2015 Season Preview: #21 Redlands

University Of Redlands

Head Coach: Geoff Roche

Location: Redlands, CA

Preseason Ranking: 21

Intro: Hello devoted D3 readership, as you may have noticed by now my colleagues have been questioning my existence on twitter. Rest assured I am both here and ready to give my insights on the Bulldogs 2015 season. Last year the Dawgs seemed to be poised to take the #2 spot from the Pomona-Pitzer but, in an unfortunate twist of fate, their season was completely derailed by the injury to Nick Cummins (something that I have mentioned before in my other articles.) Now with Cummins likely return to the lineup they are looking to put their previous spring season to shame, and they will likely have the tools to do so. They aren’t graduating any of their top 6 singles players and their team has an abundance of seniors: Gram Leahy, Patrick Lipscomb, Nick Cummins, Teddy Jones, Ted Burchett, Max Licona and Taylor Hunt. Redlands will likely not suffer from a lack of leadership this year and, if they can stay healthy, I think this will be the strongest Bulldogs team in at least the last 4 years. Now enough of the intro, lets get to the lineup analysis.

Key Losses: None

Key Additions: Joey Dulle

1 Singles: Patrick Lipscomb

Lipscomb has been at #1 singles since he stepped onto Redlands’ courts and I don’t see that changing this year. He clocked in a good fall tournament with a win over Butts from CMS and falling to Marino in a close 2 setter. With some of the biggest groundstrokes in D3, I expect another solid performance at the 1 slot from him. I know he will be gunning for a high national ranking to close out his senior year and I think that he is on the right track to do so if he can stay healthy. Lipscomb is definitely a player to watch this season.

2 Singles: Nick Cummins

I am tentative to place Cummins at two this year right after coming back from his injury, but really for the Bulldogs lineup to be effective I think this is where he needs to be slotted. He is certainly a good enough player to play at the two position when he is fully healthy and I think even if he struggles in his first few matches he should be able to get his feet under him. If he is able to regain his confidence and match toughness, then he should have a successful spring.

3 Singles: Parker Wilson

Parker’s season was a mixture of success and injury (the same story as many of his teammates). He started off at 3 singles with 2 and 2 record before getting injured and missing a few matches in the middle of the season, when he came back he played at 4,3, and 2 (in that order) for 9 matches in the SCIAC with a 6-3 record. In the Fall ITA he did largely as was expected of him, he won his first two matches fairly comfortably and then went down to CMS’s Marino in the third round. I think that with Cummins return pushing him down one more spot in the lineup he will be able to grind out a bunch of wins.

4 Singles: Tom Suchodolski

Suchodolski had a roller coaster ride for his first season, he played matches at the 4 3 and two spots depending on injuries, but had the most success at the #3 position and by being slotted at 4 he would be very tough to beat. Although he was ousted from the Fall ITA early by PP’s Kevin Wei in a long 3 setter, he has already proven himself in the middle of the lineup. Besides sometimes those first round matches sometimes can be a little tricky to close out. Now that he has a season of experience playing at a variety of positions I think that he will definitely be a solid performer at the 4 spot.

5 Singles: Ted Burchett

Coach Roche could slot any number of guys at the 5 and 6 position, but since I have to choose one I am going to put Ted Burchett at the #5 spot. He had a little bit of a rough season last year, but was one of the few Bulldogs who was able to play through the whole season. His Fall ITA was a little less than impressive with a first round loss to Hollister from UCSC but I am a believer in the value of match experience and as a senior he has a more than enough of it. My initial thought was to put Taylor Hunt into this spot, but as of now I am not sure if he is healthy since he missed all of last season and the Fall ITA this year. If someone could fill me in on his status, that would be great.

6 Singles: Jake Ly

For the 6 spot I had a choice between Gram Leahy, Joey Dulle and Jake Ly; Gram is a senior with good hands at the net but few other weapons. In my opinion his game is much better suited to the doubles court. Joey Dulle has some talent, but I think he is a little bit raw as of now. No doubt he will get some chances to play some matches since after this years senior heavy lineup is gone he will be asked to take up the slack for next season. Jake impressed me with his play over the Fall ITA, he had a 3 set victory over PP’s Connor Hudson, followed it up with a comfortable second round win and a respectable loss to Butts from CMS. If he continues to to work hard on improving, he could be a consistent point from the bottom which is something Redlands struggled to get last season.

Doubles:

I don’t really have any thoughts for doubles, last year they threw together so many different teams that I have no idea what it will look like for next season so I won’t even take a stab at it. But it was clear that doubles was one of Redlands weaknesses last year, along with struggles at the bottom of the singles lineup. They will definitely need to work on their doubles if they want to make the NCAA tournament this year.

Schedule Analysis:

http://goredlands.com/sports/mten/2014-15/schedule

I am a big fan of Redland’s schedule this year, they start off with a match against Caltech and move to two non-D3 opponents, Concordia and Vanguard. It will be a good opportunity for them to get a few matches under their belt before heading to Walla Walla for a match packed weekend against UT-Tyler and UCSC on the 14th and then Whitman on the 15. UCSC and UT-Tyler aren’t teams to scoff at but they did lose a few key players to graduation either last year or the year before and won’t be as strong as they usually are. The match to watch that weekend will be the one against Whitman, they also lost more than their fair share of players last year but did get a talented group of Freshman. It will be an important test for both teams, for Redlands it will set the tone for the entire season if they are able to beat the Squirrels on their home courts their confidence could carry them at least through the next couple of matches. I am going to make a bold 5 month in advance prediction and say it will be a 6-3 victory for the Dawgs.

Redlands next big matches out of SCIAC are in March against Mary Wash on the 7th, Bowdoin on the 17th and then Middlebury the week afterwards. They will have played a bunch of middle of the pack teams by this point and if they are healthy the matches against Bowdoin and Mary Wash are very important for potential NCAA bids but since Bowdoin and Mary Wash are losing some of their depth to graduation Redlands looks favored in these matchups. Middlebury is going to be tough for the Dawgs, it would be great if they could get a win against the Panthers but I am skeptical of it, they really won’t have much to lose in the match and it will be a good test to see where they are at against one of the top teams. Williams is also on the schedule in March but there isn’t a date set for it yet, regardless we have Redlands and Williams right next to each other in our preseason power rankings so expect a 5-4 match one way or the other.

After that they move onto the majority of their SCIAC play, with a match against CMS, Cal Lu, PP, and Whittier. All of these are important but the one with PP is sure to be the most exciting of the four. I don’t see CMS losing that match, while Cal Lu and Whittier are both going to be experiencing down years, but PP is looking strong and deep. Redlands is going to need to have the lead after doubles and some good performances from the top of their lineup to win this match. I don’t see them able to take on the depth of PP’s singles lineup but they will have very good chances to win at 1, 2, and 3 singles. After that they will play in the SCIAC tournament with a probable rematch against PP in the Semis, if they can get it done twice they will be in excellent shape to make NCAA’s.

As a wrap up; If they are healthy, they could be a top 10 team, if not they will probably fall back around the 20 spot again. Their schedule is relatively light, with a few very important matches sprinkled in (Whitman, Williams and PP). I predict that they will be able to get by the Whitman match, along with Williams but will struggle against the Hens’ depth and doubles. That will leave them at 3rd in the SCIAC, with a ranking a National Ranking of around 13 and a likely pool C bid. But as I have figured out, predictions don’t mean much when the tennis starts!