Every year, for the month of March, the west region is the heart of the DIII tennis world. Most of the big-time schools use their Spring Breaks to head down to Claremont and play at least two out of CMS/Redlands/P-P, while picking up matches against whoever else they can along the way. Once the Spring Breaks stop, the deluge of great matches slows to a trickle, and we’re left with SCIAC play, the Ojai, and the Trinity/Tyler match. With the SCIAC in a slump this season (former top 30 staples like Whittier and Cal Lu are unranked), the slate of upcoming matches leaves something to be desired. This week, we’re left with two measly matches to fill our tennis-loving hearts. Neither of these matches should be close, but you never know in the land of DIII tennis.
April 8th – #3 CMS vs. #15 Redlands
In most years, Redlands’ performance so far would’ve been enough to make Pool C. They have wins over #14, #35, #24, #34, #19, #23, #25, and #30. That’s really quite good for a team relying on a bunch of freshmen and sophomores to win matches. Unfortunately, this isn’t most years, and they’ll need a miracle to make the NCAA tournament. A signature win over CMS followed by back-to-back wins over P-P would probably be enough, but that’s a lot to ask, especially considering how well CMS has been playing lately.
Doubles – Neither of these teams have been very strong on the doubles court, but you would have to say that CMS has been stronger. CMS took doubles leads over Williams and Whitman, two teams that swept Redlands. That being said, anything can happen, and if Redlands is going to have a chance in this match, they could use their home court advantage to win the first hour of tennis. If I’m a better man, I’m putting money on CMS sweep, however, because Redlands’ best doubles position has been #1, and that’s where CMS has been strongest. Hull and Yeh are rock solid at #3 and #2. Settles has been playing around with combos for his #3 team, but Redlands doesn’t really have a consistent option their either, so I’m going to pick CMS to sweep dubs: 9-7, 8-4, 8-5.
Singles – The only two matched to pay attention to here are the #1 and #2 matched. At the top, Lipscomb has really turned it on over the course of the season, moving from #3 to #1, and Butts hasn’t quite been the world-beater I thought he might be. If Lipscomb can win one, he’ll solidify his singles position for nationals. Dulle vs. Hull is basically an elimination match when it comes to making nationals. By starting the season at #1, Dulle picked up a couple wins that might allow him into the tourney, but Hull has been playing really well, most recently beating Smolyar in a great match against Middlebury. Prediction-wise, I’ll take Butts and Dulle. I’ll predict Mork, Macey, and Yeh will win in straights before Redlands picks up a win at the bottom of the singles lineup to make the final score 7-2 for CMS.
April 9th – #9 P-P vs. #29 UCSC
Though I was pretty high on Santa Cruz at the beginning of the season, this match represents their last chance to pick up a ranked win before nationals. Believe it or not, UCSC is on the bubble when it comes to nationals because there are only 3 Pool B spots, and right now UWW is way ahead of them, while TCNJ is nipping at their heels. I can’t think of another Pool B team that could pass them and take that last spot, but if they did fall out of the nationals picture, CMS would be flying. It’s something to think about.
Doubles – P-P played their best doubles of the season against CMS, but they still are far from the consistently great team they were last year. Cruz wasn’t great with Richter out of the lineup, but now that he and Sirovica are back at #1 together, Cruz is a threat to take a 2-1 lead against most teams. If Cruz comes out with a significant sense of urgency, I could see that happening, but realistically, I think they go down 1-2 with a win at #1 doubles. 8-9, 8-5, 8-3 for P-P
Singles – We know exactly how P-P beats teams at this point: they’re strong from top to bottom with relative strengths being #2, #5, and #6 singles. Cruz has the depth to hang with P-P, but the Hens are just so battle-hardened at this point, I don’t see them losing to the Slugs, especially without LeDuff in the singles lineup. I see Pomona-Pitzer really taking control of this match early with easy wins at #2 and #6. The rest of the matches will be close, but I see P-P winning 3-setters at 1 and 4 with Cruz picking up a couple points with wins at #3 and #5 in three sets. Levchenko is quietly having a solid season, and whoever ends up playing #3 for Cruz (either Richter or Sirovica) is going to be a tough out. All told, we have a 6-3 Pomona-Pitzer victory and a season in which Cruz does not beat a ranked team. 🙁