Indoors Wrap-up

National Indoors concluded today with a dominant victory by Emory over Cruz. By the time I woke up, the match was already over, and it really wasn’t as close as the 7-2 score kind of indicates. The Eagles cruised through doubles. Though all of the matches were relatively close, it doesn’t seem like they were ever actually in any danger of losing one. Then, Emory closed it out with two quick victories in singles. The Slugs’ only two points came via 10-pointers, but I would like to believe they would have pulled out at least one of those third sets. Who knows.

The 3rd place match was a battle. Kenyon continued to struggle in doubles, but they got one victory, which was enough to keep them in the match. The Lords were extremely impressive in singles, especially their freshmen, who rose to the occasion to lead Kenyon to victory. Adam Putterman dominated the #1 singles match again, and I’m sad we didn’t get to see a Putterman/Pottish rematch. Both Kenyon and Wash U made substitutions at 6, probably because of the grueling weekend, but that didn’t end up making a difference in the outcome. The heart of Kenyon’s singles lineup looks extremely strong so far, but they really have to shape up their doubles if they want to be a Final Four team.

I didn’t talk about the 7th place match between Gustavus and Chicago last night because it was impossible to get the scores, so I’ll talk about it now. The Gusties continued their impressive play, particularly in doubles. I would expect them to be rewarded for their win with a national ranking. At the same time, it was a very rough tournament for Chicago, reminiscent of Cal Lu’s tournament last year. (A breakout team from the previous year that doesn’t exactly have a pristine reputation comes close to pulling off an upset in the first match, loses their second match 7-2 and proceeds to get upset by the host to finish 0-3).

Emory

About the tournament anyone would have expected for the Eagles. They didn’t look very good against Gustavus, but that turned out to be a combination of them being rusty and Gustavus being better than anyone expected. They got better as the weekend went on, and played their best tennis in the final. We didn’t actually learn all that much about Emory, but Gustavus might have showed that they could maybe be vulnerable in doubles. They will probably play better in bigger matches, but we won’t find out until they hopefully play Claremont in the final of the Stag-Hen. I wonder if Goodwin will be healthy enough for singles by then.

Santa Cruz

The Slugs issued one hell of a response to those who were already predicting the end of the golden era of Cruz tennis. Their win over Wash U was vintage Slug tennis: great doubles coupled with depth in singles. The 2-1 finish was exactly what they needed to stay in the top 10 and restore some of their mystique. Unfortunately, they still don’t look good enough to beat Claremont, which is ultimately what they will need to do if they want to make the Elite Eight, but it’s a step in the right direction. These guys could be dangerous if they get Larsen back.

Kenyon

The Lords looked horrible in doubles all weekend. Sure, the teams they lost to in doubles are good (Pomona, Emory, and Wash U), but neither Emory nor Wash U are known for their doubles prowess. I know that Kenyon fancies themselves a top 5 team, and their singles lineup is playing like it, but I’ve said it twice and I’ll say it one more time, they need to fix their doubles. Still, they had a very impressive and gutsy comeback this morning against Wash U, and it just goes to show that they can compete in singles with almost anyone in the country. Next up for them is a long California swing that includes huge matches against Cal Lu, Cruz, and a rematch with Pomona in the Stag-Hen. Overall, I would say that I really like the way their schedule is shaping up this year.

Wash U

The Bears has an absolutely dreadful tournament. I know they didn’t really expect to win, but they probably thought they could. They came within points of losing to Chicago (who really just isn’t that good), and then actually lost to Santa Cruz and Kenyon. I think the loss to Cruz would have been OK if they had rebounded against Kenyon, but they didn’t. Their freshmen didn’t do much to answer the critics who think this will be a down year for them. The only definitive bright spot for Wash U was the play of Adam Putterman. They probably feel like they are walking into the match up 1-0 every time, but that doesn’t do much good if you get swept in doubles. 1-2 is not good for them, especially now that their win over Chicago doesn’t look great at all. Another problem for them is that they don’t have many good teams left on their schedule. They have Chicago again, which is really more of a burden than anything else. They have Depauw, who is playing poorly. They also have Case and Bowdoin, who are both good teams, but wins over both of them aren’t really good enough to keep them in the top 5 at the end of the year. I think this is the season Wash U finally fails to make the Final Four.

Trinity (TX)

The Tigers had a very solid tournament. Though they failed to beat Cruz (the match that they really wanted), they managed to beat Chicago and Pomona (which is what they really needed). I don’t know if anyone else knew about Jacob Straus, but he’s not on Trinity’s tenniscrecruiting page. Adding him to the lineup makes Trinity much stronger, and I would say that they are definitely a top 10 team. They also played classic Trinity doubles, winning at least two out of three in all three of their matches. Though they aren’t the most talented team in the country, I would say that they are extremely dangerous, and a team that the top 3 would rather not play if they can avoid it. Next up for Trinity are huge matches against Cal Lu, Redlands, and a rematch with Pomona. The Tigers made some progress in their region by beating the Hens, but they don’t want to give it back by losing to either of those teams. Redlands and Cal Lu will be especially eager to add the pelt of a Top 10 Tiger to their resumes for Pool C.

Pomona-Pitzer

The Hens played well at Indoors, but they definitely didn’t get the results they wanted. They lost to Kenyon, despite going up after doubles and winning two first sets at the top 3 singles. That match had to be heartbreaking, but they rebounded well against Gustavus, and then fought extremely hard against Trinity. They came out on the wrong end of two really close matches, but the good news for them is that they will have the opportunity to avenge both losses later this year on their own courts. The problem for them is that they didn’t solidify their stance in Pool C, and they are now vulnerable if they get upset by either Cal Lu or Redlands. Those West region teams will really be battling this year. Pomona had a chance to lock their Pool C bid in this weekend, but didn’t capitalize. They are still in good position, and I think they will get it, but they have to be a little disappointed that they didn’t pull one of those matches out.

Gustavus Adolphus

The Gusties had an absolutely incredible tournament. They came much closer to beating Emory than anyone had a right to expect, they also had a chance against Pomona, and then they finally got the win they were after in the 7th place match. I think it’s pretty clear that Gustavus played like a top 20 team, at least, this weekend, and they might have one of the best doubles lineups in the country. (I wonder how significant their home-court advantage was). After all of Chicago’s losses, their win really isn’t that great, but I was extremely impressed by their ability to snuff out the Maroons’ comeback attempt by pulling out some tough 3-setters at the top of the singles lineup. The Gusties will make a California trip to play Whittier, Pomona, and Claremont, and they also have matches against Whitewater and Kalamazoo, but they have definitely put some distance between themselves and their conference. I think they are a lock to win their conference and host a region in the NCAA’s (but not be the top seed, obviously).

Chicago

Chicago started off the tournament extremely strong with a great battle against Wash U, but it was all downhill from there. They got beaten pretty soundly by both Trinity and Gustavus, and they now have two bad losses on their resume. They will be hard-pressed to make the tournament from here, and the fact that their program is in absolute disarray doesn’t help. I know this has been said, but they have so much talent: it just doesn’t make sense for them to be as bad as they are–with or without their attitude problems. They basically need to win a match against NCW or Wash U later this year to make the NCAA’s (not to mention beating Case). I don’t think that will happen, but it will be very interesting to see where this program goes from here