Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Kerry Seward Invitational

The Men's Tennis Team competed in the Kerry Seward Invitational hosted by Wabash College in Crawfordsville, Indiana this past Saturday and Sunday. The Kohawks finished 2nd, one point behind Carthage College, 65-64, with Albion College a distant 3rd with 41 points. Coe did the majority of its damage in doubles sweeping all three flights. In the singles, Kyle Tucker was the winner at flight #6, Greg Janssen(#2) and Curtis Newman(#5) were runner-ups, while Elliot Rausa(#1), Scott Stegemann(#3) and Jonathan Roger(#4) took thirds.

The Coe Women return to action this weekend in the prestigious Midwest Invitational held in Madison, Wisconsin on the indoor courts of the University of Wisconsin. All eight of the invited schools are nationally ranked led by the #4 ranking of the University of Chicago, Coe's likely first round opponent.

The Men host the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh at 1pm Saturday at the Clark Racquet Center. This is another important regional matchup as the Kohawks continue their preparation for the May 6th Iowa Conference tournament.

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

New Doubles?

I am "old school". I am also old. I know it and do not apologize for it! Now last night I was watching a replay of the BNP Paribas Men's doubles final. The #1 team in the world, Nestor & Zimonjic against Marc Lopez(I think) and Rafa Nadal. Lopez/Nadal were a wildcard and I expected little from the pair against the world #1's.

Was I wrong!

Nadal slowly got into the match and then took over in the first set TB, and then dominated play in the 2nd set for a straight set victory.

Rafa did all this by NOT serving & volleying, the time-tested formula for consistent doubles success. He hit his massive topspin FH's and watched his opponents, especially Zimonjic, spray their attempted volleys. Plus when Nadal stays back on his serve, what doubles specialist wants to stay in a cross-court rally with the best clay court player of all time?

So the point of all this is, if you have an unique strength, play to it. Build tactics around your strength.

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Wartburg Preview

This Friday(3/19), the Coe Men will host Iowa Conference rival Wartburg College. Wartburg is the preeminent athletic powerhouse program in the IIAC, and their Men's Tennis team has consistently finished in the top five every year. Coe has not lost to Wartburg since 1990, but this year's match up could go either way.

Wartburg is led by seniors Mitch Eslick and Tom Koenen, along with top sophomore Chris Buckingham. New Knight Coach, Matt Tyler, brings his D1 coaching experience to the IIAC also.

Both Kohawk Teams returned from a week in Orlando, Florida, where they practiced and competed daily. The Men split matches losing to #22Vassar, while beating UAA school the University of Rochester(NY). The Women fell to #22College of New Jersey and #2Emory University.

Saturday, March 13, 2010

Spring Break Recap

Wow! How did it get to be double-digits March already? We have landed back in Cedar Rapids after a week in Altamonte Springs, Florida. Weather there was cold upon arrival, and wet upon departure, but the six days in between were gorgeous!

Both Teams had just two matches as the final day was rained out. The Kohawk Women played #2Emory University and #22College of New Jersey, dropping both matches. Emory was just too good, but the Ladies played New Jersey fairly even, despite the 8-1 outcome. I was pleased and impressed by the competitive effort put forth in our first action of the Spring. With continued good practices, we will be just fine the next six weeks!

The Men also had a difficult schedule, losing to #22Vassar 8-1, before rallying to top the University of Rochester by the same score. The Vassar match showed all of us what we need to be working on to improve, and like the Women, the Men worked diligently during their Florida practice sessions to upgrade their games.

The Men play host to Wartburg College Friday night in an Iowa Conference dual match as the Kohawks try to keep pace with nationally ranked Luther College in the IIAC standings.