April 20-21 Recap

Friday

#6 CMS def. #5 Cal Lutheran 6-3

This match literally went exactly as everyone predicted it. At this point in the season, we finally pretty much know where every team is strong and weak after the beginning of the season when teams showed what they were made of. Introductory comments aside, CMS’ lower lineup singles players have been more dominant than those of Williams or Kenyon (as we expected them to be at the beginning of the season), and they are playing like a legitimate national championship threat. That said, it’s important to remember that at some point, the 4 and 5 singles matches were tied 5-5 in the first. On Cal Lutheran’s best day and CMS’ worst day, the Kingsmen could take those next two games instead and Cal Lu could win, but if I’m Cal Lu, I would be more concerned with getting past Cruz in a potential Round-of-32 match. Also, at what point does Worley go ahead of Wilson? I understand that Wilson had a really good match against Lane, but Worley’s winning percentage is so much higher, I think it’s time for the Wilkinson plan. Meanwhile, Lane and Erani are still playing 3 doubles. That’s just a win for CMS against pretty much anyone.

#9 Bowdoin def. #15 Bates 7-2

I was pretty wrong about this match. Bates played the way they were playing at the beginning of the season for the first time in a couple months; they got dominated at the bottom of the singles lineup and (more importantly) got beaten in doubles. As it was at the beginning of the season, their only two points were at the top of the singles lineup and in 10-pointers. That’s not the way the Bobcats need to be playing if they want to make Pool C. Now, they need a win over Middlebury if they want to get in. This is just another in a long line of great performances from the Polar Bears. I mentioned before that I thought they were going to be moving down in the rankings this season after losing Sullivan, but they are playing great, and I can’t wait to see what they can do against Williams and Amherst. Their doubles play is absolutely phenomenal.

Saturday

#17 Wash U def. #30 Depauw 8-1

The Bears continue to play great, the way they should have played at the beginning of the season. As usual, they struggled the most in doubles, where they lost #1 handily and had to go to a tiebreaker at #2 to take the 2-1 lead. The good news for them is that they won 4 of their singles matches very easily, though they had to work hard for the other two. Regardless, I think they are definitely the favorite to defeat Carnegie Mellon in the UAA semifinal.

#6 CMS def. #14 Redlands 8-1

As far as 8-1 matches goes, this was about as close as they come. CMS barely pulled out the #1 doubles match in the tiebreaker to get the sweep, essentially putting the match away for the Stags. The #2 doubles match was also close, and there were 3 more three-setters that ended in 10-pointers. Other than just being another solid win for CMS, I think this win sets the stage perfectly for the Redlands/P-P match tomorrow. Redlands lost worse, score-wise, but the two box scores were very similar in singles, and I think their match tomorrow will be quite the battle.

Amherst def. Trinity CT 9-0; Williams def. Vassar 8-1

Not much to say about two of the best teams in the country dominating borderline ranked teams. The Jeffs destroyed Trinity incredibly comprehensively. There’s basically nothing positive the Bantams can take from the match. The Guzicks won their doubles match for Vassar, consolidating their #1 regional doubles ranking, and that’s pretty much all Vassar has to be happy about.