well as the first double-header. I’m excited about the trip and think the guys are ready.