2012 ITA INDOOR NATIONAL CHAMPIONS

The boys captured their 2nd straight ITA National Indoor championship beating the slugs 7-2 in the finals. The ITA indoor tourney is 3 day intense grind played out on only 3 courts. Each matches average close to 6 hours with dramatic highs and lows along the way. I was extremely proud of our team's ability to stay focused and intense throughout this marathon. For the 4 freshman starters, it was baptism by fire, pressure they have never felt, but thankfully, they rose to the challenge, and can now use this valuable experience for the rest of the season.

The national indoor tournament is also when our team actually becomes a team. Everyone knows the fall is much more individual with the new guys getting their feet wet and slowly getting use to their new surroundings. Our senior's did a wonderful job of bringing everyone together and it showed with the unity we all felt during our matches. It was amazing to watch how much they supported each other. It was the key to our success.

Day 1: Gustavus Adolphus

One of the hardest things to do at the indoor championships is to play Gustavus on their home courts with 4 freshman in the lineup. Match time was set for 5pm. I told the guys the night before that the courts would be extremely loud with their fans sitting basically on the courts. At 4:45pm, the stands were empty, Pottish, walked up to me jokingly, and asked me where all the fans were hiding. Sure enough, by the end of intro's, the stands were filling up. It was an awesome atmosphere, very loud and raucous, the kind of atmosphere I wished we could experience more often. 

This was also the debut of Chris Goodwin who had been sitting due to injury. We decided to team up our 2 best players who had played with each other a couple of years ago and leave 2 and 3 the same. Gustavus with the help of their crowd got out of the gates early with a couple of early breaks at 1 and 3. Goodwin and Pottish faced an uphill battle seeing how it was Chris's first match back and also because they hadn't played together in 2 years. Elliot Kahler and Ian Wagner took the crowd out their match by jumping on the 2 team from Gustavus early. They are becoming a very explosive team and fun to watch. Elliot's a junior transfer, so his leadership on court has really helped the talented freshman, Ian Wagner. Humphrey's and Kowalski played a red-hot team at 3 and lost in a tiebreaker. So, after doubles, we found ourselves down 2-1.

Being down 2-1 against the home team, with the crowd hoping for a massive upset, on 3 courts, is not the greatest position to be in. Fortunately, our guys didn't panic. Pottish, Halpren, and Kowalski, were the first 3 matches to take the court. Our goal, going into singles, was to re-establish the momentum, and take the crowd out of the match. Halpern got a slow start, but his game was way too much for the #4 at Gustavus, and got us even with Gustavus. Kowalski played a guy with a big serve and ground game. Kowalski seems to be our resident pit bull. He's feisty and likes to compete with the lights on him. Kowalski was able to give us our first lead. Up 3-2, with Pottish up a set, I was starting to feel a little easier, bad decision on my part. Pott had a tough match with a very good serve and volleyer. Pott won the first, but up losing the second set. The greatest thing about Pottish, is his ability to make adjustments in a match without panicking. Pott's, adjusted his game by taking the return earlier, and then, took control of the match securing us a 4-2 lead. Next up to bat was Wagner at 3 and Simon at 5. In my head, at this point, I really thought Gustavus was going to lay down, but they have a lot heart and stayed with it. Gustavus's 3 and 5 players ended up winning the first sets, and once again, got the momentum back on their side. Fortunately, our guys battled back and won the 2nd sets, but the third sets would not be pretty. Wagner ended up losing in 3, but Simon was up 5-2 in the 3rd, playing great tennis. Unfortunately, his opponent did not pack it in, and with the aid of the crowd, he battled back to get the match back on serve. Simon, saved his best tennis for the 5-4 game and broke him to secure the win. Alex Ruderman, finally, after 5 hours was able to take the court at 6. The 5 and 6 guys playing with this 3-court format, is by far the hardest position to be in. They have to endure the highs and lows while trying to be ready to compete after sitting for 5 hours. Ruderman did a nice job of being patient even after losing the first set, and elevated his game to secure the win.

After the match, we were all relieved, but also, frustrated. One of the hardest things about playing for Emory, is sometimes when you win, you feel like you have lost. The mood was definitely not joyous after playing tentative for most of the match and not showcasing our talent like we had against AUM. But, we all know, that playing against D-III teams in this kind of pressure-filled environment is a different deal. We don't always face guys that are slicing every shot, and even hitting slice forehand passing shots, not to mention the home crowd surging for an upset. In hindsight, it was a perfect 1st round match especially for the younger guys, they got a chance to get a glimpse of what May will feel like. The experience is priceless, and ultimately, we didn't panic, but kept our focus, even if it wasn't pretty.

Day 2 will come later. (Kahler was not on hand to edit, so I am sorry if there's any grammatical errors)