The Mary Wash ITA Preview

When the lack of draws get you down, one must always stay up at 11:30 PM on a Friday, sacrifice hitting up Avenue in the Meatpacking District with your buds and start working on a Mary Washington ITA Preview. At least we all know that I wouldn’t have missed anything special with D3NE going out, because he’s not all that exciting. But, he gets to go out, and I don’t, which means that he’s just going to have to do this at some other point in the season. It all comes back around. Also, D3RegAS was supposed to join me here, but I think he started early and honestly when I got on this google document it was a bunch of mumbo jumbo that I didn’t really understand. So, that leaves me, the lone ranger who will continue to churn out articles in the hope of your donations.

The Mary Wash ITA is my personal favorite, mostly because it’s the only interesting one that is in my region. I actually get to make predictions! We’ve had players from all different schools win this thing, from the enigmas (Alla, CMU) to the bros (Buxbaum, Hopkins), to the, well, characters (Shulman, CNU). Let’s all remember that Saturday is for the boys, and now is the time to start analyzing this damn draw. Shoutout to Mary Wash for always hosting a well run tournament.

The Competitors: CMU, Johns Hopkins, Mary Washington, Washington and Lee, Christopher Newport, Swarthmore, Haverford, WILKES

Before I get to anything, the draw is still a 64 draw, but it seems as if more teams have better representation in the tournament. CMU and Hopkins used to get like 8 players in the tournament, but it looks like those numbers have been pared down in order to get some other teams more reps. Not sure if I fully agree with that choice in terms of competition, but I guess I have to love the fact that more teams are getting some run. Either way, expect CMU and Hopkins to have some favorites.

The Favorite(s):

Daniel Levine, CMU (12.56 UTR) – I claimed that Daniel Levine would become the best player in CMU history in my kickoff article this year, and I will stick by that claim until he graduates and proves me otherwise. That road begins now, as Levine will need to take an ITA before he graduates if he wants a shot at being the best in Tartan history. I think that this year is the year. He kind of got a tougher draw as he draws Vishnu Joshi in his quarter, when I am sure that he would have preferred to get someone other than Hopkins top seed. But, Levine has the experience, he has the game, and he has the firepower to put early round competitors away quickly. Honestly, Levine is the one and only favorite in this tournament and I will not make the mistake of picking against him.

Key Challengers:

Courtney Murphy, Wilkes (12.23 UTR) – Murphy, who essentially came out of nowhere last year to make the final and eventually lose to Mike Rozenvasser,  has taken the #2 seed in this tournament. While I am not the biggest believer in Murphy, as he has a very up and down game, he can blow a lot of players off the court in a jiffy. He went 4 and 2 with Cuba last year after beating Brady Anderson of Coe, who is no joke (in the NCAA). He belongs with the best. I will challenge the small school phenom to prove me wrong once again this year, as I am wary of his lack of big time competition outside individual tournaments. That being said, he burned me last year, and is set up to burn me again this year.

Mark Fallati, Swarthmore (11.58 UTR) – A blog favorite, Mark Fallati was my trendy pick to win this whole thing last year. He did not do that, losing to Murphy in a tough match. What was to follow, however, was more surprising. Fallati did not enjoy a great year in dual matches last year, and it really was a correlation to Swarthmore’s season. Fallati is a hard-worker, however, and I expect him to rectify some of his flaws from last year. He was awarded the #3 seed this year and despite his lower than normal UTR, this is a bounce back candidate who could put a scare into Murphy should they meet in the semifinal. Fallati needs a good year this year after a disappointing one last year, but he has a tough road with potentially Downing in the quarters and Murphy in the semis.

Vishnu Joshi, Johns Hopkins (12.07 UTR) – Joshi has a lot of hopes on him despite being a freshman, and that is why I included him in the next challengers instead of the freshman portion. Joshi is the #5 seed, and will be placed in Levines half of the draw. We have seen upsets from freshmen all throughout the history of this tournament and Joshi is the man to take it all the way for the Jays. I think the only players that can probably win this are the above four players. This is one of the weaker draws in recent memory, but we still have some potential studs that can win this thing. Joshi is one of em.

Others:

Matt Miles, Mary Washington (11.68 UTR) – Some would be surprised that Miles actually has a higher UTR than Mark Fallati of Swarthmore, and that is a testament to his work ethic. He has risen from a bottom of the lineup player to the 4 seed in this tournament. That is to be commended.  Miles played a solid #2/#3 last year, but that does not equate to the highest level of competition. Miles has been playing this summer as he’s done some Summer Circuit tournaments, which bodes well for him in a place where internships reign supreme over court time. Miles is a guy to watch who embodies the UMW spirit – a gritty, workmanlike player who oftentimes is overlooked.

David Perez, Johns Hopkins (11.67 UTR) – There is an outside chance that Perez takes the #1 spot for the Jays this year and I think that might say more about the Jays than it does about Perez. Perez has had limited success in this tournament, pulling a few upsets but never really challenging for the title. While he certainly has played his fair share of big matches, I just don’t see the senior making waves even in his final year. He’s probably a lock to win a couple of matches but he’s a guy I put on upset alert when he plays against tougher players.

David Reed, CNU (11.90 UTR) – I feel like Reed has been around forever, and that is really a testament to his success. He is almost always a seed in this tournament and this will be his fourth year playing it. Last year was a disaster for Reed, as he was ousted early from this whole thing. I feel like Reed’s game has pretty much stayed around the same level throughout his career, so now would be a great time to step it up another level. I should probably put Reed in the sleepers section, but he’s been around so long that I just can’t do it!

Sleepers:

Chaz Downing, CMU (11.94 UTR) – If you notice, Downing has one of the higher UTR’s in this tournament. Downing is currently slated as CMU’s #2 seed and I’ve always liked his potential to be a top player in the lineup. Judging from the draw, for some reason Rozenvasser, Arora, and Prettyman are all missing, meaning Downing will be heavily relied upon to be a rock in the CMU lineup. He’s got some great wins in his career but also some head scratching losses, while also dealing with various injuries throughout his career. Downing will be an interesting player to watch.

Cody Kim, Hopkins (12.15 UTR) – Look at that UTR! I have no idea what Kim has done to get a UTR this high, but he has it, so he goes on the sleepers list. Kim didn’t have a great year last year, and he took a bad loss to Cepelewicz of Swarthmore. I’m not really sure what to expect of Kim this year but he’s seeded #9 and that has to mean something, right? We’ll see.

The Freshmen

Revanth Boppana, CMU (11.52 UTR) – Boppanna is the next great CMU hope at the moment, as he had an impressive showing in the A Flight of the Kenyon Invitational. See, I do my research, Water Girl… smh. Boppanna is seeded #9, and I have no idea how he plays. He faces a tough draw in Murphy of Wilkes in the Round of 16, and that will be his first big match of his college career for the most part. I’m excited to see him play. If he can beat James Fojtasek, he can beat a lot of people.

Eric Yoo, Hopkins (10.61 UTR) – Hopkins is really banking on a few freshmen to come through this year and Yoo is one of them. He’s one of the seeds for the Jays despite his relatively lower UTR, so that surprised me for sure. But who knows which Hopkins freshman is the best considering there are so many of them and some of them come in totally unmotivated. Maybe Yoo is the opposite of that.

Tom Bickel, CMU (11.24 UTR – unreliable) – Bickel is another guy that CMU is banking on this year and we haven’t really seen much of him. Honestly, I don’t have high hopes for him based on rumors I’ve heard, but he could absolutely prove me wrong. Boppanna is the freshman to watch on CMU until proven otherwise, but Bickel could really be a boost for the Tartans here.

Others to Mention

Michael Fleming, Mary Wash

Scott Thygesen, Hopkins

Justin Cerny, CNU

March Zheng, W&L (just because)

Harry Shepard, W&L

Conclusion

Okay, it’s getting really late now and I’m sorry I can’t go more in depth on this region. This is what happens when you get the draw at 7PM on a Friday! C’mon now! Anyways, I’ll be trying to provide some analysis on the draw tomorrow and some live updates, and we’ll see where everything lands come Monday. RegAS still hasn’t shown up so this is going out just the way it is. Shout out to Ariana Grande. ASouth, OUT.