UNIVERSITY OF REDLANDS:
Location: Redlands, CA
Coach: Geoff Roche (16th year)
Final 2012 rank: #24
Final 2013 rank: #11
Started Spring 2014: #13 in Nation & #3 in West
Finished Spring 2014: #18 in Nation & #4 in West
Finished Fall 2014 : #19 in Nation & #4 in West
Key Losses:
Jessica Ly (#1 Singles & Doubles; All-American)
Paige Press (#4-6 Singles)
Allllllrighty boys and girls, I am back with my first West Regional Preview. The honor of such preview goes to the lovely ladies of Redlands! My apologies on the slight inactivity of meeself in the Twitter world recently, a blogger has to rest his magic sometimes doesn’t he?? In addition, I would like to personally say that I hope each and every blog reader had a Happy Holiday season. Now, LET’S GET IT STARTED (ha) LET’S GET IT STARTED (in here)….ok, I might have had a bit too much coffee this morning…gotta lay off that Espresso…..
First up: a quick recap of last season:
The Lady Bulldogs has a respectable 2014 campaign finishing in third place in the SCIAC and at #18 in the country. However, this team could have gone a little higher following a 7-2 victory against Pomona in the 3rd-4th match at the SCIAC tournament. Despite this, #18 is a good finish after getting thumped by higher ranked teams like Bowdoin, CMS, WashU and Williams. One thing that did highlight the Bulldog season was the Nationals participation for Jessica Ly and Ceara Sumida in doubles, earning them All-American status.
Moving to the 2014-2015 season…
The lone scheduled event for Redlands in the Fall was the ITA West Regional tournament…like I said in my review for that: “The Bulldogs showed up at ITAs? Could have fooled me… because I can’t even tell you off of the top of my head what the best result was.” This Redlands squad also does not have a single player or doubles team ranked REGIONALLY! Even the #19 ranked squad in the West has a player ranked and the Bulldogs are #4….Enough said….
Looking to the Spring, I expect that Natalie Etchegaray and Lauren Villaneuva will return from abroad and help boost the Lady Bulldogs in their Spring campaign. Speaking of such campaign, Redlands has a dooozyyyy of a schedule.
Schedule Analysis (by month): http://goredlands.com/sports/wten/2014-15/schedule
February: #37 Bates, #25 Brandeis, Caltech
This month is the “calm before the storm” if you will for the Lady Bulldogs. Caltech should be a routine SCIAC victory for Redlands (some starters may even sit) and #37 Bates should bring some tough tests at #1 Doubles and #s 1, 2 and 5 singles, assuming the #1 player from the Cats is healthy (she has had back problems over the last few seasons). However, I expect Redlands to come through the Bates match with a 6-3 or 7-2 win at least. #25 Brandeis will be the big February test for Redlands as the ‘Deis nearly took them down last season with the Bulldogs scraping out a 5-4 win without Jessica Ly, thanks to heroics at #5 and #6 Singles. While the Judges have lost some seniors and look to fill the bottom of their lineup, I think that this match on Feb. 20th will be just as close as last season, definitely a 5-4 decision in the making. I think that the Bulldogs will pull this one out simply based on a weaker Brandeis singles lineup from 4-6, where Redlands is stronger. The Judges will take the top 2 or 3 singles spots and #1 Doubles.
March: 12 matches (major ones: #22 Mary Washington, #9 Pomona-Pitzer, #8 WashU, #34 Wesleyan #21 Sewanee, #6 Bowdoin, #29 Whitman, #16 Tufts)
Yep, this is where the Black Hole could surface in the Women’s game. A total smoregasbord of matches between ranked squads. Looking at it from the perspective of Redlands, I am concerned. Natalie Etchegaray is a solid #2 but can she hang with top #1 players? I am not sure just yet. I see her struggling at the top for a few matches. #22 Mary Washington comes in first and I see Redlands struggling again at the top of the singles lineup and maybe at the bottom of the Doubles. While Redlands did sweep doubles last year and again, dominated the bottom of the singles lineup, this year will be no different. I see this match being very similar to the Brandeis match in February, 5-4 one way or another. Again, I am leaning towards the Bulldogs in this matchup. #9 Pomona and #8 WashU will be VERY tough tests for Redlands. In terms of Pomona, Redlands fared well against them last year dropping a 5-4 contest and winning another 7-2. However, with Redlands becoming weaker in the top of the lineup and Pomona getting stronger, I see Pomona cruising here 7-2. #8 WashU will be no different, if not more difficult for the Lady Bulldogs. #34 Wesleyan should be a routine victory for the Bulldogs I feel. I have not seen much of the #Cards besides their number #1 player who played Fed Cup and the Asian Games for Hong Kong (watch out D3 world)….
Moving on to the “friendlier” section of March if there is one. #21 Sewanee and #29 Whitman are two matches sandwiching a rock-solid #6 Bowdoin. In 2014, Sewanee gave decent results but nothing that should bother the Lady Bulldogs as they only posted one-ranked victory. #6 Bowdoin will be the toughest match of March for Redlands as the Polar Bear lineup only got stronger for 2015. If the Bulldogs get two points here, that will be a good effort. #29 Whitman could pose for some interesting results in the West region. The ever-present Lawless twins are a force in Doubs and Courtney Lawless is plain solid at #1 (when healthy). The rest of the Missionary lineup is uncertain at the moment. Look for a 6-3 Bulldog win here. The last match that I will dig into for the month of March will be that of #16 Tufts. While the Lady Bulldogs do play Oxy and #31 Chapman (who will not be ranked when they play Redlands) at the end of this month, I expect those to be 9-0 smackdowns. #16 Tufts will arrive in Redlands from two top 15 contests versus La Verne and CMS. I imagine that they will be fatigued but gunning for a win to save their Cali trip. This match is a tough one to call. Tufts has a solid Freshie at #1 and the team is VERY young overall with all Freshman and Sophomores. I think this will be a grind fest down to a few points here and there. I am looking at this to be a 5-4 decision for Tufts. Probably a couple of three setters in #3 or #5 Singles to end it.
April: #5 Claremont Mudd-Scripps, #15 La Verne, #38 Whittier
In comparison, April is a “lighter” month in terms of the number of matches. However, these matches are big ones. #5 CMS and #15 La Verne have major SCIAC implications before leading into two more favorable contests in Cal Lu and #38 Whittier. I predict that the CMS match will be a pretty routine one for the Athenas, 8-1. I would like to focus a bit more on the match with #15 La Verne as I think it could have major seeding consequences. The winner of this match will most likely take the #3 seed in the SCIAC thus, avoiding CMS until the conference finals. That being said, La Verne looks to be solid once again and is no longer a “dark horse” squad by any means. Looking in-depth, Andrea Madrigal is SOLID at #1. I really do not see her losing many matches this year. Overall, I see the Leopards to be top heavy with some new-bees in the lower portion of the lineup, If this match was in early March, I could see a potential upset. However, it isn’t. The Leopards will take this bout 6-3 but look for a war of three set GRIND FESTS.
May: SCIAC Tournament
Hey, SCIACs. This tournament is probably in the top three of toughest conference tournaments in the country (UAA and NESCAC). This year will see no less battles, Redlands will finish in the 3rd-4th contest once again. This year: in 4th position. 6-3 loss to Pomona in that contest.
Proposed Lineup Analysis:
#1 Doubles: Julia Pollak/ Natalie Etchegaray
The tandem of Pollak/Etchegaray had a strong 2014 campaign at #2 Doubles and even had one victory at #1. How will they fare in 2015? I feel that will depend on how Etchegaray comes back from abroad, Pollak fell in the Second Round of ITAs paired with Ceara Sumida. This jump from #2 to #1 is difficult and will require some nerves of steel. If this team can pull off some wins, it could be big for the Bulldog squad moving forward.
#2 Doubles: Gabby Vasquez/Lauren Villaneuva
Vasquez/Villaneuva is another team comprised of one player who was abroad in the Fall and one who struggled at ITAs. Moving up to #2 could provide some challenges for this duo. Tough players, perhaps some #1s, the future is uncertain.
#3 Doubles: Ceara Sumida/???
All-American Ceara Sumida must be in the Doubles conversation for the Lady Bulldogs but who will partner her? Stephany Yang is the only player to pair up with Sumida in a dual match besides the alum Jessica Ly, since 2012. Maybe that will be a combo? The pair did win a match versus then #24 Brandeis. With a player TBA, this line is difficult to predict but will be very important for the ladies moving on.
#1 Singles: Natalie Etchegaray
A consistent player at #2, Etchegaray has match experience to win. But #1? I am not sure. She only earned one victory over a ranked team in singles last year and that was over Pomona in the SCIAC. Returning from abroad, moving up to #1 and facing some of the toughest opponents from the get-go will be a challenge. I see her starting slow but picking up a few wins along the way.
#2 Singles: Ceara Sumida
Sumida’s main success has come in doubles. Her singles record in 2014 was up and down. Winning every match that she should and losing some she should not. Moving up to #2 will not help her cause and I see her struggling at the spot in 2015.
#3 Singles: Lauren Villaneuva
For the remainder of this Lineup Analysis, my predictions will be based on last year’s main lineup. However, the players in these spots often changed thus making these spots a toss-up.
Moving to Villaneuva, she was a rock at #4-6 Singles in 2014 with big wins over Pomona twice and Brandeis. Moving up to #3 should not be that big of a jump for her and she could provide much needed support in this spot.
#4-6 Singles: Emily Murnin, Julia Pollak, Gabby Vasquez
This is where the Bulldogs need some big wins. All of these players played in 4-6 at some point and it is therefor impossible to judge who will be where after last year. Regardless, with the top of the lineup looking to struggle this year, these ladies are going to have to step up and take some big matches like last season. Otherwise, the Maroon and Red ranking could take a tumble.
Ok y’all that is all I got for this edition of the blog! Stay tuned for mis amigos who will post about their respective regions this week and especially look out for my preview next week of the Athenas of Claremont Mudd-Scripps!!
Deuces,
D3WW