NE’s Monday Musings and Tuesday Theories

There have been a bunch of NE matches played over the past few days, and while D3Regional will be recapping the weekend wars in his weekly Regional Review, I’m taking it upon myself to look back at Monday’s matches and ahead to Tuesday’s tilts. So without any additional alliteration, let’s launch.

MONDAY

Tufts def. Denison 8-1: Really nice win for the Jumbos to start their season. D3Central will agree that Denison is not going to beat most top-20 teams, but an 8-1 win including a doubles sweep is a great start for Tufts. Yes, Denison beat Stevens earlier this year, but that was Stevens without Foran (their #2) and the Big Red went and got crushed by NC Wesleyan and Mary Wash in that same weekend. However, given Tufts’ history of mediocre doubles, a sweep might be just what the confidence doctor ordered. While the sweep was certainly one of the positives of the day, it was not the most shocking take away from the match. That has to be the emergence of Benjamin Battle. In my season preview, I had Battle’s ceiling at 5, and my Tufts insider had it at 4. The fact that Ben is playing above Jacobson is really huge for the Jumbos. Seeing as Glickman and Ali were noticeably absent from the lineup, the Jumbos needed someone else to step up, and that someone was Ben Battle. I have a hunch that the lineup will be shifted around some over the next few matches, and Cary, Brockman, and Gupte at 4-6 was also a little bit surprising, but I have full faith in Coach Greggor, mainly because I know the Jumbos do. Tufts will take on Pomona on Wednesday, which should be a good barometer to see just how good the Jumbos are this early in their season.

Trinity Ct. def Sewanee 8-1: There still aren’t real stats posted from this match, and Trinity is always pretty bad at getting boxscores up onto their site. Whomever played at whatever spot, an 8-1 win is always encouraging. I don’t know final scores, but I that the Bantams swept doubles, and that Carpenter took down Schober in straight sets which is a great win for DC. Sewanee got their point at #2 singles when Mbithi retired in the 2nd set. I’m hoping the injury isn’t serious, and that Coach Assaiante/Moose decided that with the match clinched it might be better to save their legs for the upcoming 4 matches in 4 days. The rest of the lineup was exactly as predicted with Matingo at 3, Traff at 4, Levin at 5, and Mandel at 6, all of whom won in straight sets. Nice opening win for the Bantams, but the task gets far tougher in the next few hours. Trinity takes on Pomona today (see below), Cal Lu tomorrow, and Bowdoin on Thursday.

Amherst def. Westmont 6-3 and Amherst def. Point Loma 7-2: Yes, I know these matches have absolutely no bearing on the season. Yes, you’re right and I just want to talk about Amherst. HOWEVER, hopefully what we can try and glean from Amherst’s opening season split squad victories are some form of the lineup Coach Doebler plans to use against Pomona later tonight. Here is the link to the match recaps from yesterday: http://athletics.amherst.edu/sports/mten/2014-15/releases/2015031683atsz. I still see Solimano over Zykov for the top spot, but even that could be up for grabs. Based on the order here, I see Solimano, Zykov, Yaraghi, Revzin, Einbinder, and Arnboldi as the starting 6. No results are posted from the Westmont match, only an Amherst story recap, so we don’t know who played 2&3 for the Jeffs vs. Westmont, we only know that those spots lost. My guess is that Einbinder and Scheiner played those spots, so it’s concevable that Scheiner will be in the starting lineup too. Again, without knowing the full doubles results from yesterday, my guess is the teams will be Solimano/Revzin, Zykov/Einbinder, and Yaraghi/Arnaboldi. Enough predicting in a “recap” section. Amherst will play their most meaningful spring break match tonight vs Pomona, see below for picks.

TUESDAY

Trinity Ct @ Pomona 1pm: Pomona’s first match of the day, should be easier than their second. While Trin is coming off a nice 8-1 thrashing of Sewanee, the Sagehens should provide a significantly stronger challenge. Though the Bants swept doubles yesterday, PP is playing some of the country’s best doubles and I full expect the Hens to win at least 2/3 doubles spots. Carpenter had a nice win against Schober, but Chuddy has been doin his thang of late. Even if Moose were healthy, Yaz has bascially been the best #2 not playing for CMS in the whole country. Trinity does have some depth, the bottom of the lineup is made up of seniors, and there is a chance that PP rests some of their usual starters to save them for Amherst later this evening. Realistically, PP has the revolving door for a reason. This match should be getting started in the next few mins! Prediction: Pomona def. Trinity Ct 7-2. 

Colby @ Bates 5pm: Honestly, this shouldn’t even be included in this preview. It’s only being hyped (if you could even call it that) because Colby upset Bates last year for one of the black hole’s more surprising wins. The Mules have graduated most of their squad last year, and this year have to play Bates on their indoor courts (given how the courts are here, I assume that the outdoor courts are still weeks away in Maine). Reid and Murad should be able to pack a punch at the top of Colby’s lineup, but after that it should be tough sledding for the Mules. Bates is somehow deep this year, and even if Schwartz isn’t back in their lineup the Bobcats should have very little trouble in the bottom half of the lineup. Even if Reid/Murad account for 3 points, which I don’t think they will, Bates should take this match without too much drama. Prediction: Bates def Colby 8-1, Colby point at 1 singles. 

Bowdoin @ Redlands 5pm: This one should be the match of the day! I have LOVED what the Bowdoin freshmen have done so far on their trip, and in if the Polar Bears keep on keepin on they have the capability of being a top-10 team. Redlands does play some good doubles, and Bowdoin’s dubs have been up and down (sweeping CMU, getting swept by Pomona, etc.) so I like the Dawgs to take a lead after dubs. I really do think Bowdoin has the edge in singles, but the Polar Bears will need at least one point from the doubles if they are going to win this match. Coming back from a sweep is just really damn tough, and Redlands knows how big a match this is for Pool-C implications. Which ever team comes out of this match victorious should (as of March 17) be sitting pretty in Pool C. Lipscomb vs Trinka should be a good one, and although Bragg has been struggling he could push Cummins. I see Redlands taking a 2-1 lead after dubs, but Bowdoin scraping out one tough point, and then taking 3-6 to secure the win. Prediction: Bowdoin def Redlands 5-4

Amherst @ Pomona 7pm: Even though this match features the two most highly ranked teams, I’m hoping it won’t shape up to be an instant classic. Did you all see what CMS did to their neighbors the other day. It wasn’t very neighborly. If Amherst is still the biggest threat to CMS, and I believe they are, they need to keep any mental edge they may have from last year. An unconvincing 5-4 win, or perhaps even a loss, might erase all hangover fear the Stags carry from last year’s upset. Amherst historically plays good doubles, though we haven’t seen too much of the Jeff’s pairings yet this year. Going with my projected lineup from above, I like Solimano/Revzin to take out Chudalavada kedavra, AND Yaraghi/Arnaboldi to be the perfect antidote to the big serving of Bello/Simonides at #3 dubs. In singles, I like Solimano over Chuddy, Yaraghi over whichever J. Kim plays #3 for Pomona, Revzin over the other J. Kim at #4, and Arnaboldi over whomever the Hens throw out at #6 today. Those four points plus 2/3 doubles gives Amherst a 6-3 win over the Pomona. HOWEVER, I also believe that the Zykov/Yaz match at #2 will be very tight, and there’s a chance Amherst pulls away and beats the Hens convincingly. On the Flipsyde, if Pomona’s doubles come out firing, they could easily take a 2-1 lead, and put a scare into the defending national champs. Prediction: Amherst def Pomona 6-3. 

There you have it, boys and girls. Here’s looking forward to another great day of #SB15. Enjoy the tennis, and as always, GO NE!