2015 Women’s Season Preview: #21 Sewanee Tigers

With the season already starting to ramp up (damn, that was quick!), the women’s team really needs to start getting out their previews as fast as possible.  I’m here now with my third season preview of the year, which will be going out to the University of the South Lady Tigers.  Let’s get straight to it, considering I want to go out or something like that.

Coach: Conchie Shackleford, 28^th Season (wow!)

Location: Sewanee, TN

Preseason Ranking: #21

Twitter Handle: @USouthTennis

Overview

When we think women’s tennis, we don’t normally think of the University of the South off the top of our heads.  Call it big market bias, but not too many people realize that Sewanee has a successful program that has been in the top 10 nine times under Coach Shackleford’s coaching tenure.  That’s an impressive run for sure and a big shoutout to Coach Shackleford for such a long standing coaching run.  You don’t see that everyday in college tennis, so it’s definitely something worth noting.  Recently for the Tigers, the success has been a lot less frequent, but it does look like the team is headed in the right direction.  This was a team that was dropping outside of the top 30 just a couple years ago, but has now made it all the way back to #21 where they sit in the preseason rankings.  Let’s take a look into what got Sewanee to this ranking and see where I think they are headed next!

Lineup Analysis

#1 Singles, Bronte Goodhue

Universal Tennis Rating: N/A

I’ve found my first flaw in Universal Tennis Rating!  For some reason, last year’s #15 player in the nation and current senior Bronte Goodhue is not listed on the UTR ratings.  I’m not sure why this is considering she is a senior and should have a lot of matches under her belt, but whatever.  I am fairly sure that Goodhue will be playing #1 singles this year again as well.  Bronte had a tough fall, as she was the #1 seed in ITAs but unfortunately got knocked out in the quarterfinals by a tough Emory player.  Making the quarterfinals is no joke, however, so Goodhue should be legit for the rest of the year.  She will have trouble with the top players in the nation, but will be able to give a good go at a lot of the players in the #15-20 range.

#2 Singles, Lindsey Liles

Universal Tennis Rating: 8.96

Liles is probably the most consistent and biggest threat in the lineup for the Tigers, both this year and last year.  The reason why I say that is because I personally think that she has the goods to play #1 singles, but Goodhue just edges her out.  This past fall, she strangely sat out of the A Draw singles tournament, but that doesn’t mean much for the rest of the year.  Last year, Liles was a strong enough #2 player to be ranked #33 in the nation and finish with a very good UTR.  She finished the year strong and should be a top 10 #2 player this year.  The junior showed she still had her game in doubles, and this will be a nice year for Lindsey as she is the rock of the Tigers lineup.

#3 Singles, Annie Veron

Universal Tennis Rating; 7.51

The Sewanee lineup is really tough to predict considering they don’t really get too many matches in.  Veron ended the year at #3 last year for this team, and unless one of the freshmen steps up, I would expect her to continue to be slated in that spot.  Continuity is a great thing for a team and it looks like Sewanee has the first three spots all set in stone.  Veron is a solid #3 player, but she really doesn’t wow me at the position like Liles does.  She also did not play in the Fall ITA, so I’m not sure if that was due to injury or studying abroad.  Given that she is a junior, it’s highly possible that she was abroad.  If so, I hope she was playing some tennis, because she has some competition right behind her in the lineup!

#4 Singles, Christina Merchant

Universal Tennis Rating: 8.78

Notice the high universal tennis rating for Merchant.  Merchant is a freshman who came in as a two star, but was one of those deceptive 2 stars with a high rating.  She actually was ranked in the top 300 in the nation and showed why in the ITA this fall.  She cruised in her first matches to the tune of four (count em!) four bagels, and ended up losing in a heartbreaker to Julie Fowler of Emory, who is a really good player.  Merchant could actually end up playing #3 singles or higher, but I have her at #4 as you never know if someone just had a really good tournament.  If Merchant can be a top #4 or even a solid #3, this team will receive a huge boost and potentially be in the top 20 by the end of the year.

#5 Singles, Taylor Childress

Universal Tennis Rating: 6.28

Sewanee brought in the #18 recruiting class according to Tennis Recruiting this year, and Childress was one of the drivers of that class. She topped out in rankings at around the 370 mark in TRN, which is very encouraging for someone slated to play #5 in the lineup.  Now, this wouldn’t make her a world beater at #5, but it’s a start.  She had a solid showing at the ITA, where she got ousted in big fashion by Beatrice Rosen of Emory.  The Round of 16 is a good start for the freshman, and we will see how she handles a full year of dual matches in her first year.  Childress will really need to step up for the Tigers if they want to crack the top 20.

#6 Singles, Kate Johnston

Universal Tennis Rating: 6.04

The bottom of the lineup has been a relative question mark for the Tigers in the past few years, and I really think this is where they need to improve to continue their ascent into the top 20.  Johnston was their #5 last year for most of the year, but she really struggled against a lot of the #5s she played.  She had a solid ITA where she made the round of 16 and gave her seed a decent battle, so maybe things are looking up at this spot for her.      It’s always tough to tell with these matches against the Emory girls because they are so talented across the board.  I do believe Johnston can improve and really benefit from moving down in the lineup, so we’ll see what happens in the spring.

Doubles

As you well know, I don’t do too much speculation regarding doubles, but I will say that Sewanee could see doubles as a big strength this coming season.  They have a lot of experienced doubles players coming back and seasoned teams that have played together for at least one year.  Expect Sewanee to rely heavily on doubles!

Schedule – Key Matches

So, I was looking at the schedule for Sewanee and boy was I met with a surprise.  Sewanee actually made it into Indoor Nationals despite being ranked at #21, which is mind-boggling to me!  Over in Men’s, no one less than #14 is in the tournament.  Anyways, Sewanee makes it in here and will have a big match against Hopkins.  Sewanee is the last ranked team in the tournament, so any result better than #8 in the tournament should be considered a win for this team.  It also means they would start off ranked in the top 20.

After Indoors, Sewanee goes on Spring Break with the Men’s team and plays their usual matches.  First off will be against a very tough Carnegie Mellon team, followed by Redlands, Biola, and Salisbury. Redlands is probably going to be their biggest match out west.  It’ll be a tough matchup considering the Tigers will have to play on the notoriously tough Redlands courts.  Again, this is another match where the Tigers can make a statement and break into the top 20.  Biola and Salisbury should not give this team much of a problem so Sewanee should at least get out of their spring break trip with at least two wins and some great memories.  The rest of Sewanee’s season sees four potentially big matches against top 30 teams, with most of them being on the road or at a neutral site.  They have been invited to the Mary Wash invitational, where they will play Case Western and Mary Washington.  Both those teams are legit right behind the Tigers.  This is going to be a big tournament for these teams, as the best performance will put them ahead of the other two.  Sewanee will then finish off the year by traveling to Emory and hosting Washington and Lee.  Coach Shackleford has done a great job scheduling a lot of teams that will be around the same talent level as the Tigers.  If they can take two of three in these matches (excluding Emory), it basically means they are in the top 20.

Sewanee will finish off with their conference tournament, which they will most likely win.  Depending on their results, they could get a #2 seed and maybe sneak out of the dreaded Emory regional, but it doesn’t look good.  If they do, the Tigers could propose a tough matchup to a top team or at least have a good battle with a 3 seed (UMW, etc).  It’ll be interesting for sure!

D3ASouth’s 3 Keys to Success

1. Bottom of the Lineup – As I mentioned in the lineup analysis, Sewanee has struggled with depth in the past. This year could be different, as the freshman Childress is currently slotted at #5 in my projected lineup.  If they can get consistent wins from the bottom of the lineup, they can rely on their heavy hitters and strong doubles to get them through tricky matches in the 10-20 range.  We shall see how the freshman steps up as well as projected #6 player Johnston performs.
2. An Indoors Surprise? – Sewanee is the team that everyone is going to be overlooking at Women’s Indoors. While they are not going to be favored in any match, there are always upsets at Indoors due to the grueling schedule and the variability of indoors tennis.  If Sewanee can conserve some energy in their first few matches and come out swinging against another team that is reeling, they could do a lot for their top 20 hopes.
3. Doubles – I mentioned that Sewanee has the experience and strength in doubles, and they will rely heavily on winning doubles points given their perceived lack of singles strength. They don’t have many sure spots in singles so any doubles lead becomes that much more important.  Upsets are made out of doubles leads, and Sewanee is looking for those upsets to hit the top 20.

I know it’s been a while since my last women’s article, but I’m glad I’ve got this one done and now it’s time to go on a roll.  I just looked at Sewanee’s recent results and it looks like my lineup is a bit off.  Darn…  Anyways, the ASouth season is about to heat up in Women’s, and I can’t have NE and West stealing all my Women’s thunder!  Check back soon, because I will have previews for some ASouth powerhouses very soon.  Also, please note that we are taking submissions for our “Recruiting Interview” with Tennis Recruiting coming in Mid-March.  Please email me at d3atlanticsouth@gmail.com if you are a coach and interested in participating!