SCIAC and NESCAC Championship Recap

SCIAC

Since the SCIAC final and 3rd place matches were yesterday, and we’ve all had a little time to digest what happened, I’ll start with that

Cal Lutheran def. Redlands 5-4

There was obviously a little bit of controversy surrounding this match, but I think it’s time we get past it and focus on the real issue: Redlands just couldn’t close the deal. As predicted, the match that turned the tide for the Kingsmen was #2 singles, where Justin Wilson finally came through in a big match to give Cal Lutheran the clinching victory. I’m not a huge fan of the whole Cal Lutheran tennis program at the moment, but I’m glad that Wilson got the victory because he’s had a rough time on the tennis court for the last couple months. Cal Lu fiddled around with their #2 doubles team to no avail, and it seems like the warm fuzzies this team was feeling in mid-March are starting to disappear. They’re still dangerous because they have three positions at which they are favored against almost anyone in the country, but I don’t think they’re a legitimate threat to get out of the California regional.

This loss will almost definitely end Redlands’ season. It’s hard to make a legitimate argument for a team that hasn’t picked up a big win since February. Anyways, this season, this tournament, this match was pretty much the story of the Bulldogs’ past three years. They came in with a lot of talent and high expectations, played well at the beginning and particularly excelled in doubles, and had a lot of chances to win but then didn’t. The freshmen have been playing well for them, so their future is bright, but this will probably be the only year when three Pool C bids for the SCIAC will be a possibility, so they’ve have to find a way to outplay Pomona-Pitzer and Cal Lu next year if they want in.

CMS def. Pomona-Pitzer 6-3

Pomona-Pitzer got much, much closer to beating the Stags in this match than they have gotten in the past three years. Their improvement over the past couple weeks has been really impressive, but I really think the story of the match (and the story of the tournament) was the incredible toughness from CMS. Down a break at 3 doubles, they battle back to take the lead. Down three match points at 5 singles, Johnson battles back to  win. Down three first sets Friday against Redlands, the battled back to win all of them. In the past, CMS has beaten other teams simply by intimidating them with talent and blowing them off the court. They’ve always been a little vulnerable in doubles, but this doubles lineup is pretty fierce. It will take a lot , but this team has found a different gear in the past two weeks, and they’re finally playing in a way that makes me think they might be ready to take the leap from the Final Four to the championship match. Congratulations to them on another perfect SCIAC season.

Pomona-Pitzer has also found another gear. They’re sort of the opposite of CMS in that they’ve always played great doubles, but they’ve been a little vulnerable in singles. I don’t know if Prescott is a legitimate 6 or not, but 1-5 can compete with almost anyone. Between this weekend’s matches and last week’s match against Redlands, they’re doing extremely well in third sets, and they’re getting wins from every spot in the lineup. If they were in any other region, they would be a favorite to reach the Elite Eight, but if they want to do it this year, they’ll have to beat Cruz and CMS on back-to-back days. That’s a tall task that, ultimately, I don’t think they will be up to. If they can beat Cruz next week, however, I think they should consider this season a huge success. Being successful in California has to be a long process. The Hens have made huge strides over the past couple years, but despite their previous victory, they’re still the David to CMS and Cruz’ Goliath.

NESCAC

Amherst def. Middlebury 5-1

The score says 5-1, but this match went nothing like I expected it to. The doubles matches were tight all the way through, and Amherst really only took control of the match when they pulled out the tiebreaker at #1. After that, I thought the Panthers would go away, but they didn’t at all. Amherst only lost one set the whole time, but all 6 first sets were 6-4 or closer. Middlebury had been looking extremely pedestrian for the past couple weeks, but this match reminded me that Hansen’s teams have always peaked at the right time. If I’m Bowdoin or Williams, I’m begging not to end up with Middlebury in my region.

There’s not much to say about Amherst in this one. You could always interpret the closeness of the match as a letdown on their part, but it’s best to give credit where credit is due. The Jeffs are playing well and they have the best lineup, top-to-bottom, in the country. They’re going to be very hard to beat.

Bowdoin def. Williams 5-3

I guess the way this season has been, I would have been extremely naive to think we would make it through the conference championships without at least one shocker. Plus, the 3rd-seeded team has a pretty good history at the NESCAC tournament, so I don’t know why I didn’t see this one coming. Anyways, doubles started off pretty much as expected, except Caplan and Wolstencroft handed Sun and Micheli their first loss of the Fall season. With Williams up after doubles, I didn’t think there was any way they would lose, but Bowdoin won 3-6 singles in stunning fashion. Throughout the whole season, I haven’t given Bowdoin enough credit for their depth, but they proved they belong in the top 5 conversation with this victory.

For Williams, I’m not really sure how much this loss means. Of course they would have liked a rematch with Amherst in the final, but ultimately, they will end up as a 1-seed in their region, and they might end up with an easier path in the Elite Eight because of this loss. Like d3tennis said, you can make very good arguments for Bowdoin, CMS, and Williams getting the 4th overall seed. The only thing that really matters is whether or not Williams stays ahead of Bowdoin in the rankings because one team will get Middlebury as their Sweet Sixteen combatant; whereas, the other will get Bates. Personally, I think the overall resume of Williams trumps this most recent result, but I don’t really mind either way.

Amherst def. Bowdoin 5-2

Amherst won this one 5-2, but once again, don’t let the score line fool you. This was a close match. Once again, Amherst needed a doubles tiebreaker to get a 2-1 lead heading into singles. After that, they won the even numbered singles matches relatively quickly to clinch the championship, but Pena managed to hand Kahan his first dual match loss in quite some time before the match was decided and the other two matches had split sets. (Between this win and his win over Meyer last week, Pena could have really thrown a wrench in the Northeast singles rankings. I think he deserves the bid). Again, Bowdoin looked like a top 5 team in this match, but it just goes to show that there is some distance between the top 2 and everybody else.

Anything can happen on any given day, but Amherst is looking good heading into the NCAAs. They are favored at every singles position against anyone in the country (except 1 and 2 against Emory), and, despite their loss today, they have a #1 doubles team that seems to rise to the occasion every time. They’ve fallen behind in doubles a couple times this year, and that’s about the only way to beat them. Anything can happen in a proset, but the Jeffs will be able to win at least three singles matches 100% of the time. Congratulations to them for another NESCAC championship.