Back again for part two of my midseason reports, this time focusing on the Northeast. I realize we’re well past mid-season at this point, especially for my teams, but with the weather finally beginning to improve a bit, it still feels like there’s a whole lot of tennis ahead of us. Anyway, just like part one, I’ll be giving a few quick thoughts on all the teams in the latest ITA rankings that fall into my range. Technically the New England schools are covered by D3Regional and Stevens is under D3RegionalASouth’s watch, but I’ll share my thoughts on them anyway. Here we go:
NYU
An early season thumping at the hands of Skidmore lowered their stock, but they’ve followed it up with some nice wins, most notably over a shorthanded Brandeis squad. 5-4 wins over TCNJ and Colby have also gotten them up to #9, their highest regional rank in a long time (possibly ever?). The two big questions I have: can they back up their win over Brandeis to surpass them at the UAA tournament? And will Umberto Setter get the wins he needs in the next few weeks to qualify for NCAAs?
What’s Next: 4/5 vs Coast Guard, 4/12 vs Stevens
Buy
Colby
Colby’s 1-2 combo of Carl Reid and Vlad Murad is among the best of teams in my coverage range, but the rest of their lineup has had much more modest results. A 6-3 win over TCNJ is probably their best to date, and they also impressed me by pushing Tufts to a 6-3 decision. Their only chance to get a direct win that would move them up in the rankings at this point would be if they shocked Williams, Bowdoin, or Middlebury, but if they finish the year at #10, that’s still a great step forward for the program.
What’s Next: 4/5 vs Bates, 4/8 vs Conn College
Buy
TCNJ
A signature win over Kalamazoo is what’s defined this team so far, bringing them up to #30 in the national rankings. Close losses to Colby and NYU have kept them from rising even higher, though only slightly. Their 8-1 loss to Mary Washington last weekend showed me that the Lions are maybe not a team with a ton of upset potential, but rather a really solid squad that takes care of business against the teams they should beat most of the time. Their toughest remaining matches are Stevens and Franklin & Marshall, though I expect them to win both. Being independent means they should get one of the Pool B spots, and possibly get sent down to Mary Washington, where they’ve headed for NCAAs the past couple of years.
What’s Next 4/5 vs Lafayette (D1), 4/8 vs Ithaca
Buy
Brandeis
Things haven’t gone as planned in Waltham this spring for a team that had high expectations. As I just said, playing without a full lineup they were upset by NYU, but they also fell early on to Redlands in a match that I’m sure they were hoping would be closer than 7-2. This past weekend after finally getting back to their full lineup they fell 7-2 again, this time at Bates. While it hasn’t been smooth sailing thus far, Deis can still right the ship, They will likely have a rematch with NYU at UAAs, and if they can get through that, they’ll have a chance for 5th in the UAA. For all that to happen though, their senior trio at the top of the lineup needs to step up.
What’s Next: 4/8 vs Trinity, 4/9 vs Coast Guard and LeMoyne
Hold
Bates
When you look at Bates’ record and see 2-7, it’s not exactly pretty. But in their defense, they’ve hardly had a cakewalk of a schedule, with their losses coming against CMS, Pomona-Pitzer, MIT, Midd, Mary Washington, Johns Hopkins, and D-1 Georgetown. Their win over Brandeis this past weekend was a nice positive for the Bobcats, and I’ll be very interested to see how their match with Colby goes today. Rosen and Ellis against Reid and Murad should make for a great doubles match and two great singles matches as well. Making NESCACs is always a tall task, and I don’t see it happening for the Bobcats this year with the loaded squads they have to deal with.
What’s Next: 4/5 vs Colby, 4/9 vs Trinity CT
Sell
Stevens
Everyone knew the Ducks were up against it this year with graduation hitting them hard, and I would say things have pretty much gone as expected, which is to say, not great. Not including matches against Empire 8 opponents St. John Fisher and Nazareth, the Ducks have won one match a piece at 1, 2, and 3 singles. Yikes. That’s a far cry from the past few years. I think the ITA committee made a mistake (one of many) by leaving Stevens in the National Rankings at #38, though I don’t think they’ll still be in there by season’s end. Despite their decline, they should still be able to beat Ithaca for the Empire 8 title, though it might not be as easy as match as it has been in recent years.
What’s Next: 4/8 vs Alfred and Houghton, 4/12 vs NYU
Sell
SNACK OF THE WEEK!
We’re going with an all time favorite today: Peanut Butter! In a sandwich, In a cracker. As a dip for Pretzels. By the spoonful. Whenever someone in the van pulls out a PB&J they packed for the trip, their teammates’ respect for them instantly goes up. So if you’re a player reading this and have a long van ride this weekend, be the envy of your teammates and bring along a Peanut Butter-based snack.
Hobart
A team I’ve been high on and believe has a lot of talent, I actually haven’t been that impressed with Hobart this spring. Maybe my expectations were too high, but they barely beat unranked Hamilton last weekend, barely beat F&M, got trounced by NYU, and were beaten fairly comfortably by TCNJ. It’s a young team so I definitely cut them some slack, but I was expecting more from their trip a few weeks ago to play NYU and TCNJ. #15 is as high as they’ve been in a while, and if they can finish the season here they’ll have to be happy with it, as that will require beating Rochester, RPI (possibly twice), and Vassar (possibly twice).
What’s Next: 4/8 vs Skidmore, 4/9 vs St. Lawrence
Hold
Vassar
I expected the Brewers to be right on the cusp of the top 20 this year, so kudos to them for exceeding my expectations. Some clutch performances, highlighted by their win against Rochester in February, have brought them up this high, and at this point it’s about holding their ground. While I credit them for getting up to #16, I don’t think they will be able to hang on. Babson has a shot to take them down, and despite their struggles, I believe RPI will beat Vassar. The Brewers will still likely finish in the regional rankings and should qualify for the Liberty League tournament, two positives for this team to build on.
What’s Next: 4/7 vs MIT, 4/8 vs Babson
Hold
RPI
Oh, RPI. The Engineers are the latest team to remind us that recruiting classes don’t necessarily mean a whole lot, and that the hype should not always be bought into. Pre-season, this team was actually considered a real contender to knock off Skidmore for the Liberty League, though that now seems very unlikely. Even with their four freshmen starters, depth was always going to be an issue, and it’s reared it’s ugly head thanks to some injuries and illnesses, culminating in a loss to Ithaca last month, Their early season 5-4 win over Rochester boosted them to #17 and somewhat alleviated the ranking hit they could’ve gotten for losing to Ithaca, but luckily RPI does still have time to climb back up. Matches with Vassar, Hobart, and Stevens are all winnable, and I think this team is actually better than their results suggest.
What’s Next: 4/9 vs RIT and Bard, 4/14 vs Stevens
Hold
Rochester
The Yellowjackets have had a rough year, with three 5-4 losses that came down to a final set with the match tied 4-4. Those sets go differently, and my outlook on this team is fairly different. But we’re not here to discuss hypotheticals, and what’s happened has happened. The ‘Jackets have seemed to roll out different doubles pairings and new players for practically every match, and I don’t know what the story is behind it, but nothing really seems to be working too much. Just last weekend, they fell 5-4 to Central #11 Oberlin before then changing their lineup and losing 6-3 to #20 John Carroll. I don’t know what that’s about, but I have to wonder whether some continuity would help. I do know they’ve had some starters missing due to injury, but I really don’t know what to make of this team. If they can get healthy and establish some consistency in their lineup, they can beat Hobart and move up in the rankings, but the current path they’re on doesn’t give me much confidence.
What’s Next: 4/5 vs Oneonta, 4/8 vs St. Lawrence
Sell
Ithaca
The Bombers surprise win over RPI is what brings them to #19, as they’ve really done nothing else to get in the rankings. That’s a great and surprising win, but I would like to see some more results to back it up. TCNJ and Stevens will be their best chances to show they are for real, and while I don’t expect them to win either match, I’ll be interested to see how competitive these matchups are. Minos Stavrakas has been a very solid #1, and as a freshman he could be a force in this region for the foreseeable future. Ithaca is a team that used to be pretty strong and there’s no reason they can’t get back there. Like I said, beating Stevens for the Empire 8 title would be very surprising, though not impossible. With an upcoming move to the Liberty League, here’s hoping the Bombers end their time in the E8 on top.
What’s Next 4/5 vs Houghton, 4/7 vs Hartwick
Hold
Babson
The Beavers have recovered nicely from some big losses to graduation, and while they’re not about to beat MIT for the NEWMAC, they are doing a nice job rebuilding already. Their #1, Alberto De Mendiola, has had a solid year, and they already have two three-stars and a two-star committed for next year. Some nice wins over Central Region teams on spring break put this team back on my radar, and I’m very interested to see how much higher they can go. The key match remaining for them is against Vassar this Saturday, and I think this one could be a battle. Overall, I’ve been impressed with the way Babson has performed this year given their roster, and credit them for sticking in the rankings.
What’s Next: 4/5 vs MIT, 4/8 vs Vassar and Clark
Buy
To wrap up, I just want to say a few words about the newest Blog venture, the DIII Recruiting Hub. Check out the introduction post on our homepage for all the details, but what we’re going to be doing here is creating a database for high school tennis players to use when trying to decide what schools might be a good fit for them. Obviously the standard resources like Princeton Review, US News and World Report, Tennisrecruiting.net, and Universal Tennis Rating, are all still valuable, but never before has there been something created specifically for boys considering Division III tennis. We’re pretty excited about it, and are looking forward to working with coaches to compile as much information as we can about as many schools as possible. Stay tuned!
Rochester has been plagued with injuries this spring. That is why the dubs lineups have changed so much (it’s been almost a different person or persons injured or sick each match). There hasn’t been a real full strength lineup since the RPI match. They were also down two starters in both the TCNJ match and John Carroll match. If you map out each of the Power 6 ratings for every match they have played so far (with the lineups they have put forth), they actually have performed to the level rated but have not really won matchups where they were slight underdogs.