2017 Season Preview: #18 Redlands

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Coach: Geoff Roche, 18th season

Location: Redlands, CA

ITA Ranking: #18

Blog Power Ranking: #18

Twitter: @UofRMTennis, not very active

Team Hashtag: #RollDawgs, also not frequently used

Overview:

For the last half-decade, Redlands has been the only perpetual underachiever in the West region. Starting with the 2014-2015 squad, however, the Bulldogs have been bucking that trend, and last year, they were actually the only traditional West region power that overachieved. With a freshman-sophomore 1-2 punch from Joey Dulle, Redlands demonstrated a newfound penchant for winning close matches last season, beating Brandeis, Bates, and Christopher Newport 5-4 at the beginning of the season. Their best moment came when they won five singles matches against Tufts in late March, and they would be ranked a couple of spots higher if it weren’t for the ghastly 7-2 loss to Whitman. A late-season Joey Dulle injury put a damper on their SCIAC 2nd place aspirations, but with Dulle back and a bevy of talented freshmen in tow, the Bulldogs’ prospects are looking good this season. After something like 18 consecutive NCAA appearances, Redlands hasn’t made the tournament either of the past three seasons. Even with a top 15 finish, they’ll have a hard time diving into a very shallow Pool C.

Key Additions:

Avery Davis (#137), Bradley Cummins (#252), Andrew Leahy (#244)

Key Departures:

Taylor Hunt (#6 singles, #3 doubles), Collin Black (NS), Nick Pizzuti (NS)

Lineup Analysis:

#1 Singles: Chase Lipscomb (So., UTR: 12.20) – Chase went 21-4 in singles last year. That is absolutely ridiculous. After starting the season at #3 singles, a 13-match, mid-season winning streak propelled him to the top spot, making it 5 straight years with a Lipscomb qualifying in singles for nationals. In the Fall, he was the only non-Stag to make the semifinals of the ITA Regional, and he looks poised for another great season. With him, Redlands has a very consistent winner with plenty of weapons. If he improved at all, he’ll be among the 10 best players in the country this season.

#2 Singles: Joey Dulle (Jr., UTR: 11.37) – Last year, Dulle made the leap from 5-6 singles to 1-2 singles and performed admirably. Going into the season, I thought he was going to be Redlands’ weakest position, but he ended up flirting with a nationals berth until a late-season injury took him out of the running. He’s got an absolutely enormous serve that makes him an asset in doubles. If he made a similar improvement this offseason, he’ll be a very strong #2, but a fall loss to Alex Brenner tempers expectations.

#3 Singles: Parker Wilson (Sr., UTR: 11.82) – Though he has the second highest UTR on the team, Wilson is a perpetual #3 singles player for Redlands, and he does pretty well there. He’s very solid off both sides, but doesn’t quite have the explosiveness to beat the top players on a consistent basis. Despite finishing last season at #4 behind fellow-senior Jake Ly, Wilson started off this season with a seed at the ITA regional and notched a couple nice victories over P-P’s Kaylan Chadalavadra and Chapman’s Charlie Werman before falling. Senior leadership will be important for this young team, and Wilson will be a huge part of Redlands’ success this season.

#4 Singles: Jake Ly (Sr., UTR: 11.59) – Ly is a guy who feels like he’s been around forever, but that’s probably because he has a habit of coming up huge for the Bulldogs when they need him most. He started off at #6 last season, but worked his way all the way up to the #2 spot when Dulle went down with an injury. 3-set losses to Max Macey and Jake Yasgoor show how high his ceiling is, and despite not being seeded at the ITA, he started off this season with impressive wins over Joshua Kim (P-P) and Cal Lu newcomer Ransom Braaten (a better win than it sounds like to the uninitiated). He could end up anywhere from 4-6 in the lineup to start the season, but I would like having a pair of seniors in the heart of the lineup to set the tone if I’m coach Roche.

#5 Singles: Bryant Johnson (So., UTR: 11.67) – After getting off to an excellent start as a freshman playing #2 and #3 singles, Johnson experienced some freshman year growing pains that his classmate, Chase, seemed magically immune to. He earned a seed in the fall ITA, but drew 4-star CMS freshman Jay Yeam and fell in three sets in the first round. It’s hard to tell where he’s at right now, but at his best, he’s a consistent and hard-hitting #3 singles player. At his worst, his mental game lets him down, and he could be a liability at the bottom of the lineup. If he plays well, he’ll be among the better #5 singles players in the country.

#6 Singles: Avery Davis (Fr., UTR: 11.28) – A 4-star freshman, Davis is a bit of an unknown quantity for the Bulldogs at the moment. He played well enough in the fall to garner a seed at ITAs, but all he did was win two matches against relative unknowns and fall to CMS 5-star Niko Parodi (no shame in that). Projecting him in the lineup is a total guess on my part, but let’s just say that Redlands has a wealth of options at the bottom of the singles lineup.

Also In The Mix: As a freshman last season, Sawyer Patterson (UTR: 11.30) was a doubles stalwart but didn’t see much singles action. He’ll try to translate his doubles skills to the singles court this season. Junior Cooper Lacetera (UTR: 10.59) played a lot of #5 and #6 singles, but wasn’t as successful as some of his teammates. Freshman Bradley Cummins (UTR: 11.67) also figures to compete for a lineup spot and start the second Lipscomb-Cummins era for Redlands.

Doubles: Jake Ly and Joey Dulle served their way to nationals last season, but got off to a disappointing start this fall, losing in the first round as #1 seeds at the ITA. Lipscomb, Johnson, Wilson, and Patterson have all seen significant starting time on the doubles court. Freshmen Avery Davis and Bradley Cummins also figure to be in the doubles mix, especially after Cummins/Lipscomb teamed as #5 seeds to make the semifinals at the fall ITA. Redlands could do a lot worse than to have them as a #2 team behind Ly/Dulle, followed by Johnson/Davis at #3, but that’s pure speculation. If Coach Roche can put together three good teams from these 8 players, Redlands could legitimately compete for a Pool C spot.

Schedule Analysis:

Here is the schedule

Coach Roche has actually put together a relatively light schedule by Redlands standards, and I think that’s a good thing. They’re still playing 10 ranked teams, which is plenty for anyone. Here are the highlights:

• The February 24th match against Brandeis is incredibly important, as the Judges are the only UAA team Redlands is playing this season. If the Bulldogs want to get back to the post-season, they absolutely have to win that match. Last season, Redlands came back from a doubles sweep to beat the Judges 5-4.
• Mid-tier Atlantic South swing (March 8th-18th): Swarthmore, Christopher Newport, Mary Washington, Sewanee. Redlands narrowly beat CNU and Mary Washington last season, and they can’t afford to lose any of these matches. Most dangerous will be the rising Swarthmore Garnet, who have made improvements in each of the pat couple years.
• Key Pool C NESCAC Matches: Wesleyan (March 17th), Bowdoin (March 22nd), Williams (March 25th). These NESCAC matches have been Redlands’ bugaboo for the past couple seasons, and the Dawgs have to win two of these to have a chance at making pool C.
• Likely SCIAC matches against Pomona-Pitzer (March 4th and SCIAC Championships): the SCIAC didn’t earn a Pool C spot last year, so if Redlands wants a shot at the post-season this year, they need to beat the Hens. Given the current Pool C climate, the Dawgs probably have to win both the regular season match and the presumptive SCIAC semifinal match to make Pool C this year, but if they were to split, they would rather win the later match.

Conclusion:

All in all, I’ve pointed out 10 very tough matches, and Redlands has to win at least 8 of them to make Pool C this year. It’s absolutely brutal, but that’s what happens when the tournament is organized such that top 10 teams don’t even make the national tournament. I don’t think Redlands will be able to consistently win enough to make Pool C this year. I think they get back in the top 15 with their nice mix of senior leadership and underclassmen talent, but I think they’re a year away from putting it all together. Nevertheless, I’m really happy to see Redlands playing more clutch tennis with less drama. They have another really good recruiting class lineup up for next season already, so the future is bright.