NCAA MEN’S REGIONAL PLAYERS OF THE WEEK: April 20th-April 26th
It’s been a busy week in DIII Tennis and in my life. In preparation for Avengers: Age of Ultron, I binge-watched all of Daredevil over the past week. Not the best show I’ve ever seen, but worth watching if you’re into that sort of thing. Plus, this movie is going to be amazing. Ok, enough nerdgasming, we had a ton of action this week as a some of the country played their conference tournaments, and the rest wrapped up their regular seasons. Bids were clinched to both conference tournaments and NCAAs, and it’s time we recognize one superhero per region in one of the final POTWs of the season.
A-SOUTH
Player: Rafe Mosetick
Team: Emory
Results: Another undefeated weekend at #3 singles and 2-1 in doubles.
Recap: casually saved 3 (or 4?) match points to win the UAA tournament.
What’s next: NCAAs and stuff.
Honorary Mention: Eric Halpern (EU)
TV show you’re currently binge-watching: True Detective, gotta catch up!
2015 movie you’re most excited for: Mall Cop 2
Central
Player: Deepak Sabada
Team: Chicago
Results: 2-1 in singles. Both wins clinched matches
Recap: There is nothing better than when a senior comes through when you need him most and Deepak did just that. His three setter over Simhadri of Case let Chicago avenge their early season loss and he won a war of Duncan from Carnegie stopping the momentum that the Tartans were building. Props for the Chicago twitter for calling me out right after I said I was worried things were going south. Chicago had two very good wins this weekend and came a match away from beating Emory as well. I have to give a quick shout out to freshman Peter Leung as well as he went undefeated and was a big key for the Maroons.
What’s next: A likely Pool C bid to nationals and a #2 seed. I can tell you one thing, no one wants to see these guys in their half of the draw!
Honorary Mention: Peter Leung (Chicago), Chris Krimbill (Case), Putterman/Bush (Wash U), Noah Sprinkel (Coe)
TV show you’re currently binge-watching: House of Cards
2015 movie you’re most excited for: Jurassic World
NE
Player: Andrew Yaraghi
Team: Amherst
Results: 2-0 at #1 singles and 2-0 at #2 doubles.
Recap: After playing #5 for the majority of last year, Yaraghi has blossomed into the #1 we always knew he would. This week, he paired with Anton Zykov to take down two tough #2 teams of Midd and Bates, and two even tougher opponents at #1 singles. Yaraghi took down Pierre Planche (Bates) in a super on Friday, and then beat Ari Smolyar (Midd), the #1 player in the region, 11-9 in a super on Sunday, clinching Amherst’s 9-0 sweep of Middlebury. Yaraghi has been one of the best players in DIII over the 2nd 1/2 of the season, and should be able to do some damage in the NCAA tournament and hopefully at Individual NCAAs as well.
What’s next: NESCACs, Amherst earned the #1 seed and receives a bye to the semis. They will play the winner of the #4/#5 matchup.
Honorary Mention: Anton Zykov (Amherst), Gil Roddy (Bowdoin), Kyle Wolstencroft (Bowdoin), Nik Telkedzhiev (Tufts), Rohan Gupte (Tufts).
TV show you’re currently binge-watching: Now that Daredevil is done, the watchful eye of D3NE shifts back to its ongoing battle with Community.
2015 movie you’re most excited for: 4 days until Avengers. But the fact that no one said Star Wars: Episode VII is an absolute travesty.
WEST
Player: Warren Wood and Skyler Butts
Team: CMS
Results: Wood won the singles of Ojai and made the finals of dubs. Vice versa for Butts
Recap: Ojai loomed large over the lesser conference tournaments this week making my choice easy in that I only have to look at one event, but hard in that I can’t pick between a couple players. Do I give the nod to the two-time singles champ who won the tourney without dropping a set (and won the bracket challenge for me)? Or do I give it to the guy who played three incredible matches in the quarters (Hull), semis (Lipscomb), and finals before winning his second doubles title with a second partner? How about both? Both is good.
What’s next: The Stags gear up for a potential third match with their cross-street rivals in the SCIACs
Honorable Mention: Colton Malesovas (Whitman), Wootton/Fischer (Tyler) for solidifying their respective nationals spots
TV show you’re currently binge-watching: hahahaha, TV
2015 movie you’re most excited for: Inside Out, Pixar don’t let me down!
REGIONAL
Player: Jonny Baker
Team: University of Rochester
Results: 3-0 at #3 singles at UAAs, 1-2 at #3 doubles
Recap: Baker had an excellent UAA tournament from a singles standpoint, notching three wins over good teams. Two of them were over Brandeis and NYU, and they were good wins, defeating Alec Siegel of Brandeis in three sets and talented freshman Ian Combemale of NYU in an easy straight-set match. Most impressively, however, was his superbreaker win at #3 over Jeremy Bush of Wash U, coming back from losing the first 6-1. Baker struggled to start the year at #2, but after moving down to #3, he excelled, winning seven straight matches to finish off the season. Baker is a legit #3, and is only a sophomore, so more to come from this Yellowjacket!
What’s Next: The ‘Jackets season has sadly come to a close after a fifth straight 8th place finish at UAAs. They only lose one player to graduation, #4 singles player Julian Danko, so Rochester should still be a solid squad next year as they look to rebound.
Honorary Mention: Sam Khoshbin (NYU), 1-1 at #4 singles, 0-1 at #2 singles, and 2-1 at #2 doubles including a nice comeback win over Emory.
TV show you’re currently binge-watching: Parks and Recreation, the show is literally identical to The Office and it is literally hilarious.
2015 movie you’re most excited for: Release date isn’t until 2016, but Finding Dory is at the top of my list for must-see. In 2015, I have to either say The Peanuts Movie or Mockingjay–Part 2.
Jonny Baker has got the good stuff. Clutch when he needs to be and dominant when he doesn’t.
Stat Correction: Khoshbin went 1-2 at UAA’s in singles. (1-1 at 4) and (0-1 at 2)
I don’t know where you came up with the number 7 for the number of match points rafe mosetick saved to win the UAA tournament, but that’s just completely false. It was 3. I saw every point of the match. Great tourney by him though
Hm… that was the number that was told to me around the blog. Could be some Emory bluster though! Thanks for the update. I will make the edits.
That stat was written by UAA Tennis. No one at Emory created that rumor. It was indeed at least 3.
“Hawkeye” is a perfect nickname for Yaraghi. The dude literally paints the lines.
Deepak is one of my favorite players to watch. This year may not have been as strong as last, when he qualified for nationals, but his game has come a long way since his freshman year. I used to watch him then and he’d stand well behind the baseline, playing a reactive style that couldn’t really hurt his opponent. I don’t know if this change was implemented by Coach Tee, but he now stands right on the baseline, allowing him to take time away from his opponent and come into the net on sly attacks (making great use of the drop volley.) All of this is to say that he epitomizes how even a 4-star recruit, working in tandem with a motivated coach, can make major strides with their game.