This will be the last time we hear about the Squirrels until the national tournament, so I’ll try to get as squirrelly as I can with this recap. It was a bit of an ambiguous Spring Break for Whitman, but it was definitely better than last year, and they have reason to be optimistic
The Bad
– Singles depth. I guess I shouldn’t be that surprised that Whitman didn’t figure out their depth issues in a week, but they didn’t. Against Pomona, they needed just one more set from their 3-star freshmen and they couldn’t deliver. Against, Whittier, they had a hard time at #5 against a depleted Whittier team that really wasn’t all that deep to begin with. To their credit, they pulled it together to get the one win they needed against Redlands, but I never would’ve imagined that deep singles would’ve been their weakness after what they did last year. I don’t know what’s keeping senior Will Huskey out of the lineup this year, but either he or Rivers needs to find their mojo.
– Malesovas. Went 0-3 in singles on the week. Look, buddy. (Is it alright if I call you buddy? No?) Look, man, I know you’ve got a real tough time playing the best players in the country every time you step on the court, and I know I should probably be giving you more credit for going from being a non-starter to a national qualifier in a year, but close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades, buddy. Damn it. Sorry. Your team’s gonna need a big win from you if you’re gonna make a run, so… uh… be better or something.
– Clutch play. Not counting 10-pointers, which are inherently not as high-pressure because the match has already been decided, the Squirrels are 2-8 in tiebreakers when playing ranked teams this season. Ironically, they beat Redlands by winning a tiebreaker, but tiebreaker wins against Pomona and Trinity could have them in the top 10 right now. Tiebreaker drills. Get on it.
The Good
– Coaching adjustments. Going into the Whittier match, the Squirrels were absolutely reeling. Northam switches the red-hot Roston with Riggs and immediately gets wins at 3 and 4 in the next two matches. Northam also dug into the deep end – nay, the Mariana Trench end – of his depth chart and came up with Alex Noyes, who won at #6 against Whittier. I had legitimately never heard of that guy before, and that’s saying something because I stalk box scores like you stalk your ex-girlfriend’s facebook. Good coaching may have won Whitman both of those matches.
– Senior experience. Whitman’s seniors – La Cava, Roston, and Riggs– went 7-2 in singles to lift the team. Not bad for two 2-stars and a 1-star.
Overall, the Squirrels did enough to keep themselves in the top 15, and place themselves pretty definitively in the top 4 of the region for the moment. They are also the most dangerous team in the region not named Trinity or CMS because they’re the only team that really has their doubles together. Their only significant weakness, singles depth, is something that they can easily fix in the next month and a half. So long and thanks for all the nuts. We’ll see you in May.
Northam is an amazing coach. I would credit the fact that 1 and 2 stars are crushing face as seniors to the fact that they’ve had so much team with Northam, with the possible exception of Riggs since he is a transfer.
Harsh but accurate words on Malesovas.