As the Australian Open returns, d3 tennis is not far behind! While teams are busy making last minute offseason #gainz, the Blog will be kicking it into overdrive to get the rest of our season previews out. Today we’re travelling to the land of Torchy’s Tacos to preview Southwestern!
Location: Georgetown, TX
Coach: Billy Porter (6th year)
Assistant Coaches: Chrissy Miller
ITA National Ranking: 39
Blog Power ranking: 33
Power 6 UTR: 65
Twitter: @SUPiratesTennis, Very active, solid in-match updates. An affinity for post-match interviews
Hashtag: #besouthwestern
Key Additions: Alexander Joseph (junior transfer, UTR: 10.54) Hunter Bajoit (4-star, #194, UTR: 10.97), Max Pearson (3-star, #249, UTR: 10.31), Carlos Esteban (2-star, #395, UTR: 10.09), Vesko Lekovic (2-star, #308, UTR: 9.97), Tashawn Treadwell (2-star, #411, UTR: 9.97)
Key Departures: Grant Gideon (#1 dubs, #3 singles), David Strong (#3 dubs)
Overview: Southwestern had been relatively unknown until a few years ago when Coach Porter really started sinking his teeth into the Texas recruiting pipeline. The Blog started taking notice of Southwestern two seasons ago when they started making some noise behind the one-two punch of Snovely and Dimanche, and since then the Pirates have become a mainstay in the Power Rankings. Now let’s meet the starting lineup for your Southwestern Pirates:
Lineup Analysis:
1. Alexis Dimanche, junior, UTR: 11.46, range= 1. After an All-American sophomore year campaign in which he took down Mark Fallati and reached the NCAA round of 16, Alexis will be the top man for the Pirates for the second year in a row. Apart from his success at NCAAs, Dimanche had a great year at #1 last year, beating Wilson Hamilton to help Southwestern pull the upset over Trinity. The reigning SCAC player of the year will have an opportunity on spring break to score some great out-of-region wins
2. Alex Joseph, junior, UTR: 10.54, range= 2-4. Joseph is a transfer from DII St. Mary’s and was the #1 seed at ITAs this fall where he ended up retiring in the quarters. While his UTR is lower than the next two guys, there’s a reason he was the top seed. It looks like Joseph was a top-rated recruit coming out of high school, and hopefully a change of scenery will do big things for his game and he’ll be able to find a high level. Look for him to be up and down, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him as low as #4.
3. Hunter Bajoit, freshman, UTR: 10.97, range=2-4. Bajoit came into Southwestern as a highly-rated recruit, and had a nice start to his career, picking up a big win over Hamilton (Trinity) at ITAs. That’s a really good win for your #3 player to have and Bajoit’s play, no matter where in the lineup, will be massive for Southwestern come the spring.
4. Dean Dulthummon, junior, UTR: 11.07, range=2-4. Dean played at #2-3 last year, and scored solid wins over G. Barrows (L&C), A. Namba (GFU) and Pitts (Trinity), but got blown out by Pitts at ITAs this fall. Dean has been a consistent producer for Southwestern the past two seasons, and if he plays #4 the whole year, I think this should be Southwestern’s best spot and he should lead the team in wins.
5. Max Pearson, freshman, UTR: 10.31, range=5-8. As often happens with teams ranked 30 – 40, things often become a lot less clear as we get down to numbers 5 and 6. Pearson lost in the first round at ITAs this fall, but after relatively little contributions coming from this spot last year, I think Coach Porter changes it up in order to see what the freshman can do.
6. Alonso Fernandez, senior, UTR: 10.34, range=5-8. Same as above – Fernandez played mostly at #6 last year with mixed results, but he did have wins over Pacific and Kalamazoo. Also, playing in the Texas heat? Give me the marathon man that decided to run 50 kilometers was a good idea. In August. In Texas. You’re not grinding him down.
In the Mix: Tyler Norman (UTR: 9.76, played #4 last year), Jeremy Wilson (UTR: 9.05, played #5 last year)
Doubles: Dimanche and Joseph played together at ITAs and lost in the quarters, and Bajoit partnered with Vesko Lekovic. Norman, Wilson and Dulthummon all played dubs last year as well, so there are definitely some options for the Pirates. With two weak singles spots, Southwestern is going to need to quickly figure out its doubles.
Schedule: Find Southwestern’s schedule here
Schedule Highlights: Lewis & Clark (2/8), Occidental (3/9), Stag-Hen (3/15-16), Redlands (3/18), Trinity (3/29), SCACS, Ojai
Schedule Analysis: Southwestern gets their season underway in on February 8th, when Lewis & Clark takes a trip down to Texas. L&C has been hit hard by graduation, and currently have a Power 6 of only 58. However, the Pios currently sit at 30 in the ITA ranking. The way the rankings are done, it wouldn’t surprise me if Southwestern jumped to the top 25 after this win…kidding, but barring anything extraordinary happening the rest of the way, a win over L&C will keep Southwestern firmly in the rankings for the 2019 season.
Occidental has quietly been putting together a solid team, and with a Power 6 of 61, they should push Southwestern, though the Pirates are still favored. An ambitious scheduling decision for Coach Porter to take his team into the Stag-Hen, but the field is actually a little weaker this year with Swarthmore, Sewanee, Skidmore, and an Alhouni-less Gustavus team all also participating. From what it looks like on the website, Southwestern draws Bowdoin first round before playing the loser of Pomona and Swarthmore.
Assuming everything goes as planned, the match with Swarthmore is a dead tie on paper, and should make for great midday viewing thanks to CMS’ Playsight. Swarthmore will be favored at the bottom singles spots for sure, but the rest of the singles spots are probably toss-ups, making doubles (as usual) the key to the match. Depending on the draw plays out, Southwestern will get a crack at Gustavus, Sewanee or Skidmore in their third match. If the Pirates come out of the Stag Hen with one win, the trip will definitely be considered a success.
After three matches in two days, Southwestern takes on Redlands, where tired legs will no doubt be a factor, and I don’t see the Pirates taking down a (while unranked) talented Redlands team. This sets the stage for the most important match on the calendar – a date with Trinity. Last year saw Southwestern beat Trinity in the regular season for the first time in school history, before Trinity repaid the favor with a 5-0 decision at SCACs. I think Southwestern will keep this one and the inevitable rematch at SCACs close but will fall both times.
Final Thoughts: Southwestern is always a fun team to follow, and this year should be no different. Last year Southwestern had matches against L&C, George Fox, Pacific and Kalamazoo – all teams in that 30-50 range, and came away with no victories. With a tougher schedule this year, the Pirates need to make the most of the opportunities they have if they want to make the jump and become a perennial top 25 team.I think this team is one year away from seriously threatening Trinity and other top 25 programs, but prove me wrong!
Thanks for reading and as always, feel free to drop a comment below, on twitter or in my inbox at d3newregional@gmail.com!