NCAA MEN’S REGIONAL PLAYERS OF THE WEEK: March 30th-April 5th
Welcome to one of the best sports days of the year, boys and girls. Opening Day, NCAA Mens Basketball National Championship, and POTW all in the same day? Color me impressed. DIII Tennis is widely considered to be the lil brother of the NCAAB tournament, and is probably the second most covered sport in all of NCAA athletics. But let’s be honest, the baseball season will drag on forever and after March Madness ends there will inevitably be some scandal where “Hall of Famer” Coach Calipari is stripped of yet another Final Four appearance. We know that you come to The Blog for a reason, the purity of DIII tennis and the saint-like morality of its players and coaches. Here today, are some of the brightest of the bright, the purest of the pure, and the woodiest of the woods. Enjoy your POTW.
A-SOUTH
Player: Abhishek Alla
Team: Carnegie Mellon
Results: 2-0 this weekend at #1 Singles
Recap: Abhishek Alla had the most surprising weekend in the ASouth, considering he beat both CJ Krimbill of Case and Wade Heerboth of Kenyon. I was not high on Alla prior to this weekend but it looks like he is playing well and can be considered one of the top #1 singles players in the country yet again. His style of game is not of the aesthetic sort, but wins are the most aesthetically pleasing of them all, and he is getting lots of them. Without him, the CMU weekend could have looked a whole lot worse.
What’s next: CMU hosts Mary Washington and Hopkins at home, setting up Alla vs. MVP Buxbaum.
Honorary Mention: Stevens Men’s Tennis Team
Favorite part about March Madness: Crying kids on camera, by far
First sign your bracket was busted: When I had 120 possible points in the second round
Favorite part of Stevens Mean Tweets: Tyler Tisdale’s reaction to my “10 Minutes” Tweet.
Central
Player: Mohaned Al-Houni
Team: Gustavus
Results: 2-1 at #1 singles
Recap: How can I pick him when his team lost all three big matches in California? Well I was the first to say that Mohaned was going to be well overmatched at #1 singles. Not only is he a freshman, but he also is newly minted playing the top spot. Instead of being intimidated, he beat Schidlovsky from Williams 0 and 0 which seemed like a fluke since they were battling a stomach virus. Well the very next match, Mohanded took out Hudson from Pomona which proved he is legit. After winning the first set against Wood from CMS, I was starting to think crazy thoughts. Wood came back to win in three sets, but still this was an impressive week from the younger Al-Houni. Gustavus is going to need this type of performance if they want to pull an upset in May. Kenyon fans, don’t think I am not recognizing the Lords because I didn’t notice. Just spreading the love around to all teams in the Central.
What’s next: Gustavus plays Depauw and Chicago in two weeks. There is an outside chance Gustavus can scare Chicago with a doubles sweep and I would love to see it! Time to start supporting the over achievers! Go GAC!
Honorary Mention: Sam Geier (Kenyon), Tim Rosensteel (Kenyon)
Favorite part about March Madness: Nigel Harris at press conferences
First sign your bracket was busted: Busted? I will be collecting my winnings Monday night!
Favorite part of Stevens Mean Tweets: Coach Gachko nodding his head after saying it is nice to be the rankings chair in terms of getting his team in the tourney! Loved it!
NE
Player: Aaron Revzin
Team: Amherst
Results: 2-0 at #1 doubles, 2-0 at #4 singles
Recap: Engine Rev had another big week for the Jeffs, pairing with Solimano at #1 dubs to take down both Tufts and Wash U’s #1 pair. The bloggers (including myself) are pretty high on the Wash U duo of Putterman/Bush so this was an especially good win for the Amherst pair. Revzin also had singles wins over Cary (Tufts) and Bush (Revzin really took it to Bush on Sunday) to complete his perfect week. Bush has a slew of good singles wins this year, including Huber (Kenyon), Stuerke (Case), Joachim (Hopkins), and Niess (Trinity Tx), so Revzin taking him down in straight sets is very encouraging. We knew the top ½ of the Amherst lineup was going to be a force, but adding at 4th component would greatly increase the Jeff’s chances at yet another deep NCAA tournament run.
What’s next: Aaron will take his 6 match win streak vs DIII opponents at #1 dubs and a 5 match win streak vs DIII opponents at #4 singles into another busy week. Thursday at MIT, Saturday at home vs Trinity Ct, and a big home match on Sunday vs Bowdoin.
Honorary Mention: Andrew Yaraghi (Amherst), Kit Sanderson (Skidmore), Zain Ali (Tufts)
Favorite part about March Madness: The first weekend. I’m not sure I left my apartment for 72 hours straight.
First sign your bracket was busted: UAB over Iowa St, like 2 hours into the first Thursday. Le sigh. Also, I hate D3Central…
Favorite part of Stevens Mean Tweets: The fact that it was about 80% D3AS. That and Matty Ice flipping over his chair.
WEST
Player: Warren Wood
Team: CMS
Results: 6-0 at #1 singles and #1 doubles against GAC, Redlands, and Williams
Recap: Not that Wood has had any bad weeks this year, but this week was particularly picante. He and Dorn dropped a grand total of 9 games against the #1 teams from Redlands, GAC, and Redlands (all likely/possible national qualifiers). He beat Raventos and Lipscomb – a great rival over the past four years – in straights, and recovered from a 3-6 first set to beat Mohanad Al Houni, who was coming off consecutive wins over Hudson (P-P) and Schidlovsky. Wood is now riding a 7 match winning streak at #1 over some pretty stiff competition.
What’s next: The second round of The Battle of Sixth Street is on Friday, as the Stags look to extend their unprecedented dominance of the SCIAC
Favorite part about March Madness: First round upsets
First sign your bracket was busted: I actually had a great bracket going until Wisconsin beat Arizona. Sorry Wade 🙁 #BackThePAC
Favorite part of Stevens Mean Tweets: The Resident Pest crying himself to sleep really took me back to old times
REGIONAL
Player: Steven Boslet
Team: Christopher Newport
Results: 2-0 at #2 singles and #2 doubles against Johns Hopkins
Recap: I typically find it difficult to give POTW to a guy who has only played one match over the week, but in this case I have to make an exception. CNU took on Hopkins on Saturday, and nearly took it, losing 5-4 to a full Hopkins lineup minus #1 Mike Buxbaum. Boslet had the best day of all the Captains, winning at #2 doubles with partner Chiraag Shetty and then defeating Ben Hwang at #2 singles, 6-2, 6-1. Boslet has been up and down this year at #2, winning against Sewanee but losing to Whittier, Washington & Lee, Redlands, and Carnegie. This is by far Boslet’s best win of the season, and it will be interesting to see if he can play at this level in CNU’s upcoming matches.
What’s next: CNU takes on Mary Washington and NC Wes next week. I don’t favor CNU in either match, but if they played the way they just did against Hopkins, anything is possible.
Honorary Mention: Victor Vu (Babson)
Favorite part about March Madness: Frank Kaminsky
First sign your bracket was busted: I have Wisconsin winning, but I also had them beating Virginia in the finals, so I have to say the second Virginia went out was that sign.
Favorite part of Stevens Mean Tweets: The Cirque Du Charles appearance #MyNameIsCharles.