Welcome to the final epilogue to 2014’s never ending spring break. This morning I have the pleasure of recapping Williams’ spring break trip. As has become the custom format for these epilogues, I’ll break down the matches into what should be considered “the good” and “the bad” (and this time I’ll try not to continuously quote Caddyshack while doing so). Like most NE teams, Williams scheduled some non-DIII competition. However, I have no interest in discussing those matches, so I’m going to focus on their competition with ranked DIII foes. You can find all of the results in the table below.
Results
| 03/24/2014 | at Point Loma | W, 5-4 | Final | Recap |
| 03/25/2014 | at Pomona-Pitzer | W, 5-4 | Final | Recap |
| 03/27/2014 | at Claremont-M-S | L, 8-1 | Final | Recap | Video |
| 03/28/2014 | at Redlands | W, 5-4 | Final | Recap | Photos |
| 03/29/2014 | at Glendale Community College | W, 9-0 | Final | Recap |
| 04/01/2014 | at Cal Lutheran | W, 6-3 | Final | Recap |
| 04/02/2014 | at Westmont | L, 7-2 | Final | Recap |
The Good
Pomona, Redlands, Cal Lu
Not one, but two of Williams’ spring break matches this year came down to the wire. The first of these 5-4 wins came against Sage-Hens. Like most of the west, Pomona has been involved in more than its fair share of 5-4 decisions. This one may have topped them all. While it didn’t come down to 7-6 in the 3rd set, 4 of the singles matches went 3-sets, and Williams needed to 7-5 3rd set victories to clinch the match. As expected, Williams took a lead after doubles. However, Pomona’s lone point was picked up at #3 doubles, which could be a good sign for the Hens. Williams traditionally plays strong doubles, and the Rose´ team of Raventos and Shastri has already proven themselves to be more than a capable #3 team. Big ups to Lil’ Weiss, Harron, and Raventos for coming through in 3 sets to win the match. In fact, it should not go unnoted that all 3 guys came back from a set down. Pomona had 5 1st sets and 3 of them were 6-2 or quicker. This is just another example of the immense heart that Williams teams seem to produce year in and year out. Props to Greenberg, props to the captains, hell props to that cute dog in their twitter picture. Whatever is going on in Williamstown needs to keep on keepin on, because they have some clinching magic in those boys…
That clinching magic was put on display only a few days later as the Ephs traveled east to take on Redlands in the desert. Williams again took a 2-1 lead after doubles, but this time all 3 matches were tight. While the singles matches weren’t quite as dramatic as the Pomona match, Williams still needed two 3rd setters to eventually win this match. Lipscomb and Cummins did their thing, losing a total of 9 games between the two of them, and the two teams traded quick points at #’s 4&5. Redlands led 4-3 with two matches still to go. I don’t know what happened in the desert, but both of those matches were full of huge momentum swings. Astro came back from 1-6 down to win the 2nd and 3rd sets 6-0, 6-1. At that point, Harron and Suchodolski were duking it out in their 3rd set after trading 6-1 sets. Harron held on to win the 3rd set 6-3, giving Williams its 2nd 5-4 win in 3 days.
Williams’ final important spring break match was an April Fools day treat out in Thousand Oaks as the Ephs squared off with Ballou-less Cal Lu. This one didn’t have the fireworks of a last man on, 5-4 win, but Cal Lu did push the Ephs. Williams took another 2-1 lead after dubs, dropping #2 doubles. From there, Cal Lu did what was expected of them, picking up straight set wins at #’s 1&2 singles. Harron handled Treacy in 3-sets, and the bottom half of the Ephs lineup took care of business, all notching straight set wins.
The Bad
CMS
In a rematch of last year’s thrilling national championship match, this one wasn’t so close. CMS dominated the Ephs, sweeping doubles while only losing a combined 8 games. Dorn and Wood blanked Micheli and Schidlovksy. HOW DOES THAT EVEN HAPPEN? Both Matt and Alvin have big serves, and Micheli can rake his forehand. Without a total catastrophic meltdown, I just don’t understand how that team (or any for that matter) can lose 8-0. Moving on, Matty Ice redeemed his double debacle with a straight set win over Warren Wood. I don’t know how he flipped the switch, but we do know that Micheli, when he’s on, is one of the best players in the country. He has gotten a bit less streaky in his old age, but his day vs. CMS seems to be the definition of streaky. An 8-0 dubs loss, then a win over arguably the country’s best player, CRAZY! The only easy singles win for the Stags was Butts at #3 (Marino didn’t play in the match) as he took down Harron 0&3. Give the Ephs credit, they hung with the Stags for the most part. Lil’ Weiss, Alvin and Jose battled back from a set down to force 3rd sets/supers. Even though none of them ended up victorious, they can take solace in the fact that should these two teams play again down the road, there’s no reason the Ephs can’t push the Stags. Plus as we all know, everything is different come May…
What’s Next
You might be wondering why CMS is the only “bad” result from the Ephs’ spring break. If Williams is the defending national champion, why are 3 close wins against #10-20 caliber competition considered “good”? Well reader, just because Williams didn’t blow these teams out of the water doesn’t mean they weren’t good results. All three teams have the potential to beat a top-10 team on the right day (especially Pomona). The fact that Williams managed to squeak out the wins that they did will help them retain their inflated ranking from last year. For Greenberg’s gang, every win is important, and with each win this young team will gain more and more confidence. Raise your hand if you want to play Williams at NCAAs? I didn’t think so.
The Ephs host a pesky upstart Jumbo squad fresh of their 8-1 demolition of Wesleyan, and their 5-4 nail-biting defeat at the hands of GAC. I have been very impressed with this Tufts team since their return from California. Rebounding from a tough conference loss is never easy, and Tufts looks as though they may be clicking at the right time. I’ll leave the match breakdown for my weekend preview (which will likely be posted tomorrow evening) but Williams shouldn’t overlook the Mean Medford Machine. After hosting Tufts, Williams next hosts Middlebury on April 11th. This match will have all kinds of future implications, so I’ll be previewing the crap out of it. For now I leave you with this smiling face…
COACH CAPTAIN CLUTCH