NESCAC Finals Preview

Happy NESCAC Finals day, boys and girls! I don’t know what Bowdoin had for breakfast today, but I would highly recommend they do exactly the same thing tomorrow, as the Polar Bears curb-stomped the Cards with a quick and painful 5-0 semifinal win. In the other semifinal, Midd got past Williams at Benny by a score of 5-3, which showed that even with a doubles lead the Panthers are not locks, but they are really tough to beat. Bowdoin vs Midd was the NESCAC final most people predicted at the start of the year, but considering the defending champs are the #4 seed and the Panthers are the #2 seed, I’d say the path was slightly windier than anticipated. Given that Redlands is up 3-0 on CMS after doubles right now in the SCIAC championships, Bowdoin has to feel even better about their win today. Yes, they should’ve still been ahead of Williams in the Pool-C pecking order due to their direct win, but with Williams playing Midd close today, it could’ve at least been a discussion. Bowdoin is looking to do something it didn’t even do last year on its National Championship run and hasn’t done since 2008, win the NESCAC tournament. Midd is looking to beat Bowdoin for the fourth time in five matches (the kids from VT tend not to talk about that fifth match), and I think it would only be poetic if the two met again at NCAAs this year. As for tomorrow, the final will be played at 9 a.m., but the decision of indoors vs outdoors has yet to be made. If indoors, the match will be on the same courts that Bowdoin dominated Wesleyan on today, and where they have played both of their prior matches this weekend, while Midd would have to play on a different indoor surface than where they played today. Because my predictions have been SPOT ON recently, let’s do it again!

If you think Midd doesn’t still use this as motivation…think better

#1 doubles: Tercek/Urken vs Cuba/De Quant. This was an easy 8-4 win for Midd at Bowdoin last time they played. Terk and Urk stepped it up today against Wesleyan, but I think this is another level. Midd, 8-5. (closer if played indoors).

#2 doubles: Wolfe/Jiang vs Derbani/Schlanger. The Bowdoin duo won this match 8-5 last time, and I believe they also beat Midd’s #1 team in the ITA finals. Wolfe and Jiang certainly brought their A-game earlier today in their 8-6 win over Eusebio and Smith. If Indoors I like Bowdoin to win this match, but outdoors I’l take the Panther duo, 8-6.

#3 doubles: Roddy/Patel vs Martin/Van der Geest. Midd won this match 8-6 last time, but Roddy and Patel have been hot. Their win over Chen/Daniels earlier today was emphatic and I like the Polar Bear pair to come up big again. Bowdoin, 8-5.

#1 singles: Tercek vs Cuba. Luke had taken the first set from Chen back when everything was rolling for the Cards, but Cuba was equally impressive in his dismantling of hometown boy Rohan Shastri this afternoon. Until he gets beaten again, it’s pretty tough to pick against Cuba. Midd, 6-2, 6-2 (also closer if indoors).

#2 singles: Urken vs De Quant. S-S-S-S-Swing match! Also this match has big time NCAA implications as a win for Urken would likely cement his NCAA status (De Quant is probably already there). There may be some wild cards contenders rooting for De Quant in this one. Urken beat WDQ 4&4 in Brunswick earlier this year, but if they play outdoors I’m not sure we’ll set it to completion. Bowdoin leads, 6-4, 5-7, 4-3.

#3 singles: Wolfe vs Derbani. Another match that would be huge wins for both teams, and another match where either guy winning wouldn’t be all that surprising. Hamid rolled past Wolfe earlier this spring, beating him 3&2, and in doing so dealing Wolfe his most lop-sided loss in the past two years. I like Bowdoin Kyle to get a little revenge. Bowdoin, 2-6, 6-3, 6-1.

#4 singles: Jiang vs Schlanger. Jiang never got on the singles court today, but he must’ve played pretty damn well against Bates on Friday. Schlanger absolutely ran away with his match against Indrakanti today, clinching the team match for Midd. Kyle also won the earlier match, beating Jiang 2&2. I’ll take Midd Kyle here, Midd, 6-4, 6-2.

#5 singles: Roddy vs Van der Geest. Roddy beat TVG 4&4 last month, and is swinging a hot stick at the moment coming off his straight-set 1&4 win over Cam Daniels, whom he had lost to by the reverse of that score, 4&1, earlier this spring. The Geest lost in three sets to Lil’ Raghavan today, and I think Roddy has the edge in this one. Bowdoin, 7-5, 6-3.

#6 singles: Carstens/Patel vs Jackson. We saw Carstens pulled for Patel against Bates on Friday, and #6 was never started today against Wesleyan, so I still don’t know if Carstens has a nagging injury or was simply pulled for the matchup on Friday. Jackson beat Carstens 6-2 in the 3rd set earlier this year, but was down a set (although up a break in the 2nd) to Sadowsky today. One of the Blog rules (ask D3West AKA Conor Holton-Burke for a complete list, as he has them tattooed on his butt) is never pick against a senior in a tossup match. Midd, 7-6 (3), 6-3.

Overall prediction: Midd def. Bowdoin 5-3, securing its Pool-A berth and very likely a top-3 overall seed, almost certainly top-2 overall seed if CMS does in fact lose to Redlands (they likely won’t).

One thought on “NESCAC Finals Preview

  1. brady

    1 Midd
    2 Bowdoin
    3 Bowdoin

    1 Midd
    2 Midd
    3 Bowdoin
    4 Midd
    5 Bowdoin
    6 Bowdoin
    Bowdoin wins 5-4/ 5-3 if 2 is not finished

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