KICKOFF: D3NE AND HIS RAMBLINGS

Hello again, boys and girls, and let me be the 2nd person to welcome you to another rousing year of DIII tennis. D3AS did his thing and give a broader overview of the DIII landscape with his Burning Questions, and now here I am to take you through my eight teams for the 2016-2017 season. If you haven’t yet read the Headmaster’s article, I highly recommend it as it gives a full break down of Blog coverage for the upcoming year as well. Most (if not all) of the writers will be doing a similar style of article over the next few days leading up to the Regional ITAs, which (as always) will be covered in full! As we all have about eight teams to get through, I will be doing my best to keep this as short and sweet as I can considering I have eight teams to discuss. A few rules for this article.

1) I will not be talking about incoming freshmen. They have yet to play a point that matters in terms of DIII, and I haven’t been as good about tracking recruits this year. If you want to know more about the top incoming freshmen, check out D3Greek’s 15 Freshmen to Watch article. We will have some idea about these freshmen very soon (as soon as this weekend if your team is participating in the Middlebury Tournament), and I want to hold judgement until I/my sources see them play at least one college match.

2) This is not a season preview. If you have more in-depth questions, I’d love to answer them, but for now I’m going to try and keep a broader perspective.

3) If I’ve forgotten somebody in the “Key Losses” section, it’s not because I hate you or your school, it’s just that I have other things on my mind like school work and why the Human Torch was denied a bank loan.

4) If you have any questions, concerns, or want to point at me and laugh (get in line) feel free to comment below, tweet @D3Northeast or email me directly a D3Northeast@gmail.com.

BOWDOIN (National Ranking: #1)

Key Losses: Luke Trinka (#3 singles/#1 doubles), Chase Savage (#3 doubles)

Biggest question for the 2016-2017 season: Who takes over the leadership role? While Trinka and Savage only took up 3 (and sometimes 2) lineup spots, they had an invaluable impact in the leadership department. Now, the defending champs have no seniors, and a bunch of sophomores and juniors faced with the challenge of staying hungry after bringing Bowdoin its first NCAA title.

Player to watch: Grant Urken, sophomore (projected #4-6 singles and #3 doubles). Urken was a unanimous choice for 1st team All Blog at #6 singles, and even if he didn’t make the leap usual with good players between their freshman and sophomore years, I fully expect Grant to wreak havoc wherever he plays in the lineup this year. In addition, we may get to see more of his doubles game as well in 2017.

Quick thoughts/way too early season projection: Currently the Bowdoin tennis roster lists only seven guys, but that doesn’t include their new crop of freshmen. I know I said that freshmen don’t matter, but if Bowdoin gets one legit bottom of the lineup guy, they will be as solid top to bottom as any team in the country. Look for the Polar Bears to break the NCAA title hangover and make an impact at the season’s end.

MIDDLEBURY (National Ranking: #3) 

Key Losses: Ari Smolyar (#2 singles/#2 doubles), Palmer Campbell (#3 singles/#1 doubles)

Biggest question for the 2016-2017 season: Can the Panthers recover from losing two studly All-Americans? Smolyar and Campbell have been factors in the Panther program for the last four years, and will be sorely missed this season. Middlebury has the potential, with guys like Derbani, Jackson, Schlanger, and others looking to step up and play in the middle of the lineup, but Coach Hansen will need to work his magic if his squad are going to make a 3rd straight finals appearance.

Player to watch: Hamid Derbani, senior (projected #1 doubles and #3-5 singles). Derbani, a transfer, burst onto the scene last year having an excellent year at #5 singles and #1/2 doubles. He and Palmer Campbell made a deep run at NCAAs, and he should anchor the #1 doubles team this season. Derbani hits the smack out of the ball, and has the best shot of playing a productive #2/3 singles of any person not named De Quant.

Quick thoughts/way too early season projection: Midd will still play good doubles, but somebody, and possibly somebodies is/are going to have to step up this season. Fingers crossed that Mr. Jackson stays healthy and has a successful 5th year. Look for Midd to fall slightly in the national rankings, but you’d be a fool to want to draw them and Coach Hansen come tournament time.

WESLEYAN (National Ranking: #10)

Key Losses: Michael King (#3-4 doubles), Sam Rudovsky (#3-4 doubles), Zachary Brint (#2 doubles)

Biggest question for the 2016-2017 season: Can they continue the upward trend? The Cardinals are the 3rd ranked team in the region! That is pretty amazing when you consider the other teams listed in this article. Coach Fried continues to bring in big-time recruiting classes, and while the Cards lost a lot of heart and leadership, they didn’t lose all that much talent. Continuing the upward trend means an NCAA berth, and at least top-3 conference finish. The hair on my lower back stands on end just thinking about it.

Player to watch: Joachim Samson, sophomore (Projected #3-4 singles/#1-2 doubles). Samson was a freshmen-phenom last year who got less credit than was deserved due to Bowdoin’s young guns. If he continues to develop, he could end up playing #1 for this team, but not yet. Look for him to bring home constant W’s in the middle of both the singles and doubles lineups this year.

Quick thoughts/way too early season projection: As much as I want to go out on a limb and pull an absurd D3AS-style bold prediction, I still see the Cards as a bubble team this year. I know they can do it, but the difference between becoming a perennial NCAA team and just a top-20 team is about as big as the difference between being a contender and winning the whole damn thing. Check back for my season preview where, if the Cards have a good fall, you will undoubtedly see more outlandish claims.

WILLIAMS (National Ranking: #12)

Key Losses: Jose Raventos (#1 singles/#2 doubles), Alex Schidlovsky (#3 singles/#1 doubles), Howie Weiss (#6-7 singles), Brian Astrachan (#3-4 doubles)

Biggest question for the 2016-2017 season: Can a new crop of Ephs finally get them back into the top-10? This question carries a positive tone, because even though Williams was hit hard by graduation, I think they will be as good if not better this year. While their freshmen class isn’t Amherst, and I haven’t seen them play at all, three 4-stars ain’t too shabby. If one or two become bottom of the lineup guys, I think Williams will once again challenge for the top-10, much to the dismay of UAA-truthers like D3AS.

Player to watch: Brian Grodecki, junior (Projected #1-2 singles, #1 doubles). BG was awesome last year, and went from a bottom of the lineup guy to a middle-top of the lineup guy without any growing pains. If he develops at even half the rate that he did between his freshman and sophomore year, he will be challenging Shastri for the top spot and holding his own.

Quick thoughts/way too early season projection: Even though Williams lost more guys than Midd, I feel better about their chances to maintain at least the same level of performance in 2016-2017. Granted, that’s easier as the #12 team in the country than up at #3, but you all know my faith in Coach Greenberg and I expect another year of Williams giving the top of the conference all they can handle, while sidling somewhere between the first and 2nd tiers of the NESCAC.

TUFTS (National Ranking: #13)

Key Losses: Rob Jacobson Jay Glickman (#1 singles/#2 doubles), (#4 singles/#3 doubles), Nik Telkedzhiev (many different lineup spots).

Biggest question for the 2016-2017 season: Which identity will the 2016-2017 Tufts team take, Dr Jumbo talent or Mr. Hyde and complain? No team was more up and down last year (save perhaps for maybe the next team on the list) than Tufts. With Glickman’s phenomenal senior campaign mixed with almost too much depth (note to self: start referring to Tufts as Death Valley), the Jumbos took out both Amherst and Bowdoin. However, with an shifting lineup due to injuries among other things, Tufts also got smacked around by Williams and lost to MIT.

Player to watch: Zain Ali, junior (Projected #2-4 singles, #1-2 doubles). MistaZain was one of the rare guys who played in almost every match for the Jumbos last year. Somehow he managed to play every spot between #1 and #6 last year, and played a remarkably tough schedule while doing so. He will be called upon again this year to come up with tough wins, no matter where in the lineup he plays, and should be a fixture in the doubles lineup as well. If Zain wins consistently, Tufts has a good chance of doing so too.

Quick thoughts/way too early season projection: I don’t even know. I can’t even throw out a projected lineup at this point, and Tufts’ schedule isn’t even online yet. They usually play at Middlebury to start the year, so hopefully we’ll at least have something to go on by this time next week. For now, there’s no reason to suspect anything other than another solid year, with anywhere between 5th and 7th in the conference a likely finishing spot for the Bos.

AMHERST (National Ranking: #15)

Key Losses: Michael Solimano (#2 singles/#1 doubles), Aaron Revzin (#3-4 singles/#1 doubles), Andrew Yaraghi (#2 doubles/#4-8 singles),  Ben Fife (#5-6 singles, #3 doubles)

Biggest question for the 2016-2017 season: Just how far can the incoming freshmen take this team? I know, I know, I said I wasn’t going to talk about the freshmen. However, this is an EXTREME* case (*warning, I’d have to imagine there is some vulgar language in this video, but it’s so much cleaner than the full scene). Amherst’s recruiting class is the best DIII has ever seen, plain and simple. With three 5-stars, two -4-stars, and a lonely 3-star, it’s perfectly reasonable to think that four freshmen might start for Amherst this year!

Player to watch: Zachary Bessette, sophomore (Projected #2-4 singles, #1-2 doubles). There are about 6 players to watch on this team, but I settled on Bessette because he was particularly impressive amidst the turmoil of last season. He played as high as #1 last year, after starting off the year at #5, and even notched a 3-set win at the top spot against Grodecki (Williams). He has been playing tournaments over the summer, and if he takes the sophomore leap I mentioned earlier, he might well fend off the majority of the freshmen and play in the top-half of the lineup once again.

Quick thoughts/way too early season projection: This season could go a variety of ways for the artists formerly known as Lord Jeffs. We won’t really see them until the ITA, but the MIT tournament should give another good early barometer of just how much work remains to be done to get the frosh up to snuff. Amherst is also bucking the California spring break trend this year, which I will discuss at length in the season preview, but upon first impression I think it might be a good thing to let the freshmen have some time before more important matches take place.

MIT (National Ranking: #19)

Key Losses: Kevin Wang (#2 singles, #2 doubles), Dennis Garcia (#6 singles)

Biggest question for the 2016-2017 season: The same question we have every year, Pinky, can this talented group take over the world put it together for an entire season? MIT has been a bit of a roller coaster over the last few years, and is constantly under scrutiny from one or two bloggers as well. Losing Wang will hurt, but they have enough talent to improve again this year. The thing is, they’ve had the talent in the past, and not always reaped its benefits. I want to believe this crew is different, and I think I do more than most, but I will still need to see it before I ever say anything like MIT will be a national championship contender in three years.

Player to watch: Tyler Barr, sophomore (Projected #2-3 singles, #1-2 doubles). Tyler was brilliant last year, losing only one DIII singles match all year (plus it was to Trinka at NCAAs.) He was a far less heralded freshman than Sean Ko or Alex Cauneac, which is why I’m very excited to see what young Master Barr can do with another year of development. With the talent of MIT’s lineup, he could probably play anywhere from #1 to #5, but a safe bet is top-middle of the lineup.

Quick thoughts/way too early season projection: Usually MIT’s season is the toughest to try and predict of any team in the region, but this year, led by youths, I think MIT will beat either Tufts or Bates and hang in the top-20. If Cauneac, Ko, and Barr give it their all, not always a given at MIT with the insane work load, there is no reason this team couldn’t push Amherst and Wesleyan as well.

BATES (National Ranking: #25)

Key Losses: None

Biggest question for the 2016-2017 season: Can Bates finally capitalize on a year where the almost the whole rest of the conference graduated impact players? Bates falls to me as the next highest ranked team in the New England ITA, and after a couple of disappointing seasons I think the Bobcats have a shot at making their first trip to NESCACs since 2013. They didn’t graduate any starters, and while I’m not talking about freshmen, may have picked up an impact player (see section below). We saw Ben Rosen make the big leap last year, but the question now is which one of his upperclassmen teammates will join him? Bates might need a couple if they are to contend in what is almost certainly the strongest top-7 the conference has ever seen.

Player to watch: Adam Schwartz, junior (projected #3-6 singles, #1-3 doubles). Look who happens to be back on the Bates roster. Schwartz was an impact freshmen, but wasn’t on the team last year for whatever reason. He was a highly touted recruit, but who knows exactly where his game is at. If he can contribute, and contribute consistently, Bates is a far more dangerous team.

Quick thoughts/way too early season projection: Another team where the season could really go a variety of ways. I could see Bates at NESCACs, I could see them staying close but finishing in 7th, and I could see them losing to Deis, MIT, and Mary Wash and barely holding a top-30 ranking. The safe pick is the middle ground, but you’ll have to check back during season preview time later on this fall/winter. For now, I get to remain optimistic. Ask me again after Middlebury this weekend.