UAA Studs and Duds – A Recap

It’s been a while since I’ve written an article, and as usual, D3Northeast picked up my slack a little bit by getting us some great NESCAC previews to look over during the weekend.  While I will leave the implications of all those matches to him, my deal is obviously the UAA, which has my two best teams (I can say that now that Hopkins has fallen off a cliff) and overall is an amazing conference tournament.  I saw we had a lot of viewers today as I presume you guys were following the twitter updates from all the matches, and I am glad you were able to join us.  So, I’ve gotten a few requests to try and get this article out as early as possible and I am trying my absolute best this late in the night.  We’ll see how far I get before I either fizzle out or get tired.  To do this, I will let D3Regional handle the bottom 3 teams in the tournament because it almost seems fair.  I was thinking about doing a Winners/Losers article but as always, people don’t like the word “Losers.” So, let’s do another “Studs/Duds” article because that’s more politically correct.

Stud: Emory Eagles

Easy choice for this one as Emory took home the championship yet again with not one, but two dramatic wins over Chicago and Wash U. Starting with the Chicago match, they were essentially dead to rights with Kranz up over Halpern 7-5, 4-1 and 7-5, 5-3 with the chance to send the Roons to the ship. Halpern pulled his usual on-court act, which seemed to have rubbed the Maroons the wrong way, but more on that later. At the end of the day, Emory won the match by getting huge performances from some likely guys and some unlikely guys as well.  Emory is now locked into a #1 seed and will most likely be the #5 overall seed in my book (behind CMS, Amherst, Middlebury, Trinity TX).  The four and five seeds will be basically the same so you can argue them over TU all you want, it won’t matter.  This was a great showing in “playoff tennis” for the Eagles and they prove yet again that they show up in big matches.

Dud: Carnegie Mellon Tartans

This was a rough weekend for the Tartans as they went from Pool C likely to Pool C unlikely.  All their doubles momentum from the previous couple of weeks dissipated when they got swept by both Wash U and Chicago on consecutive days, with the Wash U match not even really being close.  They showed they could hang in singles, but that showing was also not as impressive as it could have been as they went 1-9 in three setters over the weekend.  A previous strength for them (the bottom of the lineup) became toss-ups against the better teams and unfortunately for my region’s team, no one was able to steal a third set other than Kirkov against Wash U.  CMU now needs to hope for a Bowdoin loss to Williams (I peg this at about 20% chance) for them to have even an argument to get in.  Expect an article on that stuff later this week.  Again, it looks like CMU’s season may end at UAAs for the 4th time in the past 5 years.

Stud: Ending the Chicago myth

I made a stupid statement on twitter regarding “Chicago being Chicago” because it’s not a fair statement to say anymore with this new team.  These guys are all freshmen (other than Kranz) and have shown that they can play in big matches.  If we were talking about Wash U with five freshmen, we’d be saying “Oh, they just have to buy into the Wash U way and they will be fine at the end of the year.”  Well, Chicago is the team that looks to finally have “turned the corner” as D3West argues and they were huge in their two matches.  Think about it – I got a lot of people saying “Chicago blew it” against Emory.  Well, what did Wash U do? The same freakin’ thing.  Chicago also took 4 third set victories from a tough CMU team on the third day of UAAs, after playing tough matches against Case and Emory prior.  Deepak Sabada, a guy who has fallen victim to “old Chicago,” clinched two matches this weekend.  Welcome to the new era of Chicago tennis.

Dud: Surprises

For most people, the UAA tournament essentially went chalk with the standings.  Chicago pulled the upset over Case and CMU, but a lot of people were expecting that to happen. I thought that one of the two big boys would get upset in the semifinals, but as we see in the Ojai Bracket Challenge, I am not always right! I underestimated the other parts of the game – the mental, team, and non-physical aspects it takes to upset a top seed as well as make it to the finals in general. Emory and Wash U make no excuses for themselves, and they came in the top two spots like they should’ve. A tough lesson for the Maroons especially but they bounced back and it looks like they are going to be just alright.

Studs: Rafe Mosetick, Josh Goodman

These guys are self-explanatory through the following tweets. One guy I have been tough on all year and the other guy has given me no reason to rag on him. Good job to both these guys this weekend and they were both instrumental in Emory’s two tough victories.

Duds: Halpern/anyone Doubles team

Coach Browning has tried many different things regarding the Emory doubles lineup, but nothing seems to be getting those #2 (and now #3) teams over the hump.  Mosetick/Omsky proved today that they are probably better than the Halpern/Manji combo, and who knows what they will do the rest of the way.  I assume they’d need them to play up at #2 doubles for consistency purposes.  Emory needs to figure out what’s going on with this team or if this is even the right team because I can’t see the other two Emory teams always getting leads for them.  Hopefully, they figure it out sooner rather than later.

Studs: Josh Cogan/Tyler Kratky #3 Doubles

Wash U got a massive performance out of the #3 doubles team of Cogan/Kratky, as they won all of their matches this weekend despite being a pretty new team in terms of match play.  Both are very talented guys and they will now become a staple at the bottom of the Bears doubles lineup. Wash U has a shot of sweeping a team on any given day, which should make other top teams nervous.  With the depth they have, doubles sweeps could be nails in the coffin for Wash U opponents.

Dud: Weather and some Live Stats

I was following a lot of other stuff on twitter and I think UAA Tennis figured out how hard it is to provide legit live updates throughout the tournament with so many people wanting to talk to you.  I did give some assistance in the championship match but hopefully there is a system of something set in place. I listed weather in this one because weather doesn’t deserve its own topic but there were a billion rain delays and it was semi-annoying.  Damnit, Mother Nature. We just want some team tennis.

Studs: Nick Chua, Peter Leung

Two Chicago freshmen really were big time this weekend.  Despite Chua’s first match loss to Krimbill, he fought hard all weekend and went to three 3-setters without even flinching.  His comeback win against Alla spurred the Maroons to make one last run to dagger the Tartans.  He also was able to take out Ruderman in three sets, albeit via default after Emory clinched it.  Chua is a big-time player and Chicago is lucky to have him around for three more years.  Additionally, Peter Leung was incredible playing against Wagner and Wadwani of my region and he showed that he’s grown up a little since the beginning of the season.  Chua’s baseball swing backhand was impressive all weekend with some absurd winners. Along with the other freshmen, these two guys are going to be around for a while and have already changed the Chicago culture.

Stud: SENIORS

Let’s take a look at what some of our seniors did this tournament for the top 5 teams.

Emory – Seniors went 6-3 in singles, with Halpern and Ruderman taking three setters in the championship match and Halpern coming back from a huge deficit in the semifinal match.

Wash U – Putterman went 2-1 in singles, faltering against Halpern, another senior, in the championship match.  He took out Heaney-Secord, another senior, in the semifinal match.

Chicago – Deepak Sabada. Our POTW clinched two separate matches against Case and CMU.  Not surprising.

Carnegie – Heaney-Secord, Duncan, and Beisswanger did poorly in doubles and singles.  Probably not a surprise that this tournament was not CMU’s best.

Case Western – Drougas did his best against Chicago and took his match against Sven Kranz, but Case was unable to move on.

Dud: Case Western’s NCAA hopes

Case Western gave it a good effort, but in the end the lack of talent on the roster compared to Chicago took them out of the NCAA conversation.  They tweeted that they would be waiting on their word from NCAAs, but I don’t think there is much for them to hope on.  Drougas ends his team career with a loss to Arguello of Brandeis and Bas Van Lent will also end his career.  This is a turning point in Case Western’s program, because the talent is rising in DIII and I’m unsure of Case can continue to keep up with this talent gap.  I am scared that this team reached its peak last year by getting to the top 8.  Doubles has not been the rock that it usually is for the Spartans, which does not allow them to get away with lack of talent at the bottom of the lineup.  These guys need to really hit the courts this summer in the hope of finding some great improvement.

Stud: The UAA in General

I told you that this tournament would have a few potentials for top matches of the year, and I was not wrong (I was wrong on other stuff).  The drama was as high as it has ever been for this tournament.  Gamesmanship was rampant. Twitter was alert. And the matches were legit. Here’s to hoping that the UAA stays this way for the next few years, because that would just give me more reason to continue covering this crazy sport.

Dud: Sven Kranz, Chicago

I know that it looks bad to name a single player as a dud, but I mean this in the most positive way possible.  It was a tough tournament for Sven, as he is one of the veterans on the Chicago team and brings much more than his on-court play to the team.  Unfortunately, he lost two tough matches to both Eric Halpern and Christian Heaney-Secord of Emory and CMU.  He had chances in both matches for sure, but was unable to connect on either.  If one thing is to be taken away from this situation, Sven can take away this experience and return for NCAAs in a much stronger fashion.  I fully expect this to be the case. Everyone has to take their lumps.

Dud: D3Regional’s Twitter Updates

Just because I had to. I see you, Regional.

ASouth’s 5 Memorable Moments and Other Observations

  1. When we all realized that Chicago is a new team. Chicago has come to play, ladies and gentlemen, and it’s time to start respecting the team from the Southside.  They have kids that love playing tennis, a coach that is certainly involved, and a new team culture.  While the verdict will still be out on both the players and Coach Tee, it’s better to have a chance than to have the previous regime.
  2. “It’s 45 degrees in St. Louis” – Josh Goodman, Emory.
  3. Not enough attention was paid to the fact that Wash U and CMU split sets at every single match in the semifinals. Was it possible that this match had some effect on some of the Wash U guys the next day?  Jeremy Bush, normally their 3 player, had to sit out of singles.  Kratky started out hot against Mosetick and then all of a sudden was in a war.  The top 2 Wash U players both lost in three sets as well after three setters the day before.  We will never know and Wash U will never admit it, but it is totally possible that this match took its toll on the Bears.  Although, it isn’t like Emory didn’t have a really tough match the day before either.
  4. Case Western sending off Drougas. I’m sure this was an emotional moment for Will and the Spartans, as Drougas has been their emotional leader for this year and certainly is the epitome of Case tennis. It’s sad to see a senior like Will go down like this, but it’s not anything we haven’t seen before.  Good luck to Will potentially in nationals.
  5. Sanlando Park wins again. Can you even imagine having this tournament anywhere but Sanlando park anymore?  It houses 24 courts for all these crazy matches, allows the guys and girls to be there the same weekend, and usually has some tennis-friendly weather.  Think about it, these tournaments were held in places like Brandeis, CMU, and Wash U before.

Okay! Well Rafe Mosetick needs to read something for his study break so I guess I have to get this thing out on the interwebs.  Thanks to all for a great weekend at the UAA, we certainly had fun at the blog giving our recaps and following the action.  Let’s hope the NESCAC is just as exciting next week, but I seriously doubt it.  Think about who’s writing for them. D3Northeast. Ha.  ASouth, OUT.

6 thoughts on “UAA Studs and Duds – A Recap

  1. Jon

    Jonny Baker was 3-0 for UR, that deserves a stud mention.

    1. D3AtlanticSouth

      It sure does, and I am sure that D3Regional will mention it in his UAA Recap for Regional teams as I mentioned in the article!

      1. D3 Regional

        Baker also recieved regional player of the week for his fine UAA performance, the ultimate stud mention!

  2. Is Rafe The Blogger?

    Rafe went 2-1 in doubles, not 3-0 as you said in your last post. He only saved 3 match points, not 7. It all makes for a better story, yes…just not true though which bothers me.

    1. D3AtlanticSouth

      Both things were edited back to correct terms. I made a mistake for sure. I guess that means I am Rafe Mosetick. Tweet on changeovers, win on court.

      1. D3West

        Pretty defensive, there, ASouth. I think you might be Rafe

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