2017 Season Preview: #29 Trinity (CT) Bantams

Trinity College (CT)

Coach: Lori Shulman (3^rd season)

Location: Hartford, CT

ITA Ranking: #29

Blog Power Ranking: #40

Power 6 Rating: 64

Twitter Handle: @BantamTennis – last update was in May 2012…Ned Mandel and Anson McCook named to 2012 all-NESCAC team!!!

Overview: Since longtime coach Paul Assaiante stopped coaching Trinity tennis 3 years ago to focus on squash, the Bantams have struggled with recruiting.  Two years ago, in Shulman’s first year at the helm, the Bantams graduated five important seniors in Dan Carpenter, David Myers, Ned Mandel, Mysyoka (Moose!) Mbithi and Ilya Levin.  I expected Trinity to take a big step backwards last year, but between good years from Rex Glickman, Ford Traff, Aaron Segel, and others, Trinity got wins over Vassar, Chapman, Colby, and Brandeis to maintain a top 30 ranking.  With Traff, Segel, and others now gone, Trinity will go back to the drawing board this season with another tough NESCAC schedule and Rutendo Matingo, Rex Glickman, and William Boyd likely holding down the fort at the top of the lineup.  Let’s get right into it and learn some more about these Bantams.

Keys to the season:

Find the singles strengths

Glickman, Matingo, and Boyd are looking like the top 3 for the Bantams this year, but none of these guys will likely be elite at their position.  After these 3, I have absolutely no idea what to expect.  Glickman improved as the year went along last year and could continue to develop into a solid #1, Matingo is experienced, Boyd is improving rapidly, and anybody could surprise us at #4-6.  Right now, there’s a lot of uncertainty, and the Bantams need some spots they know they can count on.

Continue to improve in doubles

Without any huge strengths in their singles lineup, doubles is going to be a big key.  The Bantams have always been an extremely tricky team to play in doubles, throwing up lobs, getting to everything, and really pushing their opponents to take the match rather than giving it away.  Trinity was decent on the doubles court last year, winning 2 of 3 against Vassar and Chapman, and sweeping Brandeis.  However, with 3 doubles guys graduating, their teams will look much different this year, with Matingo and Boyd, who had a good year at #3 last year, possibly moving up to #1.  Trinity started this year with a 5-4 win over Coast Guard where they lost 2 of 3 doubles, so they have some work to do this winter.

Find and develop the next Ford Traff/William Boyd/Dan Carpenter

The three guys listed above all started low or out of the Bantams lineup early in their careers but moved into top 3 positions later.  Boyd and Traff were both lightly recruited players that turned into solid starters while Carpenter was a 3 star who started at #6 but ended his a career an excellent #1 who qualified for NCAAs in singles.  If Trinity is not going to be able to recruit as strongly as they did under Coach Assaiante, development (guys like Boyd and Carpenter) and finding the under-recruited player (like Traff who started immediately and had a strong freshman year) will be key.

Key Additions: Courtland Boyle (9.48 UTR), Will Frigerio (2 star, 9.45 UTR)

Key Departures: Ford Traff (#2 singles, #1 doubles), Carlos Ferreyros (#6 singles, #2 doubles), Aaron Segel (#4 singles), Camden Smith (#2 doubles)

Projected Lineup:

#1 singles: Rex Glickman (11.22) – JR: looks like little Glick is likely abroad this semester (hopefully not hurt!) but he really improved as last year finished, getting late season wins over Jose Raventos (Williams) and Ryan Bunis (Brandeis)

#2 singles: Rutendo Matingo (10.76) – SR: Matingo has the most experience of any guy in this whole lineup, playing in the top 3 his whole career.  He’s always been solid, pushing some top players to 3 sets, and his sophomore season was probably his strongest, with wins over Jake Roberts (Wesleyan), Danny Lubarsky (Brandeis), and Gio Valdez (Cal Lu).

#3 singles: William Boyd (10.78) – SR: Boyd barely played his first couple of seasons but stepped into the Bantams lineup last year as a junior, and while his results were up and down, he pushed Timo Van Der Geest to 3 sets at ITAs and is looking to improve even more this spring.

#4 singles: Courtland Boyle (9.48) – FR: Boyle hasn’t won a match yet for Trinity between the Midd Invite, Wallach, and the match against Coast Guard, but if the looks of that Coast Guard lineup are any indication, he’s likely to play in the middle of the singles lienup.

#5 singles: Will Frigerio (9.45) – FR: Frigerio got his first college win against Coast Guard, to go along with losses to Tyler Ng (Brandeis) and Ethan Chen (Tufts).

#6 singles: Chris Caskin (9.19) – SO: Caskin only played one match last year (a loss in the Wallach), but he’s another guy that the Bantams are going to count on this spring.

Others: Philip Winser (9.91) – SR, Alexander Fallone (8.60) – SO, Edan Sossen (8.03) – SO, Kyle Sheffers (9.80)

Schedule Analysis: http://bantamsports.com/sports/mten/2016-17/schedule

The Bantams have a very similar schedule to last year, and here are some of the highlights.

The Must-Haves:

• 10/4 against Coast Guard – win 5-4
• 3/26 at Wheaton (MA) (Power 6 – 54), 4/15 vs. Conn College (Power 6 – 56): Trinity won both of these matches 9-0 last year and should still have the firepower to be big favorites
• 3/13 against Vassar (Power 6 – 65) and Whittier (Power 6 – 62), 3/15 at Chapman (Power 6 – 61): Trinity won’t be huge favorites against any of these teams, but a loss will mean falling out of the national rankings

The Hope to Haves:

• 4/2 vs. Tufts (Power 6 – 69), 4/8 vs. Brandeis (Power 6 – 68), 4/9 vs. Bates (Power 6 – 70): Trinity will be underdogs against all three of these schools, but the Bantams have a chance with a doubles sweep and some singles upsets, especially given that all three matches are in Hartford.  Brandeis is the most realistic win given the Bantams doubles sweep and singles split last year.

The Would-Love to Haves:

• 3/16 vs. Bowdoin, 4/19 vs. Wesleyan, 4/22 at Middlebury, 4/30 at Williams: Trinity will be facing an up-hill battle against any of these schools, which are all ranked in the top 12 nationally and make up the top 4 schools in the Northeast regional rankings.

With the Bantams, and college tennis as a whole, it really comes down to recruiting.  You can develop players as well as anybody, and find the occasional Ford Traff or William Boyd, but the likelihood of finding a full team’s worth of those guys is extremely slim.  With Coach Assaiante’s recruiting classes coming to an end in a couple of years, now is the time for Trinity to step up their recruiting game, or else Trinity is going to take a big step back behind the likes of Tufts, Bates, and even Colby in the NESCAC, and won’t come close to making the NESCAC tournament for years to come.  That being said, if Trinity can take care of business on their spring break, they will likely keep their national ranking and finish in the top 35, which hopefully will convince more players to consider the Bantams.