Craziness. Absolute madness. And yet, just a typical #SB15 day for DIII tennis. The Headmaster recapped yesterday’s events, so I’ll leave the other matches to him (sorry Bowdoin fans, no D3NE love today.) As much as I hate to give D3AS credit for anything he does, the idea of a “Precap” is pretty genius. It takes away the 100% guessing game that comes with not seeing a teams lineup, and turns it into merely a 90% guessing game. That being said, props to D3Central for his WashU/Case picks the other day, those doubles scores were tiiiiiight. Lat night, Wesleyan dropped a heartbreaker to Redlands to kick of their 2015 campaign with a whimper. This “Precap” will take a look at the Cards’ effort in “The Desert,” and take a look at what to expect from their first two rounds at the upcoming Stag Hen tournament. Side note before we start, I can’t decide as to whether “The Desert” or “The Pound” is a better name for Redlands’ home courts. Perhaps I see a new poll in our future?
Redlands def. Wesleyan 5-4
| #1 Singles | #20 Patrick Lipscomb | Jake Roberts | Univ. of Redlands | 6-2,7-6(2) |
| #2 Singles | #39 Nick Cummins | Michael Liu | Wesleyan University | 6-3,3-6,6-2 |
| #3 Singles | Parker Wilson | Steven Chen | Wesleyan University | 5-7,6-1,6-3 |
| #4 Singles | Tom Suchodolski | Dhruv Yadav | Wesleyan University | 6-4,6-3 |
| #5 Singles | Joey Dulle | Win Smith | Wesleyan University | 1-6,6-0,6-4 |
| #6 Singles | Gram Leahy | Cameron Daniels | Univ. of Redlands | 6-1,6-7(4),6-2 |
| #1 Doubles | Nick Cummins Patrick Lipscomb |
Jake Roberts Greg Lyon |
Univ. of Redlands | 8-3 |
| #2 Doubles | Ted Burchett Gram Leahy |
Zachary Brint Michael Liu |
Univ. of Redlands | 8-4 |
| #3 Doubles | Joey Dulle Jake Ly |
Steven Chen Win Smith |
Univ. of Redlands | 8-4 |
Unlike D3AS, I am not tech savvy enough to throw in tweets and videos left and right. All I do have are some good old fashioned tables. As in one, one table. In case you haven’t noticed, I’m more of a “wall of text” sort of blogger. The aforementioned table is a interesting/frightening box score for a variety of reasons, which I’ll happily write up in blurb form!
1) Doubles. Look, Redlands plays good doubles. They have yet to fall behind after dubs this year, taking a 2-1 lead on Whitman, UT-Tyler, Mary Washington, and Brandeis, while sweeping Cruz, CNU, and Caltech. That being said, these scores simply are not close. No Wesleyan team got more than 4 games? As in, each player was broken 1/3 service games, or one player was broken 2/3 service games (and that’s not even including the possibility that the Cards were able to break). Wesleyan is not a slow serving team by any stretch, so I struggle to fully understand this crop of doubles scores. Everybody has off days, but wow. This is not Wesleyan’s first time with doubles struggles, and the Cards had some major issues with doubles last season. In 2014, the Cards went 4-14 in doubles against top 30 opponents. Something tells me there will be a ton of doubles emphasis in tomorrow’s practice before the Stag Hen, and for the rest of the season in Middletown.
2) Youth. Check out the year of the Cards’ starting singles lineup. #1 sophomore, #2 sophomore, #3 freshman, #4 freshman, #5 freshman, #6 freshman. That’s insane. You’d think that would require some IMMENSE growing pains, but the Cards’d young guns (as in, their entire lineup) look like they have the stones to fight when they need to. Responding to a sweep is a tall task, and even though they didn’t quite pull off the comeback, I’m impressed with how deeply the youth dug. And possibly more importantly, so is #OldManWootton.
3) Chen. Chen must’ve had a couple of rough challenge matches, because the NE ITA runner up, 3rd place finisher at Small College Nationals, and self-proclaimed Martina Hingis lover is playing #3 for the Cards. Let me be clear, I do not believe that this is a stack. Roberts and Liu have a year of experience and a ton of firepower themselves. In my season preview, I said that these three all had the talent to play #1, and I believe that at different points of the year we might see all 3 guys get their shot.
4) 3-setters. This was brought up in blurb #2, but the fact that the Cards were down 3-0 and a set in 4 singles matches and fought back in the way they did shows real fight. Liu, Chen, Smith, and Daniels all went the distance, and the Cards were able to come up with 3 of the 4. If/when Coach Fried shores up the doubles, this team looks mighty dangerous. However, that “if” is one mighty big word.
5) 1st match. Let’s pause, and remember that this was the Cards’ first match of the year. The decrease of Pool-C teams puts inordinate pressure on these early season matches, but we have to remember that this was the first time that 2/3 of the Cards singles’ lineup have even sniffed a college dual match. This is not an excuse for for the 5-4 loss, but it’s something the Cards can build on as they move through the season. Unfortunately, they will need to build quickly and in a big way as they are taking on one of the few teams in the country with more stars in it’s starting lineup on Friday morning!
STAG HEN ROUND 1: #8 Wesleyan vs #1 CMS
D3West and D3Central’s Stag Hen preview will be coming out tomorrow, and something tells me they’re going to be hard on Wesleyan’s chances to pull the upset. I’m here to tell you that…they’re right. Redlands plays good doubles, but CMS plays better doubles. That being said, it’s always tough to predict doubles and anything can/has happen(ed) in an 8-game proset (and no, I don’t want to change the format). Who knows exactly what lineup Coach Settles will throw out on Friday morning. Each of his top guys (with the exclusion of Butts) has sat for at least one of CMS’ three DIII matches. It wouldn’t surprise me to see one (or more if the Stags sweep dubs) sit for this match considering how much tennis will be played in the following 36 hours. If one of the big 4 does sit, then I think Wesleyan has their best chances to win at #4, where Yadav had a nice straight set win yesterday against Suchodolski. I don’t see the Cards getting blanked, but while it would be really good for their confidence if they could push CMS (even slightly), I don’t really see that happening either. I’m taking CMS 7-2 (with at least one Cards point coming in a super). If the Cards do fall to CMS, they will get the loser of the Wash U/Kenyon match…
STAG HEN ROUND 2: #8 Wesleyan vs #6 Kenyon/#3 Wash U
Given how chaotic the DIII world has been these past few days, it seems pretty foolish to try and do a match by match preview when you don’t know which teams will be squaring off. So here’s my twist for all you NE (let’s be honest, you’re only still reading this if you’re a Wesleyan player or a true blog devotee) fans, a match by match preview vs both possible teams, in the shortest possible fashion. Here goes nothin…
1) Roberts vs. either Geier/Heerboth or Carswell: Roberts was taken down by Lipscomb in straight sets yesterday, but he certainly has the firepower to take down anyone on any given day. Jake’s forehand is a major weapon, but has a poor matchup with either Geier/Heerboth or Carswell. Both guys will make Jake play a ton of balls (especially Heerboth) and i think will be able to ware the sophomore down. I’ll take Kenyon over Wesleyan AND WashU over Wesleyan.
2) Liu vs. either Geier/Heerboth or Putterman: Liu has quietly become one of my favorite players in the region. His ITA run was nasty and totally overshadowed by Chen’s. Michael took down Cummins in 3 sets last night, and Nick has proven to be one of the better #2’s in the country. As I said above, I think Liu will get his shot at #1 sooner than later, but his opponents here will be no slouch. I’m gonna assume that Heerboth plays one, because I can’t in my heart of hearts pick against Wade, and say Liu gets the job done in 3 sets against either guy. Wesleyan over Kenyon AND Wesleyan over Wash U
3) Chen vs. either Turlington or Kratky: This might be Wesleyan’s best chance to win against either team. Turlington has been playing good tennis of late, but it’s still a drop from the Lords’ top 2. Kratky was absolutely sick last year closer to the bottom of the Bears’ lineup, but the transition to the top 1/2 of the lineup has been tough. Chen should be one of the toughest #3’s outside of Mosetick and whomever CMS has that particular day. We’re only one spring match in, so it’s really tough to tell, but I think Chen could be in for a special season if he remains at #3. Wesleyan over Kenyon AND Wesleyan over Wash U
4) Yadav vs. either Rosensteel or Bush: Yadav was the only Cardinal to win in straight sets yesterday, and that came at the hands of friend of the blog Tom Suchodolski. Offseason gossip out of Middletown was very high on young Dhruv, and he didn’t disappoint in his debut dual match. Rosensteel has been in and out of the Lords’ lineup this year, and I see the freshmen continuing the impressive start to his career with a 3-set win. However, dueling with Jeremy Bush is a totally different bag of sugar quills. Again, outside of CMS, Bush might be the best #4 in the whole damn country. Dhruv might be good, but he’s not that good…yet. Wesleyan over Kenyon BUT Wash U over Wesleyan
5) Smith vs. either Huber or Wu: Honestly, I was a little surprised to see both Smith and Daniels in the opening day starting lienup. The Cards have experience with guys like Rudovsky, King, and Monk, but good for the youth for earning their spots early. Smith didn’t disappoint, coming back from a 6-1 first set loss to knock of fellow freshman Joey Dulle in 3-sets. Huber and Wu will likely provide a stiffer test for Smith, and I’m gonna have to take the experience of Huber and the firepower of Wu. Keynon over Wesleyan AND Wash U over Wesleyan
6) Daniels vs. either Thrailkill or Chu: Once again, I need to give props to a Wesleyan freshman before picking him to lose. Cam put up a heck of a fight last night against the Oregonian senior Leahy. After dropping the first set, Daniels won the 2nd in a breaker to keep his team alive. It may not have made the difference here, but winning that 2nd set keeps other guys fired up and might have helped push Liu, Chen, or Smith to their 3-set victories. For all I know, they only used 4 of Redlands’ 6 courts and that last sentence was something close to emotional word vomit. Daniels gets props, but Thrailkill is D3Central’s reigning POTW and I’m pretty sure that he also would consider Chu one of the best #6’s in the entire country. Sorry Cam! Kenyon over Wesleyan AND Wash U over Wesleyan
Dubs: total crapshoot. But I’ll take Kenyon to take 2-1 lead, and Wash U to sweep for a 3-0 lead.
Alright, let’s test those 6th grade math skills. My calculations have the final scores being:
Kenyon def. Wesleyan 5-4 AND/OR Wash U def. Wesleyan 7-2.
If you haven’t already, yall should check out D3AS’s recap of yesterday’s HUMPDAYYYY craziness! http://www.division3tennis.com/humpday-special-diii-tennis-goes-h-a-m/