Match Previews: #3 Amherst @ #1 Williams and #31 Wellesley @ #35 Babson

We have 2 Big Matches coming up this Saturday, October 3rd, that I’m very excited about. If anyone is thinking about going to either of the matches, I may see you! 🙂 Anyway, the first is the #3 Amherst at #1 Williams match. We don’t have a lot of dual match play in the fall, so whenever we have a match between two ranked teams it is very exciting, and when it involves Amherst and Williams, it is fireworks. These two teams had spectacular team finishes in the spring, with Williams winning the whole thing and Amherst coming in an unlikely 3rd in the country (they had graduated Brewer, Devlin, et al the year before). We just finished the New England ITAs this past weekend, so I have some data to go off of for this year. Both teams did not have spectacular ITAs, so this match should be interesting in regards to confidence leading up to it. Let’s get to the projected match ups.

#3 Amherst at #1 Williams

#1 Doubles
Ip/Ghosh (Amh, 9.14/9.31) v Shin/Raventos (Wil, 9.71/9.84)
Although Raventos was MIA for the ITA’s, I’m going to assume that she will be back for this match. This doubles match should be a one of the best and closest matches of the day, as both teams are established and play solid doubles. I’m going to go with the reigning national doubles champions from Williams on this one.

#2 Doubles
Calla/Chen (Amh, 9.20/9.33) v Hart/Gancayco (Wil, 6.04/8.80)
Hart/Gancayco actually lost to Amherst’s #3 team 8-5 at the ITA’s this past weekend. But this same team also beat the newly crowned ITA Champs from Wesleyan in the Morehouse Invitatonal. Chen is the only freshman in this group and is somewhat of a mystery when it comes to doubles. But this is a match I’m going to go out on a limb on and pick Amherst to take this match.

#3 Doubles
Monteagudo/Pol (Amh, 8.86/6.64) v Cancio/Bush (Wil, 9.19/7.82)
Again, only one freshman in this grouping in Bush of Williams. Monteagudo/Pol was the team that took out Hart/Gancayco in the ITAs. Pol is actually somewhat of a mystery to me too. Although not a freshman, this is her first time in the starting lineup. I’m going to go with the experience of Monteagudo and the doubles prowess of Amherst to take this match, to give Amherst a 2-1 lead going into singles.

#1 Singles
Ip (Amh, 9.14) v Raventos (Wil, 9.84)
According to the seedings, Ip was listed as the #2 player for Amherst behind Ghosh. That will probably change after Ghosh’s bad loss against Babunski of Trinity at the ITAs, with Ip retaking the top spot. Again, assuming Raventos is available and healthy, I’m going to have to go with her for the match. 2 weeks ago, she was able to defeat EUDICE in 3 sets.

#2 Singles
Ghosh (Amh, 9.31) v Shin (Wil, 9.71)
Ghosh’s confidence has got to be shaky on the singles court right now, and Linda Shin is not the type of opponent that you want to face coming off a bad loss. Shin doesn’t give you a whole lot in terms of unforced errors, and will steadily break you down. Gotta go with Shin in this match.

#3 Singles
Calla (Amh, 9.20) v Gancayco (Wil, 8.80)
Both of these players are one of the most reliable and mentally tough players in each lineup. They don’t give you a whole lot of unforced errors, they don’t lose random matches, and they both fight until the very end. This is an awesome match for all D3 players to watch and learn from. I’m going to go with Calla in this match, but it will be a close fight.

#4 Singles
Chen (Amh, 9.33) v Cancio (Wil, 9.19)
For those of you keeping track of the team score, it is currently tied 3-3! Again, I don’t know anything about the freshman Chen, but according to their UTRs, this should be a competitive match. I don’t know how their games match up, but given that Cancio has had a year of college tennis under her belt, I will go with her.

#5 Singles
Monteagudo (Amh, 8.86) v Stone (Wil, 7.21)
I have to go with Monteagudo here. She was a pretty good #4 last year, and should be even more reliable at #5 this year.

#6 Singles
Adamo (Amh, 7.48) v Bush (Wil, 7.82)
And with the score tied 4-4, I think it will actually come down to this match for the 5th point. This particular match will take a lot of time, with both players keeping the ball in play a ton. Again, I’m going to go with experience and go with the ever consistent Adamo.

5-4 for Amherst, with the wins coming at #2 and #3 Doubles, and #3, #5, and #6 Singles.

#31 Wellesley at #35 Babson

While this match features two teams currently ranked in the 30s, I’d argue that there is more at stake in this match, as this is a NEWMAC regular season conference match that determines seeding. While they will likely play each other again (when it REALLY counts) in the semifinals of the NEWMAC Championships (#9 MIT has already beaten them both and is likely the top seed), this is their first shot at each other for the year, with the winner getting bragging rights until the conference tournament. Wellesley is coming off a relatively strong ITAs, while Babson did fairly decent in doubles but did not fare too well in the singles portion. Here are the projected matchups.

#1 Doubles
Huang/Olson (Wel, 8.12/6.58) v Akgul/Quenard (Bab, 9.68/7.08)
Although Akgul is not in peak form right now, the team of Akgul/Quenard is playing good doubles right now. Huang/Olson is a team that needs a bit more time to develop, so I’m going with the more established and experienced Babo team for now.

#2 Doubles
Chen/Stojkovic (Wel, 6.45/7.00) v Paolino/Weick (Bab, 5.42/6.82)
In this matchup, Chen/Stojkovic have a bit more firepower than the team of Paolino/Weick, and if they can stay consistent and not commit too many errors, they should be able to win this match.  Wellesley takes this match.

#3 Doubles
Lorich/Hu (Wel, 6.65/5.84) v Gianelos/Brandt (Bab, 8.33/5.63)
Interesting matchup here, with all the players being freshmen. Not really sure how this match will go but I’ll go with Wellesley in this match, which gives them a 2-1 lead going into singles.

#1 Singles
Huang (Wel, 8.12) v Akgul (Bab, 9.68)
First, after Huang’s stellar performance at ITA’s, I would have to think that Coach Kuscher will most likely move her up to the #1 position. At the beginning of the season, I would have said with confidence that Akgul will win every NEWMAC match, but I’m not so sure now. Huang is coming off a great ITAs, while Akgul has had more losses this week than she had all of last year. But I’m going to stick with Akgul; I think she fights through this slump by winning this key match.

#2 Singles
Stojkovic (Wel, 7.00) v Gianelos (Bab, 8.33)
Gianelos has the very useful ability to hit a lot of balls in play. According to the UTRs, Stojkovic is an underdog but I’m going to bank on her to pull off the big upset win. All that time she spent at #1 should pay off in confidence at #2.

#3 Singles
Chen (Wel, 6.45) v Quenard (Bab, 7.08)
Chen is coming off a pretty big win over Akgul in the backdraw of the ITAs. Meanwhile, I believe Quenard just made her first appearance of the season in their dual match against MIT. Although she lost, she must be pretty excited to finally be out there playing. This should be a pretty good match, but I’m going to pick Quenard to pick up where she left off and win this match.

#4 Singles
Olson (Wel, 6.58) v Paolino (Bab, 5.42)
Not a lot of info to go on for this matchup, but I’ll go with the UTR difference and pick Olson to win this match.

#5 Singles
Lorich (Wel, 6.65) v Weick (Bab, 6.82)
This will actually be one of the best matches in the singles lineup. Freshman Lorich is a pretty strong #5, while Weick has redefined herself as a junior and is having a pretty good year so far after not playing a whole lot in the lineup last year. I’m going to go with Lorich, giving her the biggest win of her young college career so far.

#6 Singles
Ki (Wel, 5.49) v Foster (Bab, 5.80)
I’m not sure of the playing style of freshman Ki, but I do know that Foster’s strength is consistency. Honestly, I don’t know how this match will turn out, but at #6 consistency usually pays off, so Foster for the win here.

5-4 for Wellesley, with the wins coming at #2 and #3 Doubles, and #2, #4, and #5 Singles.

Well there you have it folks, two exciting 5-4 matches this weekend! DEPTH will be the key in both matches, and I think will be the major theme for the year!  Enjoy!!!