Friday Recap and Weekend Preview: March 31- April 1

#12 Pomona-Pitzer def. #20 Whittier 7-2

This is about the result everyone was expecting. I think people need to lay off the one overzealous Whittier supporter who predicted top 10 for them. Everyone who actually follows D3 tennis knows that Whittier is probably more like a 22-27 range team this year, but that’s a huge step up for that program, and the team is extremely young. Look for good things from them in the future, but in the mean time, they just aren’t good enough to beat the SCIAC top 4.

Good, solid win for the Hens coming off a disappointing loss. It’s good for them to see Sabel back in the lineup, as his injury apparently wasn’t nearly as serious as one commenter made it sound (intentionally or unintentionally). They are currently up 2-1 on Santa Cruz after doubles, and I believe they could win that match (which would probably put them in Pool C for good), but they will have to contend with some inner demons that have to be creeping in every time they get in a close match against a top 10 team.

#8 CMS def. #7 Middlebury 6-3

It’s been a slower recovery process for the Stags than I would have expected, but I think they are pretty much officially “back.” The best indicator, in my mind, is the fact that they managed to win 3 out of 4 three-setters yesterday, with two of their third set wins being 5 and 6 singles. They added Marino back to their lineup, which is a great sign for them, and they beat a very good Middlebury team without their best player. They obviously have a bunch of big matches coming up, but the match I really want to see is their April 20th date with Cal Lu.

For Middlebury, they only looked OK on their California trip. They beat P-P, which is a good thing, but they obviously didn’t look nearly good enough to beat either Williams or Amherst. We’ll see what happens with them when they get back in their own time zone. For now, I don’t think anyone is really overwhelmed or underwhelmed with their play.

Saturday (today)

There’s a whole host of matches going on right now, and I don’t really know what’s happening with any of them, so this would be a good place for anyone who knows to comment. (Please!) The most significant matches are Pomona vs. Cruz, Washington & Lee vs. Carnegie Mellon and Trinity (CT) vs. Bowdoin. I’m hoping people will keep us updated in the comments on this one. Pomona took a 2-1 lead after doubles, and they have the first sets at 3, 4, and 5, but they lost the first sets at 1 and 2. All the Hens need to do is hold on to those matches they won the first sets in, and they will be in the NCAA tournament.

I don’t think Trinity has much of a chance against Bowdoin, but what do I know? As far as W&L vs. CMU goes, I would expect Carnegie to pull that one out on their home courts, but they have been a little hot and cold this year. Plus, the Generals have White who can win 2 matches for them on any given day. The other matches should be pretty straight-forward, but with a season like this one, anything could happen. I would expect Swarthmore over Vassar, Bates over Brandeis, CMS over Whittier, and Skidmore over TCNJ.

Sunday

Denison vs. #27 Kalamazoo

The Big Red have only played on significant match so far this season, which they lost 5-4 to Case Western. I don’t know much about Denison, but Case is good, and Denison had chances to win that one. Zoo is always tough on their home courts, but they didn’t really look all that great in California. They also might be overlooking Denison a bit because they aren’t ranked (even though the Big Red fell out of the rankings without ever losing to a team ranked below them). I’ll take Denison to win this one 5-4.

#4 Kenyon vs. #13 Carnegie Mellon

Kenyon has probably been one of the most inconsistent teams this year. You never really know what you’re going to get out of them. Carnegie Mellon, on the other hand, doesn’t really have much to gain from winning match, so they probably won’t come out fired up even though it’s on their home courts. I think if Kenyon decides to bring it in this one, they could pull off the upset, but that’s a lot to ask. In the end, I think CMU sweeps the doubles and coasts to an easy 9-0 victory.