12:00 noon: Check the scores from Indoors and Trinity has already beaten Chicago. That was anticlimactic. After such a brilliant fight yesterday, the Maroons laid an egg today. Maybe they can only get excited to play Wash U. Looking at their results from the past three years, they have played exactly like a team that should be ranked in the 17-20 range (where they were ranked before they beat Wash U) with the exception of their last two matches against Wash U. Weird.
Trinity just got back to playing their own brand of tennis: play phenomenal doubles and then ride that energy into singles. Great job by everyone on that team to shake off yesterday. A phenomenal recovery from Frey to get a convincing W at #1 singles. They should have a good match against Pomona tomorrow…
But wait, Gustavus and Pomona are tied at 3-3. The team that everyone wrote off as going 0-3 in the tournament without so much as a whimper is putting up a great fight. They even took two doubles matches against Pomona, including another tiebreaker win at 3 doubles. If Gustavus walks away from this tournament without a win, they still won’t leave empty-handed because they will have proven that they are one of the best doubles teams in the country once again.
In singles, GAC took a brief 3-1 lead when their Tyler Johnson rolled over Frankie Allinson, but Tommy Meyer came out and proved that he’s still one of the best players in the country with a solid victory. Weichert also had a relatively easy time at #2 to knot the score up at 3-3. Now, the teams are in a dogfight at 3 and 6 singles, but Singh appears to be closing in on a victory at #4. It would take a monumental effort for Gustavus to come back from this, but they’ve shown so much heart this weekend, I wouldn’t put it past them. 3-3.
12:30 CT: Singh closes out the easy victory at #4, and Pomona wins the first sets at #3 and 6 in tiebreakers. Gustavus needs to pull out two three-setters to win this match, which will be a tallllllll task.
12:32 CT: As I update the retrodiary, Gustavus goes up 5-2 in the second set at #3 singles. The task just got a little shorter.
In other news… Kalamazoo beat Whitewater. It’s a funny world we live in.
12:46 CT: Gustavus takes the second set at #3 and is up 2-1 on serve at #6. This task is getting shorter by the minute.
12:50 CT: The Gusties get a break in the second set at #6. The Hens need to stop this momentum because this task is now not really looking all that large.
1:03 CT: Pomona is pulling away in the third set at #3 singles. All of the sudden this task is the size of the Grand Canyon. It looks like the Hens are going to escape this one. (This is a test of how powerful my jinxing abilities are. My guess is not very powerful, but we’re about to find out).
1:11 CT: Answer: my jinxing abilities aren’t very powerful at all. Sabel pulls it out for the Hens to give them an insurmountable 5-3 lead. #6 singles will probably go to a 10-pointer now. Who you got for Gustavus/Chicago tomorrow? I have no idea.
Speaking of unpredictable, Zoo swept Whitewater in singles for an 8-1 victory. Welcome back to the national rankings, Hornets.
6:35 CT: I literally just got back to my computer as Rosner clinched the match for Cruz. That’s another clutch performance from him in his first year of starting. Amazing.
I’m a little skeptical about whether this is official or not. The Gustavus scoreboard operator has been having some serious issues today. Earlier, the had Halabi up 5-4 in a second set that he somehow lost 6-4. They also claimed that Koenig was somehow down to Putterman 3-0 in the third after he had already won the match. Then, a second ago, they claimed that Farah was up 5-4 in the second before switching it to a 6-4 victory for Rosner. Sorry for complaining, but it’s annoying.
Also, Emory just destroyed Kenyon. They’re up 7-0 now. It’s amazing how quickly a match can turn from an absolute battle to a route. Though Emory won #2 doubles comfortable, they were locked at 7-7 at both #1 and 3 doubles. When Emory pulled both of those matches out, it was over. Pottish reasserted himself as the best player in D3. Overall, this match lays to rest any doubts about whether Emory is the favorite to win the final.
Still digesting the Cruz upset… don’t know what to say
7:06 CT: I would love to hear D3 sound off on this one. I’m at a loss for words.
8:11 CT: Waiting on live scoring for the 5th and 7th place matches from Indoors…
9:03 CT: Still waiting for results from the 5th and 7th place matches… Still… Waiting…
10:05 CT: Man, I bet there’s a lot of good tennis going on right now. So many juicy story lines… Will Chicago be able to rebound against Gustavus? Or will the Gusties salvage that win they were hoping for? Will Pomona solidify their hold on a Pool C bid with a win over Trinity? Or will the Tigers show that this will not be a down year for them? I would love to know… ellipses… ellipses… ellipses… … …
10:10 CT: Through the miracle of Twitter, I have discovered that Trinity is leading 2-1 after doubles against Pomona. Meyer and Weichert have their first sets for the Hens, but DelaFuente won one for the Tigers. This is shaping up to be a thriller! Thank you, Coach Belletto.
10:46 CT: Pomona moves ahead 3-2. Trinity is going to have to dig deep both metaphorically and literally to win this one.
12:27 AM CT: They’re playing this one deep into the night, and it’s quite a battle. As of the last tweets, Trinity had taken a 4-3 lead with victories at #3 and #4. They also apparently won the first set at #5 in a tiebreaker and are 1 set away from victory. No word on #6 yet. Waiting for tweets makes me nostalgic for the sketchy Gustavus scoreboard operator, but this appears to be one back-and-forth battle.
12:29 AM CT: I’m just posting for good luck now because every time I post, Coach Belletto sends out a tweet. Allinson rallied to win the second set, but Trinity won the first set at #6 singles. This one is coming down to the wire.
1:21 AM CT: Trinity wins 6-3. It was an absolute battle all the way through. After taking the 4-3 lead, Trinity won the first sets at 5 and 6 singles, but Pomona battled back to take the second sets in both. Pomona needed both third sets to win the match, but they got neither. Great performance from the Tigers, and they have to consider Indoors a success. They announced that this will not be a down year for them, and we’ll have to wait and see how they do on their California swing.
For Pomona, this tournament can’t be considered a total failure. They gritted out a tough victory over Gustavus, which will probably look better at the end of the year when the Gusties end up in the national rankings. Still, they can’t be completely satisfied. Their ranking will probably take a small hit, as they will have to move behind Trinity (TX). That’s not a huge deal, but Pool C competitors never feel good when their ranking starts to slip. Huge match for them next weekend against a vastly improved Cal Lu team.
Very tough match for both teams. I wish I could have been there. Watching two teams lay it all on the line for five hours is really what sports is all about.
Looking forward to another great day of tennis tomorrow.
No mention of GAC defeating Chicago 7-2? Might be the upset of the tournament. Hard to figure out Chicago. They are points from defeating WASH U but lose to GAC and Whitewater.
There was no mention of GAC beating Chicago because the Gustavus website wasn’t running live stats, so I had no way of knowing how the match was going. (Another thanks to Belletto for keeping us updated on their amazing 5th place match). I had already gone to bed by the time the box score got up last night. This upset definitely deserves some discussion, but I’ll do a wrap-up of Indoors later.
Thank you for making creating this site. SLUG TENNIS is an incredible team. For your sake, thank god you weren’t putting your money where you mouth is.
At least I picked them over Trinity. Plus, last time I bet on Cruz they got smoked by Whitman