Why, hello there! Welcome back to THE BLOG! After an extended summer vacation, we’ve all nestled back into our mothers’ basements for the fall and are getting set to go on another year of Division III Tennis Blogging. I’m hoping that by posting this article, I will encourage my fellow writers to get going as well. It’s already September 17th and we haven’t posted anything yet!
Also, separate note: We know we never posted last season’s end of year awards! We mostly did them, but lost steam at the end and then a bunch of us got consumed with summer stuff and it just never got posted. I think the plan is to still post them? D3Northeast? D3AtlanticSouth? What do you guys say? I’m just little ol’ D3Regional “Neck” (podcast reference!) so I’m going to leave that one to the big boys.
Okay, here are five random questions about this upcoming year, just to get you all thinking a little bit about D3Tennis!
- Can RPI build on last year’s groundbreaking season? The Little Engineers That Could (why did it take this long for me to think of this) are coming off their best season in history—winning the Liberty League and making it to the NCAA Sweet 16. They only lose one senior and bring in another solid recruiting class, so I would say life is pretty good in Troy right now. Skidmore is very much a question mark, as even their #1 JT Wynne lost to a freshman from Bates last weekend at the Midd Invite, and I don’t think anyone else in the Liberty League is in a position to challenge RPI. But what does it mean to build on last season? To me, it means moving further up the rankings (since they’re not going to make the Elite 8). I’d love to see this team move into the top-20. They have the talent—but as they’ve proven in the past, talent alone doesn’t get you very far.
- What can we expect from Carleton this year? As the year went on, it became more and more apparent that Leo Vithoontien is the real deal, and I’m pumped to follow him this year. With a stud at the top of the lineup, can Carleton put together enough depth to make some moves in the central region? With a number of teams likely weaker this season, the door is open for the Knights, and with a 3-star and (top 300, should be 3) 2-star coming in, I’m expecting a solid year for Carleton. They played GAC pretty close in the MIAC final, and with GAC likely a little bit down this year (but still solid), the gap is closing right now, and I’m excited for some potential battles.
- Will NYU be able to pick up the pieces after a disastrous end to the 2018 season? I’ve spent enough time sharing my feelings on NYU, but their struggles are just so compelling. Last season’s UAA 7-8th match, which might as well be renamed the NYU vs Rochester derby, was an exciting, extremely close affair, and as much as I enjoyed following it, should it have been that close? Reader, no it shouldn’t have. NYU won comfortably in the regular season, and for whatever reason, two starters sat for singles. Maybe it was the heat, I have no idea, but NYU is just too damn talented to finish last in the conference. Look at last year’s recruiting class! So where do the Violets go from here? Back to a top-25 team like a couple years ago? Or do they linger in the depths of the 40-60 range? No one knows.
- Can Luther finally beat Coe in the AMERICAN RIVER CONFERENCE? One of my favorite things that happened last year was when I suggested that Luther could challenge Coe, and Kohawk Nation attacked me for even thinking about the possibility. Coupled with the love Norse Universe gives me every time I mention them, I can’t help but continue to write about the D3 Tennis scene in Iowa, whatever the conference is named. Yes, Coe graduates Brady Anderson, but they bring in a much more robust recruiting class than Luther, and are more talented to begin with. The good news is that Luther seems to get the most out of their players, but the bad news (for Luther fans, at least) is that Coe does as well. My money is still on the Kohawks, despite what my heart says.
- What teams should I be looking for to make a big jump this year? I’m appealing to you, the readers, here. You all have the insider knowledge. Who should we be hyping this year? What scrappy upstart am I going to fall in love with this year? Comment below or tweet me! And if you want to stay anonymous, DM or email me. Happy to preserve anonymity! For the record, I’m intrigued by Earlham, DePauw, and to a lesser extent Stevens!
It’s great to be back! Look for some ITA previews in the next week or so, and hopefully I can get everyone back on the Blogging train ASAP. It’s time!
Watch out for Augustana this year. They snagged the guy who played #1 for Grinnell last year and got some other new guys in the lineup. They are a lock for the CCIW
Watch out for Caltech. They aren’t graduating any seniors, brining in 3 solid recruits, and took Pomona to 5-4 last year.
Caltech is another interesting team. Lots of talent and a new head coach makes them pretty intriguing and I’m looking forward to following them (they’ll predominantly be covered by D3RegionalNEW. The question is, can they manage the academic expectations while still putting in the necessary work to reach their potential? When you consider the case of MIT, it’s a fair question to ask.
Brandeis University and their new freshman class, ranked #7 on tennis recruiting… where do we think they will end up this yr ?? What key matchups will determine their ranking and how can they make the ncaa tourney??
Way too early to tell. Not even going to try to predict rankings, but it is fair for The Judges to have their sights set on an NCAA bid. I can’t stress enough that it’s a bit of a long shot, but definitely not out of the question given their talent.
Looking at their schedule, they can afford losses to Midd, Bowdoin, and CMS. Beyond that, I don’t know how they get in with a loss to Pomona, Tufts, RPI, MIT, etc. So by my estimation they can afford losses in those three matches, and then it still could come down to UAAs, where they’d likely need to win at least their first round match. It’s wayyyyyy too early to talk about this stuff, so even though I just spent like 15 minutes going through scenarios in my end, the best answer I can give is that I think they end up between 15-20 in the country and can make NCAAs by only losing to CMS, Midd, and Bowdoin and finishing top 4 at UAAs.
Don’t hold me to any of this.
Watch out for Dickinson College this year. They got ranked the 15th best recruiting class (top in the centennial conference) by Tennis recruiting. Four freshman will most likely start with one of them having a 12 utr. They could be a dark horse to make a run in the Centennial.
This is a good call. I’m very excited to see how the *googles dickinson college mascot* Red Devils do this year, especially with UTR 12.15 Leonid Sorkin, who I’m assuming is Boris’s (Tufts sophomore that just won the Midd Invite) brother. Since Dickinson is in the ASouth, they will mainly be covered by RegionalASouth. But I am sure I will jump on the bandwagon if they turn out to be legit!
Grinnell beat Coe last season I don’t see why Luther can’t. #thematriarchyfalls
Commenting under someone else’s misspelled name…very good way to represent your team!
Watch out for Hobart
I’ve been watching out for them for the past two years.
Haha good one on ya! They bring in two 2 stars (3 star ranking), have a great schedule to improve upon their national ranking, and have the ability to challenge the top contenders for the Liberty League Title this season. I also have an inside source who says that they have a surprise coming in the spring.
#StatesmenStrong
Also they only graduate 1 starter (lower-lineup) and return the rest of the starting lineup. #IliveforD3Tennis