2015 Season Preview: #31 Brandeis Judges

Brandeis University

Coach: Ben Lamanna

Location: Waltham, MA

Preseason ranking: #31 ITA, #29 in our power rankings

#dropdemgavels
#DropDemGavels

For the past five years or so, the Brandeis University Judges have hovered around that #30 spot in the ITA rankings.  They finish around 6 or 7 every year at the UAA Championships, and typically challenge the middle of the pack NESCAC teams like Tufts, Bates, and Trinity, although they lose to them more often than not.  Two years ago, they lost their #1, #2, and #3 singles players, and many Deis haters out there were concerned about how the Judges would respond.  Would they fall back behind fellow UAA squads like NYU and Rochester, or would they rebound?  The answer was a mixed bag in their 2013-14 campaign, but overall, it was very positive!  The Judges took out lower teams like Vassar, Babson, and even MIT with relative ease, and also had two really good wins over Colby and especially over Trinity CT.  The Judges ultimately finished seventh at the UAA tournament, almost beating Chicago (5-4 loss) in the second round and dispatching Rochester in the seventh place match.  While the “Key Losses” section of the season preview for Deis last year likely had quite a few players in it, this year that section is a big fat nothing!  While last year brought questions, this year brings nothing but opportunity and the chance to build on the successes of last year.  That being said, let’s get into it, and learn some more about the boys from Brandeis, and what they need to do to crack the top 30 and maybe even make it into the D3AS UAA poll next year.

Lineup Analysis:

Key Losses:  None!

Key Additions:  Sam Berg, Eric Goldberg, Ethan Saal (all freshmen), Eric Miller (Junior transfer from Boston University)

Singles:

#1 Singles: Brian Granoff (sophomore): Granoff started his freshman campaign at #2 behind Arguello, but once he took that #1 spot, he never looked back, taking out great players like Jay Glickman (Tufts), Timmy Berg (Bates), Edwin Zhang (MIT), and Deepak Sabada (Chicago), and even qualified for the NCAA singles tournament.  He has struggled a bit this year, falling to Chase Savage (Bowdoin) in the first round of ITA’s.  Granoff will need to regain his swagger for the Judges to do big things this year.

#2 Singles: Ryan Bunis (sophomore):  It’s a tough call between the two sophomores Bunis and Arguello for that #2 spot.  I’m going with Bunis based on the wins he has had so far this fall.  Last year, at #4, Bunis was the king of three set matches, defeating Austin Blau (Tufts), Henry Lee (Bates), Kenny Gea (MIT), Tim Nock (Wash U), Brian Sun (Chicago), and Boris Borovcanin (Rochester) all in third sets!  Yes, some of those were ten pointers, but it still proves my point, Bunis is one clutch cat!  This year, he has two dominating wins over Henry Lee (Bates) 3 and 0 and Courtney Mountifield (Midd) 2 and 1, with two losses to Carl Reid (Colby).  As long as Bunis does not have to play Carl Reid come dual match time (and he won’t, since the schools aren’t playing each other), I like Bunis in the #2 spot.

#3 Singles: Michael Arguello (sophomore): Arguello started at #1 last year, and moved down to #2 about half way through the season.  His best win was over Sven Kranz of Chicago, but he lost relatively quick matches to John Carswell (Wash U), Kevin Wang (MIT), Pierre Planche (Bates), Brad Wong (Tufts), and Steven Wu (NYU), among others.  He has competed better this year, losing in third sets to Ford Traff (Trin CT), Andrew Yaraghi (Amherst), and Rohan Gupte (Tufts), so the dude is definitely talented.  I think #3 could be a nice landing spot for this southern gentleman from Tennessee, as he has definitely shown signs of improvement this year.

#4 Singles: Danny Lubarsky (junior): Is Mr. Lubarsky’s full first name Daniel, or is it simply “Danny”?  The world may never know.  That being said, Danny’s biggest win last year was his three set win over Rutendo Matingo of Trin CT, leading the Judges to the huge 5-4 win.  Lubarsky played mostly #3 singles, and was rather inconsistent all year, losing to guys like Christian Phelps from Vassar but then taking out Teddy Burchett of Redlands 21-19 in a tiebreaker!!!  I never know what to expect from this guy, and similar to Arguello, sliding down one spot in the lineup could be a great change.

#5 Singles: Eric Miller (junior):  Miller is a junior transfer from nearby Boston University, where he generally played #6 singles.  There are not a lot of results to look at for Miller, but he did lose in the first round of the Wallach C flight to Max Swerdlick of Skidmore.  The jury is still out on Miller, I suppose (pun intended!).

#6 Singles: Alec Siegel (senior) / Michael Secular (senior) / Jeff Cherkin (sophomore) / Ethan Saal (freshman) / who the heck knows: It is going to be an absolute battle for this spot, and I could even see a couple of these guys getting in the lineup if Miller struggles.  Siegel and Secular, two senior captains, have the most experience, and both have done well and also struggled at times throughout their career.  Cherkin is a very good doubles player, and snuck into that #6 spot at times last year.  Saal is a freshman with good potential, and already one good win over Ted Berkowitz from Skidmore.  So, do you go with experience or the young blood?  Only Coach Lamanna and Coach Pandian know the answer to this question!

Doubles:

I definitely think the top two teams for the Judges will be Granoff/Lubarsky and Arguello/Cherkin.  Just based off of experience, I’m putting Granoff/Lubarsky at 1, but Arguello/Cherkin are legit.  They made the semis of ITA’s, winning three matches over Russell Einbinder/Carlos deBracamonte (Amherst), Palmer Campbell/Kyle Schlanger (Midd) and Brian Grodecki/Alexander Schidlovsky (Williams).  If they show more consistency, #1 and #2 doubles could be a real strength for Deis.  Third dubs is yet to be determined, at least in my mind, but I think Ethan Saal/Alec Siegel have the inside track right now.

How can they get in the rankings:

Schedule: http://brandeisjudges.com/sports/mten/2014-15/schedule

Unlike similar teams, Coach Lamanna challenges his guys with a very difficult schedule.  They start their 2015 campaign with a Cali trip, playing Chapman, Cal Lu, Redlands, and CMS.  After a few weeks off to get back to the indoor northeast game, Brandeis takes on Middlebury, Stevens, Bates, Tufts, Bowdoin, Trinity (CT), MIT, and then UAA foes NYU and Rochester.  That is one stacked schedule, and as usual for the Judges, if they can win just a couple of the matches in the middle of that schedule, they can put themselves right in the national rankings.

As for the strengths of these Judges, it has to be their singles, and their #2 doubles team.  Granoff is a grinder, through and through, and the rest of the Judges have adopted that strategy.  Against both Chicago and Bates, Brandeis was swept in doubles, and won 4 out of 5 singles matches, almost clawing all the way back.  They also won 4 out of 6 singles matches against Trinity, a traditionally strong singles team.  Brandeis improved in singles every match as the season went along, and with no starters leaving due to graduation, there’s no reason to doubt that they will get even better.

What can keep them from the rankings:

While Brandeis got better and better in singles as the season went along, their doubles sputtered a bit.  Last year, they lost either 2 out of 3 or all 3 doubles matches against 8 out of 11 ranked teams on their schedule, which is not exactly the best way to upset a ranked squad.  I do think their doubles will be better, simply based on experience, but #3 doubles has to be a question mark, and who knows how consistent these teams will end up being.  Last year, Danny Lubarsky and Michael Arguello looked to be the next coming of the Bryan brothers, winning their first four matches and destroying the #1 Redlands team 8-2.  However, they ultimately had a 5-7 record after that, and were split up towards the end of the season.

Prediction:

As strong as Brandeis can be on their singles grind, I wouldn’t necessarily call them a singles team.  There are schools who are far more talented, and who dominated the Judges in singles last year, like Wash U, Tufts, Bowdoin, Midd, and so on.  Also, while the Judges surely are a very hard-working bunch, I’m not so sure I can trust their doubles when they are serving at 7-8, trying to force a breaker.  This is a talented group of guys, who is getting better, but I just am not sure what their identity is.  Anyway, enough philosophical talk, let’s get to some predictions.  Brandeis has traditionally struggled on their Cali trip, as many northeast schools do, and I think they will fall to CMS, and take out Chapman.  Really going out on a limb with those two picks!  Redlands and Cal Lu will be battles, and closer than the Judges have been with these schools in the past.  Because of lack of experience, and abundance of sunshine and topspin serves, I believe that the Judges will lose both 6-3.

The middle of the season is when the fun really kicks in.  Stevens, Bates, Tufts, Bowdoin, Trin, and MIT should all be great matches as they were last year (Stevens is a new addition this year).  I think the Judges will take down the Stevens Ducks and MIT, but lose to Bowdoin, Tufts and Trinity, as Trinity will be looking to avenge the loss from last year.  As for Bates, I think this match will be one of the biggest matches of the year for the Judges.  It starts a streak of eight straight big matches going into the UAA tournament, and will really set the tone for the end of the season.  Last year, the Judges lost 5-4 after getting swept in doubles, although Bates was without Chris Ellis.  With Timmy Berg gone from the Bates lineup, but presumably with Chris Ellis and the talented freshman Adam Schwartz, I see this match being just about the same as last year.  However, this year, Brandeis will win one of the doubles matches, but split the singles, and fall 5-4.

To finish off the season, Brandeis plays two big UAA matches against NYU and Rochester.  Brandeis was actually seeded eighth going into the UAA tournament last year, so these matches are huge.  Brandeis will avenge their early season loss against NYU from last year, and win 6-3, and will also take down Rochester 7-2, and will enter and exit the UAA tournament as the #6 seed.

The Brandeis Judges are a fun group of guys to write about.  They play a really tough schedule, are young and hungry, and are just talented enough to pull a big upset.  Bates, Trin, Bowdoin, and Tufts are all winnable, and I would love nothing more than to see my highest ranked regional squad take down one of the NESCAC crews.  I think that Brandeis will finish the season ranked exactly #30 in the country, and will have even more to build on for the year after, as they already look to have some great recruits coming in.  As for me, I will sign off for now, but next week, check out the grand conclusion to my UAA marathon with my preview of University of Rochester.

Leave a Comment