Hopkins v Minnetonka (Finally!)

After a true rainstorm postponed our match against Eden Prairie yesterday, we had another tough Lake Conference matchup against Minnetonka today.

To be honest, I was worried going into today's match. I know every other team is in the same boat as us, but we hadn't played a match for a few weeks, and our indoor practice facility is far less than ideal. That being said, I was so excited to see our team, especially doubles guys, come out focused, intense, and ready to play.

Jeremy Steinman played 14 singles today, and fought to the end, but his match was the first over, and it was a win for Tonka. But just after he finished, #2 doubles (Zach Miller/Andy Novak), who I could see through the fence behind my court, won comprehensively.

Less than an hour gone, Hopkins 1, Minnetonka 1.

Then, #1 dubs (Brandon Rabinowitz/Andrew Rust) closed out their match, putting us in the lead. The next match done was my own. I felt that I was playing extremely well during the first set, and won it 6-2. The second was much tougher, as my opponent battled hard, but I managed to finish it off, 6-4.

Earlier in the week, Coach Novak mentioned that the Star Tribune had contacted him about his story on the ridiculous toughness and depth of Lake Conference tennis. Normally, I wouldn't really care (although in no way will say that I don't "read the headlines." I love when our team gets a little press.) but Novak mentioned that the reporter told him something interesting: the Minnetonka coach told the reporter that he didn't believe his #3 singles player would lose a match all season

Obviously, the coach was not aware of Manfred Barrios.  Just after I finished, Manny took down Tonka's #3, 6-1, 6-4.  Now the wins were rolling in: #3 doubles (Andy Harris/Kenny Novak) came away victorious, our fifth win of the day.

Now, the only match left was Ryan. His opponent today was Michael Tebon, a great player that is fun to watch because of his serve-and-volley style that is sadly now hard to find. Ryan took a little while to find a rhythm, but dug deep and won the first set in a tiebreaker, 7-6(7-5 in the breaker). I thoght that the second set would be just as close, but Ryan played steady (as always) and Tebon's confidence seemed to drop just a little bit after losing the close set. Ryan took advantage, and won the second set, 6-1.

Final score: Hopkins 6, Minnetonka 1.

Today's win was great, but we need to bring the same level of intensity and focus to tomorrow's match against Minneapolis South. It's our first away match of the year, and South is the team that beat us in the section tournament last year. They are very strong again this year, so it should be a good one.

Until then,
Michael