A couple good matches took place yesterday that got lost in the excitement of the Stag-Hen. First off, Case Western beat Mary Washington 5-4. After a strong start to their season, Mary Washington is really struggling right now. They have several other chances, but they have to right the ship fast or they are going to end the season exactly where they started. This is a huge win for Case. A loss would have put them far behind Pomona-Pitzer and Redlands for Pool C, but this win keeps them in it. If they win out, they will have beaten Denison and Chicago, but the way things are going, that might not be enough to make the tournament. They might need a win over Wash U in the UAA tournament to make Pool C. The West region teams are already ranked higher than Case, and those two wins wouldn’t justify moving Case ahead any of them.
Cal Lu beat Redlands 6-3 yesterday. The match went basically as I expected it to, but I didn’t expect Lipscomb not to be in the Bulldogs’ lineup. Hopefully for them, he’s not seriously injured because he has been a lock for Redlands at #1. Anyways, Cal Lu continues to show that they are deeper than they have ever been, as they picked up 4 easy singles victories to seal the match. Wilson finally got a victory for Cal Lu, and another one of Redlands’ tough freshmen (Reynolds) got in the lineup. He posted a solid victory over Sousa, which is an encouraging sign for Redlands. The Bulldogs have two weeks off before playing Williams and Cruz, and a win in one of those two would seal a Pool C bid for Redlands. Next up for Cal Lu are matches against half the NESCAC. I know they think they are a Final Four contender, but they need a win over Williams to prove it.
MIT and Bates play today in what should be a very interesting match. MIT hasn’t really played this year, so it’s hard to make a prediction, but I’ll take the Engineers in a 5-4 victory for no real reason.
Like the rest of the Stag-Hen, Whitman/Whittier got rained out today. It’s too bad for Whittier, as they had a great chance to get a win over a top 10 team, but Whitman’s going to try to play a double-header against them and Trinity (CT) tomorrow. I would expect the Squirrels to lose at least one of those matches, and we can finally stop talking about whether or not they are overrated. Even if they beat Whittier in the morning, they will be exhausted by the time they play Trinity (CT) in the afternoon, and the Bantams will be fresh.
The only other match on Sunday is Mary Washington vs. Washington & Lee. The Generals have played a lot of good teams tough so far this season, and this is their first real opportunity to pick up a win over a ranked team. Still, I expect the Eagles to pull out a 5-4 win.
Nice weekend for Whitman. They have one big win at home, and everything else has been on the road or neutral. They have shown a lot of mental toughness. I guess we should stop talking about whether they are overrated!