2019 Season Preview: Christopher Newport Captains

I’m baaaack! In the words of the Eminem, “I’m alive again, more alive than I have been in my whole entire life I can, see these people’s ears perk up as I begin.” Well mainly Sonny Dearth’s ears since tonight we’re covering the one and only CHRISTOPHER NEWPORT CAPTAINS. This team was hit hard in graduation and will be looking to rebuild this season. It is going to be a tough road ahead, but I’m definitely telling you there’s a chance. Coach Christiansen has done a pretty good job with this program the last few years and I’m looking forward to see what this younger team brings to the table this season.

Location: Newport News, VA

Coach: Eric Christiansen (7th Season)

ITA National Ranking: TBD

ITA Regional Ranking: TBD

Blog Power Ranking: 35

Twitter Handle: @CNUTennis

UTR Power 6: 63

Key Departures: David Reed, Justin Cerny

Key Additions: Ryan Macy (3 Star/UTR 10.71), Mason Kolls (2 Star/UTR 10.68)

Player(s) to Watch: Nick Ruzicka – The senior was a bright spot last season for the Captains with an overall singles record of 18-9, predominantly at 4 singles, and a doubles record of 18-10. This season he will really need to step up to ensure this younger Captains team’s success. Ruzicka was fairly average this fall, but had some promising results over the summer that will give hope to many CNU fans.

Schedule Analysis: Y’all know the drill at this point; full schedule here, time to blurb. The Captains begin their season with matches against cross state foes, VA Wesleyan, which should be a straightforward win before taking on DI Longwood. I really don’t know anything about Longwood, but looking at their power 6 UTR, I believe this match won’t fall in CNU’s favor. The following match is one of the more intriguing early season statement matches for CNU and the Battling Bishops of NC Wesleyan. NC Wes should be favored in this match, but if they aren’t careful then the Captains should have a chance to sneak up on them in this match.

Following this, CNU takes on Hopkins in a match that really shouldn’t be too close before headed out to sunny California. While out there, they take on Whittier, CMS, Chapman and Redlands. A successful trip would include wins over Whittier and Chapman with a close(ish) 2-7 or 3-6 loss to Redlands. The schedule lightens up for the next three matches before taking on a wildcard in DII Chowan and then the battle royale between the Captains and the Eagles for what should be the regular season CAC title. Mary Washington should have the edge in this match, but stranger things have happened late in the season for the Eagles.

CNU finishes out the schedule with a few more relatively easy DIII conference matches and DI George Mason before heading into the CAC tournament as most likely the number 2 seed. It is worth noting that Salisbury seems to be closing the gap so CNU should certainly watch out for this trap match before the year end tournament. After the first round of the tournament, they take on non conference rival W&L in a good opportunity to see a higher level of competition before the CAC semis and finals.

Lineup Analysis:

Ruzicka, the lurking lefty

1 Singles: Nick Ruzicka – Something tells me that the senior will be the top dog for the Captains this year. He has large shoes to fill with the departure of CNU great David Reed, but if there’s any man that can, it’s an experienced senior. We talk about insert name (SENIOR) all the time on the blog and Ruzicka will need to be the senior that steps up to lead this program this season. Without a strong #1 singles player, it’ll be rough going for the team this year.

2 Singles: Ryan Macy – The highest rated freshman will most likely slot in at #2 this season and this will give him valuable experience moving forward. Macy could even be like the Lamar Jackson for his team this season. Quietly sitting at #2 before an injury at #1 and having a breakout season afterwards. There is no doubt that Macy is talented, but it might take a little bit of time before he completely acclimates to college tennis.

3 Singles: Andy Mason – Mason predominantly played #3 singles last year and didn’t have the best season. However after another year of experience under his belt, I see him slotting in nicely at this spot again this year. This year he should have more success with another year of training under his belt and that will be integral to the overall team’s success.

4 Singles: Mason Kolls – Insert talented freshman #2 here at the #4 singles spot. Really these last three singles spots are kind of a crapshoot, but I’m going with my gut here that Kolls will be slotted here. With positive results at the CNU invite and a close match against Wilkes’ Courtney Murphy, I think Kolls will be one of the more successful Captains this season.

5 Singles: Dominick Lacombe – Lacombe is similar to Mason in the aspect that he has played this position before and gained valuable experience. Lacombe had a very promising 3 set match against Swarthmore’s Simon Vernier this fall and if he plays up to this level in the Spring, I see him having a very successful season.

6 Singles: James Baron – Baron won the B flight of the ITA draw and because of this, I’m giving him the edge over the more experienced William Trang for the final lineup spot. As I mentioned earlier this is really a toss up at this point and I think whoever plays here will most likely struggle a bit this season

In the Hunt: William Trang – Trang really didn’t have a great fall, but could bounce back in the spring. The senior does have more matches under his belt then Baron and could very easily find his way into the lineup this season.

Keys to Success:

He might only wear size 10, but Reed left metaphorical 16.5’s to fill

#1 Singles – Reed was a CNU legend and now the Captains need someone to take the mantle. Whoever does will need to be able to challenge anyone at the top of the lineup and secure relatively easy points for this rebuilding team. If the Captains can’t win at the top of the lineup, I’m afraid it’s going to be a very long season.

Doubles – CNU was strong at #1 and 3 doubles last season going a combined 35-11. In order to have another solid season, they will need to go up 2-1 after doubles because unfortunately this team just doesn’t have the depth to win matches otherwise.

Leadership – I know it’s cliché, but strong leadership is the key to a team’s success and that’s hard to replace after losing two program greats in David Reed and Justin Cerny. It is going to fall on the shoulders of the seniors in order to give this young team the leadership they need to thrive.

Realistic Best Case Scenario: The Captains exceed expectations and give UMW a run for their money before eventually falling to them 5-4. They will also take down NC Wes and W&L.

Realistic Worst Case Scenario: The loss of Reed and Cerny are too great to overcome and CNU falls to Salisbury, which will earn them a disappointing #3 seed in the CAC tournament. They also won’t beat NC Wes and W&L.

Prediction: I’m going to shoot for the middle ground here and predict that CNU earns the #2 seed in the CAC with a 6-3 win over Salisbury, but gets a hearty ass whoopin’ by the Eagles in the regular season and conference finals.

 

There it is folks. I think this team is a year out from really doing too much damage, but they definitely have a solid foundation to do so. Have any thoughts, comments or questions? Sound of in the comments, on twitter or send me an email! Until next time, RegASouth out!

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