On way.....

.....to Florida! $12,500 of tennis racquets now officially in the Sunshine State

700 Wins!!

Coach Rodgers attains a milestone 700 career wins!  Story here:
http://www.coeathletics.com/article/1751.php#.UwtkI0KwLjI

When asked of his most memorable moment en route to 700 wins, "Ironic, since what I remember specifically are some of the losses....watching individuals and teams reach the peak of their competitive skills.....and the annual Senior Tennis Banquets."

I was recently interviewed by one of our players for a class (Industrial Psychology).  He asked me, "What makes a great coach?"  I hadn't spent much time pondering this, but responded, "Experience.  I have been both a poor and good coach, and everywhere in between on the scale.  However, one cannot possibly be a GREAT coach without years of experience.  One learns by doing in this industry.....every day, challenge, and player is different.  That is what I love about my job."

Coach Rodgers has years of experience and IS a GREAT coach; I am honored to have him as a mentor, and friend.
Congratulations to Coach Rodgers on 700 wins!  
I know that he is already focused on the path/journey towards the next milestone, rather than the milestone itself.

The Kohawks depart this Thursday and Friday for Spring Break in FL.  16 men, 11 ladies, 3 coaches and a plethora of supporting fans (30-40?).  Will post pictures, videos and live scoring to the blog throughout.

Women v Wheaton - Live Scoring

Coe  3
Wheaton  6

Doubles:
1.  Ferree/Lucero v Ray/Buursma  1-8
2.  Birky/Watson v Schlabach/Nelson  8-5
3.  Lasecki/Washington v Jones/Parrish  8-6 (rallied from 2-5)
4.  (Exhibition) Fosler/Schaefer v Wheaton  3-8
5.  (Exhibition) Lasecki/Fosler v Wheaton  8-5

Singles:
1.  Lucero v Ray  3-6, 0-6
2.  Sebastian v Buursma  2-6, 0-6
3.  Ferree v Schlabach  6-1, 2-6, 2-6
4.  Birky v Jones  1-6, 4-6
5.  Hoffmann v Nelson  4-6, 3-6
6.  Watson v Kaiser  6-1, 6-2
7.  (Exhibition) Schaefer v Wheaton  3-8

Coe vs Wartburg

Coe 9
Wartburg 0


1. Janssen/ Hickman vs Miyake/ Kitahara 8-3
2. Decker/ Kroll vs Hornback/ Benna 8-2
3. Damisch/ Leovic vs Stevens/ Wiegmann 8-6

1. Hickman vs Miyake 7-5, 6-2
2. Bernt vs Stevens 6-2, 6-2
3. Decker vs Hornback 6-2, 6-0
4. Kroll vs Benna 6-0, 6-2
5. Damisch vs Greene 6-3, 6-1
6. Klaas vs Wiegmann 6-2, 6-0

Women v Calvin - Live Scoring

Coe 8
Calvin 1

Doubles:
1.  Watson/Birky v Visser/Spoelhof  8-4
2.  Lasecki/Washington v Zoerhof/Benzel  8-2
3.  Hoffmann/Schaefer v Turner/Selvius  8-5

Singles:
1.  Lucero v Visser  6-2, 6-2
2.  Sebastian v Spoelhof  6-4, 6-2
3.  Ferree v Zoerhof  6-3, 6-0
4.  Watson v Benzel  3-6, 6-2, 8-10
5.  Hoffmann v Turner  6-0, 6-0
6.  Washington v Selvius  6-4, 6-1
7.  (Exhibition) Fosler v Sprague  8-3
8.  (Exhibition) Schaefer v Sprague  8-5

Well executed point by Tam and Sarah on Court 2:

Quality return by Laura on Court 1:

Rachel and Hoff on Court 3:

The ladies at Jimmy John's prior to matchplay.

A sign posted at Jimmy John's that caught my attention.

Men vs Carthage - Live Scoring

COE  8
CARTHAGE  1

LIVE VIDEO FEED HERE:
http://client.stretchinternet.com/client/coe.portal#

1. Sprinkel/ Galbraith vs Boomgarden/ Jaworski 8-2
2. Janssen/ Hickman vs Jump/ Conley 9-8 (7-2)
3. Stokstad/ Decker vs O'Connell/ Moon 8-5

1. Noah Sprinkel vs Boomgarden 6-4, 6-0
2. Riley Galbraith vs Jump 6-3, 6-3
3. Ryan Hickman vs Jaworski 6-3, 6-0
4. Sean Stokstad vs Conley 6-3, 6-4
5. Alex Bernt vs O'Connell 6-1, 3-6, 7-10
6. Mike Janssen vs Ferruzzi 6-0,6-3

Video Clip from Wednesday

The women are just getting practice underway, while the men wrap up conditioning on the far courts.....

Men v Knox - Live Scoring

Happy Birthday Alex Bernt!

Coe 9
Knox 0

Seems an appropriate time to introduce Rob Rye (former Assistant Coach at Coe, and former Head Coach at Knox) as a stand-up comedian:

Rob - You are missed greatly here at Coe!

Doubles:
1.  Sprinkel/Hickman v Palmer/Ruzgas  8-5
2.  Decker/Kroll v Ng/Gatyas  8-3
3.  Leovic/Klaas v Mukerjee/Khan  8-1

Singles:
1.  Galbraith v Palmer  6-4, 6-1
2.  Bernt v Ng  6-1, 6-0
3.  Kroll v Gatyas  6-0, 6-1
4.  Starkenburg v Mukerjee  6-0, 6-0
5.  Young v Khan  6-2, 6-1
6.  Wages v Default

One of Leo's many talents.

Kroll & Decker

Leo & Klaas

Men v Cornell - Live Scoring

Coe  9
Cornell  0

Doubles:
1.  Sprinkel/Galbraith v Gelfand/Weiss  8-5
2.  Janssen/Hickman v Reyes/Harada  8-1
3.  Damisch/Leovic v Williamson/Schillerstrom  8-6
4.  (Exhibition) Sauter/Moore v Cornell  8-0

Singles:
1.  Janssen v Gelfand  7-6, 6-2
2.  Bernt v Weiss  6-2, 6-1
3.  Decker v Williamson  6-0, 6-1
4.  Kroll v Reyes  6-2, 6-4
5.  Starkenburg v Harada  6-0, 6-2
6.  Leovic v Schilllerstrom  6-0, 6-2
7.  (Exhibition) Sauter v Cornell  8-2
8.  (Exhibition) Moore v Cornell  6-0

Men v U of Wisconsin La Crosse - Live Scoring

COE  9

La Crosse   0

Doubles:

1.  Sprinkel/Galbraith v Mirasola/Stadum  8-1

2.  Hickman/Janssen v McGrane/Pitera  8-3

3.  Stokstad/Decker v Brost/Joswiak  8-1

4.  (Exhibition) Wages/Young v La Crosse  7-9

Singles

1.  Sprinkel v Mirasola  6-3, 6-1

2.  Galbraith v McGrane  6-1, 5-7, 10-4

3.  Hickman v Stadum  6-3, 6-1

4.  Stokstad v Pitera  6-0, 6-3

5.  Bernt v Skanavus  6-2, 6-3

6.  Janssen v Bulger  6-4, 7-5
7.  (Exhibition) Young v La Crosse  4-6
8.  (Exhibition) Wages v La Crosse  6-1

(Early break on Court 1)

Emmie, the card shark, entertaining the training staff.

Heat Wave

It's no secret this has been a rough winter. I've gotten so used to a negative sign in front of the temperature reading I thought we had added a new number. Even places in the South have been reeling: Dallas has had ice, Duke-UNC was postponed, Atlanta got 2 inches of snow- it was overwhelming.

Two days ago when I woke up the temperature read -18 degrees! That's fairly cold, so you can imagine my shock this Thursday afternoon we I saw the mercury had risen up to 37. If you do the math- and I'm sure none of you did because I'm constantly told America sucks at math- then you'll notice that is a change of 55 degrees. I don't care where you are, a 55 degree change is substantial. I rode my bike today in shorts because after facing -18 just 2 days ago what could be troubling about 37 degrees? 

Now don't hear what I'm not saying. Temperatures in the 30's are still cold and at the low end, still freezing in the most literal sense. All I'm saying is that you sure do notice a change like that, and when that change is from the negatives to positive numbers it is very much appreciated. 

I almost feel terrible for saying these things. What am I becoming when the prospect of mid-30 temps excites me like a 6 year-old at Christmas? If I keep this up they definitely won't let me back into Texas. For one, I would probably melt. And Secondly, I think they revoke any member privileges for living in cold weather for any stretch of time. They're probably working on legislation to evict people living in the Panhandle area for their indiscretion. Temperatures are projected to reach the 40's early next week. It's been so long, I'll believe it when I see it.

Recap notes & Glances ahead

....In my opinion a GOOD start to the 2014 season! Elmhurst and Monmouth are both good teams. Coe played very proficiently in the morning, and both matches gave the coaches some excellent ideas on how we can improve before we face the good teams and great teams on our schedule.

.....speaking of upcoming good teams; another one comes to the RC on Saturday. University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse. Experienced, talented and well-coached, the Eagles will give us a test on how much we can improve in one week.

.....the evening match will be against Cornell College, a Bremner Cup match. The Bremner Cup is named after long time Coe AND Cornell coach, athletic director, and vice-president Barron Bremner.
For only the 2nd year in history, Coe and Cornell are not in the same Athletic Conferences, so the BC is designed to carry on the athletic rivalry between the two schools. The Cup is knotted up at 6 wins apiece going into Saturday evening's match.

.....judging from the weekend results, the Central Region has improved considerably with all of the nationally ranked schools competing as well as the majority of the regionally ranked squads. WashU bested both Gustavus and Whitewater 6-3, Kenyon, Chicago and Case also got their seasons underway. Coe will play all of the above nationally ranked schools except Kenyon this Spring.

.....the Spring portion of  Women's Tennis gets underway at 330pm today. Eleven players strong, the Ladies look for continuation of their Fall success. They travel to Wheaton, Illinois on the 22nd for matches with Wheaton College and Calvin College.

.....former Kohawks in the college coaching ranks made the news recently: 1990 grad Malcolm Gilreath is at University of South Dakota and was featured in a column on Tennis Recruiting

  http://www.tennisrecruiting.net/article.asp?id=1838

1998 alum and longtime Coe Assistant Mark Murphy, now in his 5th year at Kalamazoo College, saw his team open what they hope to be a championship season with an upset win over Ohio Northern

 http://hornets.kzoo.edu/sports/wten/2013-14/releases/2014020878mmzm

Finally, I am very pleased to announce that 30 Kohawks will be headed for the Orlando, Florida area in just 18 days. This is one year you will not hear me grumble about how early the Coe Spring Break occurs!

Men v Monmouth - Live Scoring

COE  7

MONMOUTH   2

Doubles:

1.  Sprinkel/Galbraith v Johnson/Stewart  5-8

2.  Hickman/Janssen v C Franco/Rineberg  8-1

3.  Damisch/Decker v M Franco/King  8-6

4.  (Exhibition) Wages/Young v Monmouth  8-0

Singles

1.  Galbraith v C Franco  6-2, 6-0

2.  Hickman v Johnsone  6-4, 6-2

3.  Stokstad v Stewart  6-1, 6-1

4.  Bernt v Rineberg  6-2, 6-2

5.  Kroll v M Franco  1-6, 2-6
6.  Janssen v Shiakallis  6-0, 6-0
7.  (Exhibition) Sauter v Monmouth  4-3
8.  (Exhibition) Moore v Monmouth  0-0  

Men v Elmhurst - Live Scoring

COE  9

ELMHURST   0

Doubles:

1.  Sprinkel/Galbraith v Harbert/Jung  8-3

2.  Hickman/Janssen v McPherson/Harrison  8-4

3.  Stokstad/Decker v Tanaka/Devaney  8-3

4.  (Exhibition) Bernt/Leovic v Elmhurst  8-1

Singles

1.  Sprinkel v Harbert 7-5, 6-1

2.  Galbraith v Jung 6-2, 6-3

3.  Hickman v McPherson 6-1, 6-3

4.  Stokstad v Tanaka 6-4, 6-3

5.  Bernt v Jennings 6-4, 6-0

6.  Janssen v Harrison 6-2, 6-4