#16 Johns Hopkins def. #23 Mary Washington 7-2
This was probably the least dramatic of Sunday’s matches between ranked teams. The Blue Jays continued to make a mockery of their ranking by trouncing the Eagles. As usual, Hopkins dominated the singles competition pretty thoroughly, with their only loss coming in a 10-point tiebreaker at #1 singles. Even though Mary Washington has lost to many teams this year, I think this win means more for Hopkins because they seem to have gotten it together in recent weeks and are playing better.
#30 Depauw def. #29 Denison 6-3
This was by far the most surprising result of the day, for me, and it might give the Tigers a glimmer of hope to beat Kenyon, given the Lords’ result against the Big Red. The doubles matches were very close, but Depauw was clearly the stronger of the two teams today, and singles was very similar. Depauw got straight-set victories at 4 and 6, while Denison won at 1 and 3 to make the team score 4-3 Depauw with two matches in the third set. Depauw was able to gut out both third sets comfortably to give themselves a big win and a morale boost. I don’t think Depauw is about to beat Kenyon in the conference tournament, but it’s at least within the realm of possibility. After several close losses, Denison is left with their best win being against Kalamazoo, and that probably won’t be enough to keep them in the rankings with Whitewater coming back in.
#12 UC Santa Cruz def. #5 Cal Lutheran 7-2
I’m sure the traveling and the previous days’ matches had something to do with this outcome, but don’t let that distract from the fact that the Slugs won this one comfortably. The Kingsmen won at 1 doubles, and 3 singles, as usual, but Cruz won their two doubles matches very easily, and they won all 5 of their singles matches in straight sets. Another important aspect of this match is that Nurenberg solidified his claim on the #1 singles ranking in the region, and showed how vulnerable Cal Lu is when they lose one of their big three positions. We never seem to talk about him as one of the elite players, but he has now beat basically every other West region team’s #1 player (Ballou, Meyer, Frey, La Cava, Lipscomb, and Wood), though he has struggled a little in out-of-region matches. He seems to be improving as the year progresses.
More importantly, I think this result illustrates what the D3 landscape is like right now, a landscape that some readers have already described in comments. There’s a huge smorgasbord of good teams who can all beat each other on the right day (probably 15 or 20 teams deep starting from Kenyon and ending around Mary Washington), and then there are three or four teams who are consistently better than everybody else (Amherst, Emory, Williams, and maybe CMS).
#11 Pomona-Pitzer def. #14 Redlands
I’m going to be honest. When I was reading Belletto’s tweets, I was already preparing my, “I totally called this one!” recap. During the doubles, it looked like there was no way the Bulldogs would take the match, as they lost two doubles matches, and Pomona had a chance to sweep. Then, they stole #2 doubles and the momentum heading into singles. That momentum won them 5 first sets, and they appeared to be on their way to the win they needed. They won two singles matches in straights to give themselves a 3-2 lead, but things swung pretty violently as Hens started picking off second sets. Pomona-Pitzer has to be one of the most (if not the most) resilient teams in the country for winning this match on the road. Redlands had way more to play for, but the Hens won and simultaneously silenced any possible argument for them not making the NCAA tournament. I still think Redlands is “in” right now, but they haven’t won a big match in quite a while, and I think they will get left out if they don’t do some serious work in the SCIAC tournament.
This win earns P-P a rematch with CLU in the SCIAC semis, as they will be the 3 seed. I’ve been talking about SCIACs as if a CMS/Cal Lu final is a foregone conclusion, but that’s far from the case. The Hens essentially lost to the Kingsmen on a blown overhead that would have given them the doubles sweep last time, and they will definitely hungry to win the rematch. Redlands will be stuck with the #4 seed. They will have a rematch with Whitter (who they will have to take care of to have any shot at Pool C) before playing the #1 seed, CMS. They almost definitely won’t win that one, but a win in the 3rd place match would get them in the tournament.
#1 Amherst def. #3 Williams 5-4
This match lived up to its billing and more, as these two teams battled indoors for about five hours. It went almost exactly according to the book (with a little mixup at 5 and 6), but the book said nothing about how dramatic it would be. It’s very easy to predict that a team will go down in doubles and then come back, but it’s a very different thing to be down after doubles, as a player; feel the pressure; and come back after that. Amherst has done that three times this season, and whenever they get close to losing, they just seem to say “no.” Kahan still hasn’t lost a duel match since forever. Sun continued his undefeated season at #2, and Rattenhuber at #3 just isn’t fair. Those three matches made the team score 3-3, with the last 3 matches all decided in third sets. Joey Fritz got the clinching win for the Jeffs, pulling out his third set 7-5.
As dramatic as this win was, it doesn’t really mean all that much for either team. They will probably meet again in the NESCAC finals, and the winner of that one will most likely reap the benefits of an easier NCAA regional and a better quarterfinal matchup, though I still think both of these teams are headed for the Final Four, barring a big upset from a dangerous team like Hopkins.
P.S. This didn’t get on the preview because it was rescheduled from last week, but Cal Lu beat Whittier 8-1, with Whittier’s only win coming from #6 singles (again).
Just an FYI, UAA’s start tomorrow morning at 9 am:
1.) Emory vs. 8.) Rochester
2.) Carnegie vs. 7.) NYU
3.) WashU vs. 6.) Brandeis
4.) Case vs. 5.) UChicago
I don’t understand why people never talk about Emory. They killed Hopkins and haven’t lost this year. Against Hop, their #1 and #3 doubles teams were playing together for the first time in the year. Although they have an easy schedule, it doesn’t mean they won’t be ready to go come NCAA’s
So…what is there to talk about?
Could I get some clarification on the current outlook for the West regional? If things go forward as expected, is it a given that Santa Cruz will host? Is their direct win over CMS the overriding factor, or will other factors come into play?
i don’t think there’s really an answer to your question. The NCAA does some strange things, and last year was the perfect example. Cruz was the host, but CMS was the one seed. I guess the rationale was that Cruz was the #1 team in the West (because of their direct win over CMS), so they deserved to host, but CMS had the higher national ranking, so they were the one seed. But that just doesn’t make any sense to me. Shouldn’t the best team also host?
Pretty much the same thing has happened this year with Cruz having the direct win and higher regional ranking, but CMS being ranked higher in the nation. The Pomona-Pitzer loss throws a wrench in everything, but the same thing could happen this year with Cruz hosting and CMS being the one seed. It’s probably best to just wait and see what happens at SCIACs anyways because things could get screwy.
As I’ve said elsewhere, CMS really can’t improve its position in the California regional. The stags already lost to Cruz and can’t avenge that loss before the tournament. Since direct wins/losses are weighed more heavily than indirects (Cruz has a direct win over CMS, but CMS has an indirect over Cruz via P-P), Cruz has to remain the top team in the West Region… Which almost certainly means they’ll host. Like last year, however, it’s possible that Cruz could host while CMS takes the #1 seed.
With that said, the one team that can throw a monkey wrench into this whole scenario is P-P. While they’re currently slated as the presumptive #4 seed in the regional, they’re the only team in the region to hold a direct win over the likely host – Cruz. If P-P wins SCIAC’s (a very big if), they will have split results with CMS and CLU while holding a win over Cruz. In that scenario, they would have the best results against regional opponents (wins over all other competitors), and would probably have to host.
Outside of that unlikely scenario, it seems pretty clear that Cruz will host (again, direct win over CMS), but it’s possible that they may only be the second seed.
When are dates of west regional ncaa’s? Thanks.
May 11-13
I think Bates will make a run. They are out of school already, can play tennis all day long, and be ready. Look what their individuals have done in the past few years with just tennis to worry about.
I am afraid that Bates had it’s run and it ended at Bowdoin. They are much improved, and look to be even stronger next year. Having to beat Williams may just be to tall of an order. Coach at Bates has done a great job though.
They don’t have to beat Williams, though. They have to beat Midd in the 4-5 matchup in NESCACs
I think Middlebury is also too tall an order. But, congrats to Bates for a great year.
of course they are, especially considering they already beat Bates 7-2. But I think that’s a little more doable for the Bobcats than beating Williams.
Still think Amherst will get stronger by the time NCAAs role around. Chafetz, Fritz and Waterman still don’t seem quite up to where they were last year. Little disappointing for Fritz, thought he was going to have a monster year after he won ITAs.
Amherst is weaker than last year. This is Emory’s year to win it. I know D3tennis hates emory, but its true.
Amherst is a tiny bit off this year. Problem is that outside the Goodwin’s, Emory just does not have the depth Amherst has. I am not sure Emory has enough for CMS, Williams or Bowdoin for that matter. Coach Browning will continue to do a great job, but they are just not deep enough.
I don’t know. Emory has been a little more convincing in its wins than others. Look at their Cal Lu box score (though their lineup matches up pretty well with the Kingsmen). People have forgotten about them a little bit because they haven’t played a big match in so long, but it might be their year. We’ll see what happens in the tournament. Amherst has a tendency to peak at the right time. Not only did they win last year, but they got to the finals the two previous years when they definitely didn’t have the second best team in the country.
I agree that Amherst has not been as dominant as they were last year; however, their advantage over others is # of matches they play each year and their strength of schedule. Additionally, they have showed that even if they don’t play their best, they are extremely tough to beat. They have played three 5-4 matches this spring and in each of them emerged as winners. Emory is very good, but their relatively light schedule is what could ultimately cost them the championship. It seems like CMS is peaking at the right time. Could this be their year?
People still haven’t learned to pay no attention to Amherst’s regular season. They are so good because they raise their game in May. This didn’t just happen once, but it’s happened 3 years in a row. In 2010, they lost to Cal Lutheran 7-2 and entered NCAAs as the #7 overall seed. They made the final. Last year, they lost to CMS during the regular season and went on to crush everyone in May. Does everyone remember what they did to the undefeated #1 seeded Emory Eagles in singles in last year’s final? Everyone remember what Chafetz did to an undefeated Egan? 0 and 1? In ’09, they lost to Midd twice during the regular season but beat them in NCAAs. How does everyone forget this? They are the favorites whether or not they’ve had convincing wins in the regular season because they bring a completely different level in NCAAs EVERY YEAR. It’s frustrating to see people judge them by their results in March or even April. They showed last year they are a level above everyone when it counts the most.
Don’t underestimate Emory’s depth, their freshmen are the real deal. I’d pick them in a match against Williams tomorrow. The Ephs are tough of course, but I question if they could seriously threaten these 2 traditional powerhouses in a big match.
CMS is peaking at the right time, and they have to be considered the West favorite even if it’s played at Cruz, but I have to assume they won’t bring their A game in the Final 8 until they prove otherwise. Do people seriously think they could beat Kenyon, Amherst and Emory on 3 consecutive days? I don’t think so; they have not shown that much mental fortitude this year at all.
The thing is, Amherst has only played its full line-up twice this year, and that was just this past weekend. They got a 9-0 win at Trinity and a 5-4 win at Williams on their funky indoor courts. Those are pretty darn good results.
When you look at Amherst’s season and say they haven’t been where we thought they would be, you’re looking at a bunch of matches where they sat at least one of their top three and probably didn’t play their best doubles pairs. Garner likes to get everybody experience playing at the top of the lineup, and that experience pays off in the playoffs, even if it doesn’t lead to the most dominating regular seasons.
Do people forget that a number of players on the Emory squad had food poisoning the day of the finals last year? That includes Colin Egan, who may not have beaten Chafetz, but I highly doubt the score would’ve been 0,1.