Vassar
Quick Facts:
Location: Poughkeepsie, NY
Coach: Kathy Campbell, 30th? year
2012 National/Regional Ranking: #20/#8
2013 National/Regional Ranking: #26/#10
2014 National/Regional Ranking: #29/#11
2015 Preseason National/Regional Ranking: #30/#12
Twitter handle: None that I know of!!
Intro:
My last (but certainly not least) preview goes to the Vassar Brewers, ranked #30 in the nation. Vassar has taken somewhat of a fall in the rankings these last few years. They barely make it into the top 30 this year but I am very excited about this team this year!!! This is the year that I think they will climb back up. They have a legitimate opportunity at taking back the Liberty League crown, which I am sure they are hungry for. Having a strong #1 player in freshman Christensen will certainly help. One question I do have is: given the UTRs of the team, why Christensen is not playing/playing higher in the doubles lineup? Looking at the lineup that Coach Campbell used for their recent match against Army, Christensen was not in the doubles lineup. In any case, I am very very excited about their showdown against Skidmore this coming Saturday!!!
Lineup Analysis:
#1 Singles: Christensen, (9.39), freshman
Already a great start to the year, as she won the ITA regional and represented the region in the ITA Small College Nationals. Only Vassar player to win her match in the dual match v Army.
#2 Singles: Sadeghi, (6.83), senior
Sadeghi has played #1 in the past, so she should be pretty comfortable playing at #2 this season.
#3 Singles: Schapiro, (7.50), senior
Schapiro has also spent time at the #1 spot in the past, so playing #3 should feel super comfortable and she should be able to get some tough wins!
#4 Singles: Hallewell, (6.34), sophomore
After #3 singles, Vassar drops off a bit, which will keep them out of the national top 20. The one thing Vassar does have if not incredible depth is experience. Hallewell, Yeates, and Becker are all experienced members of this team who have played in the lineup in the past.
#5 Singles: Yeates, (5.88), junior
#6 Singles: Becker, (4.00), sophomore
#1 Doubles: Sadeghi/Schapiro
#2 Doubles: Hallewell/Yeates
#3 Doubles: Fitzgerald/McGuire/Becker/Christensen?
Schedule Analysis/Pool C:
Here is Vassar’s Schedule:
http://www.vassarathletics.com/schedule.aspx?path=wten
2/14 lost to Army 1-6
2/21 at Muhlenberg – postponed
3/7 at #17 Skidmore
3/16 at #15 LaVerne
3/17 at #9 Pomona
3/19 at #29 Whitman
3/20 v #3 Amherst
3/21 at #31 Chapman
4/3 v RPI
4/4 at William Smith
4/11-4/12 Seven Sisters Tournament
4/18 at #14 MIT
4/19 v RIT
4/25 v #36 SLU
5/2-5/3 Liberty League Championships
Vassar’s first DIII dual match of the spring will be on 3/7 against none other than Skidmore. This is going to be a tough match up for the Brewers, as Skidmore has already played in the DIII Indoor nationals this past weekend against some tough competition. I’m actually not sure of the status of the Skidmore players (injuries/fatigue) after playing 3 tough matches in 2 days (I saw a lot of adjusting from all teams at Indoors, especially at the higher positions, with Skidmore being one of those teams.) In any case, this is going to be a close match. If all things were equal, I’d say Vassar might take the match, but given that Skidmore will have had a weekend of great matches under their belt, they might just take it based on where they are at in the season. As we say, we’ll have to let the rackets do the talking. If anyone is going to be at that match, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE tweet us some updates!
After the Skidmore match, Vassar goes to SoCal for their spring break trip and they have a strong schedule of matches in front of them. First up is LaVerne. LaVerne has shown that they can be vulnerable, as they are a bit of a weaker team than they were last year. They have also shown that they can be tough, as they just took a convincing 7-2 win over #25 Brandeis, which included a doubles sweep! Hopefully Coach Campbell will have her team work on doubles to avoid the sweep and make it a match. I think Vassar has a decent shot of taking this match. Next up is Pomona. I’m not sure of Pomona’s lineup, but I think Pomona will take this matchup. Next up for Vassar is #29 Whitman, and I think this will also be a super exciting match. They cap off their trip with a match against #3 Amherst and #31 Chapman. While they might be outmatched against Amherst, the Chapman match will be yet another close match. It will be their 5th match in 6 days, so fatigue may be a factor at this point.
Upon their return to Poughkeepsie, Vassar will play out their Liberty League regular season matches and the Seven Sisters Tournament. It’s usually a battle between Wellesley and Vassar for the Liberty League title, with Wellesley claiming the 2014 title. I think Vassar will get their sweet revenge this year and come out on top of that battle. They also play MIT before playing the Liberty League Championships. Vassar looks strong at the top but MIT looks to be much deeper so I think the Engineers will take that match. In the Liberty League Championships, once again it will be Vassar and Skidmore vying for the title. At this point in the season anything can happen in terms of injuries and confidence levels of different players, but I’m going to go with Vassar getting the Pool A automatic qualification to the NCAAs.
In terms of Pool C, I believe whoever loses the Liberty League title will be ranked too low to snag a Pool C berth.
Vassar Keys to Success:
#1. Top 3 players in the lineup (Christensen, Sadeghi, and Schapiro) need to be rocks for this team. Similar to the Stanford Women’s Tennis formula that they have this year (they win their matches by getting the top 3 singles matches and either the doubles point or another 1 point from #4-#6). All 3 players are very strong at their positions and should be relied upon heavily to consistently get their team wins.
#2. Skidmore. It’s always tough to beat a rival team after a while of not beating them but I think this will be the year.
ALSO – we have an “interview with a coach” scheduled for the middle of March (to be posted on TRN), and are currently taking volunteers. If you are interested, please email me at d3northeastwomens@gmail.com
Well, there you go, I hope you enjoyed reading!!!!
D3NEW