Mustangs building momentum

While today's match against Salisbury counts as a loss, it felt like a win on several fronts for the Mustangs.  Evens took to the courts first and #8 Dirky Rosse was dialed in right away to notch a 3-0 victory in exhibition play.  #6 Jack Nestler couldn't find his rhythm on Salisbury's courts and his limited depth meant his opponent kept him behind the T.  After a hard fought first game where Jack lost 9-11, he dropped the next two relatively quickly to fall 0-3 to a talented Salisbury opponent.  #4 Johnny Zhang faced similar challenges to Jack and fell in three.  On the top court, #2 Jackson Colman dropped his first game but fought back in the second with some great depth and consistent play to even the score. At this point, Millbrook's odds were already well into their games.  Jackson lost the next game 11-13 but his mental toughness came out for the fourth and fifth games where Jackson won 11-9 and 11-8 respectively.  His efforts energized the team.  #7 Cooper McGuire, competing for the first time in the top seven, dropped the first two games but after a quick glance at Jackson's efforts and a brief mental reset, came back to draw the match to 2-2.  His opponent dug deep in the fifth and pulled out the match 3-2.  #5 Luke Sosnow feel in three to another Luke.  That left #3 Milo Stephenson who faced a fellow leftie.  In what was a tight match, Milo couldn't quite maintain the consistency he needed but should be proud of some really well earned points.  He ultimately fell 1-3, losing the fourth 9-11.  At #1 Sutter Schwartz also went to five games.  Sutter split the first two games with his opponent before dropping the third.  With his opponent pushing the pace, Sutter managed to dig deep and find his groove in the fourth and fifth where he played some simple yet highly effective points to win in five. 

Overall, several players notched their first wins of the season and we left remembering that while skill and rating matter, heart and belief matter more.