I’ve tried to give all of you some time to digest the extremely satisfying meal that was the New England Regional ITA. Personally, I’m sick of grades. I’d like to think of myself as the hot-shot experimental professor who doesn’t give grades. Everyone knows “that” professor is a bit out of his gourd, but people still line up to take his class because in the end the wisdom he gives out is well worth his brazen nature and stunning good looks. Instead of merely talking about the contenders, I’ve decided to give each team a small recap. Once we get closer to the spring season, I’m sure that I’ll relent and focus on the contenders, but for now each team deserves some recognition. The teams are in order of their regional ranking as of June (with some major guesswork on my part for the unranked teams). I’m not going to go too far into spring season predictions, because my goal is to write a team-preview for each team ranked in the top 20 of the Northeast region. Please comment to start a discussion!
Williams
HIGHLIGHT
Their 5-star freshman from Chicago may not have surprised the Almighty D3tennisguy, but his run through this tournament was still damn-impressive. Last year we saw a 5-star freshman win the whole tournament, and we almost had the same thing happen this year. With D3 getting stronger every year, is this merely a sign of things to come? Soon enough we’ll have one and done freshman stars being courted by pro agents and recording professional music labels (who wouldn’t pay to see Felix Sun rap?)
LOWLIGHT
It’s tough to consider winning a total of 3 rounds between the two draws a disappointment, but I was expecting big things from Micheli in this tournament. A 2nd round loss to the eventual champion and a dubs loss in the quarters to the finalists would be a fine result for most people; however, Matt Micheli is not most people. My guess is this just motivates him and hopefully we see some special things from the senior this spring.
Amherst
HIGHLIGHT
“I’ve never considered Fritz much of a doubles player, and I don’t think this Amherst team has the firepower to defeat either team on the opposing side of the draw.” I am man enough to admit when I’m wrong, and I was very wrong with this pair. We all know what great singles players these two are, but rarely does that translate into immediate doubles results. These two didn’t play much (if at all) together last year, but they cruised until the finals, where they beat the hometown favorites in what must have been a very exciting super breaker. Props to Fritz/Fife, if they can become a consistent doubles point, Amherst has to like their chances against the rest of the NESCAC.
LOWLIGHT
Like Micheli, I’m only calling Yaraghi Amherst’s lowlight because there were such great expectations for him. There’s no shame in losing to Lil’ Weiss or Campbell/Jones, but the fact that the defending champion didn’t live up to his seed in either draw should be seen as slightly disappointing. My guess is that he plays #2 behind Fritz this year, so a couple of rematches with Lil’ Weiss could be on the horizon.
Middlebury
HIGHLIGHT
Great tournament for Palmer Campbell, making the singles semis (loss to Harron) and the doubles final (loss to Fife/Fritz). He made a good run at this ITA last fall, and had a very successful year at #3, expect him to play higher this year (though Johnston, Jones, and Fitzgibbons all have some shot at playing #1 as well).
LOWLIGHT
This was probably the 2nd biggest upset of the tournament. Fitzgibbons, fresh off of his win at the Middlebury Invitational, went down in the 1st round (Feit of Wheaton). After beating the likes of Telkedzhiev, BJ, and Glickman a fairly routine 4&4 1st round loss must’ve shocked the home crowd. Hansen will have a tough time determining who will play at the top of his lineup; luckily in his case it’s a good problem to have!
Bowdoin
HIGHLIGHT
If Fitzgibbons going down in the 1st round was the 2nd biggest upset of the tournament, then Luke Trinka is the 1st. Trinka would not have been in my top 20 choices to win the tournament. He wouldn’t have even been in my top 20 dark horses. He’s a fiery, streaky player (who obviously has gotten better) and I wouldn’t have guessed that he’d have been able to put a run together like this. For crying out loud look at the man’s draw! Wesleyan #1, Williams #1, Middlebury #5, Bates #1, Tufts #1, Williams #3. That’s amazing! Maybe you can liken his regional run to Skinner’s last year (though he still has work to do to equal that run) but at least Skinner played in the lineup, Trinka was not in Bowdoin’s starting singles lineup last spring (plus look at the picture above, the guy has a serious case of dinosaur hands). From zero to hero, just like that. Perhaps we should nickname him Hercules?
LOWLIGHT
Because of Trinka, it’s tough to see Bowdoin’s tournament as anything but a success. However, the man I assumed would play #2 (though now it’s anybody’s guess), Sam King, lost in the 2nd round to a Middlebury player who is fighting for the final singles lineup spot, and lost in the first round of the doubles (Yaraghi/Zykov). Even with Trinka’s dominant performance, for the Polar Bears to contend with the 3 teams currently ranked ahead of them King will have to put on his big boy pants and start grinding out close matches (something he hasn’t had too much success with in his career).
MIT
HIGHLIGHT
In my eyes, there is a significant drop between the top 4 and the rest of the Northeast. However there is something to be said for the fact that MIT got wins from 3 separate singles players. The only other teams that can say that are the 4 above them. Zhang, Wang, and Gea all won their respective 1st round matches, and Zhang overcame a 0-6 1st set loss to Astrachan to win his 2nd round match as well.
LOWLIGHT
What a brutal draw for the Engineers. After winning his 1st round match, Wang went up against the #1 overall seed (Fritz), Oh drew had to go up against #5 Campbell, Gea lost to Lil’ Weiss in the 2nd round. The bad luck didn’t stop in singles, After taking out a team of Tufts singles’ seeds, Wang&Oh bowed out to Micheli&Harron, while Zhang/Wu drew the freshman from Williams, and eventual semifinalists, Raventos/Shastri. I know that you can’t go into a match feeling like an underdog, but unfortunately it seemed like MIT was an underdog in almost all of their early matches.
Bates
HIGHLIGHT
Somewhat disappointing results from the Bobcats. However, Bates fans have to be pleased with the results from Timmy Berg. Losing in the quarters is never a bad result, especially when it’s to the eventual champion. Almost more impressive than Berg’s run is how he got there. He had a tough 1st round matchup in Solimano, and was a set down in 2 of his 3 singles wins. Encouraging things for the newly minted Bates #1, though coming back from a set down might be a little tougher against the likes of Fritz, and whoever the heck plays #1 for Williams, Midd, and Bowdoin.
LOWLIGHT
What happened to the doubles teams? Two wins between 3 teams, a 1st round loss to Wheaton, and 2 2nd round losses that weren’t that close. This Bates recruiting class is its best since Bettles/Crampton, and could eventually prove to be even better, but there is obviously a long ways to go before reaching that point. Doubles was a strength of Bates while they were making their rankings jump of 2011, but last year their doubles were not as reliable, and it seems they may be poised to fall even further.
Wesleyan
HIGHLIGHT
This was not the breakout performance that many were expecting from the young Cardinals. Brint/Hicks to the doubles quarters was a good result (beating a Bates seed in the 2nd round. More impressive in my eyes was the freshman Liu over Dale in the 1st round, and then a close 5&5 loss to Johnston in the 2nd round. I predicted Dale to win that 1st round match, and was very wrong! Liu cruised through the C flight at Midd, but the best player he beat is likely someone who will play 7 or 8 for Midd. This was a better win, and taking Johnston to the brink has to be encouraging for Coach Fried as well.
LOWLIGHT
It’s tough to call anyone losing to the eventual champion a bad loss, bud Roberts going down in the 1st round (and denying the fans his rematch with Micheli) was disappointing. So was the fact that Rudovsky/Lyon got soundly beaten by the only Colby team in the draw. There is work to do to reach the lofty expectations we have for the young guns from Middletown, CT.
Tufts
HIGHLIGHT
Here’s a spelling lesson. Telkedzhiev is a good guy, with a very difficult last name, so I was happy to see him do so well. Nik had an easy draw early on, but then went on to beat Carpenter and Branter Jones in back to back 3 setters. He finally went down to Trinka in the semis, but the idea the Telkedzhiev can beat some of the other NESCAC 1’s is a good sign for Jumbo fans everywhere.
LOWLIGHT
While Telkedzhiev saved the singles draw for the Jumbos, dubs was a different story. Glickman/Telkedzhiev lost in the 1st round, and Jacobson/Wong lost in the 2nd round. With younger strong singles players, the boys from Medford need to step up their doubles game if they want to continue their recent trend of making NESCACS.
Trinity
HIGHLIGHT
I’m assuming that the majority of Trinity’s junior class is abroad this semester, which is the reason for their numerous freshman in the draw. One junior that didn’t leave is Dan Carpenter. The overall #8 seed didn’t quite hold seed, but he played well before pushing Telkedzhiev to 6-4 in the 3rd. Fine tournament for DC, but the fact that he’s the Bantams highlight says something about their overall tournament.
LOWLIGHT
Carpenter and Mbithi were a bit of a disappointment. They lost to Berg/Ellis, the same team that they beat not even 2 weeks prior. I understand that these were two make-shift doubles teams as both teams have players abroad (Planche, Mandel, Levin) but still a disappointing doubles show from the Bantams.
Brandeis
HIGHLIGHT
Great 3 set 1st round win for Michael Arguello over Local-Ro Shastri. He was routinely beaten by Telkedzhiev in the 2nd round, but a win over a 4-star freshman who played #3 for Williams in their most recent dual match is something to make Coach Lamanna smile. Side note, does Lamanna ever not smile? Hopefully he’ll be able to keep his sunny disposition with the graduation of his top 2 (Milo and Jordan).
LOWLIGHT
Not too much else that went right for the Judges. Least of all an 8-1 drubbing for Arguello/Granoff at the hands of Tufts #2 team (Jacobson/Wong).
Colby
HIGHLIGHT
Good tournament for Jason Ottomano. He took out the 3 star sophomore from the Coast Guard, and teamed up with Martin to dismantle the Wesleyan #1 team of Rudovsky/Lyon 8-3. He is definitely the leader of the Mules, and he’s gonna have to kick some ass (couldn’t resist) this year to get his team where they need to be.
LOWLIGHT
However, even though Colby got 2 wins, the fact that they only had 2 guys in the singles draw and one doubles team shows just how far they are from competing in the NESCAC.
Conn
HIGHLIGHT
Another NESCAC team with only 2 singles players and 1 doubles team, but this one left Middlebury without a win. Deeter/Kraiger pushed the #2 seeded Johnston/Lebovitz team to 8-6, and Cangelosi was actually ahead of Fritz in the 1st set before unraveling after a tiebreak loss.
LOWLIGHT
On the flipside, Suneby got rolled by Sam King, 2&0 in the 1st round. While King’s victory wasn’t too surprising, Suneby is a good player and the relative ease with which King had was surprising (especially considering the rest of his tournament).
Coast Guard
HIGHLIGHT
Renfrow soundly beat Gianelli (Springfield) to earn the Coast Guard’s sole win in either draw. Renfrow didn’t have many wins at #2 or #3 for USCGA last year, so perhaps this is signs of a step forward.
LOWLIGHT
Fortna/Guentert were beaten (badly) by the Bates #1 team in the 1st round of the doubles. There is no excuse for losing serve that many times in a doubles match.
Wheaton
HIGHLIGHT
One of the biggest surprises of the tournament was Jonah Feit, the sophomore from California. I’ve already talked about his 4&4 win over #6 Teddy Fitzgibbons, but then he destroyed Chien (Bowdoin) and was up a set on Berg before falling in 3 sets. He got some revenge on the Bobcats when he teamed up with Sharon to defeat Bates’ #3 team in the 1st round. Overall, great tournament for Feit, and hopefully we’ll see him win some tough matches at #1 this year.
LOWLIGHT
While Feit’s singles performance was inspiring, the other Lyon, Sharon, was not so lucky, losing 1&1 to Frons (Midd) in the 1st round. Though Frons was probably favored in this match, 1&1 is never a good result.
Nichols
HIGHLIGHT
Nichols’ brightest star over the past 2+ years has been Brandon Roode. This year he was properly rewarded with a seed. For the 2nd straight year he drew a Bates player in the 1st round and for a 2nd straight year he defeated a Bates player. Though Feldman is no Crampton, an ITA win is an ITA win, and earning a win 2 years in a row is an accomplishment.
LOWLIGHT
On the other hand, Roode was a 9-16 seed, and didn’t make it past the 2nd round. Mountifield is a good player, and a likely #5 or #6 for a deep Midd team, but a 1&2 loss for a seed in the 2nd round is disappointing.
Babson
HIGHLIGHT
Both Beaver singles entrants pushed their 1st round opponents. Perez lost to Micheli in 2 close sets, and Vu pushed Gea to 6-4 in the 3rd set. Two good first round matches, and tough opponents pushed.
LOWLIGHT
HOWEVER, while pushing your opponent is a good start, a season full of pushing opponents will not satisfy Babson fans or players. Babson should have a decent team this year, and is primed to move above some of the teams ahead of them on this list.
Gordon
HIGHLIGHT
For those of you who are unfamiliar with the Gordon “Fighting Scots” (I kid you not), they are a team in the CCC who get beat up on by their conference juggernauts (Nichols, and Colby-Sawyer) each year. However, a singles win (no matter if over a Springfield player nor that he retired after the 1st 6 games) is a wonderful result. Good for you Zach Hall, you go Zach Hall.
LOWLIGHT
No lowlight! Hall was the only Gordon player in the draw, and the 1st in recent memory. Even though he lost 2&1 to Harron in the 2nd round, this was a great tournament for the Fighting Scots!
Colby-Sawyer
HIGHLIGHT
A win is a win, and the Chargers beat the team from UMass Boston in the 1st round of the doubles draw. Singles was a different story…
LOWLIGHT
Both Chargers lost in straight sets in the 1st round to a player who lost in straight sets in the 2nd round (Mo, Bowdoin and King, Wesleyan). Most importantly for the Chargers, they are still in prime position to make a run at their conference title and earn another NCAA bid.
Springfield
HIGHLIGHT
Ummm…yeah about that
LOWLIGHT
The Pride were beaten, and beaten thoroughly. Losses to players from the USCGA (2&2) and Gordon (4-2 ret.) and an 8-1 crushing at the hands of Wesleyan #2. Sorry Pride, but can you feel the love tonight?
UMass Boston
HIGHLIGHT
See Springfield’s highlight…
LOWLIGHT
Cullen and Lai amassed a grand total of 3 1st round games, losing to Chien & Zhang. However the reigning champions of the Little East more than doubled their total number of games won in an 8-4 loss to Colby Sawyer in the 1st round of the dubs.
Enough of the highs and lows. All in all it was a great tournament, and yet another sign of the immense depth and ever growing talent from the region with 3 of the past 4 national champions. Please leave your comments and discuss what you think were the highs and lows of the tournament. D3AS and myself will be previewing Amherst/Hopkins and Amherst/Carnegie Mellon at some point this week.