Season Preview: #12 Pomona-Pitzer Sagehens

We got a Valentine’s Day special lined up lovers! As we round out the season preview preview portion of the year, and despite some teams having already played, there are still a few left that deserve to be “previewed”. Pomona Pitzer is a team in the shadows by their cross street rivals, CMS, but quietly and very efficiently, finish in the top 12 year in and year out. In recent years, it seems that Pomona is the wall that separates tier 1 teams from the rest, but despite lackluster recruiting classes since the Belletto departure of 2013, the Hens have still been able to maintain a high national ranking with even some national berths sprinkled in. Who could forget their incredible run back in 2015 where every match went to 5-4, but it seems that since then, the Hens haven’t been able to find that fire. Now two consecutive senior classes that have made a stamp on the program have graduated which leaves some major question marks for the Sagehens, but with a young core and a committed coach in Bickham, anything is possible for this team as they enter the spring swing. 

Location: Claremont, CA

Coach: Steve Bickham (6th season)

ITA National Ranking: #12

Blog Power Ranking: #11

Twitter: Follow

2017/2018 Finish: A loss to CMS in the SCIAC final (and in the end, too many pool c losses for a spot at nationals)

Key Additions: Jansen Comadena, Nils Skattum, Charlie Stark, and Jack Weiler

Key Departures: Marko Mandic (4/5 singles), Sam Malech (5/6 singles), Kalyan Chadalavada (1 doubles)

LINEUP ANALYSIS:

1. Jed Kronenberg, Sophomore — It goes without saying that Jed is the real deal and he will no doubt hold this top spot for many years to come. He made quite the mark his freshman year, going 26-7, making it all the way to the quarters of individual nationals before losing to Katzman of CMS. Needless to say, Kronenberg doesn’t lose often and

   

   there are very few players out there in the DIII world that can beat this kid on any given day. His results last year speak for themselves – every match he was expected to win, he came out in straights with close losses to the likes of Parodi, Cuba, Al Houni, and Katzman. Expect Jed to have another stellar season on the singles court and be as much of a lock as a #1 can be. Hit him up on linkedin too, he’s a true professional on and off the court from what it looks like! 

2. Josh Gearou, Senior — With one of the most unorthodox and trickiest styles of play out there, Josh can really lull you to sleep at times. I feel like playing at #2 is a bit of a stretch for the senior after a losing record at this spot last year, but his infuriating style can sometimes get him across the finish line against bigger and better players. If he wants to beat some of the best 2’s in the country, he’ll have to come in a ton and use his volleys (his real strength) to counteract his rather weak groundies. He’ll run all over the place and refuse to give in, but with big ball strikers that are able to punish through his defensive skills, Gearou will once again struggle at this spot. As much as Jed is a lock at #1, Gearou at #2 is a bit of a stretch. He may be better off playing at #3? We’ll see what Bickham has in store for the day! 
3. Octave Bellet, Senior — His first year as Hen last year didn’t quite turn out as successful as we all had anticipated. Octave and Josh flip flopped for the most part at 2 and 3 and I see the same trend continuing this year. He has the whole package, but seems to mentally collapse after tough first sets; not something you want to see out of a top singles player. I feel like Octave has the ability to absolutely dominate at #3, but it’s going to have to come from upstairs on whether he is fully committed to each and every match throughout the season. 
4. Jansen Comadena, Freshman — Not much to go off of here as Jansen is just a freshman, but scouting reports tell me he hits a heavy ball and will be solid #4 for the Hens. With 

   

   the departure of Malech and Mandic at about this spot in the lineup, Jansen has somewhat big shoes to fill as the Hens have always been solid towards the middle of the lineup. Just a young Hen here trying to find his place in the coop.

5. Sam Gearou, Senior — The lefty Gearou! He comes in as a player that has seen glimpses of the lineup, but throughout his three years, hasn’t had a solidified spot on the singles court. With some departing seniors from last year, I think this is finally the year where Sam will see himself safely secured at the 5 spot. With a big lefty game,

   

   amazing speed, and impeccable hands, Sam could really make some noise at this portion of the lineup. With him and his brother being absolute rocks throughout their three years as a Hen, let’s hope they are able to put a stamp on a stellar college career with some solid singles results from both.

6. Jack Bernstein/Nils Skattum/Avery Bicks/Jacob Schoenherr — It seems that Bickham is known for having a very open revolving door at #6 throughout the years and I don’t see this pattern stopping this season. #6 will be played by at least 4 different players throughout the spring, with the 4 above names, in my opinion, most likely to lead this revolving door. Bernstein had a tremendous fall, Skattum played #6 against Cal Lutheran and didn’t drop a game, Avery is a talented big man with a ton of upside, and Jacob played as high as #3 last year despite some struggles. They all have a case to start, but results speak for themselves – a very well known blog once said “Let the Rackets do the Talking”.

QUICK DOUBLES THOUGHTS:

No offense, Hen fans, but I think we can all agree that their doubles was absolutely awful last year and the results speak for themselves. I’m not going to filter through their results, but I can count the amount of times they went up in doubles on a single hand. Hard to crack into the top 10, let alone beat a top 10 team, when you have to win the majority of the singles and that seemed to be their achilles heel last year. The Hens simply were not strong enough to win 4 out 6 singles against the likes of CMS, Bowdoin, Gustavus, Williams, etc. and going down in doubles against such teams is pretty much game over. With not much of a change in the level from their singles players compared to last year, if the Hens want to make noise this year and once again regain a top 6 national ranking, they’ll have to do it on the doubles court. I’ll bring up their 2015 season one more time… that 5-4 parade all started out on the doubles court, as they went down on the doubles end just twice that year. If they want to repeat such a season, they will HAVE to win the majority of the doubles the majority of the time. It’s that simple. I’m not going to go into projected doubles lineups and make a complete fool out of myself when their lineup is the exact opposite of what I predicted, but the Hens are a prime example of why doubles are so important – good enough singles players to win 3 out of 6 singles matches (when going up 2-1 in doubles), but not strong enough to win 4 or even 5 singles (when going down 1-2 or 0-3 after doubles).

SCHEDULE ANALYSIS:

The Hens start out with some solid matches to get their season rolling, with some SCIAC teams in Cal Lu, Whittier, and Occidental. Their first tough match comes from DII Azusa Pacific, which is always a fun match for the Hens and a good test at where they are before they head into the bulk of the DIII competition. The match against Brandeis will be a big match for both teams, but an even bigger one here for the Hens as they have more to lose. After a heartbreaking 5-4 loss to the Hens that came down to #1 singles last year, the Judges will look to rebound and start their CA trip with a solid win here.

The day after Deis, the Hens will hop on a plane and head to Cleveland for Indoors where they’ll face a Gustavus in the first round. Despite Gustavus being the higher seed and the eighth ranked team in the country, the Hens absolutely have a shot here to win their first round. Pomona hasn’t fared that well when they go to Indoors but a win against Gustavus in the opening round will make it a trip worthwhile.

March is when their onslaught of matches roll in, with Mary Washington greeting them right off the bat. Get dirty go wash hasn’t beaten Pomona in some time (@d3atlanticsouth has some choice words about their scheduling decision), but it’s always a tough match that goes 5-4 or 6-3. With similar rosters as years prior in terms of level, I see the same result occurring once again on the Hens’ home courts. Stag Hen is a staple in their schedule and with a first round encounter against Swarthmore (a match I see them taking care of business in), a semi-final matchup against CMS, Gustavus, or Bowdoin might be Pomona’s biggest match in terms of pool c implications of their season. CMS and Bowdoin have had their shares of spectacular Stag-Hen finals, but Pomona always shows up for the home tournament and I see a chance for an upset looming here.

Right after Stag Hen is arguably the match of the season for the Hens as they face off against Whitman. Though on their home courts, the Hens got absolutely thrashed by the Blues in their indoor bubble back in 2017. Tons of individual, national, and regional implications in this match, ultimately an encounter I see Pomona coming out ahead in due to the outdoor play that may be too large of an advantage for Whitman to counteract.

Their next ten days is what will make or break their season, as matches against Tufts, Williams, Chicago, and Middlebury will by no means be easy. I’ll leave this little bit of statistical analysis here:

• Chances of beating Tufts (Home court) = 58%
• Chances of beating Williams (Home court) = 29%
• Chances of beating Chicago (Home court) = 15%
• Chances of beating Middlebury (Home court) = 8%

If they can come out ahead of two of those matches, that will pretty much guarantee them a top 10 ranking, but a loss to Tufts will make it tough to bounce back and beat the three teams teed up on their schedule. Going 0-4 in this stretch will pretty much be kissing their season goodbye (unless they can somehow beat CMS in the SCIAC final), but what I’m saying is that it will be these four matches that will determine the fate of their season (and my odds show that none of them will come easy). In past years, a win against such a marquee team is what the Hens have been missing to make that step up into the top 10.

After this stretch, some interesting matches await, as my eyes lock in a Trinity(TX) encounter down in Claremont. Trinity is going to be a tough out this year and similar to Pomona’s matchup against Whitman, it will have a ton of ranking implications attached. The Hens then round out their season with SCIAC play, where you can pretty much pencil them into the finals against CMS. Will they finally beat their cross-street rival and claim that pool-a bid? I’m sorry boys, but chances are slim. CMS is too deep and what will likely be a home court final for the Stags will prove to be too much of an advantage. We see the same script year in and year out and there is a reason the Stags haven’t lost to the Hens in well over 10,957 years… they’re too deep and they simply have the Hens number. BUTTT, the Hens shouldn’t need to rely on conference play if they want to see themselves get into nationals as they have plenty of opportunities with the way their schedule is set up to claim a bid through pool-c.

CONCLUSION:

With a young core and some fiery singles players, the Hens have the capability of making some noise this year. I’ll say this again, the success of their season will depend entirely on their doubles play. With some new freshman additions, alongside some already established players in Jed, Josh Gearou, and Octave, forming a couple of solid doubles teams will go a long way for this team. I’m excited to see this team compete this coming season as I think they have what it takes to defy the odds and really push some of the top teams. DIII west out.