Recap

Matt and Harvir were the first matchup of the night. Harvir generally comes early then leaves early--he seems to have a high regard for the dorm's dinner, although you wouldn't know it from his svelte frame. He came out blazing, with overhead kills into the corners from mid-court. Matt had to adjust to get the ball out of that killing zone, and try to get Harvir reaching for the ball on the run. "It's all about executing clean passes." Harvir got a few in himself--cranking a few out when he hit from a closed stance (shoulders facing the sidewall) and got his torso rotation going. The build in pressure started to take its toll, though. "I've got to improve the consistency of my backhand." (Join the club!) I will make the observation, that you can win some points with outright kills, but a much bigger part of the game is gradually building pressure through good placement and pace to force your opponent to hit from bad position (or better, on the run) so that you are progressively building an advantage until your opponent is out of position enough that a high-percentage shot can go in for a winner. Harvir is also working on his serves--he started with a truly awful lob serve, and then fell back to his staple drive serves that were much more consistent and even squeaked a couple by Matt for winners. He's looking for other opponents to work out the kinks in the lob game on...

More from the Jesse-cam: Harvir, Matt and Jesse. (Look at that sweat!)

Next up was Harvir and Jesse. It's been a while since they had played, and Jesse's first return of serve shocked Harvir--a drive to the forehand was returned down the line with some pop! (Where did that come from?!) Harvir settled down and made effective use of ceiling game and deep lobs that had Jesse frustrated. Afterwards Jesse demanded lessons on how to handle ceiling balls and shots close to the back wall. Next time these two play, Harvir may be facing a tough ceiling game too!

David and Jessica (his better-looking-half) showed up next. Jessica has played some with David and shows good patience in waiting for the shots, moves pretty well, and is comfortable with a one-handed backhand. She seems more comfortable staying deep in the court--probably to watch the action better (and not get hit!), but this makes it tougher for her to respond to shots in the front or mid-court. Also, she hasn't had enough practice yet on shots at or coming off the back wall. Coincidentally, her first game was against Jesse, who was must have been eager to practice these very shots--ceilings and lobs. A month ago, these two would have played pretty even. [Note: Jessica is also a representative of CSU Hayward Women's Racquetball squad... well, maybe the only representative, but I'm all for promoting intercollegiate play!]

Both Jessica and David were amazed by Jesse's build -- David was lamenting that he might get ripped playing racquetball, but that he would never get that buff. He was also musing at how much power Jesse will have once all of his mechanics are in synch. I didn't see the game, but that might explain the spanking David administered this time--he probably used good shot placement to keep the ball out of Jesse's reach (he can't cream the ball if he can't reach it!). Enjoy it while it lasts--I think the window of opportunity is closing rapidly.

A big reason for David wanting to play was to get a rematch with Matt. This time, David had his headphones figured out and his music selected carefully. At first, Matt was taking him for granted... the first drop-shot DTL he thought "nice shot" but thought (hah, low percentage shot). Second time, similar, but not as confident. By third time he realized he was falling behind and needed to bear down, which meant drive serves and trying more offensive shots. Dave was all over the splats--they weren't rolling out, and Dave was moving fast, and the drive serves weren't causing him much difficulty either. Dave played solid with good movement to cut off the passes and place his returns well. While both Aaron and David use their soft hands to good effect, their styles are pretty distinct. Aaron tends to wait near the front court and redirect shots into the corners, while David stays deeper and hits most of his soft stuff straight in/out.

Matt, using age and treachery, took his time between games, let Dave try out another racquet--anything to get him out of his rhythm, while he tried to remember what worked last Saturday... Game 2 featured lobs and lower-speed passes, with a corresponding improvement in accuracy. This seemed to be a lot more effective. David's post-game response: "Bring it on--the more lobs I get to my backhand, the sooner I'll regain my backhand kill." Is this a warning that Matt should retire while he's still on top? Okay Will and Aaron, the challenge is on.

Ladder Points

This table ranks players by club ladder points earned this evening.

Start Rank	Start Pts	Player	Earned Points	Offense
12t	0	David	9	38
1	38	Matt	7	49
8t	2	Harvir	5	23
3	20	Jesse	5	22
12t	0	Jessica	1	4

(*) Rank - the club rank at the start of play.
(*) Start Pts - the number of ladder points at the start of play.
(*) Earned Points - the number of ladder points earned this evening.
(*) Offense - Total points scored in games this evening

Game Log

Player A	Player B	Winner	Upset?	Score	Pts Earned
Matt	Harvir	Matt	--	15-8	Matt (+2) Harvir (+1)
Jesse	Harvir	Harvir	++	15-3	Harvir(+4) Jesse (+1)
Matt	Jesse	Matt	--	7-3	Matt (+2) Jesse (+1)
Jesse	David	David	++	15-1	David (+4) Jesse (+1)
Jesse	Jessica	Jesse	--	15-4	Jesse (+2) Jessica (+1)
Matt	David	David	++	15-12	David (+4) Matt (+1)
Matt	David	Matt	--	15-8	Matt (+2) David (+1)

Upset - a (++) indicates that the lower-ranked player won