2014 Season Preview: Trinity Bantams

I hope everyone enjoyed their Thanksgivings, and now it’s time for you all to feast on the Bantams (I mean, recently the rest of the NESCAC has been doing the same thing OH SNAP). To be fair, a Bantam would be tastier than most other Northeast mascots (note to self, make a ranking of Northeast mascots based on their deliciousness). Ok, enough silly intro as an appetizer. Let’s get to the meal.

Head Coach: Paul Assaiante (18^th season as Head Coach)

Location: Hartford, Ct

2011 Regional Ranking: 5^th (National Ranking: 18^th)

2012 Regional Ranking: 7^th  (National Ranking: 24^th)

2013 Regional Ranking:  13^th

2014 Projected Regional Ranking: 10^th

2014 Projected National Ranking: Unranked

Overview:

Oh how the mighty have fallen. Long gone are they days of Trinity waltzing into the NCAA tournament as the 4^th or 5^th best team in the NESCAC. The 2^nd, 3^rd, and even 4^th tiers of DIII have gotten significantly better, while the Bantams are losing recruits to fellow NESCAC schools left and right. Over the past couple years the Bantams have been rebuilding and it looked as if they might be headed in the right direction. Unfortunately, it did not come together last year, and the team finished with its worst Northeast ranking possibly ever (somebody should fact check this). All that being said, the Bantams should be better this year. They will not finish 13^th in the region, and they have a very real shot of re-cracking the top 10. They’re deep, but 3 of their starting 6 haven’t played a lick this fall. Unless there has been some serious development from the class of 2015, the Bantams will have trouble with any team vying for a birth into the NESCAC tournament.

Best case scenario: Trinity uses its depth to eek out wins against Tufts and Bates, slides into NESCACs as the #6 seed, and maybe takes a point or two off of Williams in the 1^st round exit.

WORST CASE SCENARIO: Trinity loses to Tufts, Wesleyan, Midd, Williams, and Bates. They remain out of the top 10 in the region due to their bad 2013 season, and finish 8^th in the NESCAC.

 Key Additions: Rutendo Matingo, William Boyd, Robert Rajfer

Key Losses: Jugal Marfatia (questionable as to why…)

Although Trinity has been falling in the rankings the past couple of years, their recruiting classes haven’t been half bad. They had the #13 recruiting class in 2011 and the #22 recruiting class in 2012. However, for as large a roster as the Bantams have (26 players are listed on the team website) this year’s freshman class does not have the same star power (HA) that some of the previous classes did. Tennis recruiting lists Matingo as a member of the class of 2012, but I believe he is a freshman this year. With no disrespect to Boyd, Raifer, or any of the other freshmen, my guess is that Matingo is the only one who makes an impact for the Bantams this spring. That being said, the Bantam lineup has a ton of different possibilities. They also have a bunch of guys who have not played at all this fall. I assume all of the missing juniors are abroad, but is Traff (sophomore) abroad as well? And where in the world is Kayong Lee? Lee was a great 5/6 his freshman year, and played as high as #1 his sophomore year. After playing in 2 singles matches and 4 doubles matches all of last year, he did not play at all this fall. If Lee ends up playing this spring, he immediately makes the Bantams more dangerous. I’m pretty sure DC will be at #1, but afterwards I honestly believe that a whole host of players could end up somewhere between #2 and #6. This means that they could be as deep as most other teams in the country, assuming that their missing players have been training hard (HA, not a joke). This has been by far the toughest lineup to predict so far, so I’ll be writing a best and worst case scenario for some of the people I believe have a chance to crack the singles lineup

Dan Carpenter, junior. Best case scenario #1, worst case scenario #1.

DC has been by far the Bantam’s most consistent player over the past year and a half, but that includes a lot of losses to a lot of good players. This fall he dropped a close 3 setter to Telkedzhiev in the sweet 16 at ITAs, and dropped a super to Glickman at Middlebury. He is clearly Trinity’s #1, but that being said he is by no means a sure point. In fact, the lefty will likely need to beat Telkedzhiev and Berg if Trinity is going to pull off any minor upsets this spring. Most likely to bring in more wins at #1 than last year, but go under .500 against teams ranked ahead of Trinity.

Ned Mandel, junior. Best case scenario #2, worst case scenario #4.

I’m guessing that Mandel has been abroad this fall, which brings us to the ever-popular topic of whether or not a player will benefit from his time abroad. Like Carpenter, Mandel took a lot of losses at #2, but also had some nice wins and with another year of development could continue to improve. The question that persists though is how seriously do these guys take their tennis while abroad. If Ned has continued to work on his game (and my guess is that he has) then he should continue to push the #2’s in the 2^nd tier of the NESCAC. Most likely to hold down #2 for the majority of the year.

Musyoka Mbithi, sophomore. Best case #3, worst case #6.

Moose is an enigma. He has so much talent but is a very streaky player. He played as high as #1 and as low as #5 last spring. This fall, he lost a super to Fitzbiggons, got shellacked by Johnston and Yaraghi, and split matches with Sherpa. Assaiante and the Bantams will need the “good” Moose in order to challenge the 2^nd tier of the NESCAC. Most likely to have some big wins and some bad losses no matter where he plays in the lineup.

Ford Traff, sophomore. Best case #2, worst case #6.

Traff is another interesting case as he came on very strong towards the end of his freshman spring. He was 10-1 at the #4/5 positions and took Felix to 3 sets before beating Berg in straight sets in Trinity’s regular season finale. This may be another question of how seriously a Bantam took tennis while abroad. Ned, Ford, Ilya, if you’re reading this, GO PLAY SOME TENNIS! I’m sick of getting the twitter updates about players from other regions who are training while abroad. Trinity has a reputation for being a group who knows how to play hard and work hard, but they will not succeed if all of their athletes come back to Hartford slow and out of practice. Most likely to play a variety of positions this year, but hold down at least the #3 spot by the end of the year

Ilya Levin, junior. Best case #3, worse case #7+

I feel as though I’m starting to repeat myself. No wonder Trinity got thrashed by Skidmore earlier this fall as nearly their entire team was abroad/out of commission. Levin peaked a bit too early last year, earning wins against Hoblitzell and a 2&2 beat down of Lord. But Levin lost his final 6 NESCAC matches including 5 matches during which he earned a total of 12 games combined. Going abroad is something that is bigger than one season of college tennis, and I do not agree with coaches who hold grudges against their players who take a fall off. That being said, I feel as though Levin would have benefitted a lot from a fall in Hartford with both Assaiante and Bonfiglio. Let’s hope he’s been training and if he has then he could play a major role in the Bantam’s depth. Most likely to start the season in worse shape than he ends it, and contribute towards the bottom of Trinity’s lineup.

Rutendo Matingo, freshman. Best case #2, worst case #7+

Let me just say that this is one of the coolest names in all of D3 tennis. I’ve heard that Matingo is basically friends with everyone, and is a total tennis junkie. Rutendo, we’ve never met before but I like you already purely from your reputation. The only question is will he live up to that reputation? Matingo had an excellent first fall, beating Feldman, King, Bruchmiller, and Frons, while losing to Campbell, Jones (3^rd set tiebreak at ITAs) and Dale. Matingo also earned the Bantam’s lone point in their dual match against Skidmore. Most likely to have some freshman trials and tribulations, but end the year in the top 4 and win while doing it.

Carlos Ferryos/Aaron Segel, sophomore(s). Best case #5, worst case #7+

Trinity’s website has Ferryos listed as a sophomore, though I don’t believe he played a match last year. Segel has a bit more experience, picking up some good wins at #6 towards the end of last season. Neither guy has played stellar tennis this fall, but both have the capability of being a tough out at #6 and delivering much needed points for the Bantams. Most likely to get their shots at #6, but spend most of the season on the outside looking in.

Kayong Lee, senior. Best case #2, worst case kicked off team?

Where are you Kayong? As I said before, Lee has the potential to bring some real firepower to this Bantam lineup. I can’t believe that he will be the same after taking so much time off (for whatever reason), but if he’s been training this whole time then who knows. Most likely to not factor into the lineup, but until somebody tells me otherwise I’ll continue to hope that he will.

Schedule analysis

I’m surprised at how few matches the Bantams are scheduled to play this spring. Granted they played two fall dual matches, but still this seems like the bare minimum. This makes every single match crucial for Trinity. Wins over Denison and Occidental won’t do much for the Bantam’s national ranking, but losses will keep them out of the top 30. Their 3 biggest NESCAC matches are vs. Tufts on their spring break trip, at Wesleyan on April 9^th, and the regular season finale when they host Bates on April 26th. The Bantams will need to win 2 out of those 3 matches if they want to make NESCACS. Unfortunately for the Bantams this will be no easy task. They don’t have the depth to beat Wesleyan or the doubles skills to beat Bates, and while Tufts will be their best shot to move up in the NESCAC, I think they’ll drop a close match to the Jumbos as well. Overall the Bantams do have some firepower and have the potential to shock some people but until I see the return of the abroad folk I am tempering my expectations for the Bantams.