The Others: ASouth’s Unranked Team Stock Watch

At the behest of the almighty D3TG (calling me out in comments), I will be focusing on some of the teams that I’ve overlooked this season.  The beauty of the DIII landscape is that teams can come out of nowhere to become nationally ranked teams.  Case Western is the most recent example of a team that was nothing moving into prominence, as they reached the top 10 this year for the first time in history.  Will a lurking ASouth team be able to breakthrough in the next few years?  I’ll go team-by-team to delve into the rosters of the unheralded teams of the ASouth.

Haverford College

I have no clue what Haverford’s mascot is.  I can’t even say that I didn’t try to find out, considering I’m on the page and still can’t seem to find it.  Either way, Haverford is a small college in Pennsylvania that relies on very good doubles and their top of the lineup to try and grind out wins.  They’re claim to fame this year is taking CMU to the ropes after they swept doubles on their indoor home courts, only to win 0 singles matches en route to a 6-3 loss.  As Coach Sean Sloane put in his comments to Bubble Watch 2, Haverford was close at 1 and 2 singles and could have pulled the upset.  The rest of the season hasn’t been too kind to Haverford against top 30 teams, as they lost 9-0 to Whittier in a disconcerting effort and lost to Hopkins 7-2.  I’ll attribute Whittier to an off day, but I think there were some good signs against Hopkins.  They were able to go up 2-1 in doubles, and there were battles at the #1,2, and 3 singles spots.  This is where the good news ends for Haverford.  They’ll be graduating their best player by far in Caulfield, who is an absolute gamer, and are not bringing in any recruits (according to tennis recruiting).  Now, they have a building block in Acaba, but he’ll have to play #1 next year and I’m not sure if he has the mental game to play at 1 just yet.  We all know playing at the top is a tough match every time out, so we’ll see how he holds up.  Expect Haverford’s doubles to stay strong, especially on their quirky home indoor courts.  Unfortunately, not every match is played inside the Haverford bubble.

Stock Watch: Falling

Franklin & Marshall Diplomats

As D3TG mentioned, Franklin & Marshall seems to be Swarthmore’s kryptonite.  If you can beat a team that has decent talent like Swat, I’d assume you’d also be somewhat talented.  However, this is a team that has lost 7-2 to TCNJ, 7-2 to W&L, 9-0 to Hopkins, 8-1 to Mary Washington, 6-3 to MIT, and 6-3 to Wesleyan (CT).  None of the results in the matches were that impressive either.  It seems like they just get amped to play Swat.  I really have no other reasoning for them handily beating that team other than that.  The Diplomats aren’t the most talented team, as they struggle to bring in top recruits.  This will continue to be the story in the near future, as it doesn’t look like they’ll be bringing in any top talent in 2013.  Same story as Haverford, as they’ll be graduating Ross Silverberg, who is far and away their best player.  Not looking like a top 30 breakthrough for the Diplomats.

Stock Watch: Slightly Falling

Christopher Newport Captains

We haven’t been long removed from Christopher Newport’s glory days, as in the ones that featured Eric Shulman, Heyer, and Matt King.  All three of those players are gone now, leaving huge voids in the Captains lineup and somewhat disappointing results in ITAs and throughout the season.  The Captains will have to rebuild their roster and continue to improve, as they’ve lost a lot of talent in the past few years and have been unable to replace it.  They were basically no-shows against NCW in the conference tournament, and haven’t been too close to any legit opponents so far this year.  There is hope in CNU, as Shulman is the assistant coach (I believe) and they have a history of developing players under the current regime.  Thing is you need some talent as a base before you can develop stars like Shulman and Heyer.  Their success next few years will depend on what kind of talent they can receive and what kind of attitudes they can get.  I know for a fact Shulman wanted to win more than anyone, but how many of those kids does Newport get?

Stock Watch: Holding

Sewanee Tigers

Otherwise known as the University of the South, the Tigers came into this year with high hopes.  In the past two years, they’ve brought in one 4-star, three 3-stars, and a couple of 2-stars to bolster their roster and potentially breakthrough to the top 30.  And then the season happened.  They lost to CMU 9-0, Emory 9-0, and Redlands C team 8-1.  Not to mention, they lost to lowly George Fox 5-4, which was embarrassing for my region.  Clearly the talent is there based on recent recruits.  It’s almost amazing how these guys have either fallen off or have lost their desire to play tennis in about 1 year.  Either way, something needs to change in Sewanee considering they haven’t had a decent result in possibly ever.  They’ll be bringing in a somewhat decent class again in 2013 (don’t ask me how), so maybe that will be the year things turn around?  Who knows.

Stock Watch: Holding

Rhodes Lynx

This team lost to Newport 5-4. Denison 8-1.  They haven’t gotten a recruit since 2012.  That is all.

Stock Watch: Not Traded on the Market

Oglethorpe Stormy Petrels

Wow.  What a mascot for Oglethorpe.  Already get some kudos for that.  Also, I shouldn’t have missed these guys on my initial Unranked Stock Watch, so I’m just adding in their section right now.  Oglethorpe is actually much different than a lot of the teams above, because they don’t rely on one or two good players to try and get wins.  They have a deep team (in perspective), as we see from their results.  In fact, they lost the top 2 singles matches against Sewanee and Calvin.  They lost #1 against Newport.  However, they seem to have some very good doubles and bottom of the lineup.  In fact, they may have beaten Christopher Newport had their #6 guy not been injured.  He was up 3-0 in the first set before getting injured, and the final score was 5-4.  Tough break for the Stormy Petrels on what would have been a nice little resume booster.  Obviously, the “depth” of Oglethorpe isn’t going to get them to beat the top 30 teams, simply because their talent ceiling is too low.  However, they’re bringing in some more depth next year, and we’ve seen 2 stars turn into stars in DIII.  If they keep bringing in solid, hard-working guys, they’ll have a chance in a few years.  Right now, they aren’t really close to the top 30 though.

Stock Watch: Holding, Trending Upward?

 Overall, there are 0 teams in my region that are poised to break into the top 30, especially with the ever improving DIII landscape.

15 thoughts on “The Others: ASouth’s Unranked Team Stock Watch

  1. Andrew

    Watch for Avery Schober in 2014, 3 star, Freshman at Sewanee, grew up in the Texas USTA Junior circuit, very hard worker.

  2. Anonymous

    How does Acaba not have the mental game to play consistently at one? He fought injuries (hamstring, rotator cuff, ankle) all year yet still managed to have a good year at two. Last time I checked, that proves that someone’s a gamer.
    After a summer of recuperating, he should be a pretty lethal ONE.

  3. Div3

    You really seem to be hating on Rhodes College. They just got 3 recruits, all two stars(tennis recruiting has yet to update) and have just beaten ogelthorpe in the conference championship( Their number 6 singles player won 7-6 in the third to clinch 5-4). They have a very good group of current freshman and with their new recruits should beef up the back of their line up. I see them cracking the top 30 within the next two years.

    1. D3AtlanticSouth

      A team that lost to Denison 8-1 this year isn’t going to make the top 30 any time soon. Also, three 2 star recruits doesn’t get you into the top 30 either. Take a look at the recruiting classes of the top 30 teams and get back to me.

  4. MZA

    Here is Oglethorpe’s #6 record.

    Mason Riza
    Piedmont College
    Win 6-2,6-0
    Parker Lawson
    Centre College
    Win 6-0,6-1
    Scott Eibes
    Univ. of the Ozarks (Arkansas)
    Win 6-4,6-2
    Jacob Devore
    Otterbein College
    Win 6-2,6-2
    Joona Rahko
    Christopher Newport University
    Loss 3-0,0-15 ret inj
    Michael Tucker
    Berry College (Ga.)
    Win 6-3,6-1
    TAYLOR GRIFFITH
    Mississippi College
    Win 6-2,6-1
    Trey Pirtle
    Huntingdon College (Ala.)
    Win 6-0,6-1
    Joe Jackson
    Savannah College of Art & Design (Atlanta)
    Win 6-0,6-3
    John Kirby
    #23 Washington & Lee University
    Win 6-3,6-4
    B Blalock
    #13 Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College
    Win 6-2,6-0

    They have beaten some good teams and the only trouncing was at the hands of Emory, 1st match of the season. My comment was a reaction to what I perceived as an inference that he would have lost anyway.

  5. Div3USAS

    Methodist is ranked higher than three teams you covered.
    Sewanee, Oglethorpe and Rhodes.

    1. Methodist Fan

      I agree
      On 3/11/2013, Methodist def. Rhodes 5-3 in Hilton Head, S.C.

  6. Div3USAS

    11-1 against??

  7. Anonymous

    @d3atlanticsouth/@faked3northeast

    Any love for northeast unranked teams?

    1. D3AtlanticSouth

      Sure, I will try to get something out for you Northeast addicts sometime by the end of this week!

      1. Pritz

        Look forward to Northeast unranked teams…yes, Wesleyan had a weak Fall but recent wins over Franklin and Marshall, Trinity, and Tufts along with a strong recruiting class should get them a little love.

        1. D3AtlanticSouth

          I will acknowledge Wesleyan’s season when I can – I have UAA, NESCAC, and Bowdoin/Bates to cover. Please be patient, I’m sure you will be able to take my analysis on Wesleyan’s season and provide your feedback, with which I will respond to any concerns you have. Thanks.

  8. D3West

    Haverford Black Squirrels. You know we got the best squirrels in the biz out west

    1. D3AtlanticSouth

      ours are black tho.

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