Now that we’ve reached the Elite 8 point in the year, it’s time to take a quick look back at what questions we’ve answered so far. I’m scared that a lot of teams won’t come to the site since their teams have been eliminated, but to me, DIII Tennis never sleeps. That’s why I want to go back to the first article I’ve ever written as the Headmaster of this blog… The 10 Burning Questions of 2013/2014. If you want to re-visit the article, please see the link here.
http://www.division3tennis.com/the-10-burning-questions-of-2013/
There are some great questions here and some that we actually already have answers to! Some are still up in the air, but they will be answered soon enough. Let’s take a look at some of the questions.
1. Can CMS break the drought and win it all?
This is still by far the overlying theme of the Elite 8. They have gone all year without losing in DIII competition and have entered themselves in the GOAT conversation. With the home court advantage, the talent to win it all, a DIII landscape that just might be scared of them, and haters everywhere giving them motivation, this team has the goods to answer this question with a resounding YES. They are obviously my pick going into the NCAAs, but they are not as “unbeatable” as they’ve been touted. Or… are they?
2. Will the proven powers continue their success despite key graduates?
This question is going to come back with a bevy of different answers. At the time, I pinpointed three teams that would be hit the hardest with graduations. They were Williams, Kenyon, and Wash U. I couldn’t be more happy that I picked those teams. You’ll see that graduations really do have a huge effect on the next season, as you could imagine. Williams goes from defending national champion to a struggling team at the #11 spot where they didn’t come close to getting out of the Sweet 16. Kenyon has had its struggles as well especially with some in-season turbulence and they are now also out of the Elite 8. As always, the outlier seems to be Wash U. Wash U has re-invigorated their lineup with two freshmen in Carswell and Bush while continuing to lean on the steadiness of Noack and Kratky at the bottom of the lineup. Kevin Chu, a great addition to singles, has been a rock. Wash U handles things differently than the rest of DIII and that is evident by them proving the pundits wrong and becoming the #2 in the nation.
3. How will Case Western follow-up on a record breaking year?
This answer is still “to be determined,” but technically, it really isn’t. Case has taken another step forward for their program and they have the opportunity to make it two steps forward with a winnable match against Middlebury. They’ve already followed up last year perfectly by making progress and we all know that progress is the name of the game. This may even be another burning question next year, as this program continues to be on the rise! Great year for Case Western and I am looking forward to their match next Monday.
4. Is this the year Coach Hansen makes his mark?
HUGE question for the Elite 8. Coach Hansen is so highly touted around here and quite honestly, I don’t know why. This is not because he isn’t a great coach, because he is. It’s just that Coach Hansen is in a totally different environment now with Middlebury. He’s no longer in the California sun all day training 2 star players with chips on their shoulders. He’s training professional hopefuls who are going on to better things and trying to balance a rigorous Middlebury academic schedule with bad weather, indoor play, and a little bit more talent. Remember, talent doesn’t equal desire. Coach Hansen had a lot of expectations to live up to and so far he has been building towards that. However, Hansen teams should be going for the NCAA Championship. They haven’t come close yet, but can this be the year? Middlebury has made it pretty far and already beaten Amherst on the year. The next step is making their first Final 4 since their 2010 National Championship.
5. Do any of the teams ranked 12-25 have “Case Western” potential?
When I posed this question back in the beginning of the season, I pinpointed a couple of teams that were potentially ready to make the breakthrough. Gustavus, Carnegie Mellon, Wesleyan, and Whittier were some teams that I thought had some pieces but hadn’t put it all together. Well, Carnegie Mellon seems to have answered the question with resounding affirmation. They have taken the 2nd place trophy home in the UAA, beaten a ton of good teams, and even reached the top 5 this year. They now have the question that Case had this year – “Can this program take the next step?” My gut tells me yes, but we shall see. Oh, and watch out for Gustavus, Redlands, and others to be on this watch next year.
6. How will the young Emory team respond from a “down” year?
Well, is there really an answer to this? Emory has responded to last year’s down year with another roller-coaster season with a lot of triumphs, but an equal amount of defeats. Emory started off the year with a weak performance against Hopkins, but they have come back to beat Middlebury, Case, Hopkins, and others to continue to be in the top 8. It’s extremely tough to keep up the run that the Eagles have the past few years. They have a very tough match against Amherst in the Elite 8, but it’s definitely not something they can’t win. If they lose, then Emory simply matches the performance they put out last year. That could raise some questions as to whether Emory should be considered a perennial contender anymore, or they are now falling into the pack of top teams that have a go at each other every year.
7. What dominant players will emerge from the pack?
This is a question that lived up to its billing this year. We saw another fairly “random” Fall ITA winner in Abhishek Alla from Carnegie Mellon, who had previously played #2 the year before. He zipped through the fall tournament like it was nothing. We’ve seen the CMS quadrangle of Wood, Dorn, Marino, and Butts become dominant players out in the West. Don’t forget Patrick Lipscomb and Moises Cardenas, two of the premier players out in the West not on CMS. CJ Krimbill has donned the shades and used his smooth game to run through a lot of top Central players. Hell, even a #2 player, freshman John Carswell, might be able to be considered in this group. Alex Ruderman of Emory has been on a tear as of late after starting the season off a little slowly. Of course, there are the guys from the Northeast such as Joey Fritz, Oliver Loutsenko, and others who have staked their claim to best in their region. That being said, we still have an Individual tournament ahead of us to determine if any of these players are truly dominant.
8. Can the West Teams keep up their reputation?
This question was answered this year with a wishy-washy response. The two teams that suffered big time graduations (Cruz, CLU) have suffered big time in the West. They are currently ranked near the 20s, when previously they were ranked close to the top 10. Redlands, who I listed as a sleeper to watch this year, has struggled with injuries all year on route to a few bad losses and not even making the tournament. The only team that has kept up its pace has been Pomona. While none of these teams had the goods to truly challenge CMS, it’s good to know that there is at least a legit #2 seed in the region that can hold its own. The West definitely isn’t anything close to what it once was, but at least it’s acting like a fairly normal region now.
9. How many chances does Johns Hopkins need?
Right now, it might look like they’ll need another one. Not because they aren’t good enough to make a big run, it’s just that they will be playing the one and only Stags in their Elite 8 match. Hopkins has gotten a tough draw a few times in their region and at nationals, but at a certain point you have to step up your game and just beat a better team. This would be a great time to do it, but it’s probably not in the cards. At least the team is young, because next year will be their last chance to do something with Brown, Hwang, and Lim in the lineup.
10. Can doubles-oriented teams keep up with the growing talent in DIII?
What do y’all think? I mentioned that teams were becoming more singles-oriented nowadays, which has been a strategy mostly followed by the top of the top tier. Now, teams that are heavy in talent are coming through and presenting tough matches for Case, Trinity, GAC, and UWW to name a few. Case has supplemented their doubles play with solid singles play and Trinity has become a more singles-oriented team as well. That seems to be the formula to make into the top 10. GAC is the next team up that strikes me as a “doubles-oriented” team. Can they become a bit more singles-oriented without sacrificing their identity to move forward in the rankings? This year, it was all about singles for me. You’ll see a lot of the 22-30 teams being fairly good at singles, but their doubles prowess just isn’t good or just isn’t well coached. Tough year for doubles oriented teams for sure.
Bonus: Will D3ASouth win the Favorite Writer Poll?
The choice is yours. ASouth, OUT.