Northwest and Southwest ITA Previews

All right fam, D3Regional here. This weekend is ITA weekend, and we at the blog would not be doing our “jobs” if we didn’t have previews of every single d3 ITA tournament throughout the country. Two of the less discussed but still compelling ITA tournaments are the Northwest ITA (long dominated by Whitman) and the Southwest ITA (long dominatead by Trinity and UT Tyler). There are compelling storylines in both, as we will see the return of Whitman’s Ben Hirsh as well as see if guys like Spencer Watanabe and Raed Attia can challenge the Blues. In the SW ITA, Southwestern will look to start their year hot and challenge UT Tyler and Trinity for titles. I will be covering the Northwest ITA tournament first (with some brief input from former Whitman and blogger great Conor Holton-Burke) and will then be turning it over to D3ASouth to bring it home with the Southwest ITA. Two ITA previews in one article. Wild stuff!

Northwest ITA

I love the NWC logo. It just makes me want to get outside. GIve me a better d3 conference logo, I dare you (SCIAC is second)

The Teams: Whitman, Pacific, George Fox, Lewis & Clark, Linfield, Pacific Lutheran, Willamette, Whitworth

Top Seeds:

#1 Zach Hewlin (Whitman) – UTR 12.00

I love this picture

The senior Hewlin has all the experience in the world for Whitman, and with that comes the overall #1 seed (putting overall in front of the #1 sounds fancier) and an easy draw. Hewlin wouldn’t face another Whitman player until the quarters, and that would be senior Adam Rapoport who I assume Hewlin has played in challenge matches many a time.

#2 Spencer Watanabe (George Fox) – UTR 11.88

Watanabe is the defending champ, and while his spring last year was not quite as dominant as his fall, he was still one of the top few players in the NWC. He has a relatively straight-forward draw until the quarters, where he likely will take on Gary Ho.

#3 Ben Kirsh (Whitman) – UTR 11.49

The man from Canada who was not in Whitman’s lineup this spring but made the ITA finals as a freshman last year is back in there this year. I don’t think there are a ton of guys in his quarter that can take him out, but one could be Gordon Barrows, the senior from Lewis & Clark who had an excellent 2016-17 season at #3 singles for the Pios.

#4 Raed Attia (Lewis & Clark) – UTR 11.10

Attia was a guy last season who pretty much won all the matches he should and lost the ones that he

The junior Attia will lead the way for the Pios

shouldn’t, losing to Hewlin, Watanabe, Clark Wininger (Pacific), James Fojtasek (Case), and other similar foes. A run to the semis would be a great result for Attia despite his seed, and he’ll have to get through guys like Robert Carter and Daniel Foster in order to do so.

 

Sleeper Picks:

#9/16 Jackson Powell (Lewis & Clark) – UTR 11.38

Jackson Powell was a strong freshman for the Pios last year, getting wins over quality players such as Kevin Dong (Case), Austin Diehl (Kenyon), Colin Bahin (Denison), and Josh Bernstein (Pacific). Making a run here would take beating a higher level of competition, but I think Powell has the talent level to take a step forward here in his sophomore season. To make the quarters, he would have to beat Gary Ho of Whitman in the round of 16. Keep your eye on that as a potential great match.

#9/16 Robert Carter (Whitman) – UTR 11.32

The senior, who I never knew went by Bobby until resident Blue/Squirrel CHB told me, has the draw to make a real run here. He’s in Attia’s section, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him taking on Hewlin come the semifinals.

#5/8 Oscar Wight (Pacific) – UTR 11.44

Oscar Wight will look to bring it for the Boxers

Another senior who could make some noise is Wight, who had a really strong under the radar season last year at #2 for the Boxers. He didn’t lose very many matches at all, and the ones he did lose were incredibly close, like 7-6 in the third to Niko Parodi close. He is in Hewlin’s quarter, and as a #5/8 seed I guess he isn’t exactly a sleeper pick, but he’s a non-Whitman guy for everybody to keep their eye on.

 

Doubles Overview:

Doubles is never an easy thing to predict, and I think the doubles portion of the NW ITA has the potential to be way more exciting than the singles portion. Lewis & Clark has two sets of brothers in the seeds, with Gordon / Brendan Barrows as the #1 seed and the Attia brothers of Raed / Ramez grabbing the #8 seed. Watanabe and Namba are the #2 seeds and defending champs, but they will have to get through plenty of strong teams if they hope to repeat. Speaking of brothers, Alex Namba’s brother, Payton Namba, is also in the draw with freshman William Leach. Is there another d3 tennis conference with more sets of brothers in it than the NWC? If there is, please let me know because every time I look at a NWC roster I see brothers on it. The blood in the NWC runs deep. Anyway, I hate making doubles predictions but I’d have to put the top 4 seeds (Barrows brothers, Watanabe/Namba, Hewlin/Carter, Ho/Rapoport) ahead of the rest, and would be relatively surprised if a team outside of these 4 takes the crown.

CHB Contribution:

Basically the only three players that have any legitimate shot of winning this tournament are Hewlin, Ben Kirsh, and Spencer Watanabe. The second group of guys includes Chase Friedman, Gary Ho, Bobby Carter, and Raed Attia. The story lines will be whether George Fox’s three recruits are good enough to allow them to compete for second place in the conference with Watanabe leading the way as a senior. Keep an eye on the Whitman freshman for scouting purposes, but I don’t expect to see much out of them this tournament. This is a huge year for Whitman with Hewlin, Friedman, Carter, Ho, Rapoport, and Fennessey all in their senior years. That can be great, but, as you learned last year, it can also come with a weird sort of pressure, and if some seniors check out before they get their diploma, the team can really struggle. The other question will be whether LC has cooled off. After bagging 3-stars in each of the last four recruiting classes, Coach Dreves didn’t manage to land a top 300 recruit this season. Have the Pios hit their ceiling, or will they be able to leverage their favorable geography in Portland to truly challenge for NWC supremacy. You can paraphrase (I didn’t paraphrase).

That’s my contribution (thanks CHB)
Predictions:

CHB:

Singles: Ben Kirsh

Doubles: Ho/Rapoport

D3Regional:

Singles: Spencer Watanabe

Doubles: Hewlin/Carter

Southwest ITA

ASouth here. Why is the ASouth here in the Texas ITA? Because our new guy, DIIIWestTennis, loves the SCIAC so much that he pawned Texas off to the guy who runs the blog. How did he manage that, I don’t know, but it’s not going to fly for that much longer. The newbie has got to learn his texas teams because @TUTennis has been a loyal team to the Blog for years as well as UT-Tyler. Also, Southwestern Coach Porter did a podcast with us this year. Get with the game, DIIIWest. Anyways, let’s start off this post with a shout-out to any of the Texas guys that have been affected by the recent hurricanes. Our thoughts are with you all and we hope you are doing alright.

Anyways, since I’m filling in, I extend my apologies to all the Texas teams for what may or may not be mediocre analysis that is about to come your way. Although, nothing I really do is ever mediocre so not sure why I said that. Let’s get to the competitors.

Main Competitors:

Trinity TX, UT-Tyler, Southwestern, UT-Dallas, Hardin Simmons

The Favorites:

Fagundes will be the favorite this weekend in the Southwest

#1 Seed Arthur Fagundes, UT-Tyler (12.78 UTR) – Fagundes, who is a two time NCAA qualifier and I believe a two time All American as well. He won this tournament last year and is far and away the favorite this year.  The big time Brazilian with the big serve brings great ground strokes and has the ability to blow most players off the court. It’s hard to find weaknesses in his game and honestly, I am not sure if anyone else in the draw has the goods to take him out in a tournament style setting. He should breeze through the first couple of rounds before facing his first true challenge and even that might not be much for him.  My bets on Fagundes, unless the departure of Coach Bizot last year has done something to his motivation.

# 3 Seed Wilson Lambeth, Trinity TX (12.33 UTR) – Don’t sleep on Wilson Lambeth, who came to Trinity as a hyped recruit and has more or less lived up to that billing. He did have a tough year last year at the top spot, but did finish off the year by taking out Dimanche of Southwestern (who will be mentioned) in straights after losing to him earlier in the year.  I don’t have the cajones to bet Lambeth for this tournament, but he’s a player with talent and arguably the second best player in the draw.

The Challengers:

# 2 Seed Alex Dimanche, Southwestern University (11.92 UTR) – If I didn’t mention Dimanche,

DIMANCHE

TxD3Rising might hack the blog and shut us down for good, so here we are. Dimanche was the man in Southwestern last year, and we’d be mistaken to not give him some more run in the articles this year.  He basically did not lose at #2 singles last year, only taking losses to Gordy (CMS) and the previously mentioned Lambeth, and his success here will really be determined by whether or not he worked hard this summer. If he did, he has every right to think that he can win this whole thing. While I think the kid worked his ass off over the summer, I don’t think he beats Fagundes. Either way, a finals appearance with the right draw may be in his future. Dimanche got himself the #2 seed so he’ll need to prove his worth in his sophomore season.

Freshmen to Watch:

#4 Seed Wilson Hamilton, Trinity TX (11.70 UTR) – The four star recruit (don’t kill me for using stars) from El Paso brings a whole new glimmer of hope for the Tigers, who have slowly been declining in rank as they try and catch up with the recruiting frenzy that is DIII. Hamilton boasts an almost 12 UTR that can rival some of the top guys and honestly, Trinity needs Hamilton to do well in this tournament.

#9 Seed Lars Wilk, Trinity TX (11.32 UTR) – Another recruit from Texas, Lars Wilk (what a name) is

Wilk is actually the second Lars I know of to play for a Trinity (Lars Skattum – Trinity CT)

looking to provide depth to the Trinity lineup. He is currently ranked in UTR to be around a 5 or 6 player for the Tigers, but a nice tournament could force Coach McMindes to throw him in a bit higher. Wilk will have to show us what he’s made of in a probable matchup against a top UTT or Southwestern guy, so we’ll see how that goes.

#9 Seed Jace Akagi-Okuma, Trinity TX (11.21 UTR) – The Tigers are really bringing in the names this year with their recruits. Other than reminding me of a very complicated sushi roll I had at an underground sushi place in NYC last week, Akagi-Okuma has also snagged a #9 seed here, basically meaning that McMindes has high hopes for the young guy. Again, the freshman will have to beat some more experienced players but if either Wilk or Akagi-Okuma can make the quarterfinals, Trinity will be pleased.

#9 Seed Alec Baskerville, Southwestern University (11.48 UTR) – Southwestern replaces the departing Niko Snovely with a nice recruit in Baskerville here. Baskerville is comparable to the Trinity freshman, which has to make Coach Porter feel pretty good. In a world where Southwestern is playing second fiddle to the Tigers, here is where they need to start taking advantage. Can Baskerville outperform his fellow 9 seeded freshmen and make Porter proud?

Other Challengers:

#5 Seed Jordan Pitts, Trinity TX (11.60 UTR) – We are basically going down the Trinity lineup as they have snagged the other top seeds (other than one surprise).  Pitts is a guy we need to watch as he notched wins against Derbani (MIDD), Bouchet (Emory), Whaling (GAC) last year and also split sets with CMS Senior Daniel Morkovine. Pitts can play with the best and he’s a guy that can pull an upset on the right day. If any of those other guys were in this tournament, we’d be mentioning them with the top dudes. Pitts deserves that mention. He’s also beaten the #7 seed in this tournament, Rodriguez of UTT. The sophomore had a damn nice season last year and some development this year could mean Jordan puts a stranglehold on the #2 spot for TU.

#6 Seed Alex Hunt, Hardin-Simmons (11.72 UTR) – Hardin-Simmons will get their only mention this article with junior Alex Hunt, who brings in the #6 seed after playing top dog for the HS team last year. Hunt did get smoked by Pitts in this same tournament last year, so I’m sure Hunt wants to put that behind him. I’m not sure if Hunt has the goods to win it all, but anything less than the QF is disappointing and anything more is a big win for him.

Conclusion

I hope you all enjoyed this article. I don’t really delve into the land of BBQ all too much even though Mighty Quinn’s in NYC is the bomb dot com. Although, I’m fairly sure that CHB didn’t even write a preview for you guys last year so you could say that I’m way way better than CHB.  I apologize to Liam Crawley and Matt Tyer as I did not mention them, and as per my normal cadence, I am not covering doubles in my previews because those predictions/analysis have a success rating of D3NE getting a girl’s phone number at an NYC bar. The success rate is about 2%. Trust me, I’ve seen it. Anyways, here I am concluding these geographically isolated ITAs in the PNW and Texas. Catch me in Iceland next for the Northern Lights, I’m traveling everywhere. ASouth and Regional, OUT.

4 thoughts on “Northwest and Southwest ITA Previews

  1. Tx D3 Rising

    I though A South did an excellent job on the ITA San Antonio write up. He apologized for (his region) putting too much sauce on his BBQ & not being able to get girls phone numbers, and even mentioned yours truly by name. They appear to be in a rain delay. Random Comments:

    – Fagundes (who everyone including me considers the favorite) and Lambeth are in nasty little quarters (while Hamilton & Dimanche are not).
    – Fagundes will have to get through Wiik (identical game & fight as Fagundes) and then Pitts just to get to the Semis.
    – Lambeth would have to get thru either Rodriguez (Tyler), Bucket Hat (TU), or Bask (SW), all of whom have games that could make Lambeth really have to work to get to the Semis.
    – You mentioned Crawley. Two other names of note (not mentioned) are Dulthummon (SW) & Rodriguez (Tyler)…each are talented & could make a run.
    – Both Rodriguez & Baskerville would rather face a higher seed in round 3…than each other (& that’s if Rodriguez even gets thru a very tough Bucket Hat – Rodriguez has the toughest draw of all the seeds.)
    – If Crawley gets by an up & down (but sometimes talented) first round match, I see him and Dimanche easily making the quarterfinal.
    – I see Hamilton & Dulthummon meeting in the weakest quarterfinal (both talented groundstrokers who will enjoy playing each other).
    – I see Fagundes & Pitts meeting in the Marquee quarter. (which will be a war.)
    – & I have no idea who Lambeth will meet. (Basker, Rodriguez or Bucket).

    In Dubs, I see Dimance/Gideon & Fagundes/Gomez easily making the semis (in weak quarters) & I see unseeded Hamilton/Wiik (both excellent doubles players) coming out of the weak second quarter.

    The nasty top quarter in Dubs has #1 seed Tyer/Lambeth along with a strong Tyler team, UTD’s strongest team and SW’s talented line 2. I’m hoping to see a UT/SW quarterfinal with that winner going to the final.

    I’ll probably go watch some matches on Saturday & report back. Most important to note….regarding this Regional, is that it’s in San Antonio. So they don’t need a nearby Torchys…..because you can’t swing a dead cat in greater SA without hitting a GREAT place to eat Tacos and Gorditas !! 🙂

  2. Water Girl

    Very disappointed in the southwest portion of this article. Very little time invested In any research. How hard would it have been to look up on the ITA website to see if Arthur Fagundes was a once or twice All American? Or to see if he played in UT Tyler’s tournament 2 weeks ago – which he didn’t.

    Those are just a couple of examples of this articles which seems to have been written with little effort or analysis.

    Surely the goal of the blog to inform its readers and encourage discussion. Do you think this article does this?

    1. D3West

      I think something that’s really important to remember for readers considering criticizing the amount or quality of our work is that WE ALL HAVE JOBS THAT WE HAVE TO DO THAT ACTUALLY MAKE MONEY FOR US. Sometimes, the best we can do is pump out a couple stream-of-consciousness paragraphs, and hope readers will use the post to provide more in-depth commentary (if they are so inclined).

      For what it’s worth, I think AS did a good job given his time constraints and limited expertise. He’s feeling especially sassy this year, so watch out. A couple quick thoughts:

      – Fagundes really is the odds-on favorite to take this thing, but it will be really interesting to get a look at this Trinity recruiting class.
      – The fact that they went to coin tosses for the qualifying spots is truly amazing. McKenna “Bucket Hat” Fujitani came out of the qualifiers to make the semifinals last year, beating Matt Tyer and Scott Wilding on the way, so that may end up having a big effect on the way this tournament shapes up.

    2. D3AtlanticSouth

      I spent probably 36X more time than you did with your comment, yet both of us got the same benefit out of the article. Yet you’re the one complaining?

      Also, love the discussion your comment encourages. Practice what you preach. I’d be more than happy to respond to actually constructive comments, but you chose to complain. So, we move on.

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