Here is the doubles bracket

NCAA.com finally has some video going on the indoor courts.

Put your comments, stories, prognostications here. The Twitter feeds have had scores going all day, and you can get a pretty good picture of what the draw looks like at this point, but I’ll just put out the results tonight.

The matches are not being played here

The Winner: Williams

As I’m sure you all know, the Williams Purple Cows won the National Title today.  This wasn’t a surprise to us this year, but just 4 years ago, this might have been a surprise to anyone that was following DIII tennis.  What’s great about the Williams story is how they really represent the dream of DIII Tennis, and everything that keeps this particular sport pure.  You’ll see a little more about what I’m talking about after reading this article about the short history of the current Ephs team.

2009 – 2010 Season

To me, 2009 was really a turning point in recent Williams history.  With high expectations from a team that made the Elite 8 the year before, losing to eventual champion and powerhouse UC Santa Cruz, the Ephs brought in a massive recruiting class.  When I say massive, I mean the #7 rated Mid-Major class that year.  This class included four-stars Trey Meyer (ranked #142), Felix Sun (ranked #75), Zachary Weiss (ranked #175), and three stars Bryan Chow (ranked #198) and Dylan Page (ranked #298).  Clearly, this was a game-changing recruiting class for the Ephs as they moved forward.  However, a big move after the 2009 season was the hiring of Dan Greenberg has Head Men’s Tennis Coach.  For your context, Greenberg was 23 years old at the time, had just graduated Williams in ’08, and was the youngest coach to be hired and is still probably the youngest coach in DIII.  So, for those of you at home counting, that would be 6 new additions to the team – what I would call a complete overhaul.  Despite high expectations that year, the Ephs did not have the season they would have expected.  They finished outside of the Elite 8, getting blown out in the Sweet 16 by their direct rival, Amherst College.   With a freshman-heavy team, some might say this was expected.  But at the time, the DIII landscape was a lot worse than it is now, and people really expected the Ephs to make a big run.  When they didn’t, I think the light turned on for these kids and set a sense of urgency in the minds of the team, especially that recruiting class.

2010-2011 Season

Leading into the 2010-2011 season, the Ephs followed up a solid recruiting class with one stand-out player in Matt Micheli, a four-star recruit ranked 132 in the nation.  Other than that, however, the recruiting class was somewhat bare.  However, Williams improved by leaps and bounds that year, a testament to Dan Greenberg’s second year of coaching.  Going into the Sweet 16, they faced a Hopkins team who’s bandwagon was full (sound familiar?) at home, and subsequently won 5-0.  This put them in the Elite 8 against a heavy favorite, CMS (surprise, surprise) – who was playing on their home courts.  Take a look below at the boxscore:

#1 Doubles – Micheli/Chow defeat Pereverzin/Wu, 8-4

#2 Doubles – Meyer/Sun defeat Lane/Wei, 8-3

#3 Doubles – Petrie/Shallcross defeated by Brockett/Erani, 8-5

#1 Singles – Felix Sun defeats Alex Lane, 6-3, 0-6, 6-4

#2 Singles – Matt Micheli defeated by Robbie Erani, 6-4, 6-2

#3 Singles – Trey Meyer defeated by Alex Johnson, 6-2, 6-2

#4 Singles – Zachary Weiss defeated by Russell Brockett, 6-3, 6-4

#5 Singles – Bryan Chow defeats Ronald Wu, 3-6, 7-6, 7-6

#6 Singles – Dylan Page defeats Mac Cahill, 7-5, 1-6, 6-1

As you may or may not remember, this is the match in which Chow saved 7 match points on the CMS courts at probably 11 PM.  I clearly remember watching him grit his way to this win, and this was where the Chow legend was truly born.  However, there are a few other things to note from this match.  Sun vs. Lane was an extremely close match at 1, and the trio of Micheli, Meyer, and Weiss got routinely beaten.  Specifically, Meyer lost 2 and 2 to none other than Alex Johnson.  This was a momentum year for the Ephs program, as they gained valuable experience as a team and continued to grow.  They ended up placing a distant fourth after getting throttled by Wash U in the third place match, but this was by far a win for the program and Coach Greenberg.

2011-2012 Season

After exceeding expectations in 2010-2011, the 2012 season was supposed to be another leap forward.  Again, the Williams players took it upon themselves to improve, whether that be in the offseason or in season.  Throughout the year they proved they belonged, suffering little if any lapses against lower ranked teams, and continuing to narrowly beat some of the best teams, but falling short in others.  However, you will notice that their lineup stayed with the same starters as the year before, indicating absolutely no regression in their play.  This year, they easily made the Final 4, defeating Bowdoin in the Elite 8 by a score of 5-3 to play the eventual national champion in Emory.  Not surprising to us, Williams gave Emory their best battle.  Quick singles boxscore below, only singles (Emory had a 2-1 lead):

#1 Singles – Trey Meyer defeats Dillon Pottish, 4-6, 7-6 (ret)

#2 Singles – Felix Sun defeats Chris Goodwin, 2-6, 6-3, 6-2

#3 Singles – Matt Micheli defeated by Ian Wagner, 6-7,6-2, 7-5

#4 Singles – Zachary Weiss defeated by Brian Kowalski, 6-2, 6-4

#5 Singles – Bryan Chow defeats Eric Halpern, 6-3,0-6, 7-5

#6 Singles – Will Petrie defeated by Alex Ruderman, 6-2, 6-0

I think the main note here is this – Meyer goes from getting routinely beaten by Johnson the year before to beating the best player in DIII a year later.  The way he did it, I thought was the most impressive.  This was a hot day in Cary, NC, in which Pottish, who had ATP aspirations, was simply out-classed by Meyer.  This was due to a combination of better fitness and simply the will to win.  I remember very clearly the way Meyer was bouncing on his toes while Pottish clung to the fence, about to puke, on a tiebreaker changeover.  I also remember the yells Meyer let out when Pottish eventually had to default the 2^nd set tiebreaker and eventually the match because he simply couldn’t walk.  How does one to get to that level of fitness, especially against the best player in DIII?  The answer is always desire.  Despite the loss, it was clear Williams now had the experience and the workmanlike attitude to win it all.  They eventually placed 3^rd in a tough victory over Wash U the next day, which also presents us an interesting box score.  I won’t post it all, but the thing to note is Chow lost at #5 in two routine sets, while Parizher of Wash U went 3 with Sun at the 2 singles spot.  Micheli went three sets with Ross Putterman at 3 singles.

2012-2013 Season and Thoughts

Obviously, you know all about this season.  The Ephs proved they were ready and went out there and won the National Title.  This is impressive in it’s own right.  But what is most impressive to me, and what I think is a great example to DIII Tennis, is the steady improvement each year, both by the team and by individual players.  As you can easily reference the box-scores I posted, you will see small individual accomplishments that meant a big deal in the long run.  This is what separates this particular Williams team from every other team out there this year.  Examples below:

• Trey Meyer, after getting crushed by Alex Johnson two years prior, fights at #1 singles against Dorn this year, while Johnson plays 5 and loses 0 and 0 to Chow.
• Felix Sun, after going three sets with Lane two years prior, defeats Lane in two routine sets today.
• Bryan Chow, going three sets 2 years prior, defeats Johnson 0 and 0 to clinch.
• Matt Micheli, routinely beaten by Erani two years prior, defeats Nik Marino in two straight sets today.
• Micheli, going three sets with the younger Putterman last year, defeats Ross in two confident sets this year.
• Chow again, after getting beaten handily by Chang last year, defeats Parizher 2 and 2 this year.

These are only five examples of the improvements that these seniors have shown over their careers.  So, the question is, how does this happen?  The answer is really clear to me.  Over the past four years, this group of players have taken it upon themselves to improve every year.  They have unmatched desire, drive, work ethic, practice habits, and commitment to not only the Williams program, but most importantly, each other.  I had almost 0 doubt they would be champions this year.  The reasoning is clear – when other teams regressed, this team improved.  There is simply no other explanation for it.  They went from Sweet 16 losers to 4^th, to 3^rd, to the best.  They beat players they had previously lost to on the way.  They kept practically the same lineup, despite bringing in new recruits.  A common problem problem with recruiting is that older players begin to get complacent as new recruits come in during the middle years.  This is clearly not the case for this Ephs team.

Overall, if it isn’t clear how to build a winning program after this article, then I’m not sure what is.  Nowadays, DIII brings in a ton of top talent.  However, you do not always get the attitudes needed with that talent to win the championship.  This Williams team proved that it’s the perfect combination of team play, talent, and commitment to get to the top.

Congratulations, Williams – for an amazing 4 year run and the best feeling you could achieve in DIII Tennis.

You really just can’t say enough good stuff about CMS so far. They’ve responded to immense adversity in dominant fashion and have toppled two very strong opponents as well as some of their own personal demons. Obviously, I’m rooting for Williams tomorrow just because their seniors have been through so much together, but you can’t ask for a better group of champions than these Stags.

As far as Williams goes, their seniors know that tomorrow (today) will be their last match as a team, and they know that it will take an immense effort to win. I know a lot of these guys are incredibly accomplished, but none of these players have played with the pressure of a team national championship on the line, and I like to think that is the greatest honor anyone can hope to achieve in their college careers. Winning an individual championship is nice, but this is THE big one. Who’s gonna rise to the occasion?

Obviously, today was a big day for us fans here at the DIII Tennis site.  Hope all of you enjoyed following the action as much as us writers did (except D3Central, he’s reading the Onion).   We figured it’d be nice to provide our takeaways from today’s matches, and since The Almighty is doing who knows what, he delegated this recap to me.  Sorry to all of you who don’t enjoy my writing style.  I’m going to keep this thing quick, because we still have plenty of tennis ahead of us.

CMS defeats Middlebury, 5-2

The story of this match was basically how the Stags would play in the absence of their best player.  It is definitely trying circumstances, but today the Stags stepped up big time in the face of adversity.  Everything started with the Middlebury’s sneakily improved doubles taking 2 of 3 from the Stags.  One thing to be concerned about if you are a West Region fan is the fact that the #1 team is bound to struggle from this point on.  Of the remaining #1 teams left, I view CMS’s one team as the underdog against all of them. Not to mention, we had anticipated CMS to dominate at 2 and 3, but they lost in a breaker at 3.  Again, the remaining #3 teams are all very strong as well.  Down 2-1, the Stags came up HUGE.  Without giving up a set, CMS won at #2, 3, 4, and 5 pretty handily to catapult them into the semis. Big time shoutout to Alex Lane, who got the NCAA monkey off his back and came up with a convincing win over Palmer Campbell at #3 singles.  Moving forward, it’s clear that the strength of the CMS lineup is going to be from 3-6.  If they are unable to two doubles matches, it’s really going to be a tough way to take the championship considering the depth of the remaining three teams.  Personally, I still think they are overmatched against Amherst without Wood, but if they can take a lead on the vulnerable Amherst doubles lineup they have a pretty solid shot at winning at #4-6.

Amherst defeats Emory, 5-3

How one tiebreaker can change the tide of the match.  Down 2-0 in doubles already, Amherst was a few points away from going down 3-0 to a strong Emory team.  However, Kahan and Salmiano, who have been coming up big as of late, kept their team alive in the Elite 8 and made sure this match wasn’t decided after doubles.  From there on out, Amherst was able to attack Emory’s weaknesses, as I have called out in my D3AS Elite 8 preview.  The rock solid Amherst lineup took straight set wins at 1-3 singles, setting up a ton of pressure on the bottom of the Eagles lineup, once again.  Big ups to my Amherst X Factor Andrew Yaraghi, who came up with the quickest victory over Wagner we’ve seen a long time, if ever.  Fritz and Kahan were able to shake away their recent slumps and take down two solid players in Halpern and Ruderman.  I’ll also give another shoutout to Rafe Mosetick, for coming back a blowout set down to take another match in a third set tiebreaker to keep Emory alive.  Mosetick is a guy to watch out for the remainder of his career.  The best takeaway from this match for the Jeffs is that they know they are in the top 5 at every singles position.  Everyone needs to note Reindel coming up with a huge win over Will Adams, who has had enormous success this year at 6, as well as Dale who was in a battle at 5 with the senior Kahler.  We know Emory was strong at the bottom, and Amherst proved they were just as strong.  The only things that really worries me from here on out for Amherst is their doubles, which I touched on earlier, as well as their conditioning.  The bottom three guys went three sets on a hot and humid K-Zoo day.  They’ll probably have to battle again tomorrow with the strong CMS bottom 3.  Will they have enough left in the tank for the finals?

Note: I did call out the live scoring on Twitter this afternoon.  Props to some of my followers calling out that Amherst/Emory and Williams/Trinity were being played at a separate site, which seemed to have terrible internet and terrible live scoring.  It still doesn’t excuse the fact that I clicked on a Williams/Trinity link to get an Amherst/Emory score.

Wash U defeats Kenyon, 5-1

I’m not going to waste much time talking about Kenyon in this post, as obviously the focus needs to be on Wash U.  However, I’m very surprised that the Lords were unable to make a run at the end of the match.  They have been known to come back down from huge deficits and fight til the bitter end. This was a sad ending for the careers of Burgin and Williams, who will definitely be missed for their fire and motivation.  Great careers for the both of those guys, and I really respect everything they’ve done.  On to Wash U, who put together a total team performance today and AGAIN proved why you simply do not bet against them come playoff time.  They took a 2-1 lead in doubles with a ridiculously clutch performance by Farah/Cogan, who really surprised me today in beating the Raz/Williams team.  Now that Wash U has a legit 2 doubles team (or it would seem), they definitely have a fighters chance tomorrow against Williams.  The #3 team of Parizher/Hirsh just keeps on rolling, and it’ll be a very interesting matchup tomorrow.  However, singles is what I really wanted to focus on here.  After doubles, D3Tennis and I had agreed that we thought this was going to be a dogfight.  The performance that none of us saw coming today was #3 singles Tim Noack cruising to a win over the previously favored Heerboth.  Heerboth is one of the toughest threes out there and Noack almost made it look easy.  Now, this was a great matchup for Noack in terms of game style, but credit is due where credit is due.  The Bears were then able to finish off the match routinely with their seniors Putterman and Parizher at 1 and 5 singles.  Putterman made routine work of Burgin… and Parizher showed that he probably is the best 5 in the nation.  Wash U looks really amazing right now, considering Kratky was on his way to a win at 4 over Williams and Farah had just taken the first at 6.  This could have easily been a dominant 7-2 victory over Kenyon.  The Bears are officially in the national title discussion, and it’s an oversight by me to say they weren’t previously.

Williams defeats Trinity, 5-1

Well, Trinity is no Nichols, so we should really take this result with a grain of salt.  Ha.  This is exactly why you don’t take matches against extremely lesser teams in the NCAA tournament as predictors of future matches.  If any of you have been in a Williams/Nichols type match, you’d realize that the emotion simply isn’t there.  However, when you’re playing Trinity at Kalamazoo on the Elite 8 national stage, the best is bound to come out.  And the best of Williams made a statement.  They swept potentially the second or third best collective doubles team in the nation, and none of the spots really had to sweat all that much.  Trinity is known to come out strong in doubles and Williams simply squashed them.  After today’s performance, Williams is clearly the best doubles team in the nation, and that gives them a shot in every single match.  Singles is where we get a bit dicey, however.  As predicted, Williams ended up finishing the match at #2 and #3, which happen to be some of their stronger positions.  It’s good to see Sun notch a solid win over a good player, and for Micheli to come up in a third set breaker.  Those two are going to need to get theirs if Williams is going to win it all.  The other spots in the Williams lineup are worrisome to me.  The older Weiss has really struggled at #4 singles all year round, and he seems more fit to be a 5 player than a 4.  However, Chow also does not fit at the 4 spot, leaving them with a hole there and not even a lock at 5.  Chow was in the third set today (does he ever not go 3?) and will need to be drinking that pedialyte from here on out.  Also, interesting decision to pull Page from the lineup and go with the younger Weiss.  I think it was driven off the 3-0 lead, but there was a point where things could have gotten hairy as Trinity battled hard in the singles.  Trinity definitely started poking some holes in the Ephs championship argument, and if this thing comes down to fitness in the finals, the Ephs can point to these matches as the reason why they might be tired.  Oh, and shoutout to my Williams X Factor Felix Sun for taking 2 wins today, as well as Trinity X Factor Erick DelaFuente for winning the last match of his career.  Again, awesome careers for both of these players and both of them are some of the most respected guys in DIII Tennis.

Looking forward to the semi finals, y’all have my predictions in my original preview (considering I got the whole Elite 8 correct).  I don’t think anything changes for tomorrow, and I do believe it’ll be an Amherst/Williams final.  However, that Wash U/Williams match is really scaring me.  I think Wash U can take 1 doubles, and potentially 1, 4, 5, and 6 singles to beat the Ephs in a stunner.  On the Amherst/CMS side, this thing got tighter too considering Dorn/Marino/Lane played lights out today in singles.  It’s gonna be a good day tomorrow.

With the Elite 8 coming up in just a couple of days, and D3Tennis’ thoughts on the quarterfinals already a few days old, I wanted to refresh all of your memories and go through each team.  All of you probably know I have Williams to win it all, but that does not even come close to guaranteeing they’ll win it with a field this close.  Most of the teams should be in Kalamazoo by now, and I know for a fact a few of them are.  Overall, I think the Elite 8 is going to be a doozy.  Literally every single match is going to be a close one, EVEN CMS vs Middlebury (you’ll see).  As D3Tennis mentioned, each team has a ton of NCAA experience, and they’re all here to win it.  In my eyes, there are really 3 favorites.  That would be CMS, Williams, and Amherst.  I view these three teams as a classic Russian Roulette – they’ll beat each other purely based on who has the better day.  This is the main reason why I think Williams will win, because they won’t have to go through a CMS or an Amherst to make it to that final.  We all saw very well last year how conditioning plays a huge part at NCAA’s, with Pottish struggling at the end and Goodwin totally checked out.  Those were the two best players in DIII, and they turned out to be weaknesses for their team in the final.  Conserving your energy is key here, so we definitely will have a better idea of who will be rested going into the final.  Other than those 3, I view Kenyon, Trinity, and Emory to be the second tier teams that could pull one upset.  Rounding out the 8 would be proud teams in Wash U and Middlebury, who I think have very little shot at making the finals, but could really shake things up.  I’ll go team-by-team strengths and weaknesses, as well as an X-Factor player because I love giving individuals some love and maybe some added pressure.

Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Stags

So, word on the street is that one Warren Wood is going to have to miss NCAAs.  If this is true, CMS’s NCAA luck isn’t even a joke anymore.  This is a serious blow to the Stags championship hopes and essentially could end them.  I had heard of his injury a couple days ago, but was waiting for some type of confirmation. We are not 100% on this, but it seems to be true.  Without Wood, the pressure will go on the Stag’s strength, which is doubles and the bottom of their singles lineup.  They’ve only been down in doubles to one team this whole year – that being Williams.  The onus really falls on how they’ll start off matches now considering they can’t rely simply on singles now that Wood could be out.  This also puts a ton of pressure on whoever replaces him in the doubles lineup.  I have 0 knowledge about what lineup they’ll throw out there, but we’ll get a better idea against Middlebury and to be honest, they shouldn’t have a problem.  However, when they face the more talented teams, they’ll start to have some trouble taking leads into the singles flights because they are at a disadvantage at 1 most likely.  At the bottom of the singles lineup, they’ll still be incredibly strong.  Butts, Johnson, and Kotrappa are all strong 4-6’s.  The areas where I have barely any faith is the top.  Dorn at 1, Marino at 2, and the senior Lane at 3 are all shaky positions when it comes to the best of the best.  Dorn has struggled a bit as of late, and Lane has a history of coming up small in the NCAA tournament.  If they are to win this whole thing, it’ll be because those top 3 players stepped up big time.  Coach Settles is going to need to do an amazing PR job to keep his team from letting those NCAA memories creep into their heads, especially with the loss of Wood.  This is where everything you’ve doubted all season becomes magnified, especially if you are playing up in the lineup.  Does CMS have the ability to keep their roll going?  Or will they succumb to pressure again?

X-Factor: My X-Factor for CMS has to be Neel Kotrappa.  The fall ITA winner will now be thrust into a very important 6 singles role, where he will have the talent to beat anyone.  However, he hasn’t played a competitive singles match in a while and now he’s at NCAAs.  Not only that, he’ll be playing a very important spot in doubles (wherever he is) and will be counted on for multiple wins one of these days if CMS is going to win.  If Kotrappa can catch fire again, watch for CMS to take home the championship.  NO pressure.

Middlebury Panthers

Middlebury seems to be the only team that people are not giving a chance to in this tournament.  That’s an oversight and a shame.  Many of the writers and probably many of you picked Hopkins to beat them, and they went out and made the match a no contest.  Whether that be the coaching of Hansen or the fight of the players, they should not be overlooked.  Take a look – they’ve got their former #1 Brantner Jones playing at 2, where he routinely beat Andy Hersh.  They’ve got the senior Lunghino at 4, who was up in the third set against Erik Lim in the sweet 16.  He also delivered an easy win at 2 doubles.  They have one of the best coaches in DIII, maybe the best.  Not to mention they easily swept Hopkins in doubles.  You know those teams that surprise you in the Men’s BBall tournament?  That is Middlebury.  A hard working team that does the little things well, and can surprise you on a given day.  What Middlebury does is fight in doubles, and if they can take a lead, they are dangerous.  Let’s note they were up 2-1 on Williams and swept Hopkins in the past two weeks.  Oh, and the only team to beat CMS doubles was… Williams.  Don’t count this team out.  The Panthers strength in singles has to be the middle of their lineup.  I’m really focusing in on the #2 and #4 slots, which are filled by Jones and Lunghino.  Lunghino has been a very consistent winner all year, and he has a ton more experience than most #4 players do.  Jones came through with a very strong season at #2 this year, and was a pretty decent 1 last year.  Middlebury tries to get its strengths in order and really grind out the rest of the matches.  Unfortunately, their weakness is their lack of true top notch talent compared to the rest of the field.  I don’t believe the other spots can raise their game enough to make a run, and that’s really unfortunate.  However, there’s a reason why only 1 team can be called champion.

X-Factor: This is going to seem boring, but the X-Factor for the Panthers has to be Coach Bob Hansen.  If anyone can will their team to the championship, it’s gonna have to be Hansen.  His savvy and his ability to in-game coach is almost rivaled by no one in the DIII landscape, and all you need is a weak-minded opponent and a strong-headed coach on your side to turn the tables.  Guess what?  CMS is first on their slate.

Amherst Lord Jeffs

The Jeffs have still gone pretty overlooked on the national scene this year, probably because Coach Garner only emphasizes post-season play.  To me, the Amherst freshmen are no longer freshmen at this point.  They’ve had storied junior careers.  They’ve been in dogfights where they’ve come out on the bottom and they’ve been through a NESCAC tournament to boot.  Amherst’s best asset is their ability to boast that every single player on their team knows how to win.  This is a far departure from some of the other teams in the tournament.  It’s clear to me the strength of the Amherst lineup is the fact that you are not going to blow any of them out.  That leaves them in a great position, as they have the experience to beat you no matter what position you’re at.  When the going gets tough, are you going to want a player that’s been there already or a player who’s been bailed out by his teammates wins?  Amherst can say they have the more experienced player in most cases.  Not to mention, they’re above average talent and depth keep them fresh and keep them going toe-to-toe with every team here.  Amherst will come at you swinging and will wait as your weak spots start to falter. We all know how much pressure it is to play while some of your teammates are down a set and a break.  That’s when younger players start to press and there is always a sense that you are going to lose.  To me, whenever a team starts “counting wins,” that’s a good indicator of when they are starting to lose hope.  You all know what I’m talking about.  It’s when you take a look at the singles matches and say, “Okay I think we can take 1, 4, and 5.” In your team’s heart, you know it’s a longshot.  That’s what Amherst does to you.  They bring their above average talent and scratch you until you die from blood loss.  With a team that features a few national champions and rising youth, this may be the team to beat.  If you are going to beat Amherst, you need to take a lead against their doubles, which has been semi-inconsistent this year.  There are a few teams in the Elite 8 I can see taking doubles leads.  From then on, you need to beat them at the top.  Amherst is the deepest team in the nation.  They are not the most top-heavy.  All top 3 guys (Fritz, Kahan, Yaraghi) have shown the potential of losing.  If you take them at the top, you’ve got a great shot.

X-Factor: Andrew Yaraghi.  The young freshman will be thrown into the fire, starting at #2 doubles and #3 singles.  He’ll go against Wagner, Lane, and Sun (projected) in a grueling trio of matches.  Does he have the conditioning and the desire to get through all 3?  These guys are considered the best in their positions and they know what it takes in NCAAs.  Yaraghi can only experience and learn right away.  If he does that, Amherst could be looking at their 2^nd title in 3 years.

Emory Eagles

I’ve been telling everyone not to count the Eagles out of this tournament.  You know, the tournament they’ve made the Final 4 in probably over 90% of the last decade.  They’ve got a coach who has seen every possible match, every possible gamestyle, and coached a ton of national championship teams.  Also, they’ve got an assistant coach who was the best player in DIII for four years (Goodwin) and that “we can beat anyone” attitude.  Not to mention a taste of the national championship last year and the desire to get them to another one.  We’re well aware the strong spots of the Eagles are the positions from 3-6.  Wagner, Mosetick, Kahler (senior) and Adams are potentially top 3 players at their positions.  In my opinion, Wagner is the best 3 in the nation as of right now.  Mosetick is probably top 2, and Kahler and Adams are potentially top 3.  They count on easy wins down at the bottom, and coach up the top and doubles in the hopes of stealing matches from the best.  Plus, I think Emory has a case at the most hungry team in the Elite 8.  I’ve never seen a group of national title defenders that are this hungry.  They came out firing against NCW and Tyler last week, and although those teams aren’t Amherst and CMS, they’re still amazingly solid teams.  Emory lost 1 match total in their so called brutal region.  The reason why that is – Emory is filled with winners.  Do you remember the last time an Emory player cared about your feelings?  The answer is never, and that’s how you win in a competitive sport.  They share that team bond with each other, and I’m sure they’d run through walls for their teammates.  Not every team can say that.  Where teams can get Emory, however, is their doubles play and top of the lineup.  When I saw Emory play recently on their home courts, it was unbelievably uncomfortable to watch them play doubles.  They’ve historically played what I would call “Singles Doubles” in which they try and baseline you out of the match.  Now that worked when you had Goodwin at 1 and Pottish/Egan at 3.  Will it work with a weaker 1 and two fairly random guys at 2 doubles?  We shall see.

X-Factor: Issacs/Bajoria.  This out-of-the-blue #2 doubles team now faces a ton of scrutiny in the Elite 8.  It’s very hard to get by with lesser players in your doubles spots, no matter how much of specialists they are.  There have to be flaws in these guys that can be exploited, whether they are playing next to each other or on the exhibition singles court.  However, they’ve had a great run of late and are a legitimate two doubles team.  If they can face the pressure and steal a couple of matches, Emory can use their firepower at the bottom of the lineup and come up with a 5-4 upset somewhere.

Kenyon Lords

The Lords are kind of like the Pacers in basketball.  They are a blue collar team that works and works and works until something gets better.  You’ll all remember last year when you guys were counting Kenyon out.  Well, one point away from a sweep and you potentially get your 2012 National Champions.  We are here now with people counting Kenyon out, which is obviously a mistake. Their biggest strength is their heart, and that stems from their emotional senior leaders, CJ Williams and Paul Burgin.  These two players instill heart, work ethic, and a winning attitude into the rest of the team.  They take criticism well and are able to back it up on the court.  Not to mention, it seems as if Razumovsky and Heerboth have really been open to the demands of the Kenyon tennis life.  What they’ll do is take people’s Wash U’s predictions and most likely shove it right back into their faces (me being one of them).  Logistics-wise, their strengths are at the middle of the singles lineup, specifically flights 2-4.  The Raz/Heerboth/CJ combo will need to provide the energy they can as well as the wins to get Kenyon through a tough Wash U team and potentially Williams.  Other than that, Kenyon loves to grind out the matches and outwork you, especially at the bottom of the lineup with Huber/whoever the hell else you want at the helm.  The Lords weaknesses are in doubles, that is for sure.  This is a team that has well-documented doubles problems, and teams that are weakened in doubles are huge upset indicators.  Doubles provides the energy, variance, and simply the upper hand.  Can Kenyon repeat last years performance as well as their performance against Case to come away with dubs victories?  I’m not so sure.  But, if they are able to take leads in doubles, I have no doubt in their abilities to at least split with the best teams in singles.  They’ll just need to avoid a matchup with their nemesis, CMS, considering they got beat 9-0 last time in an ugly one.

X-Factor: Paul Burgin.  Obviously, Burgin is well-known across the country.  His will is undocumented, as we can see from his rise to #1 singles from a 6 singles spot 3 years ago.  However, sometimes he is overmatched against the best #1s in the country, putting his team in a bit of a hole.  If he can steal a match or two against Putterman, Meyer, Wood/Dorn, etc, Kenyons got a hell of shot against anyone.  Oh, and not to mention, he’s playing #1 doubles now too.

Washington University Bears

The Bears are the model of success for a Division III Tennis team.  They combine great coaching with both talent and desire, and in the end, the output is a team that always makes NCAAs and almost always makes the Elite 8.  They’ve got a nice little Final Four run going, and I’m signed up as one of the believers in their streak.  I’ve noted Coach Follmer as one of my top 5 coaches going into the year, and he’s proved that again this year with the Bears’ ability to get the most out of their players.  One funny thing about the Bears is that they have rotated strengths this year.  However, there has been one rock solid strength, and that would be their best player, Adam Putterman.  Putterman is one of the best players in the country, and he’s also one of the biggest gamers in the country.  He backs down from absolutely no one, and has the fire to win that championship he deserves.  I have him at an advantage against almost every player left in the tournament, other than maybe Skinner of Trinity Texas.  He’s been through it all.  The other strengths that we can see now are seniors Parizher and Farah at the bottom of the lineup.  Just last year, these two were playing at #2 and #4, respectively, on a Final 4 team.  Now at 5 and 6, they’ve got to be considered strengths.  Both players have come on as of late and come up with big wins, highlighted by Parizher’s clincher against Emory at UAAs.  The last remaining strength for the Bears has to be at #1 doubles, where the Putt-Putts have been playing lights out.  I think the Wash U weaknesses are really in the middle of the singles lineup, and at the bottom of the doubles lineup.  They’ve always been able to mix and match in doubles, but they rely heavily on Parizher at 3 dubs, and Farah at 2.  Plus, they are not the most fundamental of doubles teams.  In singles, the trio of Putterman/Noack/Kratky scares me a bit with lack of experience, and lack of consistency as well.  All 3 have the potential to be overwhelmed here in Kalamazoo.  Overall, I think Wash U has the great ability to pull an upset over Kenyon, but won’t be able to once they get to those top notch teams in Williams and CMS/Amherst.

X-Factor: Ross Putterman.  Everyone has doubted Ross Putterman, and the sophomore has to have a lot of bulletin board material at his disposal.  This is a talented kid who can take out some good 2s, and can really roll off momentum from doubles.  He’s a big kid who can ride his serve and forehand to wins, so watch out if he catches fire.

Trinity Texas Tigers

As D3TG and D3Tennis have mentioned, the Tigers are the team that brings the best development to the Elite 8 scene.  They have almost no top top recruits, yet every year they get guys that surprise us.  This year, it happened to be Aaron Skinner working the fall ITAs to win the National Championship.  One of  their biggest strengths is their doubles, as they’ve always based their success on their doubles play.  With the ability to sweep anyone due to their amazing fundamental play, the Tigers would normally have great chances at upsetting unsuspected Elite 8 teams.  Unfortunately, they are playing Williams, but that is beside the point.  The Tigers are also probably one of the loudest teams in the nation, and they always get support from out-of-towners that love TU Tennis.  That’s a great boon for your emotional doubles play, and it’s a big reason as to why they’ve been successful over the years.  The Tigers like to overwhelm you with emotions and fundamental doubles before you even know what they just hit you with.  In addition to doubles, they have a very solid top 4, but nothing spectacular.  Skinner is their main highlight, but he just lost a set to Donkena and has really not played to national champion level as of late.  Whether that be because of his early season injury or just people catching up to him, he’s definitely not the lock he was early in the year.  That being said, I would rather have the national champion in singles than not, so this is obviously a strength.  Other than that, however, the rest of the TU lineup is somewhat underwhelming.  Although they did put the beatdown on Gustavus, we aren’t going to find any GAC lineups in the Elite 8.  This is always where talent seems to catch up to the Tigers, which is really a damn shame.  Personally, I think Trinity really got unlucky with their Elite 8 matchup, but the draw is what it is.  Maybe they can surprise the Williams team with energy (I might have messed that up for them) but every team is going to be ready for them at this point.  I don’t see them getting past the first round, but it’ll be fun for anyone that’s at the Zoo to see them play.

X-Factor: Erick DelaFuente.  This senior is on his last run as a Tiger, and I know he has utmost pride in his tennis game.  He plays a grind it out style at 4 singles, and is really one of the biggest fighters in DIII.  Not to mention great doubles and a great attitude.  If DelaFuente can inspire his team to come out big in doubles and steal a match at 4, he could really mess things up for these other Elite8 teams.  He definitely has the desire and game to do so.

Williams Ephs

Last but not least, my favorite for the NCAA tournament.  The reason why I pick Williams is clear – they’ve got a senior loaded lineup, tons of experience, play great doubles, and have an awesome attitude.  Williams comes out firing in doubles almost every time, and they have a senior All American at every single spot in the doubles lineup in Meyer, Sun, and Chow.  They’re almost impossible to sweep, which leaves them very immune to big time upsets.  It also puts them at a great advantage when they will most likely take a 2-1 lead on you.  In singles, they feature a strong 2-6 that have all played in big matches in their lifetimes.  Micheli has really come on as of late at 2 singles, allowing the Ephs to place the struggling Sun at 3 where he has beaten a ton of players.  In fact, I believe he has beaten Lane back in the day, which could come in handy.  Weiss and Chow at 4 and 5 are beacons of consistency, and it looks like the returning senior Page has been asked to fill the void at 6.  When it comes down to it, we know that senior power is key.  But talent is also key, and it’s not like Williams doesn’t have enough of that.  Each one of these guys has won a big match before, and they’re considered one of the most clutch teams in the nation.  Chow has come up huge on national TV (kind of) before, saving match points against CMS in the Elite 8.  If they had one weakness, it’s probably got to be their vulnerability to a hot streak.  Amherst and CMS have the ability to beat them because Williams isn’t THAT much better than you at every position.  They simply go about their business and hope their above average skill beats you.  When they play more aggressive teams that are prone to catching fire, they start to falter if momentum shifts.  We saw this earlier this year in a loss to Amherst and CLU, both teams with high powered talent.  However, I simply do not think that Williams will be denied the national championship that I believe they deserve.

X-Factor: Felix Sun. This guy has got to step it up right away if he wants to take pressure off of Williams star performers.  Playing at 3, he should be a top 2 player there.  He’ll have to go against some of the best 3s in Heerboth, Lane, Yaraghi, or Wagner, so he’ll be challenged.  These spots are going to be swing matches, and I would expect the crafty senior they call “The Magician” to pull out those last tricks he has.

Recap – My Match by Match Breakdown

CMS over Middlebury, 5-2. Wins at 2 and 3 doubles, and 3, 5, and 6 singles for CMS

Amherst over Emory, 5-3. Wins at 1 and 2 doubles, and 1, 2, and 5 singles for Amherst.

Wash U over Kenyon, 5-4. Wins at 1 and 3 doubles, and 1, 5, and 6 singles for Wash U

Williams over Trinity TX, 5-2. Wins at 2 and 3 doubles, 2, 3, 5 singles for Williams.

Amherst over CMS, 5-3. Wins at 1 doubles, 1, 2, 3, 6 singles for Amherst.

Williams over Wash U, 5-1. Wins at 1,2,3 doubles, and 2, 3 singles for Williams.

Williams over Amherst, 5-4.  Wins at 1, 3 doubles, and `1, 3, 5 singles for Williams. Chow clinches.

I took a backseat role this season and I’m not sure whether I’ll be back at all next season, but I want to say that I am shocked at how far the site has come since I started a little blog that no one read in the Fall of 2007. All the readers don’t how hard it is to follow all the action every day, write about it and deal with annoying commenters, all for no real reward. You all have no idea how lucky you are to have this kind of tool, so I hope that you appreciate what each of these guys does on a day-to-day basis so that you have some material to entertain you. My hat goes off to the bloggers.

Now, I have decided to write another cameo article focusing on the Final 8 and what I think will happen. I’ll go team-by-team below, but first some big picture stuff. I think you’ve got a heavy favorite in CMS, a trendy pick in Williams and two teams lurking in Kenyon and Amherst, despite both taking their bumps in their respective regionals. I just don’t think Emory has what it takes to win it all this year and the other three teams are slightly overmatched by the two big guns. All signs are pointing to a CMS-Williams final, but after what happened last year in North Carolina, we know that anything can happen. Lastly, I want to say that Kalamazoo is a very special place to play tennis that is filled with history, so I hope it brings out the best in all of the competitors. Let’s jump into this and look at where each team stands.

CMS – Without a doubt the biggest story of 2013 NCAAs. The only undefeated team, and one who was truly dominant the first half of the season, almost to the point of the 2007 Cruz team or 2010 Midd team. Both of those teams went on the win the national title, and if this was anyone but CMS, almost everyone would be picking them to win it all. But let us not forget the history. Until 2010, CMS was very close to a title, but typically beaten by a better team. Starting in 2010, their travails became comical. The Stags squandered 7 team match points in the 2010 semifinals, 7 team match points in the 2011 quarterfinals on their home courts and didn’t really show up to play doubles in the 2012 quarterfinals in a 5-0 loss to Kenyon. No matter how mentally tough they think they are, those memories will be with them at Kalamazoo. The question is, are they so much better than everyone else that it doesn’t even matter? Judging by the fact that I picked them to win it all, my answer is yes. This is a complete team top-to-bottom, and to me the only way they won’t win is if they don’t want it. Granted, they may be up against Amherst or Williams and and have their back against the wall, but all season long they proved they were the best team in the country. Seeing what I saw for the past 3 months, I couldn’t pick against them. I don’t think they will have much trouble with Middlebury, but after that they get into some tougher teams in the semis and finals. Their skill must overcome their mental shortcomings. If they can’t win a national title with this team, I don’t know what else they can do. They are the favorite; the kids deserve it, the program deserves it and seeing them lose this year would be very tough.

Middlebury – I picked against Midd in the Sweet 16 and in my opinion their entire season was being judged by today’s match, so congratulations on a dominant win. I won’t mess up this writeup with Hopkins bashing. Middlebury obviously had a very difficult 2012 campaign, missing the Final 8 for the first time in many years and for a large portion of this season, it looked like 2013 may end in the same manner. The Panthers were good, but not great, the entire year, with their most embarrassing moment coming in a 5-4 win against Tufts. Heading into the NESCAC tournament they did not have much momentum, but I think they got some life back in a 5-4 loss to Williams in which they had multiple chances to win. Despite losing, it showed them and the rest of the country that they could be competitive with top 5 teams. All of that led up to today’s 5-1 win against a tough Hopkins team, and most impressive was the Panthers dominance in doubles as well as their resilience during several first sets in which they were down. I know I was convinced of my prediction in the 1-8 match last year, but I’m just as convinced this year. Midd did well to get to this point, but all signs point to them not going any further. They lost 8-1 to CMS earlier this year and didn’t win more than 4 games in any doubles match. In my eyes, making the Final 8 makes the 2013 Midd season a success, but I know they want more and I definitely know their coach wants more.

Amherst – It’s amazing how one loss or one win can change your perception of an entire program. Exactly one year ago, Amherst was the favorite to win the national title and carried the reputation of raising their game in May. Today, people are questioning whether they will get out of their quarterfinal against Emory. The loss to Wash U last year certainly changed people’s perception of the Jeffs, but whether it actually changed the Jeffs themselves remains to be seen. This is the same program that made the final from 2009-2011 and put together an undefeated 2012 regular season. They have definitely not been impressive enough in 2013 to make me think they are going to beat Emory, CMS and Williams on consecutive days, but you never know. This team is loaded with top notch recruits and certainly has the firepower to put together a national title run, which is why I’ve labeled them as a wildcard. I think this is the type of team who could beat a CMS team with shaky confidence because they may be the only other team in Kzoo who can truly match the Stags skill level. My projection for Amherst is a 3rd place finish, but I wouldn’t think all that much of a quarterfinal loss to a tough Emory team. If they get past that quarterfinal, they have nothing to lose. I just have an uneasy feeling that Herst is coming into this tournament being under-appreciated, and I fully expect them to make some noise in the Final 8 this year and avoid another quick exit.

Emory – If Emory loses in the quarters and people start talking about the “downfall of Emory’s program,” I will flip out. They are the defending national champions and have a very young team. They are coming off the loss of two of the best players in program history as well as an unexpected transfer, and given those circumstances they have pretty much met expectations this year. They lost heartbreakers in the Indoors final and the UAA final, and because of that everyone knows that Emory will battle until the end no matter how far behind they are. One thing that I think this team has that past Eagles teams have lacked is heart. However, that heart combined with the weakest Emory roster since I’ve been covering D3 may end their streak of consecutive years finishing in the top 5, which I believe stands at 12. I know I’ve used the phrase “anything but a national title is unacceptable for Emory,” but this team lacks some big pieces and to me a victory over Amherst should make them happy. The Eagles will be a very tough out no matter who they play, but I just can’t imagine them toppling CMS. Their path to a final would be the same as Kenyon’s last year: benefit from an upset of the top seed. Emory’s 2014 squad should be very tough and the experience for their current sophomore class is there, but I don’t think the talent is there this year and that’s something you rarely find yourself saying about an Emory team.

Trinity (TX) – Today’s match reminded me of the 2011 Sweet 16 match between Trinity and Chicago where the Maroons surprisingly led 2-1 after doubles and then Trinity blew through singles. Everyone knows I’m a big fan of TU, and this season proves why. Before the emergence of Skinner as an elite player, I had these guys at about 16 in the country heading into this season. After his fall win, they moved up to 11 or 12 for me, and they now enter the Final 8 as the 6th overall seed. If you want to talk about a model of consistency, look at the historical ITA rankings in which Trinity has finished 10th 3 years in a row. The amazing thing about these guys is that they don’t get the recruits that the rest of the Final 8 teams get, yet they still manage to compete at a high level every year. Cruz used to employ this program model to perfection, but with their decline, I wonder if Trinity will be the new program that lower-ranked teams aspire to be. I can’t say enough good things about these guys and I’m 100% sure that the Ephs will not take them lightly. TU has the tools to pull this upset, I just don’t think they can do it against a hungry and experienced Williams team. As nice as their regional was is as tough as their Elite 8 match is. I think the Tigers put up a great fight as they always do and they will push Williams, I just don’t see them being able to pull out a victory. Trinity is in line for a 4th consecutive top 10 finish and is on to their 3rd Final 8 in 4 seasons. If some of the talented teams ranked in the teens and 20s picked up their heart and desire to half the level of where these guys are, they would be competing for national titles.

Williams – My gut tells me that if CMS is going to lose, this is the team that’s going to beat them. At the end of last season, I pegged Williams as 2013 champions, and their opportunity has finally arrived. They have every piece necessary to win a national title and my guess is if we do get the final we are hoping for, it will come down to a few points. More so than anyone else during the regular season, Williams pushed the Stags and had chances to win. However, let’s not get ahead of ourselves because Williams has two tough matches before that potential meeting. Trinity will be a great test for the Ephs, and in my mind their seniors are too focused to lose to a team who isn’t as good as them. After that, they will get the Kenyon-Wash U victor, and besides CMS, I see Kenyon as the only other team who can match Williams desire heading into this tournament. If Williams loses before the final, it will be because they couldn’t handle the pressure of trying to win this for their amazing seniors. Those guys have been through some incredible matches during their 4 years and this is the culmination of their college tennis careers. They probably are not as talented as CMS, but they weren’t as talented as them in 2011 and look what happened. I’m betting on CMS’ talent, but plenty of people are betting in Williams’ desire, and I can’t blame them. It’s all or nothing for the Ephs this year and that’s a lot of pressure, but they have to recognize how close they were last year and recognize the fact it’s going to take several more seasons to build up this strong of a team again. While I think CMS is going to win, I’m definitely rooting for Williams.

Wash U – The good old Bears are back again, coming up huge late in the regular season just like last year. They entered the UAA tournament as the 3rd seed ranked about 15th in the country and left it with a 1st place trophy and a top 8 overall seed in NCAAs. Wash U is looking for their 6th consecutive Final 4 appearance which is an impressive feat given the depth in D3 now. I almost wrote a cameo article titled “What’s Wrong with Wash U?” after they lost to Case 3 months ago, but of course the Bears would have made me look stupid, which is why I’m picking them in the quarters against a Kenyon team I think very highly of. In 2011 and 2012, something just seemed slightly off for the Bears. While they were finishing in the top 5, this program measures themselves based upon how they do against Emory, and they were getting beaten badly every time they stepped on court with the Eagles. After the UAA performance this year, I feel like they got their mojo back and are very dangerous heading into the Final 8. After Kenyon struggled today, I feel even better about my pick, but it’s really because I think so highly of Wash U. After the quarterfinal last year, I learned to never doubt them no matter what the circumstances are, so they have me on their side this year. All that said, they simply do not have the talent to beat Kenyon, Williams and CMS on consecutive days. I think Wash U makes their 6th consecutive Final 4, but I also think they wind up in their 5th consecutive 3rd place match.

Kenyon – In 2 weeks, I may be kicking myself for underestimating Kenyon. This is almost the same exact team that had a match point to go up 3-0 in the national final last year, and that is exactly why I have them listed as a wildcard who could win the entire tournament. Desire-wise they are where they need to be, but I think they need to get a few too many lucky breaks to win it all because they aren’t quite there from a talent standpoint. The draw broke their way last year and they lucked into a great opportunity, but the chances of that happening two years in a row are slim. I love this team and I think they are clutch as shown by Indoors, but winning it all would take an absolutely massive effort that I don’t think they are capable of. Hopefully, today’s scare reminded their seniors that they need to bring their A game, especially against a Wash U team that is tough as nails. Wash U took out Kenyon in 2011 and Kenyon returned the favor last year, so let’s call this the rubber match for the chance to earn a likely date with Williams. After Williams, seeing Kenyon win the tournament would make me the happiest, but their depth and their doubles worry me. Coach Thielke and his team will have 9 days to relax after nearly losing today, and for the sake of all of D3, let’s hope Kenyon gets in the same state of mind they were in last year, because as much as I love Wash U, seeing a Williams-Kenyon semi would be a lot of fun.

Region 1

The West region elite will beat up on each other in Cali, and it will be up to CMS to carry the West region’s banner

Just so you know. This region is going to take up about half of this post’s text. Someone pointed out that it’s been a while since a West region team has won a national championship in a while. I would argue that one of the chief reasons for this is that all the best West region teams have to play each other. For the past several years, the two best teams in the West region have been CMS and Santa Cruz. Imagine if Wash U and Kenyon had to play each other just to get to the Elite Eight every year, what about Williams and Amherst? Emory and Hopkins? Yeah, they would have a harder time winning a national championship too. It’s a miracle the West region has won as many national championships as they have. (Thanks, Cruz).

Anyways, this is one beast of a region. Let’s just do short break downs by match.

Redlands vs. UT-Dallas: The Comets are the huge underdogs here, and I think their NCAA experience will be cut short pretty quickly. Their strongest positions are #3 an d #4 singles. Coincidentally, Hyde and Hunt have been two of Redlands’ most consistent winners. The Dawgs win at least one of those matches to neutralize that strength. The Comets are also strong at #1 and #2 doubles, but the Bulldogs have shown flashes of brilliance at both of those positions, as well. I think Redlands will take #1 and #3 doubles for a 2-1 lead heading into doubles. The best chance for a miracle upset starts with wins at #1 and #2 doubles. After that, Lipscomb should quickly put Redlands up 3-1, while Brewer and Hunt provide the 4th and 5th points for a 5-1 or 5-2 win.

Cal Lu vs. UC Santa Cruz: Let me get this straight, D3ASouth just pointed out that Cruz has been overlooked and proceeded to pick against them because Cal Lu has a pair of seniors at #1 and #2 singles. Let’s see if I can think of another team with a couple seniors at #1 and #2 singles? Oh wait, you’re looking at them right here. Koenig hasn’t had a great year, but he’s a proud player and a hard out. He’s due for a big win in either singles or doubles, and he basically has the match in his hands. If he can win either match over Ballou, the Slugs will win, hands down. Even if he doesn’t, there’s a chance the Slugs come away with the victory without him: Cal Lu has another thing coming if they’re expecting the same doubles lineup as last time. Halabi and Rodgers are clearly inferior to Halabi and Goetz, and Goetz didn’t give much a boost to #1 doubles. I would expect them to go back to something like before. Anyways, that makes it really hard to predict, but I think Cruz will lead 2-1 after doubles with wins at #2 and #3. Cruz needs Littlejohn to build on his momentum from Ojai and provide a win in this one, but Ballou and Worley will be too tough at #1 no matter who they play.

With a 2-1 lead, UCSC will get wins from Rodgers at #4 and whoever they play at #6 (probably Rosner), but I’m not sure where they can get that 5th point. Nichols has his swagger back, and I think he’ll take #3 singles, and UCSC hasn’t been able to win at #5 all season. Look for Littlejohn to jump in the 5 spot and give them a boost. That takes things down to #1 and #2 singles where a quartet of seniors will be squaring off. Last time, Halabi absolutely slammed Worley, but it won’t be that easy this time around. Nevertheless, I think that’s a poor matchup for Worley and Halabi will come away with the win to give Cruz a 5-4 victory. I concede that Ballou will probably win pretty quickly at #1 singles.

Cruz vs. CMS: This could be the final installation of perhaps the greatest rivalry in DIII tennis (Wash U and Emory have a damn good one going, so I won’t make any blanket statements). Unlike everyone else, I actually think the Slugs can make this one close. The last two regional finals have been very close, but the Stags were able to shake a huge monkey of their back in Santa Cruz a few years ago, and they were able to repeat the feat last year. Unfortunately, CMS matches up with the Slugs very well (they are superior anyways, but match-ups aren’t good either). CMS has a huge edge at #1 doubles, and their beasts Lane/Marino neutralize Halabi/Goetz if they’re together at #3. Cruz hasn’t done much at #2 doubles this year, so I’m not sure where Cruz gets its point, but I think they’ll get one on raw emotion. 2-1 lead for CMS heading into singles.

The senior Johnson is pretty much a lock for CMS as #6. The rest of the matches will be close. Koenig is due, and I think this is the match he finally comes through at #1 singles. Halabi got crushed by Dorn last time, but the transfer’s confidence has to be low right now, so I think the Ice Man will take that one. With the match tied at 3-3, CMS’ depth will take over. I think Lane will avenge himself at #4 and Butts will continue to occupy Clutch City to give CMS their 4th and 5th points and a 5-3 victory.

Region 2

That’s pretty much it from me. The rest of this is gonna be quite short…

This region obviously comes down to Kenyon vs. Case. These two teams have already played on this very court, with Kenyon narrowly avoiding a doubles sweep and eventually winning three 3-setters in a 6-3 victory. Last year, much was made of Kenyon’s doubles struggles, but you know what? Their doubles came together at the end of the season, and they were one point away from sweeping Emory in the National Championship match.

Now, do we say that their doubles coming together was a fluke (as is often said of the Wash U Bears when they beat Amherst last year), or do we try to make a pattern out of it? Personally, I’m going to give Kenyon the benefit of the doubt in this match, but if they don’t get things going, they will go out in the Elite Eight. With Raz and Williams reunited at #2 doubles, the Lords will take a 2-1 lead in doubles and cruise to a 5-2 win here. Together Williams and Raz will get Kenyon two more points in singles: Williams has gone through too much as a senior to lose before the Elite Eight, and Raz is really coming into his own now. The fifth point will come from either Burgin or Huber, as Heerboth’s match will be too long to finish. If Case is going to keep this thing close, they need two points in doubles, but Kenyon is easily one of the top three deepest teams in the country, and the Spartans won’t be able to keep up with their depth in this one.

Region 3

This is essentially the same Williams team that saved seven team match points in a colossal comeback against CMS two years ago. With experience like that, there’s no way they’ll let a bunch of upstarts take them down on their home courts. Whether it’s Skidmore or MIT, Williams has locks at #2 doubles, and #3, 5, and 6 singles. Don’t get me wrong, they are very strong everywhere else, but there’s basically no way they lose at any of those positions. Beyond that, they’re huge favorites at every other position, and I expect them to sweep doubles and pick up two quick victories at the bottom of the singles lineup to ease their way into the Elite Eight again.

Region 4

Naturally, this is the other region that piqued my interest. Somehow, two of the top six teams in the West ended up in Atlanta, and I don’t think either of them should be completely counted out from pulling off the upset against Emory. The only problem: they have to play each other first.

If Emory thinks they’re gonna cruise to the Elite Eight, they have another thing coming

Last year, two really good teams in Whitman and NCW ended up in Atlanta. Either one of them could have pushed the national champions, but they had to go to war with each other the previous day. I know for a fact that NCW’s #5 and #3 singles players were cramping by the time they clinched it at 5-1, even though it was headed to 6-3. Unfortunately, I think the same thing will happen to my guys this year:

It’s no secret that the last time these two teams played, the match included four 3-setters and a marathon at #2 singles for Brown to clinch it. A couple things have changed since that match: UT-Tyler will be fresher than they were last time, and Ybarra is playing his first competitive tennis in over a month. If Whitman is going to reverse the result, they’re going to need to take full advantage of the latter fact without giving up anything because of the former. The best chance for Whitman to do so comes at #1 doubles where La Cava/Malesovas take on Ybarra/Brown. If any rustiness were to show, it would be most apparent in a fast-paced doubles match, but neither La Cava or Malesovas have the serves to throw Ybarra off and I think the DI transfers win that one 8-6. At #2, you’ve got Roston/Riggs vs. Spencer/Singer. It’s a new combo for Whitman, so I’m not really sure, but the Squirrels have historically been strong at #2 doubles. I think Tyler takes the lead at #3 doubles again this time around, purely because Tesmond hasn’t won a significant doubles match this year after playing a good #1 last year.

With a 2-1 lead, I think Tyler pretty much has it locked up. Ybarra is bound to be able to work his way into a singles match, even if Malesovas takes the first set again, and Brown would be a good #1 on any team. From there, I think the Pats will be able to find at least one more point, if not at #3 where Martinez will be taking on another transfer in Riggs, then at #4 singles where the senior Sadeghi hasn’t done much all year for Whitman. I’ll take Whitman at 5 and 6 singles to make the final score 5-3 for Tyler when the match is decided. This whole thing changes if the Squirrels can take either match from Ybarra, but Whitman hasn’t won a nationals match in 5 years, so I don’t think they’ll pull anything out tomorrow.

As I’ve expertly foreshadowed, I think Emory will take advantage of an exhausted Tyler team on Saturday. With NCW gassed from today’s battle, the Eagles probably won’t have to work as hard to beat them this time around. All they need to do is take #1 doubles and the match is over because the Eagles are simply too deep for the Bishops. In the regional final, Emory’s depth will overwhelm Tyler.

IF, by some miracle, Tyler is able to get past Whitman without expending too much effort, we’ll have a match on our hands. As others have stated, Brown and Ybarra could get their team three points by expoiting Emory’s relative weakness at the top of both lineups. A fresh Spencer could really give Mosetick some headaches, and Martinez doesn’t seem to be capable of getting tired either way, but I have a hard time imagining Tyler winning at either 2 or 3 doubles, so they would really need everything to go their way to win this one. I really really really really really want to take the Patriots in this one, but I can’t go against the history of the Eagles’ program. My heart is telling me Pats, but my brain says Eagles.

Region 5 and Region 7

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I’m sure those other teams don’t appreciate being overlooked, but I’m doing it anyways. I’ll talk these two more when we do an Elite Eight preview.

Region 6

This is an intriguing region, but there should be no doubt about who I’m picking to come away with this one. Trinity has traveled this path to get to the Elite Eight before, and I don’t think they’ll have to break much of a sweat doing it again this year.

We mustn’t forget the ever-dangerous Tigers

GAC is much improved since TU beat them in the Round of 32 two years ago, but even their top combo of Donkena and Smith-Dennis won’t be able to save them here. Against the Gusties, the Tigers would repeat their performance from February and come away with a 5-2 win. For starters, DelaFuente is far too strong for anyone GAC has at #4 singles, and TU has one of the best players in the country at the top of the ladder. There’s 2 points right there. GAC also isn’t deep enough for anyone to take out Curtis, even with Entwistle finishing the season strong. So there’s 3. Anyone remember the last time TU didn’t win at least two points in doubles against a lower-ranked team? (I think it was against Skidmore last year, and that won’t be happening again). Skinner and Moreno with throttle Johnson and Leisner again, and Trinity will be able to take either 1 or 3 to make it 5-2.

If their opponent is UW-W, it’s really just more of the same. The Warhawks have a very similar makeup as the Gusties, perhaps a little more depth in doubles and a little more weakness in the heart of the singles lineup. Regardless, Skinner, DelaFuente, and Curtis will win; #2 doubles will win, and they will find a way to put something together for a 5th point. The only difference is that UW-W could have a big crowd at home that could propel them to two doubles points at #1 and #3. Bayliss is perpetually dangerous at #5 singles, and Balkin is a proven #2 singles player. Even if everything goes the Warhawks’ way, they’ll fall short at #3 singles where Moreno is on a tear.

Perhaps I’m underestimating GAC and UW-W out of ignorance, but I’ve got faith in TU’s doubles. Doubles almost propelled them to the Final Four a couple years ago when they were barely in the top ten in terms of singles. Rain or shine, Trinity will extinguish the flame of hope with their exemplary doubles and win this region.

Region 8

You all might be wondering how I could possibly bring my West region bias to a match between Middlebury and Johns Hopkins. Most of you will have figured it out by the end of that sentence. BOB HANSEN FTW!!!

Even after a very disappointing season last year, Hansen had his team ready to take two doubles matches from a very dangerous Hopkins team on the road. Now they’ll be playing at home, and you know they’ll be excited to avenge themselves. The Jays may feel like they have a chip on their shoulder, but, as you can see, more people expect them to win than not. Moreover, they expect themselves to be competing for a national championship in two weeks, and they will be playing with the burden of expectation on their shoulders.

I think the key to this match is Spencer Lunghino. The man was Middlebury’s only consistent winner last year; he’s also the only senior in their starting lineup. We know the Jays will be getting some serious fire from their senior captain Andy Hersh, and the two will be facing off at #3 doubles. Hersh is the better singles player and a very good leader, but I think Lunghino’s game translates better to doubles and he and Campbell will provide a key tiebreaker victory at #3 doubles. Johnston and Lebovitz will continue their tear with a 9-7 win at #1, while Garcia and Joachim will get a point for Hop at #1.

In singles, Middlebury is one of the few teams that has the goods to hang with Hopkins deep in the lineup. Hersh will beat Jones at #2, but everything else is up in the air. I think Johnston’s experience with a tougher schedule this year will push him over the edge in a 3-setter against Brown, while Hopkins will continue their dominance of the #6 position with whoever they slot in there (most recently, Weissler). Frons will then steal one from Garcia, while Hwang rolls over Cambell at #3 to bring the match to 4-4 with #4 singles still on. Lim has been incredibly good for the Jays this year, but this time, Midd’s senior will eek out a 3-set win and earn a Gatorade shower for sending his team back to the Elite Eight.

There you have it, folks. Thank you very much for your time.

Oh, and P-P got jobbed

The Master Predictions

Region #1, CMS Region

Well this is clearly the most loaded region of the bunch, as we very much expected.  I think there are a few interesting caveats to this region that really shouldn’t be looked over.  I’m not going to go through matchup by matchup, because that is way too time consuming.  Either way, there are clearly three nice matchups here in this region, starting with CMS/Redlands.  Personally, I think this is going to be a blowout.  I haven’t seen Redlands pull off a massive upset such as this one in my DIII Tennis years, and I don’t think it’ll be on the CMS home courts against a motivated and maligned NCAA team.  To be honest, I think Redlands won’t even think they have a chance and basically hand it over to CMS, for an easy 8-1.  The match I really wanted to get to was CLU/Cruz.  Everyone seems to be counting out Cruz, as always.  The fact of the matter is that Cruz is an experienced, hard-working, playoff team that comes through more often than they don’t.  Unfortunately for them, this match is not at home, and they will be going up against seniors Nick Ballou and Worley.  When you have two seniors at the top of your lineup, one of them being a tennis-crazy slightly delirious young adult, you are going to get into a hole.  That’s exactly where this one will be.  Not to mention, CLU has become a much deeper team with all the additions and improvements in the bottom of the lineup.  I expect Cruz to fight really hard, but once they start seeing that they may go down in doubles, their intensity might suffer.  Personally, I don’t think that the Cruz 3 team that has been dominating all year will necessarily win.  In fact, judging by recent lineups, I don’t even know who will be playing.  CLU showed they can hang with the best in doubles against CMS, and they’ll take the 2-1 lead.  At that point, it’s safe to say they’ll win (1+2 singles are looking great) and another one.  Moving onto the final, this is the match I’m most looking forward to in the regionals.  These teams just played, as we know, and CLU was a tiebreaker away from taking a 2-1 lead without a Ballou/Worley win.  Do I think CLU will win this match?  No, I don’t.  But I think they have a better shot than people are probably giving them.  Ballou and Worley are seniors, and we’re dealing with a CMS team that has well-documented postseason struggles.  It is a different team, but one can’t just brush off historical data.  I’d put the CLU chances at a 25% shot.  They have to play an almost perfect match down at the bottom of the lineup, and I’d really love to see one of the 5 or 6 guys step up and beat Lane/Johnson even though it is a tough task.  It’s a shame both these clearly deserving teams can’t get out of the region together, but that’s the reality we’ve been dealing with for the pat however many years.  If you are a championship team, you get through this match.  My regional winner is CMS, but count me in to the group that would not be surprised if CLU pulls off this upset.

Region #2, Kenyon Region

As much as I love giving attention to the likes of Wilkes, Grove City, Elizabethtown and Franciscan, I’m not going to give previews to those matches ( I actually hate giving them attention.  This is all they’ll get.) Obviously the match of the region is going to be Case vs Kenyon.  Kenyon has the benefits of this being Case’s first NCAA experience, being at home, and just having those championship expectations that they brought into the season.  I don’t expect Kenyon to be nervous, tight, or looking over their shoulder because that’s not what the Lords do.  However, Case is a proud team that will always fight to the bitter end, and they are pretty much scared of no one.  They’ll bring the heat as they’ve already experienced a loss at Kenyon this year and I’m sure will remember that.  Moving to the match, it’ll be interesting to see what kind of lineup the Spartans throw out there.  D3Central

The Winner: Kenyon

consistently brings up the fact that Case can’t bring more than 8 people to NCAAs, and I’m pretty sure he’s right.  If that is the case, they’ll bench Solove/Brunsting for the Drougas/Klawitter team, who is their #4.  That’s right, I was watching that Odds vs Evens scrimmage, Case.  It’ll also be interesting to see what kind of doubles lineup Kenyon throws out there.  I think they’re vulnerable to an upset, and we all know the blueprint of one.  If this were any old match, I’d say Case has a pretty quality shot at sweeping.  However, this is NCAAs, where Kenyon made the finals last year and will not get swept.  I can pretty much guarantee it.  They’ll take either 1 or 3 doubles, and maybe even both.  I think #2 is a lock for Case.   In singles, Kenyon is probably going to be way too strong for Case.  They have the talent and depth, and that’s a bad matchup for Case singles.  The Spartans lineup picks up on weaknesses, but has trouble dealing with a solid all-around singles team.  We saw that in their last meeting.  Overall, Kenyon will dominate the singles play and come through with a 5-2 win.

Region #3, Williams Region

To me, this is the first region where there is absolutely no doubt who is getting through.  Williams is a class above any of the teams in their region, and they lucked out that MIT beat that injured Bates team earlier in the season.  This very well could have been Bates had Crampton not been out that one day.  Much like the Kenyon region, the first round matches don’t really deserve much attention.  Skidmore is in this region, but they’re not really anything special with Loutsenko being gone.  Williams will be playing MIT in the round of 16, that’s almost for certain.  Williams strengths are just going to be way too much for the Engineers.  This is a very likely candidate for a doubles sweep, and I’d be surprised if MIT takes any of the doubles.  Their talent has been a bit overrated this year with that Bates win, but everyone seems to know that they are a 25-30 team in actuality.  Look for Williams to sweep the doubles and get two quick wins at the bottom of the lineup with Weiss/Chow for that easy 5-0 win.  One thing I

The Winner: Williams

would like to see out of this match is how Dylan Page continues to play singles.  He could be an X-Factor in the tournament, as the younger Weiss had been struggling down at 6 a little bit and the Ephs could really use the experience and a competitive match at 6 to better their NCAA chances.  He may be shaking off some rust, but this will be a good look at where he stands right now.  I’m taking 5-0 Williams in a pretty easy region to predict.

Region #4, Emory Region

This is probably going to be my favorite region to preview, judging by the teams in it.  All 5 teams are nationally ranked, and the play begins today with NCW and Washington and Lee, which I took a lot of shit for predicting in NCWs favor last time around.  Let’s be frank here, this one isn’t going to be 7-2 W&L again like last time.  Personally, I think Kjellberg/Prostak will step up today, getting their team 3 wins.  For the rest of them, it’ll be real interesting to see where the wins come from.  Last time out these guys split at 5 and 6, and there was a close match at 3 I believe.  For some reason, and it may just be because W&L gets on me all the time, I’m going with NCW 5-4.  For those in the Atlanta region, I think it’d be pretty damn cool to go and see White and Kjellberg’s last NCAA tournaments.  Both have had great careers in DIII and will be going to nationals in a week or so.  On the other side of the bracket, we’ve got the enigmatic UT-Tyler versus the Whitman Squirrels.  I must say, I love this matchup because the two teams are a much different build than each other both personnel-wise and philosophy wise this season.   The story here has to be about Ybarra.  Will he play, and if so, can he play to the level he was at in the beginning of the year?  Let me start off by saying if he doesn’t play, Pomona/Carnegie should be very unhappy.  I’d also be pretty unhappy with UTT’s twitter feed (heh).  I think he will play anyways, and will be back into close to mid-season form.  However, that does not mean the Patriots will win.  In fact, I’m going to go with Whitman here!  If Ybarra is even a little off, that gives Malesovas a big opportunity to win at #1 singles, and for the Squirrels to win at #1 doubles as well.  They somehow lost #3 doubles last time out, even though the bottom of the Patriots lineup is pretty weak, and I expect that to be a closer match.  If you check the past boxscore, there were four three-setters in singles, and two of them were the duo of Ybarra and Brown.  Whitman is the more experienced team, and to me they are also one of the hungriest teams in the nation.  They don’t fly across the country for nothing.  With wins at #1 and #2 doubles, and #2, 4, and 5 singles… Whitman takes this one 5-3.  Moving onto the powerhouse in the region, the Eagles actually lucked out in my opinion.  They could’ve gotten CMU had they made it, which was a close match at UAAs.  Instead, they get three teams with obvious flaws that the Eagles can and will take advantage of.  In the cases of both NCW and UTT, those teams have a strong top 2 and are middling pretty much everywhere else.  Funny thing is the two “weak” spots in Emory’s lineup have been at 1 and 2 singles.  Everywhere else, they are as strong as anyone in the nation.  That bottom of the lineup, plus #1 and #3 doubles, should give them quick 5-1 or 5-2 wins against those two teams.  What will be interesting for the Eagles is how they’re doubles team of

The Winner: Emory

Bajoria/Issacs plays in high-pressure situations.  They won in UAA in impressive fashion, and if they can continue being a solid #2 team, Emory will be a tough out for anyone later on.  Coach Browning knows how to coach a team in the tournament and will make sure to get every last drop of effort out of this young Eagles team.  Moving on to the Sweet 16, if Emory does play Whitman, they’ll just be too strong at almost every spot other than #1 doubles and #1-2 singles.  The blueprint of the Emory win is a total reversal of last year, and it’s almost a good thing that Pottish/Goodwin struggled last year as these guys now know how to win under pressure.  Combine that with a hard-working, hungry team and coach, and you get a championship contender.  Emory is not going to lose this region, and they probably won’t lose more than 3 matches total.  5-1 Emory over Whitman in the regional final.

Region #5, Amherst Region

It seems that the NESCAC powers seem to get some pretty good regions in terms of ranked opponents, probably because they are able to shuttle in tons of mid-range teams to these few schools and make a reasonable region.  This time, the #2 seed happens to be Mary Washington, who has really struggled all year putting a few matches together to get on a big winning streak.  One thing that they can’t do is look ahead to the Amherst match, as they’ll get a tough Stevens Tech team that has really flown under the radar this year.  In all honesty, I think Stevens has a solid chance at pulling this upset.  With Rizzolo out for the Eagles (which is a shame), I think Stevens has the advantage at #1 doubles and can really put the pressure on this UMW team if they take 2 doubles.  Going into singles, Stevens probably has the advantage at #1 and MAYBE #2 with the inconsistencies of the Mary Wash top of the lineup, but everything really stops there.  I can’t see UMW getting out classed at the bottom of the lineup so I have to go with them in a 6-3 or 5-4 score.  Mark my words, this is going to be a close one and either team will need to fight to get the chance to even play Amherst.  Unfortunately, once they do get to Amherst, there won’t be much of a match.  Amherst has shored up their doubles, and literally no one on either UMW or Stevens has the ability to scare the Amherst team.  It will be nice to see Stevens #1 doubles team go up against the Jeffs, who just beat the #1 team from Williams.  There has been a lot of debate about the Ducks #1 team and I think it is a valid argument.  This is a team that just got beaten pretty routinely by MIDD #1, and there are definitely more than 2 teams that can argue they are better in the Northeast.  I don’t expect either UMW or Stevens to win any matches in the Sweet 16. 5-0 Amherst.

Region #6, Trinity TX Region

Hosted at UW-Whitewater (wish it was Oshkosh), this is one of the deceptively intriguing regions of the tournament.  Personally, I don’t think that either Gustavus or UWW can take out Trinity given the blueprint of their team, but I definitely think the match to get into the Sweet 16 will be a nice treat for us.  Last time these two teams played, it was in the bubble over in Gustavus, and in the beginning of the year.  There is a huge difference between playing on the road and at home for Gustavus, as well as playing indoors or outdoors.  To me, Gustavus steps it way up indoors at the bubble, and that played a factor into their early season match against the Warhawks.  The key to this match will be doubles, and although I don’t think anyone can sweep Gustavus if they have an average day, there is definitely a lot of opportunity to go up 2-1 on them.  The match of the day here will be at #1, where we’ll get two nationals teams in Osborne/Shklyar vs. Smith-Dennis/Donkena.  Last time, this went to a breaker, and I’m sure it’s going to be close again.  I really want to go with UWW here, but the Gustavus boys have been playing for a long time, and have the pedigree.  Once GAC takes 2 of 3 doubles, that takes a lot of pressure off of their top 2 singles players.  We shall see if Gustavus Fan’s predictions are correct, as Donkena will get the chance to go up against Shklyar.  Personally, I don’t think he’ll win.  However, definite advantage at #2 and #3 for GAC.  Maybe McGlashen at #3 can fire himself up enough to beat his nemesis, Chu.  This means that UWW will have to take the bottom of the lineup, which is definitely possible.  However, I don’t think that the Warhawks have the strength at the bottom to take all 3.  I’ll take GAC 5-3 in this one to move on to play Trinity TX.  In the past however many years, GAC has played TTX and has not even come close to winning in my opinion.  Trinity TX does everything that they do, they just do it a whole lot better.  They’ll be able to take that coveted 2-1 lead versus GAC and then will be able to handle anything GAC throws at them up and down the singles lineup.  It’s very funny because they are really mirror images of each other, it’s just that GAC looks in the mirror and sees a Herculean version of themselves.  I’m excited to see Trinity back in some real action since before their conference championships (which is a joke), and it’ll be a great idea of how they will perform in the Elite 8 once they make it.  Trinity will win this one, 5-2 in a pretty routine match.

Region #7, Wash U Region

Well, the most infamous region in the history of DIII Tennis.  This obviously is one of the worst regions we’ve seen in a long time, and who knows what was going on in the committee’s minds when this thing was built.  Wash U essentially has a free path to the Elite 8.  Hell, even the Kohawks think so and they are the Bears biggest challenge.  I really don’t know what to say about this region, considering there is only one ranked team in it, and the #2 seed is Coe College.  Yeah, they have a solid player in Noah Sprinkel, but he’ll  have to go up against Putterman who is my bet to get runner up depending on the draws of the individual championships.  Wash U should cruise through this region losing 0 matches, and they’ll get another week of practice with a Top 3 experienced and skilled coach in Follmer.  What a gift, as Wash U wins this one 5-0.

Region #8, Middlebury Region

This is definitely the most evenly matched region by far, which will eventually pit Middlebury at home versus the same Hopkins team that knocked them out of the tournament last year.  You have to think Coach Hansen remembers that and will bring out the big guns for  this match.  What really matters here is what kind of doubles lineup Middlebury puts out there.  We’ve seen from Hopkins that they have to put Brown/Lim at #1, and they’ve been mixing it up recently due to Hersh either getting pulled from the doubles lineup or something else.  Middlebury is considered to be “on a roll” since their 5-4 loss to Williams, but a loss is a loss.  Midd’s one saving grace is that I believe Reiter to be out for the rest of the year, and that basically makes the Hopkins 5 and 6 of Garcia and Weissler pretty vulnerable to breakdowns, as they are not NCAA tournament veterans.  Nerves are a big part of the tournament and we shall see how these guys handle it.  Another really weird thing to note is Hopkins in general.  They were considered a title contender at the end of last year, and now they are really being overlooked.  I personally don’t think you should overlook a team that has so much singles depth and talent, especially with the way Brown has been playing and the fact that this is Andy Hersh’s senior year.  We all know Hersh is not going to go down unless someone runs on the court and breaks his leg, so players are going to get frustrated playing him and he’ll just get balls back all day.  Either way, depending on what doubles lineup Hansen puts out there, I still think that they’ll end up taking 2 of 3.  Hopkins has not enjoyed much doubles success as of late and are tinkering with their lineups.  I actually think that the Jays are vulnerable to a sweep, it’s just that there is too much variability.  Moving to singles, I think Hop can count on two spots to win – #3 and #4 singles in Hwang and Lim.  Both guys have already come up huge for the  Jays in both last year and this year, and they sure as hell won’t forget those moments.  They’re hard workers, gamers, and in the case of Lim, really know how to get under your skin.  With those two matches in hand, they obviously have to win #1 and either #5/6.  Given past results, I see no reason to think that Hop will sweep.  It’s going to come down to either #1 or #2 singles, and Middlebury better.  Hopkins is going to be tough up and down the lineup, something that Middlebury is pretty adept at also.  No matter what, I still think that Hopkins will be stronger at most of the singles spots, and they know that.   They’ve got the cards right if they get at least 1 doubles victory and focus on singles.  As you can see from my master predictions, I do believe Hop will come back and win this.  They may win at every top 4 singles spot, and they definitely have a chance down at 5 and 6.  Either way, I’ve got Hopkins in a semi upset of moving into the tournament, 5-3.

That’s all I’ve got! Please see the predictions post for everyone’s predictions.

Elite 8 Next Week