Tennis Sectionals Round 1

Tonight was the first round of sectionals for the Bethany Bruins.  Their opponent was Northwood, who they beat 4-1 in the regular season.  Even though they won a few weeks ago, everyone was still nervous about this evening's match.  Bethany's sectional lineup was different from what it was on September 9th.  Due to Oscar's injury and inability to play tennis for most matches, Cameron had played half of his matches at #1 singles this season and the other half at #1 doubles.   It had been a hard adjustment for Cameron at first, but once he did, he played both positions well and helped his team to key wins during the season.  For sectionals, Matt felt that his best lineup was to put Cameron at #1 doubles with Breece and to move the rest of the singles players up.  It made for strong #1 courts, but slightly weaker #2 and #3 singles.  The #2 doubles remained the same, but they had gone to three sets to win in a hard fought match the last time.  Thus, everyone knew tonight's match would be tough.

There was another thought on everyone's mind that was a lot bigger than tennis.  Matt's family had had an emotionally exhausting week following a tragic accident.  Supporting Matt was a priority and added a little bit of pressure on the magnitude of the match.  Of course Matt wouldn't be disappointed if they lost, but it sure would be nice to get a win for him.  We were so glad that he felt well enough to coach this evening.

Tonight's match started off as expected.  Noah easily won against Northwood's #1 and was the first one off of the court.  Cameron and Breece started a little slower, but soon found themselves with three first set points at 5-2.  They lost that game, but never looked back from there, winning the next seven games in a row to finish the match at 6-3, 6-0.

There was some relief when Cameron and Breece walked off of the court.  Even if the team lost, they would move on with Noah to the individual state sectional tournament.  As nice as that sounded, we all hoped that the team would win.  The next three matches were tense ones.  The #2 doubles team along with #2 singles both went to a third set.  While they were playing, Ian was still in his second set on the #3 singles court.  He won a tight first set 7-5 and was in a back and forth rally in the second one.  Fortunately, he held on and won 6-4 to close out a victory for Bethany.  It was an exciting win for him and a wonderful win for the team.  Unfortunately, the other two courts lost, but overall it was a fantastic night for the Bruins and a fabulous way to honor a beloved coach.  Next up is Goshen.  It would be a tall order to beat them as they finished 20-0 in the regular season, but worrying about that can wait for tomorrow.