Well it seems that it is time for another state of the region address for the Central as some teams have already punched their ticket to Nationals, some have ended their season as a Pool C bid is unlikely, and some are still finishing up in hopes of making the tournament. Here is a brief overview of where the top 10 teams in the Central region are at this moment.
1. Wash U
There is no question that Wash U has wrapped up their season as the second best team in the country behind CMS. Their only loss this year is to the Stags and while it didn’t seem terribly close (8-1), you never know what can happen in doubles on any given day and they lost two of the singles matches in superbreakers. Do I think Wash U can take down CMS? No not particularly, but I do think they could sniff out 5 points because they are Wash U. They are used to making crazy upsets (remember Amherst?!?). They have the best 1 doubles team in the region as Putterman and Bush unseat Krimball/Klawitter, the best #2 in the country in Carswell, arguably the best coach in the country, and a knack for showing up come tournament time. Wash U has been a mainstay in the final 4 and I think this year will be no different. Beyond that, who knows, but right now they are the closest thing to giving CMS a scare. Putterman is still a very suspect #1, but there is no doubt Wash U is a better team with Carswell at 2 basically guaranteeing a point from him. It will be interesting to see how the rankings committee either rewards Carswell for having an undefeated season at 2 singles or punishes him for playing 2 behind Putterman. I think he makes it in over Putterman which puts question marks on a lot of things in terms of lineups.
2. Case Western
Depending on the day you ask me really determines my thoughts on Case Western. The problem that they currently have is doubles and the drive to win will only take you so far. They will not challenge the top teams in the country because they simply don’t have the talent to do so. Are they a dangerous team to play in May? Absolutely! But that is because they are a threat to sweep doubles no matter who they play. Unfortunately they have some big holes in the lineup that make it difficult for them to come up with the elusive 5th point. Krimball is a premier player and Drougas has proven to be a good side kick so those two are solid guys to have at the top. Neither of them is a guaranteed win against the top teams. You might get one point, two points, or zero points from them in singles against the rest of the Top 10. This puts added pressure on the rest of the lineup. Klawitter is not a top 3, Reinbold is now at 4 and talent wise isn’t quite ready, Fojtasek had a good win over Emory at 5 but still has some freshman jitters to get rid of, and Healey seems to go three sets with everyone but can’t get the W. I could see Case getting a favorable draw though and making the final 8, but that is as far as it will go for the Spartans.It will all depend on who the 1 seed is in their bracket.
3. Kenyon
The post season couldn’t come soon enough for the Lords. Everyone in the field is salivating at a chance to play Kenyon in the round of 32 or sweet 16 as they have proven they are extremely beatable after getting swept by Depauw. I am actually a little surprised that Depauw was unable to take the match so I have to give props to Kenyon for fighting back and coming out with a win. The bottom of the lineup came up huge. Doubles is something that normally is a strength, but ever since Raz left everything has been different. The duo of Rosensteel and Geier are no longer in the Top 4 with losses to both Allegheny and Depauw this past weekend. Heerboth and Haas are still getting acclimated together as a partnership and I am sure this slot is missing Raz the most as he and Heerboth were partners. I expected three doubles to be weakened the most with the new lineups and I was right. The good news is Kenyon has two weeks to get things going in the right direction. The bad news is that everyone knows they are reeling and is ready to take them down. As it sits, I look at this team like a Case Western without the doubles dominance. I think Kenyon is a bit stronger in singles depth, but not by much.The Lords have the biggest upset potential and not in a good way.
4. Gustavus
Gustavus hasn’t locked up a spot at Nationals, but they will. They just need to win the AQ conference tourney this weekend which no one would argue against the probability. Unlike Kenyon, this is a team that no one wants to see in their regional. Just go back and look at their losses and one can see that they are as dangerous as anyone and are geared for an upset. They have a 5-4 loss to Middlebury which they handed away by losing a 2-break lead at three doubles and a 6-3 loss to both Carnegie and Emory. They were poised to take down Emory, but lost a little momentum in the third sets. Their doubles have remained the same, but in singles quite a bit is different. Juan Luis Chu started the season at 3 and has leapfrogged both Smith-Dennis and Leisner. In my opinion this just makes them a bit stronger at 2 and 3 whereas before they were only strong at 3 (when Chu was there). It seems that the Central mantra this year and even in year’s past is doubles and depth. I would never argue that Central teams are more talented than most other top programs, but they win with doubles and depth. Chicago is the only team that breaks the mold. The Gusties are not a team you want to see and depending on their draw could make a mini run in the tournament. Let us remember that they lost 6-3 to Wash U in the first match of the season after getting swept in doubles. That means they were able to split singles against the #2 overall team in the country!
5. Chicago
Chicago ended the season pretty strong with a 5th place showing at UAAs. They didn’t give Case Western the battle I was hoping for in the first round, but kudos to the guys for having a good final two days. The Maroons are 1 bad loss from at least being in the conversation for a Pool C bid, but the Whitewater loss negates any of the bigger wins (see Cal Lu). The bright spots of the season have to be the re-emergence of Sabada as he overcame losing to Guerra from Denison and has some solid wins that will most likely get him back to Nationals. The other bright spot is the optimism for next year. Chicago graduates no one of significance and has the best recruiting class in the country. That is a lot to be excited about. I think they have gotten better at doubles this year as that was always a point of weakness in the past. If one or two of the four 4-star freshmen they have coming in play in the lineup next year, Chicago should be a Top 10 team. SHOULD be! This team is loaded with talent and hasn’t proven they deserve the notoriety just yet. I am excited for them to show how dangerous they can be next season and think it will be a break out year. A potential lineup would be 1. Sabada 2. Freshman. 3. Kranz. 4 Freshman. 5. Bhargava. 6. Sun. That is putting a lot of pressure on freshman, but they will be good enough to handle it. Again….SHOULD be good enough.
6. Depauw
Well Depauw gave themselves a chance to be a bracket buster, but came up short. I wasn’t terribly surprised at the doubles sweep, and honestly thought Depauw would scrounge up two singles wins for the upset after that happened, but they just ran out of gas. This may have been due to the fact that Denison stretched them in the semi and from the reports I got had match points. They were hampered a bit by their #2 Kopecky going down with an ankle injury in the previous match and didn’t play in singles. Either way, I will be the first to admit that I think the Tigers overachieved in my eyes this season and they should be extremely proud of that. They replaced some big graduation losses with other guys in the program and a freshman to put together a top 25 team. I will give massive props for that. Unfortunately things don’t get any easier as they will lose both Miles (#1 singles all 4 years) and Kopecky (#2) which will weigh heavy on Depauw. They were good singles players, but the top doubles tandem as well. I am not sure if the two will qualify for nationals yet, but they are definitely in the conversation so hopefully the season isn’t over for them. Next year will be another year where they have to answer a lot of questions and their program for player development will be even more important.
7. UW-Whitewater
I am not sure what I have to say about Whitewater. It is almost like they have been forgotten which is never a good thing. They had a sub par spring break with losses to Colby and Depauw and really haven’t done much since. That is mainly because of their schedule with no top opponents in the last 6 weeks. They did just beat Coe this weekend which is a solid win and hopefully will be enough to get them ready for Nationals. Pool B is a lock for the Warhawks which is good for them. I hate Pool B about as much as I dislike some of the teams that get in Pool A, but Whitewater is a solid team. Humphreys will go as an individual in singles probably as the 2nd ranked player in the region behind Krimball. Shklyar has been horrendous at the second spot and right now is the weakest position for Whitewater. He had a phenomenal year last year, but hasn’t been anywhere near that. Humphreys is now teamed with Balkin at the top doubles spot and they have a chance to qualify for nationals as well with an undefeated record of 8-0 and some solid wins. Hopefully it wasn’t a little too late since they are a recent pairing, but I see them getting either the 4th and final spot or being the alternate. Whitewater is hanging on with their early win over Chicago, but other than that have had a bit of a let down this year.
8. Coe
Coe bulked up the schedule a bit this year which is a pleasant surprise. So instead of heading into the postseason with a 28-1 record, they are currently sitting at 22-7. They have to dispatch Luther in their conference tourney first and should, but the rivalry is a solid one so Luther has a slim chance. The extra tough matches this season should give them a better chance at Nationals. Last season they received a dream draw and made it to the sweet 16 so they can’t expect that to happen again. Coe should hope for a 4 seed in a five or six team region which would give them a chance to get a W. Sprinkel is a good top player and will qualify for individual nationals. Galbraith is a solid 2 as well and much to my own surprise they have shown some decent depth this season particularly in Stokstaad at four. However, Coe’s doubles have wavered a bit and they will need them to perform if they want to have a chance at any upsets. I think Coe will do as expected this season and Sprinkel can hope for a good draw and get a win to earn All-American honors.
9. Denison
Oh so close for the Big Red! I was told they had match points against Depauw in the NCAC semis and if that is true, it’s too bad they weren’t able to pull it off. Winning two out of the three doubles was a big feat considering Depauw swept Kenyon the next day. I have been hard on Denison all year (probably a little too hard), but in the end they put together some solid wins and had a couple close losses that would have been massive (5-4 to Depauw, Chicago, and Bowdoin). Throw in 6-3 losses to Mary Washington and Tufts and this team is only a few sets away from being a top 20 team again. So through all the negativity I have thrown at this program, I will take my hat off and say you guys were a solid team this year. Moving forward, I am not sure what will happen. They lose their top 2 players in Guerra and Marczak, but I doubt this will be too much of a difference as they seem to all be about the same level 1-8. Bumping everyone up obviously makes one think they will be worse off, but I think they will continue to be a tough doubles team and can squeak out points throughout singles. Denison needs to bring in 1 or 2 studs that can anchor the top of the lineup and they will be back to prominence. They definitely could do it and this fan is hopeful they will.
10. Earlham
Earlham has had a pretty uneventful season as they have beaten all the teams they were expected to beat and lost to all the teams they were expected to lose to. Losing a close 6-3 match to Denison keeps them in the top 10 of the region, but with no other wins (UT-Dallas?), they can’t go any higher. They will easily win their joke of a conference this weekend and should hope for a decent draw to maybe win the first round of Nationals, but likely lose in the second to a much better team. This team has five strong positions with 1 doubles and 1-4 singles so if the stars align and they were to pull off every single spot, they could scare someone, but it is doubtful. They did take Wash U to three super breakers, but most recently got trounced by Case.
There you have it! Another state of the region address. Here’s hoping that Wash U can make something crazy happen!
You are right about Denison and the Depauw match. Denison won 2 out of three of their doubles matches. When it came to singles the #3, Casey Cempre and # 4, Grant Veltman were awesome coming up with tough played wins. At 4-1 Denison, that left one point to be had. Denison’s #2 player, Andrew Marczak, was up 5-2 in the third set when he was overcome with cramps the like of which brought tears to every ones eyes. He struggled mightily and left it all on the court (even crawling back to the baseline unable to walk), but in the end, he could not continue and had to be carried off the court and taken to a local hospital for fluids. On the other two courts, #5, Jackcon O”Gorman Bean had treatments for back spasms and cramping while taking his match to a third set and Juan Guerra at #1 went three sets while being hobbled with cramping and a knee injury. Needless to say it was a disappointing loss for the team from Denison. They were four points away from playing on Sunday against Kenyon.
Sad story for Denison. Team that I’m sure works hard, and a heartbreaking loss. But cramping has been a problem with these guys for 3 years. They routinely cramp, even during matches when its a cool balmy 60 degrees. At some point you would think that they would improve the conditioning so the cramping ceases and they can pull some of these close matches out
sadly Earlham has been all downhill since the departure of VanZee. not having him at the helm seems to have hurt them a lot. he built the program from nothing and without him this year or in the future I expect the team to return to nothing.