As we move closer and closer to the end of the year and NCAA’s matches are becoming more and more meaningful. The pressure is mounting for teams to finish strong and everyone is jockeying for their seed come tournament time. I’m excited to see how this weekend plays out, in general. There are lots of great matches, rivalries, and a match that involves a 21-match win streak on the line. I’ll do my best to give the best predictions I can and maybe throw some fuel on the fire that has been the D3tennis stage.
April 13th- Kalamazoo @ #2 Kenyon:
I really shouldn’t even do this match. But, I’m a nice guy and I at least want to point out the fact this match is occurring. I don’t have any belief that Kalamazoo can beat the Lords, even under conditions of a perfect storm. Just not gonna happen. The one thing I’m interested to see is how doubles goes. Kenyon needs to send a message in this match and take it 9-0 for the sake of confidence moving to their matchup against CMU. Rothstein and Hanselman are a decent team at 1 and the Lords have to prove they can win with Williams/Raz because honestly that team should never have been broken up and they should be winning nearly every match. Kalamazoo’s singles lineup really shouldn’t push anyone…except maybe Heerboth to 3? Haha kidding, but seriously, 9-0 Kenyon as they prepare for a bigger match the next day.
April 13th- #29 Chicago @ #14 Wash U:
Here it is folks. Wash U will finally have a slate of good matches that will allow us to see who these guys really are and what they’re made of this season. Both matches should be great indicators because they play a dangerous unpredictable Chicago team then take on an even more dangerous GAC team the next day. The fact that this match is first and on a different day looks like some “great scheduling” because the D3tennis resume has not been overly impressive for the Bears. The Chicago-Wash U matchup has turned into a decent rivalry recently and the Maroons have a tendency to really show up for this match. After their below-average against Whitewater I expect Chicago to come out hungry, but do they match up well enough to pull off the upset?
Doubles will be key for the Maroons and if they have any hope I think they HAVE to be up 2-1 to have a shot. The Bears have moved around 2 and 3 doubles quite a bit this year which make this hard to predict. For simplicities sake, I’m going to assume Kratky and Farah play 2 and Parizher and Hirsch play 3 (look at the picture of article for 1 doubles if you have any questions). Parizher/Hirsch is a good team but the freshman, Crawford and Zhang have been money for the Maroons so I’ll take them there. I think 2 doubles goes the way of Wash U, but this as well as 1 doubles could go either way. If it comes down to 1 doubles to see who takes the lead it will be interesting. Sabada/Ravellla are good team but haven’t gotten that big win yet, and Putterman’s are solid but are up-and-down from time to time. I think Chicago takes this in a tiebreaker to make things really interesting, 2-1 Chicago into singles.
The issue in singles is that Wash U matches up really well. Whoever Wash U puts at 6 (looks like Farah) should beat Abrams no problem. Five singles should be a great match, but Parizher should win this match considering he’s a senior, played 2 last year, and Zhang is a freshman. Golovin at 4 hasn’t been overly impressive this year and Kratky has been playing some of the most consistent tennis for the Bears, I think he wins as well. That means Chicago would potentially have to take all 3 top spots, and that’s under the assumption things go perfectly in doubles. I just don’t see it. I gotta pick Bhargava at 2 he looks to be playing better than R Putterman at the moment. Noack v Crawford is sure to be a fantastic match and I could see that going either way, but I’ll pick Noack in 3. Finally, until proven otherwise, I’m going with A Putterman over Sabada in what is sure to be a barn-burner. Both guys have similar styles and they’ve never faced each other (that I’m aware of). Adam has been consistently the best player in the Central the past two years and it will take a lot for Sabada to dethrone him, especially on Wash U’s home courts. For those that lost track, I’m picking 6-3 Wash U in what should be a good match.
April 13th- #18 Gustavus v. #29 Chicago:
Sucks for Chicago that they have to play back-to-back matches against these teams in one day. POOR SCHEDULING! Seriously, it’s going to be real tough if they indeed have a heartbreaker loss, or even an amazing gutsy upset, to come out and beat GAC. It looks to be even more difficult when you think about GAC’s strengths and Chicago’s weaknesses. These two teams don’t face off every year but when they do it’s usually very competitive. This will be a major test of Chicago’s heart, resiliency, and coaching to see if they can push the deflated Gusties here (GAC is coming back from Cali where they went 0-3 to ranked teams, including a shocking 7-2 loss to P-P).
Doubles is a nightmare matchup for the ‘Roons. Smith-Dennis/Donkena have been damn good thus far and the unproven combo of Ravella/Sabada is sure to struggle with their non-stop offense, GAC takes 1. Leisner/Johnson are currently ranked ahead of Chicago’s 1 team so I’m going with them. Three doubles is going to be key if Chicago has any hope. If they go down 0-3, it’s over. I can guarantee it. GAC has been messing around with things there so I’m going to continue to roll with the Freshman at 3 for Chicago, 2-1 GAC into singles.
Once again, depth may be the achilles heal for the Maroons. Entwistle beat Osborne (Whitewater) 0 and 1, and Osborne beat Abrams 3 and 0…things don’t look good at 6 for Chicago. GAC has thrown in Al-Houni at 6 recently, but I see the same result no matter who is there for the Gusties. Five should be a great match between Zhang and MacGibbon. MacGibbon has been surprisingly clutch this year, but I’m taking Zhang in 3. Leisner has been beastin’ at 4 and I think he beats Golovin fairly routine. Chu has been absolutely struggling at 3 this year, and I’m not sure why. He’s not even close with most everyone he’s played, which really surprises me because he was big for them last year. Therefore, I’m taking Crawford here just because Chu looks like he’s lost a lot lately… The real battles should be at 1 and 2 where both teams are equally tough. Smith-Dennis has been demoted to 2 as of their Cali trip, and has played very well taking out Dorn of CMS. I think his experience is key here and he takes out Bhargava in a barn-burner. One singles is sure to be one of the flashiest matches you’ll ever see. Both Sabada and Donkena are shot-makers that, if really clicking, can run away with it. I think it goes blow for blow and Donkena takes it in 3. If things go accordingly, that’s 6-3 GAC over Chicago. Two heart-breaking losses in one day for Chicago, and 3 losses in a row after their great run of wins. I will say, my predictions in this one are somewhat under the assumption that the Maroons will be a bit tired and drained after their match with Wash U. That could be a big factor.
April 4th- #18 Gustavus @ #14 Wash U:
Match of the weekend for me right here (I’m biased obviously). Gustavus brings to the table a couple good wins (UCSC and Whitewater) and a few scary losses (Redlands and P-P). Wash U has A LOT riding on this match. With their relatively weak schedule a loss here would be detrimental to their Pool C hopes. It would give Pool C contenders an indirect and their only wins would be over Whitman (15), Whittier (19), and assuming Chicago (29, but who maybe isn’t even ranked if they lose both this weekend? I don’t know). Needless to say, on Wash U’s home courts this match will have the feeling of an NCAA match from the first serve. I’m expecting a great one.
The doubles burden once again will be placed on the head of 1 doubles for GAC. The Smith-Dennis/Donkena duo has been a staple for consistent doubles and I expect them to beat the Putterman’s. Two doubles is sure to be a great match, but I can’t see the Gusties losing that one, I’ll bet this is decided by only one break. Both teams are a bit of question mark at 3 doubles, but I really don’t think Wash U goes down 0-3 on their home courts so I’ll pick them here. 2-1 GAC into singles. If GAC is able to figure out a sweep, upset alert sirens will be going off very loud.
I’ll start with the easiest one in singles: Putterman should win at 1 over Donkena fairly easily. Smith-Dennis has been getting smoked by Putterman every time they’ve faced so I expect a similar result. I guess it’s going to be interesting to see how Donkena matches up, but again, can’t pick against the proven favorite. I’m going with Smith-Dennis over R Putterman at 2. Smith-Dennis is just much more proven at the moment. Given Chu’s recent struggles, I like Noack’s workmanlike game style to win at 3. Leisner v Kratky at 4 is sure to be an awesome match. Both guys are playing great tennis right now, and I really don’t know who to pick here. I’m going with Kratky on the home courts but this match could go either way. Parizher should beat MacGibbon at 5, but that also depends which Parizher shows up. If it’s the one that lost to Garlock that does not bode well for the Bears. Finally, at 6 I see GAC taking that with Entwistle and losing with Al-Houni. Should be interesting to see which is out there.
When all is said and done, I’m picking Wash U 5-4, but I would not be surprised to see GAC pull off the upset. I just feel like on their home courts, and with what is on the line for the Bears they will come out ready to go. Fullmer is a great coach and he will have these guys fired up and ready to go. I said I wouldn’t underestimate GAC in their bubble anymore, and luckily for the Bears they get them in Missouri. Having said that, the matches in my eyes that could go either way are 3 doubles, and 4, 5, and 6 singles. Can’t wait.
BONUS April 14th- Carleton @ Coe:
I know, I know. This match is between two nationally unranked teams. But, their are still some very intriguing story lines here and with really only 5 teams in my region worth talking about, I want to give some press time to these guys. As I’ve mentioned on twitter, Coe is riding a pretty impressive win streak currently at 21. They have 3 more joke matches (like most they’ve played this year, sorry) that should put them at 24 in a row for this match. The fact this will be played at Coe is a big advantage for the Kohawks, because Carleton traditionally does not travel well. Another reason I am covering this is because of the “mini comment battle” between myself and Paul Cooper. I was very harsh on Carleton in my “State of the Region Address” and he called me out on it. I was feeling very sympathetic apparently and apologized, however right after I realized that I can’t cave into biased players saying they’ve improved…Prove it! My analysis was pretty spot on considering the lack of results Carleton has posted in recent years, and a number of guys start out as freshman, play well in ITA’s, play high in the lineup, then by their senior year aren’t even making an impact (cough… Vollman… cough) Let the rackets do the talking, guys. That’s been the dubbed D3 motto and I gotta say I like it.
Traditionally Carleton has struggled in doubles, where Coe puts a lot of emphasis on it. If you wanna argue about the doubles stuff, Paul, look at your results. They’ve gone down 2-1 to UW-Oshkosh, Luther, and UW-Lacrosse…that’s not a good sign. Sprinkel/Newman will definitely win at 1 doubles and 2 doubles will probably be a similar story. If Carleton stacks a little they have a shot at 3, but that’s going to be difficult. Just to keep things interesting let’s say it’s 2-1 Coe after doubles…somehow.
I’m going to assume Coe’s lineup will be the same from their match against Luther. I don’t really know what Carleton will do with their singles because it changes so often, but I’m gonna guess it’s similar to the Oxy match. Sprinkel will beat whoever Carleton throws out at 1, my guess is Cooper. Galbraith has played well in his freshman year and will have a tough matchup against Hwang. I’m gonna take Hwang here, however. At 3 we may have a matchup between Chin and Sushi (Yasushi, but I’ve heard Sprinkel say it on twitter so I’m stealing it). Hard to know who to go with here, but I’ll take Sushi (cuz I really like raw fish). Coe becomes a bit more vulnerable at 4-6 and Newman v Becker should go Carleton’s way in my opinion. Stokstad seems to be a relative weak spot for Coe so I’m going with Gonzales to win here. Finally, at 6 Nagy v Hickman. It might be 4 all for this match which would be interesting to see how Coe deals with adversity against a decent team, especially with a freshman out there. I just don’t see Carleton winning this match so I think Coe takes 6 and the match 5-4. There is a great chance, however, that Coe sweeps doubles and if that happens this match could turn into a blowout. I don’t like blowouts, because they’re boring and easy to predict so I hope it plays out something like this. If all goes well Coe will be at 25 wins in a row (followed by 4 easy ones) and will have tough ones against Elmhurst and Whitewater in their final two matches. Let’s hope I didn’t make something out of nothing =)